Troubleshooting Common Issues

Identify common configuration, display, shortcode, metadata, WooCommerce, and data-storage issues in AIVOW Lite.

When to use this guide

Use this guide when a saved setting, public badge, banner, shortcode, metadata output, transparency page, WooCommerce disclosure, or Reports summary does not behave as expected.

Start with the basic checks

Before investigating a specific feature:

1. Confirm that AIVOW Lite is installed, active, and updated to the intended version.
2. Save the affected AI system, post, page, product, taxonomy term, or plugin settings again.
3. Open the public frontend rather than relying only on the WordPress editor preview.
4. Reload the page in a private browsing window.
5. Clear any active page, object, CDN, WooCommerce, or optimization cache.
6. Confirm that the active theme or page builder has not replaced the relevant WordPress output.
7. Check whether another plugin changes content rendering, shortcodes, metadata, schema, cookies, or WooCommerce templates.
8. Reproduce the issue on one specific page before changing multiple settings.

A badge does not appear

Check the following:

• the AI content label is enabled for the affected content;
• the post, page, product, or public custom post type is Published;
• the selected AI usage status has been saved;
• the badge is not hidden by its configured placement or appearance;
• custom theme CSS does not hide or position the badge outside the visible area;
• cached frontend HTML does not contain an older version of the page;
• the affected content type is publicly accessible;
• the frontend template includes the normal WordPress content output expected by the plugin.

For a taxonomy archive:

• reopen the category, tag, product category, or product tag;
• confirm that the disclosure fields were saved;
• open the public term archive rather than an individual post or product;
• confirm that taxonomy archive output is supported by the active theme.

For the WooCommerce Shop page:

• confirm which WordPress page is assigned as the Shop page;
• configure the disclosure settings on that assigned page;
• open the public Shop archive;
• remember that labelling an individual product does not automatically label the Shop page.

Badge text or appearance is incorrect

Review the global badge settings and the affected content-level settings.

Badge text can depend on:

• item-level custom badge text;
• global custom badge text;
• the built-in label associated with the selected AI usage status.

Confirm that the intended text source is saved.

Also review:

• icon selection;
• text and background colors;
• opacity;
• shadow;
• placement mode;
• fixed corner and offset;
• whether dragging is enabled for the fixed badge;
• responsive behavior on smaller screens.

A visitor’s dragged badge position is not saved after the page is reloaded.

Clear cached CSS and frontend output after changing badge appearance.

If badge dragging, banner acknowledgement, or interaction gate acknowledgement fails only when JavaScript optimization is enabled, exclude aivow-ai-disclosure-manager/assets/js/frontend.js from delay, combination, or rewriting and test again.

A disclosure shortcode produces no output

Confirm that the shortcode uses a valid numeric AI system ID:

[aivow_disclosure id="123"]

Then verify that:

• the referenced AI system still exists;
• the system status is Active;
• the shortcode was added using a WordPress Shortcode block;
• the page was updated after inserting the shortcode;
• the shortcode is not inside an element that escapes or displays shortcode text as code.

Unknown, deleted, Draft, or Inactive systems do not produce public disclosure output. AIVOW Lite does not impose a quantity limit on Active systems or public outputs. If the system status was recently changed, save the record and test the shortcode again on the frontend.

An interaction gate does not work

Use the complete paired shortcode:

[aivow_interaction_gate id="123"]

Protected content

[/aivow_interaction_gate]

Check that:

• both opening and closing shortcode tags are present;
• the referenced AI system exists;
• the system is Active and publicly available;
• the protected content is placed between the shortcode tags;
• the shortcode was added using a Shortcode block;
• browser JavaScript is enabled;
• browser local storage is available;
• a security or optimization plugin is not delaying or removing the required script.

The interaction gate affects only content placed inside the paired shortcode.

If the content is already visible because the gate was acknowledged earlier, test in a private browsing window or clear the relevant local-storage value in that browser.

Interaction gate acknowledgement remains browser-specific and does not appear in the AIVOW Lite Logs tab.

The global banner does not appear

Confirm that:

• the global banner is enabled;
• the banner settings were saved;
• the active theme includes the standard frontend hooks required for plugin output;
• another banner, popup, consent tool, or theme element is not covering it;
• cached HTML or JavaScript is not serving an earlier configuration.

In Acknowledgement mode, the browser may remember the current notice fingerprint in a cookie.

To test the initial state:

• use a private browsing window;
• clear the relevant browser cookie;
• change and save relevant banner content or configuration if a new notice version should be shown.

The global AI banner is not a cookie consent platform and does not control cookies created by other plugins or services.

The transparency page is empty or incomplete

Confirm that the page contains:

[aivow_transparency_page]

Then verify that:

• the shortcode remains in a Shortcode block;
• the page is Published;
• the public page URL is correct;
• the public disclosure fields contain appropriate content;
• the page was not converted into a static copy that no longer uses the shortcode;
• cached output has been cleared.

The generated transparency page is a standard WordPress page. Its surrounding title, introduction, blocks, and layout can be edited without removing the shortcode.

If the AI systems section is empty, confirm that at least one AI system is Active and publicly available.

Lightweight AI Metadata does not appear

Open AIVOW → AIVOW Settings → Metadata and confirm that Lightweight AI Metadata is enabled.

Also confirm that:

• the affected content or taxonomy term has an AI badge enabled;
• the page is a supported public context;
• the content is Published;
• the raw HTML source is being inspected rather than only the visible page;
• the relevant Shop page or taxonomy archive metadata option is enabled when applicable;
• cached HTML has been cleared.

Search the raw page source for:

• aitm-ai-content;
• aitm-human-reviewed, but only when the content uses the AI-generated, human reviewed status.

The aitm-ai-content value should match the AI usage status selected for the labelled content.

