I mentioned this in the other thread (https://wordpress.org/support/topic/is-everything-deleted-from-database-when-app-is-deleted/#post-15686145) but wanted to follow up here just for visibility.
When that plugin setting is enabled, uninstalling the plugin should remove EVERYTHING – including the Gmail settings you mentioned.
We’re going to be investigating this because if this isn’t the case then it’s a bug and we need to fix it.
When you reinstalled the plugin, was all the WP Mail SMTP data/options still present or just the Gmail specific ones?
We store most of our data in a single database option (wp_mail_smtp) which we remove during the full install (see https://github.com/awesomemotive/WP-Mail-SMTP/blob/master/uninstall.php#L179).
My best guess is maybe for some reason the uninstall didn’t run at all, but if that’s the case all the data/settings would have been there when you reinstalled.
Let me know!
Thanks 🙂
@jaredatch
Hello,
When I uninstalled the plugin, after checking the option to REMOVE all the data, everything was removed in the wp_options table and the database tables. When I reinstalled the plugin my settings were still there and it did not create a wp_mail_smtp table. The only tables I have are wp_mailsmtp_tasks_meta and wp_mailsmtp_debug_events. There is no wp_mail_smtp.
Also, there is nothing in the wp-config file and it looks like the wp_options table relating to the plugin has less options now? I am pretty sure there was like 10+ rows of plugin data and now there is only 5.
All the Gmail options were still present, Send To email address field filled out under Email Test, and the From Name field in the general settings was filled out.
Thanks for the insights, I appreciate it.
We don’t create a wp_mail_smtp table (only the two you mentioned), so that sounds part sounds right.
All connection data (eg Gmail settings) is stored in wp_options table inside a wp_mail_smtp option.
Since post-uninstall it sounds like you have less rows in wp_options related to WP Mail SMTP, that seems like the uninstalled at least partially worked.
We’ll do some digging and testing on our end.
Since you’re not defining anything in the wp-config.php, the uninstaller should be deleting the wp_mail_smtp option from the wp_options table. It houses the vast majority of all plugin settings, so when that gets removed all the configuration data goes with it.
We will follow up with more next week once we have done some investigating.
Thanks!
@jaredatch
Hello,
When I meant I have less rows, I have less rows with the plugin installed right now then when I previously first used it the day before.
When I first installed the plugin and before I removed it, it looked like there were way more than 5 option rows of data. After removing the plugin, the database tables and data in wp_options were removed.
However, after re-installing the plugin, and activating it, I noticed the fields with my data were still there in the plugin settings. I checked my database and noticed there are only 5 rows of data in the wp_options table. This is with the plugin installed right now.
How many rows should be in the wp_options table because it seems like I have less now than when I first installed it. These are the rows in my wp_options table right now with the plugin installed:
wp_mail_smtp_activated
wp_mail_smtp_migration_version
wp_mail_smtp_debug_events_db_version
wp_mail_smtp_activation_prevent_redirect
wp_mail_smtp_review_notice
Also, I can not update any of the settings. Every time I remove the Gmail credentials or the From Name or any other setting and when clicking save, it just adds everything back to the fields. Even selecting a new service besides Gmail, when clicking save, it goes back to Gmail. Checking any box then saving removes the check from the boxes.
If you need more info:
- WordPress 5.9.3
- PHP 8.0
- MariaDB 10.3.35
Hi @carmpocalypse,
the issues you are experiencing sounds very strange. We tested our uninstall (with the “Uninstall WP Mail SMTP” checkbox enabled in our Misc plugin settings) and all the DB tables and rows in the wp_options table are removed. Once we re-install and active our plugin, all the options are empty, except the From Email and From Name, these fields are automatically set to the admin email address and the WP site name (as defaults). But the mailer settings should be empty…
Could you please uninstall our plugin again (with the “Uninstall WP Mail SMTP” checkbox enabled in our Misc plugin settings). Once it’s uninstalled, please check the wp_options table and search for a row with “wp_mail_smtp” option_name. If you can’t find it, that means that the plugin settings were deleted successfully and the uninstall process works OK.
You can also enable WP Debug logs, just so we can also see if there are any errors triggered during the uninstall process. More info on how to enable WP Debug logs can be found here.
After the uninstall process, please check the debug.log file (if it exists) mentioned in the article above and let us know if there are any error messages in it.
