Managing products
What every badge means, what every button does, and the one thing FCHub will never do to a product.
Two screens do the work: Overview, which opens with how things stand, and Products, which lists everything.
Overview
The top of the page answers the only question worth asking on arrival. When nothing needs you, it says so — Everything is ticking along nicely — and when something does, it says how many things and what kind.
Underneath sit three counts:
| Count | What it means |
|---|---|
| Active products | How many of the suite are switched on here, out of how many exist |
| Useful updates | Installed products with a newer release waiting |
| Compatibility issues | Products this site is not ready to run — a requirement it does not meet, or one FCHub cannot confirm |
The last one deliberately counts both. A requirement FCHub could not check is unconfirmed rather than unmet, and the card underneath says which of the two it is.
If anything is waiting — an update, a requirement, or a product reporting a problem of its own — a Worth a look panel spells out each one in a sentence. Then the products themselves, split into On this site and The rest of the suite. The second group is there so you know what exists, not to nag you.
Products
The same cards, all of them, with a filter at the top:
| Filter | Shows |
|---|---|
| All | Every product in the suite |
| Installed | The ones present on this site, switched on or off |
| Updates | Installed products with a newer release waiting |
Each filter carries its own count, so you can tell there is nothing to see without clicking to find out.
What the badges mean
Every card wears the badges that apply to it, and no more.
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | Installed and switched on |
| Switched off | Installed, but not running |
| Not installed | Not on this site at all |
| Update ready | A newer release is available for an installed product |
| Version unclear | Installed, but FCHub cannot tell which version — so it will not guess whether an update applies |
| Cannot run here | This site does not meet one of the product's requirements |
| Cannot be checked | A requirement FCHub cannot verify on this site, so it left the product alone |
| Needs attention | The product itself is reporting a problem, and says what in a line beneath |
Underneath the badges, a version line: the latest release for something not installed, the installed version for something current, and both — 1.3.0 installed · 1.4.0 ready — when an update is waiting. On the rare product that is installed but does not declare a version, it reads a bare Installed, which pairs with the Version unclear badge above it.
What the buttons do
Every card leads with one obvious next step, decided by the state it is in.
| State | Primary action | Also offered |
|---|---|---|
| Not installed | Install and activate | Install only |
| Installed, switched off | Switch on | — |
| Active, update waiting | Update to 1.4.0, with the real version named | Switch off |
| Active and current | Open settings, where the product has one | Switch off |
And in full:
- Install and activate — downloads the product, hands it to WordPress to install, then switches it on.
- Install only — downloads and installs it, and leaves it switched off. Installing never switches anything on unless the button said it would.
- Switch on — activates a product that is already installed.
- Update to x.y.z — downloads the named release and installs it over the current one. Your settings and data are the product's, not FCHub's, and are left alone.
- Switch off — deactivates the product. Always available on an active product, even one that has become incompatible, because trapping you with a plugin you cannot turn off would be a bold reading of "calm".
Alongside them, three links where they apply: Settings (the product's own admin screen), Documentation, and Release notes.
While an action runs, the button says what it is doing — Installing…, Switching on…, Updating… — and the card refuses to start a second one on top of it.
There is no Delete button
FCHub never deletes a product. Removing a plugin, along with whatever it decides to clean up on the way out, is the WordPress Plugins screen's job, and it already does that job properly. FCHub does not offer a second, more dangerous route to the same place.
When a button is missing or refuses
Two reasons, and FCHub says which.
This site cannot run it. The card explains it in a sentence naming the requirement and what you actually have — Memberships needs PHP 8.3. This site runs 8.1. — or, for a missing platform, Wishlist needs FluentCart installed and active first. The button stays visible so you know what the next step would be; it simply will not fire until the requirement is met.
Your account is not allowed. Installing, updating, and switching plugins on and off are administrator privileges. If yours does not have them, the button will not fire and the card says why — Your account cannot make that change on this site. The System page names exactly which of the three is missing.
Either way, nothing changes until something can change. Read Troubleshooting when an action does fail — every failure message tells you whether anything was altered, because "did that install happen?" is not a question anyone should have to guess at.