File Change Finder WordPress Plugin

Author: Sanjay Shankar
WordPress.org Profile: sanjuacodez
GitHub Repository: aco-file-change-finder Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/sanjayshankar

A comprehensive WordPress plugin that monitors your website for file and database changes. It helps detect unauthorized modifications, malware infections, and other security issues by scanning your WordPress installation directory and monitoring key database tables.

Features

• Automatic File Scanning: Regularly scans your WordPress root directory for changes
• Database Monitoring: Tracks new/deleted users and new/modified posts with granular control
• Scan History: Keeps a detailed history of the last 10 scans with an accordion view
• Email Notifications: Sends detailed email alerts when changes are detected (with truncation for large reports)
• Configurable Settings: Customize scan frequency, exclusions, and notification preferences
• Manual Scanning: Trigger scans manually from the admin interface
• Recent Changes Display: View recent file changes directly in the WordPress admin
• Security Best Practices: Built with WordPress security standards in mind
• Performance Optimized: Configurable scan depth and file size limits

Installation

1. Upload the aco-file-change-finder folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
3. Go to Tools > File Change Finder to configure the plugin settings

Configuration

General Settings

• Email Recipients: Comma-separated email addresses for notifications
• Enable Email Notifications: Toggle email alerts on/off
• Scan Frequency: Choose between hourly, twice daily, or daily scans

Advanced Settings

• Exclude File Extensions: Skip specific file types (e.g., log, tmp, cache)
• Exclude Directories: Skip entire directories (e.g., cache folders)
• Maximum Scan Depth: Limit directory traversal depth (1-10)
• File Size Limit: Skip files larger than specified size (MB)

Usage

Automatic Monitoring

Once activated, the plugin will automatically:

1. Create a baseline of your current files
2. Run scheduled scans based on your frequency setting
3. Send email notifications when changes are detected
4. Cache recent changes for display in the admin interface

Manual Operations

• Run Manual Scan: Trigger an immediate scan from the admin interface
• Send Test Email: Verify your email notification settings
• View Recent Changes: See the latest detected changes in the admin panel

File Change Types

The plugin detects three types of changes:

• New Files: Files that have been added since the last scan
• Modified Files: Existing files that have been changed
• Deleted Files: Files that were present in the previous scan but are now missing
• Database Changes: New/Deleted Users and New/Modified Posts

Security Features

• Nonce Verification: All AJAX requests are protected with WordPress nonces
• Capability Checks: Only users with manage_options capability can access settings
• Data Sanitization: All user inputs are properly sanitized and validated
• Safe File Operations: Uses WordPress APIs and PHP safe functions
• Exclusion Defaults: Automatically excludes common cache and temporary files

Performance Considerations

Default Exclusions

The plugin automatically excludes:

• Cache directories (wp-content/cache, etc.)
• Temporary files (.tmp, .log, etc.)
• Version control directories (.git, .svn)
• Node modules and build artifacts

Optimization Settings

• File Size Limit: Default 10MB to prevent memory issues
• Scan Depth: Default 5 levels to balance thoroughness and performance
• Transient Caching: Uses WordPress transients to prevent concurrent scans

Extending the Plugin

The plugin is built with extensibility in mind:

Action Hooks

• afcf_changes_detected: Fired when file changes are detected

Example Usage

// Add custom functionality when changes are detected
add_action('afcf_changes_detected', 'my_custom_change_handler');

function my_custom_change_handler($changes) {
    // Your custom logic here
    // $changes contains arrays of new_files, modified_files, deleted_files
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Scans Not Running: Check that WordPress cron is working properly
2. High Memory Usage: Reduce file size limit or scan depth
3. Email Not Sending: Verify WordPress mail configuration
4. False Positives: Add problematic files/folders to exclusion lists

Debug Information

Check the following if you encounter issues:

• WordPress error logs
• PHP error logs
• Plugin's scan result messages
• Email test functionality

Technical Requirements

• WordPress 5.0 or higher
• PHP 7.4 or higher
• Sufficient PHP memory for file scanning operations
• Working WordPress cron system
• Proper file system permissions

File Structure

aco-file-change-finder/
├── afcf.php (Main plugin file)
├── uninstall.php
├── admin/
│   ├── class-afcf-admin.php
│   └── partials/
│       └── afcf-admin-display.php
├── includes/
│   ├── class-afcf.php
│   ├── class-afcf-activator.php
│   ├── class-afcf-deactivator.php
│   ├── class-afcf-i18n.php
│   ├── class-afcf-loader.php
│   ├── class-afcf-scanner.php
│   └── class-afcf-notifier.php
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── afcf-admin.css
│   └── js/
│       └── afcf-admin.js
└── public/
    └── class-afcf-public.php

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPL v2 or later.

Support

For support and feature requests, please:

• Visit the GitHub repository to report issues
• Check the WordPress.org profile for other plugins
• Contact the author at: me@sanjayshankar.me

Changelog

Version 1.2.0

• New: Granular Database Scanning settings (Users, Specific Post Types)
• Improved: Email notifications now include Database Changes
• Improved: Email reports are truncated if too long with a "View More" link
• Improved: DB Scanner respects selected post types

Version 1.1.0

• New: Database monitoring (Users and Posts)
• New: Scan History with accordion view
• New: Separate tables for New, Modified, and Deleted files
• New: Lines of Code (LOC) column in scan results
• Improved: Email notifications with detailed file info
• Improved: UI/UX with tabbed interface and better layout

Version 1.0.0

• Initial release
• File scanning and change detection
• Email notifications
• Admin interface with settings
• Configurable exclusions and scanning options
• Security best practices implementation