Once you let us know the status of that row, we’ll continue with debugging for your particular case.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
Have a nice day!
@capuderg
With “Uninstall WP Mail SMTP” checkbox enabled in the Misc plugin settings, I can confirm again that deactivating the plugin and uninstalling the plugin removed all the database tables and the rows of options data in wp_options.
However, the issue is with re-installing the plugin. After re-installing the plugin, the Google Client ID and Secret Key are filled out still, authorization section to click the button to allow the plugin to send emails using Google account does not work, I can not switch to a different email provider and none of the settings that I change get saved. When hitting save changes, it reverts back to the pre-filled data of the information I put in the first time I activated and set up this plugin days ago. I can not delete the Google Client ID and Secret Key because save changes does not work.
Again, after re-installing this plugin, the only rows in wp_options are:
wp_mail_smtp_activated
wp_mail_smtp_migration_version
wp_mail_smtp_debug_events_db_version
wp_mail_smtp_activation_prevent_redirect
wp_mail_smtp_review_notice
There is no row just called wp_mail_smtp.
Two database tables are created as well:
wp_mailsmtp_tasks_meta
wp_mailsmtp_debug_events
There were no error’s logged with define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); and define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); activated when uninstalling the plugin and then re-installing and activating.
Hi @carmpocalypse,
thank you for verifying that the uninstall works as expected.
What you described after activating the plugin again is really strange…
You verified that the wp_mail_smtp row does not exist in the wp_options DB table, where our plugin stores all the settings that are used on the settings page where you can also see the Google ID and secret… That’s really strange and I don’t know where these details are pulled from if our settings are not present in the DB…
Are you maybe using any browser extensions that might populate those inputs automatically?
Could you please try to access your WP admin dashboard from a different browser, just to eliminate this case?
The other thing that could populate those fields are our plugin constants, but you already said you didn’t add anything to the wp-config.php file. Maybe just make a quick search in this file or any custom code (plugin or theme) you might have, for “WPMS_ON”, this is our main constant that enables all other constants if used. You can also check more info on the constants that are being used in our plugin here.
Thank you, again for your patience and working with us to try and figure out what is going on.
Take care!
@capuderg
Hello,
I do not have any browser extensions that would populate the fields. There are also no constants in my wp-config.php that are related to the plugin.
I am not able to use a different browser at this time until later tonight. However, the problem would still exist even when using another browser as there are multiple issues. One issue with the data still being saved in the fields and the other issue with not being able to save different settings, including using a different SMTP service.
With that said, would OPcache play a factor in interferring with how the plugin functions? I run OPcache and also use Docket Cache (https://wordpress.org/plugins/docket-cache/). Tonight I can disable it and then try the SMTP plugin and see if that may be causing issues with the re-installation. I will keep you up to date.
@capuderg
@jaredatch
After removing the WP Mail SMTP plugin, then flushing OPcache via Docket Cache (also disabled it), I re-installed WP Mail SMTP and all my data was gone and the installation was perfect. I connected my Gmail by filling out the Client ID and Secret Key again and saved settings just fine.
The issue was with OPcache. I guess it saved the WP Mail SMTP settings in its cache and caused a conflict with re-installing the WP Mail SMTP plugin. I am not sure if it is directly related to Docket Cache or OPcache itself. Not sure if you guys can investigate this further to test if your plugin is actually compatible with OPcache or if it was Docket Cache storing the cached files and somehow the data from WP Mail SMTP was being displayed through those cached files?
Hi @carmpocalypse,
thank you for investigating this further and figuring out what was causing it.
About OPcache… I checked in WP core and there is no automatic OPcache clearing being done when a plugin is installed or uninstalled. I think most of the hosting companies who support OPcache have their own plugin which usually clears the cache for certain WP Core hooks.
If you’re self hosting, I guess the best practice would be to clear cache after each plugin uninstall, just to be sure.
Thank you again for working with us and sharing all the details.
Have a nice day!
As Gregor mentioned, thanks for helping dive deeper into this.
I know in 5.5 WordPress core added better opcache support so that cache is cleared when WP/plugins are installed/updated (https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/36455).
Seems that isn’t a part of the plugin uninstall routine, but I don’t see a trac ticket for that either 🤷♂️