The aitm-human-reviewed value is expected only for content explicitly assigned the AI-generated, human reviewed status. Its absence is expected for AI-assisted, No AI Used, and other statuses that do not represent confirmed human review.

Lightweight AI Metadata settings do not add AI metadata to every page. Output is limited to labelled and supported contexts.

Metadata is not expected on:

• unlabelled content;
• search results;
• author archives;
• date archives;
• unsupported general post type archives.

AIVOW Lite 1.0.0 does not generate JSON-LD or modify structured data produced by WordPress, the active theme, Yoast SEO, WooCommerce, or other plugins. Any JSON-LD found in the page source is generated independently by another component of the site.

WooCommerce output does not appear

For an individual product:

• edit the product under Products → All Products;
• confirm that the AI content label is enabled;
• update the product;
• open the single product page.

For the Shop page:

• confirm the page assigned under the WooCommerce Shop configuration;
• edit that assigned WordPress page;
• save its AI disclosure settings;
• review the public Shop archive.

For a product category or product tag:

• edit the relevant term;
• save its disclosure fields;
• open the public taxonomy archive.

Each WooCommerce context is configured separately. Labelling a product does not automatically label the Shop page, product category, or product tag.

If the settings are saved but the output is missing, test with a standard WooCommerce-compatible theme to determine whether the active theme or page builder replaces the expected template hooks.

The Reports summary appears outdated

Open AIVOW → AIVOW Dashboard → Reports and reload the page after saving the relevant configuration.

Confirm that:

• AI system changes were saved;
• Wizard answers were saved;
• banner and metadata settings were saved;
• the transparency page is Published;
• the AI Literacy summary is not excluded under AIVOW → AIVOW Settings → General;
• caches are not serving outdated administrator or object data.

The Reports tab is a current read-only summary. It is not a historical snapshot and does not independently verify administrator-provided information.

AIVOW Lite does not generate downloadable HTML, TXT, or PDF report files.

The Logs tab is empty or unavailable

This is expected in an AIVOW Lite-only installation.

AIVOW Lite does not maintain server-side logs for:

• banner views or acknowledgements;
• interaction gate views or acknowledgements;
• badge views;
• disclosure shortcode activity;
• transparency page views.

Browser acknowledgement storage is not a server-side disclosure log.

Do not expect the Logs tab to populate after enabling a banner, badge, disclosure shortcode, or interaction gate.

Settings are not retained

After changing settings:

1. Use the page’s normal Save or Update action.
2. Wait for the successful save response.
3. Reload the same administrator page.
4. Confirm that the saved values remain selected.
5. Check whether a security, database, object-cache, or admin optimization plugin is blocking the save request.
6. Review the WordPress debug log for errors produced during the save action.
7. Test the same action with unrelated plugins temporarily deactivated one at a time.

For content-level settings, confirm that the post, page, or product itself was updated.

For taxonomy settings, confirm that the category, tag, product category, or product tag was saved.

Do not manually modify plugin database tables unless a current backup exists and the stored structure is fully understood.

Previous settings return after reinstalling AIVOW Lite

This usually means plugin data was preserved during uninstall.

AIVOW Lite preserves its stored data by default.

To remove the data during uninstall:

1. Open AIVOW → AIVOW Settings.
2. Open Data and uninstall.
3. Under Uninstall cleanup, enable Delete all AIVOW Lite data when the plugin is uninstalled.
4. Save the settings.
5. Confirm that the checkbox remains enabled.
6. Deactivate and delete the plugin through Plugins → Installed Plugins.

Enabling the checkbox does not immediately delete data. Cleanup runs during the WordPress uninstall process.

Permanent cleanup cannot normally be reversed without a suitable database backup.

Old output remains after settings change or uninstall

Old badges, banners, metadata, shortcode output, or transparency content may remain in cached pages.

Clear:

• WordPress page cache;
• object cache;
• CDN cache;
• server or hosting cache;
• WooCommerce cache where relevant;
• optimization or minification cache;
• browser cache.

After uninstall, also review published content for inactive shortcodes:

[aivow_disclosure id="123"]

[aivow_interaction_gate id="123"]

...

[/aivow_interaction_gate][aivow_transparency_page]

The generated transparency page remains standard WordPress content and may need to be updated, moved to Draft, or deleted separately.

A PHP warning or compatibility issue appears

Do not assume that every PHP, WooCommerce, theme, or JavaScript warning is caused by AIVOW Lite.

Perform plugin and theme conflict tests on a staging site whenever possible. Deactivating plugins or switching themes on a production site can affect visitors and site functionality.

To isolate the issue:

1. Record the exact error message and affected URL.
2. Confirm the installed WordPress, PHP, WooCommerce, theme, and plugin versions.
3. Reproduce the issue with AIVOW Lite active.
4. Temporarily deactivate unrelated plugins one at a time.
5. Test with a standard WordPress or WooCommerce-compatible theme.
6. Clear caches after each meaningful configuration change.
7. Review the WordPress debug log.
8. Restore the original configuration after testing.

Avoid testing destructive uninstall cleanup on a production site without a verified backup.

Information to collect before requesting support

Collect the following information:

• AIVOW Lite version;
• WordPress version;
• PHP version;
• WooCommerce version, when relevant;
• active theme name and version;
• affected page type;
• exact administrator path used;
• exact shortcode, when relevant;
• whether the AI system is Active;
• whether the issue occurs in a private browsing window;
• cache and optimization tools in use;
• exact error message;
• relevant WordPress debug-log excerpt;
• clear steps for reproducing the issue.

Do not include passwords, license keys, private customer data, AI prompts, chat messages, uploaded files, or other unnecessary sensitive information in a support request.

If the issue remains, use the Support page for general configuration help or the Report a Bug page for reproducible technical defects.