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

System Requirements

Before installing, verify your WordPress site meets these requirements:
RequirementMinimumRecommended
WordPress5.0+Latest version
PHP7.4+8.0+
MySQL5.6+8.0+
HTTPSNot required✅ Enabled
Permissionsmanage_options capabilityAdmin role
Network Requirements:
  • Outbound HTTPS connections allowed
  • Access to api.watchmantower.com (port 443)
  • Firewall allows WordPress plugin API calls
Most modern WordPress hosting environments meet these requirements by default.

Installation Methods

There are three ways to install the Watchman Tower plugin:
  • WordPress Admin (Easiest)
  • Upload ZIP File
  • FTP / SSH Upload
  • WP-CLI (Developers)
Best for: Most users, no technical knowledge needed

Step-by-Step

1

Access Plugins Page

  1. Log in to WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins → Add New
2

Search for Plugin

  1. In the search box (top right), type: “Watchman Tower”
  2. Press Enter or click search icon
3

Install

  1. Find the Watchman Tower plugin in results
  2. Click Install Now button
  3. Wait for installation to complete (5-10 seconds)
4

Activate

  1. Click Activate button that appears
  2. You’ll be redirected to the Plugins page
  3. Look for “Watchman Tower” in the active plugins list
[Screenshot: WordPress plugin search and install]Installation complete! Proceed to Setup →

Post-Installation Verification

After activation, verify the plugin is working:
1

Check Plugin is Active

Go to Plugins page - “Watchman Tower” should show “Deactivate” button
2

Look for Menu Item

In WordPress admin sidebar, you should see “Watchman Tower” menu item
3

Access Dashboard

Click Watchman Tower menu → should open plugin dashboard
4

Verify Entry Screen

You should see the connection entry screen with two options:
  • Connect with existing account
  • Create new account
If you don’t see the menu item or dashboard, try: - Hard refresh browser (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R) - Clear WordPress cache (if using caching plugin) - Check for JavaScript errors in browser console - Verify you have admin permissions

Troubleshooting Installation

Error: The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive in php.iniSolution: Increase PHP upload limitsVia php.ini:
upload_max_filesize = 64M
post_max_size = 64M
Via .htaccess:
php_value upload_max_filesize 64M
php_value post_max_size 64M
Via wp-config.php:
@ini_set('upload_max_filesize', '64M');
@ini_set('post_max_size', '64M');
Then restart web server and retry.
Error: Could not create directory or Installation failedCause: WordPress doesn’t have write permissions to /wp-content/plugins/Solution (SSH):
# Fix permissions
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/
chmod 755 /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/
Alternative: Use FTP upload method instead
Checks:
  1. Hard refresh browser (Ctrl+Shift+R)
  2. Clear WordPress cache
  3. Check if you have manage_options capability:
    current_user_can('manage_options'); // Should be true
    
  4. Check for PHP errors in debug.log:
    tail -f wp-content/debug.log
    
  5. Deactivate and reactivate plugin
Still not working? Check for plugin conflicts:
# Disable all other plugins
wp plugin deactivate --all --skip-plugins=watchman-tower

# Check if menu appears now
# If yes, reactivate one by one to find conflict
Cause: PHP fatal error (often memory limit or syntax)Solution:
  1. Deactivate via database:
    UPDATE wp_options 
    SET option_value = '' 
    WHERE option_name = 'active_plugins';
    
  2. Check error logs:
    tail -100 /var/log/apache2/error.log
    # or
    tail -100 /var/log/nginx/error.log
    
  3. Increase PHP memory:
    // wp-config.php
    define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
    
  4. Retry activation
Error: bash: wp: command not foundSolution: Install WP-CLI
# Download
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar

# Make executable
chmod +x wp-cli.phar

# Move to system path
sudo mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp

# Verify
wp --info
Full WP-CLI installation guide →