🧰 What features are packed inside the CU Debug Tool?

Our plugin is a lightweight, modular WordPress debugging toolbar pinned to the bottom of your frontend-visible only to admins. We guarantee zero impact on your end users and feature a sleek, dark interface that stays completely out of your way.

You get 12 powerful modules right at your fingertips:

• Dumps – A var_dump() alternative that won’t mess up your layout.
• Log Viewer – View and clear your debug.log without ever touching FTP.
• ACF Fields – Inspect ACF fields for the current page (including post fields, block fields, and option fields).
• Hooks – A handy search tool for callbacks attached to specific hooks.
• Rewrites – Easily test and debug your permalink rules.
• Globals – Check environment variables, constants, and the currently active template.
• Inspector – Get a quick preview of your database options (get_option).
• Registry – Track Cron events and play “Shortcode Detective.”
• Assets – A complete list of all loaded scripts and stylesheets.
• Mails – Intercept and review emails sent via wp_mail().
• SQL Monitor – On-demand database query analysis.
• Tools – Flush rewrites, clear transients, and run quick email tests.

🏁 Before You Dive In: First Launch

To kick things off, install the plugin and drop this constant into your wp-config.php file:
define( ‘CU_DEBUG’, true );

Boom! From now on, the debugger bar will pin itself to the bottom of every page on your frontend (it stays out of your admin dashboard). And remember: the plugin is visible only to logged-in admins!

🔍 The Dumps Tab: Debug without breaking your site

Thanks to the built-in cu_dump() function, you can swap out your standard var_dump() anywhere in your code.

Why is it better? Wrapping var_dump() in <pre> tags is a massive hassle. With cu_dump(), the entire variable output is neatly routed straight to a dedicated tab. Plus, every single dump shows you exactly which file and line of code triggered it.

It’s clean, it’s convenient. And if you happen to debug on production (yeah, we know you shouldn’t, but let whoever hasn’t done it under a tight deadline cast the first stone! 🥸), your data stays completely hidden from the public eye.

Heads up: Leaving cu_dump() in your code while the plugin is active won’t break anything.
However, if you disable or delete the plugin, any leftover functions will trigger a fatal error.
We highly recommend clearing out all dumps before pushing your code to production!

🕵️‍♂️ Checking your debug log without firing up FTP? Why not!

Digging through logs via FTP can be incredibly frustrating. With our plugin, you get instant access to view and quickly clear your debug.log file directly from your browser.
Of course, if your site hits a fatal error and fails to load entirely, the plugin won’t load either – you’ll still need to fall back on FTP for those worst-case scenarios. But if you’re hunting down errors that don’t break the site or just want to check error_log() entries, this is the absolute perfect solution.

To use the Log tab, make sure you have these lines in your wp-config.php:

• define( ‘WP_DEBUG’, true );
• define( ‘WP_DEBUG_LOG’, true );
• define( ‘WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY’, false );

🏗️ Previewing ACF Data – No more manual dumping!

This tab is neatly split into three modules:

• Post Fields – ACF data for field groups using the “Post Type” condition.
• Block Fields – Data for the “Block” condition.
• Option Fields – All fields added via an Options Page.

We tailored these modules specifically to our own development style, which saves us a massive amount of time. It works a lot like the Dumps tab, but with zero typing required – you instantly see the exact ACF fields you’re using to build your blocks or subpages.

🌐 Globals – Your “must-have” tab

This is hands down one of our favorite sections. With it, you can instantly check:

• Init File: Find out exactly which template file is rendering the current page (e.g. front-page.php).
• Environment: WordPress version, language, time zone, permalink structure, and server type.
• PHP Config: Core settings like memory_limit, time_limit, max_input_vars and max_upload_size.
• Page Data: The ID, post type, and slug of the current page.
• User Data: The ID, login, email, and role of the currently logged-in user.
• Page Weight: Insights into how many resources your WordPress site is consuming.
• Theme: Name, version, author, and text domain for translations.
• wp-config Constants: Quickly verify if debug mode is active, check the environment type, see if cache is enabled, check the WordPress memory limit, and much more.
  

Sure, you could dig up all of this manually, but why waste the time? Here, you have all the crucial info right in one place.

Liking the plugin? Check it out on the official wordpress.org repository!

⏱️ SQL Monitor – Track queries only when you need to

By design, the CU Debug Tool is built to be lightweight. That’s why the database query monitor works strictly on demand. If you actually need to dive into this data, just click the button to activate it, and you’ll immediately see a full list of queries along with their execution times.

✨ More CU Debug Tool Features

That’s not all! You also get full access to:

• Hooks – Check callbacks for all hooks along with their priorities. Click the info icon to find the most commonly used hooks so you don’t have to type them in manually.
• Rewrites – Enter a URL and see exactly which rewrite rule is handling it.
• Inspector – Type in any database option (get_option) and inspect its contents.
• Registry – Preview Cron events and defined shortcodes (complete with the exact file and line of code).
• Assets – A full list of scripts and stylesheets loaded on the current page – no need to dig into the browser console.
• Mails – Preview emails sent via wp_mail() (requires a page refresh).
• Tools – List and clear transients, hit the “Flush Rewrites” button, or send a quick test email.
  

🤔 FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions