Coming Soon - The Watchman Tower WordPress plugin is currently in development. This documentation is prepared in advance for the upcoming release.

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Before You Disconnect

Disconnecting will:
  • Stop all heartbeat monitoring
  • Remove site from Watchman Tower dashboard
  • Delete all historical monitoring data (after 30 days)
  • Disable all alert notifications
  • Clear stored API credentials
This action cannot be undone automatically.
Consider pausing instead:
  • Temporary maintenance? → Pause monitoring
  • Testing changes? → Pause is reversible
  • Moving hosts? → Pause during migration, resume after
Only disconnect if:
  • Permanently removing the plugin
  • Decommissioning the website
  • Switching to different monitoring solution
  • Site is being deleted

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Disconnect Methods

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What Happens After Disconnection

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Immediate Effects

AspectStatus
Heartbeat sending❌ Stopped
Monitoring active❌ Disabled
Alert notifications❌ Disabled
Dashboard data⏳ Visible for 30 days
WordPress options🗑️ Deleted
Plugin active✅ Still installed
Can reconnect✅ Yes, anytime

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WordPress Plugin State

After disconnection, the plugin:
  • Remains installed and activated
  • Shows entry screen (like first installation)
  • No background processes running
  • No cron jobs scheduled
  • Minimal resource usage
You can:
  • Leave it installed (harmless)
  • Deactivate it
  • Delete it completely
  • Reconnect immediately

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Watchman Tower Dashboard

Site marked as “Disconnected”:
  • Historical data retained for 30 days
  • After 30 days, data permanently deleted
  • Site entry removed from sites list
  • Can be manually deleted immediately

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Data Retention

For 30 days after disconnection: - Site configuration - Historical uptime data - Heartbeat logs - Alert history - Performance metrics Purpose: Recovery in case of accidental disconnection
Immediately on disconnect: - WordPress database options (API key, tokens)
  • Active monitoring tasks - Scheduled heartbeat checks - Pending alerts After 30 days: - All historical data - Site configuration - User associations
  1. Disconnect via plugin or WP-CLI 2. Log in to Watchman Tower dashboard 3. Go to Sites → Your Site → Settings 4. Danger Zone → “Delete Site” 5. Confirm deletion Result: All data deleted within 24 hours

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Reconnecting After Disconnection

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Same Site Reconnection

1

Generate New Token

In Watchman Tower dashboard: - Go to Sites → Add Site - Choose WordPress Plugin - Copy the register token
2

Reconnect in WordPress

  • Open Watchman Tower dashboard - Choose “Connect with existing account” - Paste the register token - Click “Connect”
3

New Instance ID

Site gets a new Instance ID (e.g., WTHB-X7Y9Z1) Note: Previous Instance ID cannot be reused
4

Fresh Monitoring

  • Monitoring starts fresh - No historical data carried over - New uptime calculation begins
You cannot restore previous monitoring data after reconnecting. It’s treated as a new site.

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Troubleshooting Disconnection

Causes: - JavaScript error - AJAX request blocked - Already disconnected Solutions: 1. Check browser console for errors (F12) 2. Hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R) 3. Try WP-CLI method instead: bash wp watchman-tower disconnect --yes 4. Manual database cleanup as last resort
Error: “Failed to disconnect: API error” Causes: - Network issue - Watchman Tower API down - Invalid credentials Solutions: 1. Check API status: https://status.watchmantower.com 2. Force local cleanup: ```bash

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Clear options even if API fails wp option delete wthb_site_id wp option

delete wthb_instance_id wp option delete wthb_api_key wp option delete wthb_heartbeat_interval wp option delete wthb_monitoring_paused ``` 3. Delete from dashboard: Manually delete site in Watchman Tower UI
Causes: - Alert delay (cached) - Multiple sites with same domain - Disconnect didn’t reach API Solutions: 1. Wait 5-10 minutes - alert queue needs to clear 2. Check dashboard: Verify site shows “Disconnected” status 3. Delete site in dashboard: Go to Settings → Delete Site 4. Check for duplicate sites: - Multiple WordPress instances? - Staging + production both connected? - Each needs separate disconnection
Error: “Site already exists” or token error Causes: - Old credentials still in database - Browser cache - Previous instance ID conflict Solutions: 1. Clear WordPress database: bash wp option delete wthb_site_id wp option delete wthb_instance_id wp option delete wthb_api_key 2. Clear browser cache: Ctrl+Shift+Delete → Clear all 3. Use fresh register token: Generate new one if current token > 1 hour old 4. Verify site deleted in dashboard: Should not appear in sites list

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Plugin Deletion vs Disconnection

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Just Disconnecting

Process:
  • Disconnect via dashboard/WP-CLI
  • Keep plugin installed and activated
  • Can reconnect anytime
When to do this:
  • Temporary testing
  • Switching accounts
  • Changing monitoring setup
  • Keeping plugin ready for future

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Full Removal

Process:
  1. Disconnect site first (recommended)
  2. Deactivate plugin
  3. Delete plugin files
Steps:
1

Disconnect Site

Use any disconnection method above
2

Deactivate Plugin

WordPress Admin: Plugins → Find “Watchman Tower” → Deactivate Or WP-CLI: bash wp plugin deactivate watchman-tower
3

Delete Plugin

WordPress Admin: Plugins → Find “Watchman Tower” → Delete Or WP-CLI: bash wp plugin delete watchman-tower
4

Verify Removal

Check plugin no longer appears: bash wp plugin list | grep watchman # Should return: (empty)
Deactivation removes:
  • Scheduled cron jobs
  • Loaded plugin code
  • Admin menu items
Database options remain until manually deleted or plugin fully deleted.

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Emergency Disconnection

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If WordPress is Down

If your WordPress site is inaccessible but still sending heartbeats:
1

Access Watchman Tower Dashboard

https://app.watchmantower.com
2

Delete Site

Sites → Your Site → Settings → Delete Site
3

Stops Immediately

  • Monitoring stops within 1 minute - No more API calls to WordPress - Alerts disabled

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If Locked Out of Both

Contact support: [email protected] with:
  • Site domain
  • Account email
  • Reason for emergency disconnection
Response time: Usually within 1 business day

Pause Monitoring

Temporary alternative to disconnecting

Reconnect Site

How to reconnect after disconnection

Delete Account

Delete entire Watchman Tower account

Support

Need help? Contact us