WordPress plugin, theme, and PHP version tracking across every client site

The portfolio inventory that updates itself.

How many of your 40 WordPress sites are running PHP 8.3? Which clients still have WooCommerce 7.x? When did Client D’s theme last update? Is anyone running a plugin version with a known vulnerability?

These questions should take seconds to answer. In practice, they take 40 WordPress admin logins — or a spreadsheet someone updated three weeks ago.

The System channel captures stack-level signals from every connected CMS installation: plugin versions, theme versions, CMS core versions, PHP versions, and environment details. Every change — every plugin update, every core bump, every PHP migration — becomes an event in the client’s project timeline.

What the System channel captures

Stack snapshots: Periodic captures of the full environment — CMS core version, every installed plugin with its version number, active theme and version, PHP version, and server environment details. The snapshot is the “current state” view of the client’s stack.

Plugin and theme lifecycle: Plugin installed, plugin updated (with from/to version numbers), plugin deactivated, theme changed, theme updated. Each event is timestamped and attributed to the client project.

Core updates: CMS core update available, core update applied. When WordPress 6.5 ships, you see which clients have updated and which haven’t — without checking each site individually.

Environment changes: PHP version changes, server configuration updates, hosting migrations. When a hosting provider upgrades PHP from 8.1 to 8.3, the event appears in the timeline for every affected client.

Why stack signals need a timeline

A version inventory is useful. A version inventory with a timeline is powerful.

The scenario: Client X’s contact form stops working on Tuesday. The developer checks the Burrow timeline and sees: plugin.updated on Monday at 11pm — WooCommerce auto-updated from 8.1.0 to 8.2.1. The Forms channel shows form.submitted volume dropped to zero at 11:02pm. The System channel provided the “what changed” and the Forms channel provided the “what broke.”

Without the System channel, the investigation starts with “did anything change recently?” — a question that requires checking ManageWP’s update logs, WordPress admin screens, and hosting panel activity. With the System channel, the answer is already in the timeline.

Portfolio-wide visibility

Your agency dashboard shows every client project with their System channel signals. At a glance:

• Which clients are running WordPress 6.4 vs. 6.5?
• Which sites have plugins with available updates?
• Which clients are still on PHP 8.1 before the hosting provider’s deprecation deadline?
• When did each client’s stack last change?

That portfolio view replaces the spreadsheet that’s always three weeks stale. The System channel updates itself every time a plugin changes, a core version bumps, or an environment shifts.

Integrations that feed this channel

• WordPress: Core version, plugin versions, theme version, PHP version, environment details
• Craft CMS: Core version, module versions, PHP version
• Statamic: Core version, addon versions, PHP version
• ExpressionEngine: Core version, addon versions, PHP version

How agencies use the System channel

Maintenance reporting: Monthly digests include: “12 plugin updates applied, WordPress core updated to 6.5, PHP version: 8.3.” The invisible maintenance work becomes a documented section of the client narrative.

Incident correlation: Plugin updates alongside form failures, checkout errors, and monitoring alerts. The “what changed?” question is answered before anyone asks it.

Compliance and auditing: The System channel is an audit trail of every stack change. When a client asks “what’s running on our site?” the answer is current, timestamped, and complete.

CMS version tracking use case | Maintenance reporting | WordPress integration | Craft CMS integration | Forms channel