Stealth Mode is a powerful feature in Simple History that allows you to run the plugin completely in the background, hidden from the WordPress admin interface.
This is ideal for web agencies, developers, and administrators who want to monitor website activity without making the logs visible to other users.
With Stealth Mode enabled, Simple History remains fully functional, but it does not appear anywhere in the WordPress admin interface—keeping your activity logs discreet and secure.
Two Levels of Stealth
Stealth Mode offers two ways to control visibility:
- Full Stealth Mode – Completely hides Simple History from all users.
- Partial Stealth Mode – Hides the plugin but allows specific users to access the logs.
What’s Hidden in Stealth Mode?
Regardless of which mode you choose, Simple History will be removed from:
- The Admin Menu
- The Admin Bar
- The Dashboard
- The Installed Plugins List
Even though the GUI is hidden, the activity log remains accessible through:
- REST API
- RSS Feed
- WP-CLI Commands
How Partial Stealth Mode Works
Partial Stealth Mode allows you to grant access to selected users while keeping the interface hidden from others. A key feature is support for wildcard email matching, meaning you can allow access to all users with emails from a specific domain.
For example:
- Allow all users from
@mycompany.org
- Specify individual users like
admin@example.com, user@anotherdomain.com
Example Configurations
To enable Full Stealth Mode, add this to your wp-config.php
:
define('SIMPLE_HISTORY_STEALTH_MODE_ENABLE', true);
Or use a filter:
add_filter('simple_history/full_stealth_mode_enabled', '__return_true');
To enable Partial Stealth Mode, define allowed users:
define('SIMPLE_HISTORY_STEALTH_MODE_ALLOWED_EMAILS', '@example.com, user1@mycompany.org');
Or use a filter:
add_filter('simple_history/stealth_mode_allowed_emails', function () {
return ['@example.com', '@anotherdomain.org', 'admin@mycompany.org'];
});
Checking Stealth Mode Status
With WP-CLI, you can quickly verify the Stealth Mode status:
$ wp simple-history stealth-mode status
Example output:
+----------------------+----------+
| Mode | Status |
+----------------------+----------+
| Full Stealth Mode | Disabled |
| Partial Stealth Mode | Enabled |
+----------------------+----------+
To view logs while Stealth Mode is active, use:
$ wp simple-history event list --count=5
Why Use Stealth Mode?
- Keep activity tracking private – No visible logs in the WordPress admin.
- Ideal for agencies and security teams – Monitor actions without notifying users.
- Flexible access control – Select who can view logs while keeping the interface hidden.