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Requirements & Installation

This guide is for the WordPress administrator installing Dantian Attestation Core, and optionally Dantian Attestation Core Pro, for the first time. It covers what your hosting needs, how to install each plugin, and exactly what the plugins set up on your site when you activate them.

System requirements

Requirement	Minimum	What happens if it isn’t met
WordPress	6.5	WordPress refuses to activate the plugin
PHP	8.1	The plugin doesn’t load, and the admin shows “AttestationCore requires PHP 8.1 or newer. Please upgrade PHP to activate the plugin.”
Database	MySQL or MariaDB as WordPress requires, with tables on the InnoDB storage engine	Activation is blocked with “Plugin activation blocked … requires the InnoDB storage engine”, naming the table that needs converting
Hosting	Any standard WordPress host. No shell access or extra PHP extensions are needed	—
Email	WordPress must be able to send mail (most sites use an SMTP plugin)	Notifications are logged but never arrive. Use Settings → Notifications → Send test email to check
WP-Cron	WordPress’s scheduled-task system must run (it runs when your site gets visits, or from a server cron job)	Expiry alerts and the daily checks don’t run

Multisite: not supported. The plugin is built and tested for single-site WordPress installs.

Web server note: uploaded compliance documents are stored outside the public web folder where the host allows it. If your host doesn’t allow that, they go in a protected folder inside uploads instead. On Nginx, that fallback folder needs a server rule, and the plugin’s self-test tells you the exact rule to add. See Privacy, Security & Data.

Installing the free plugin

The free plugin is distributed as a zip download from the Dantian Health store. It has also been submitted to WordPress.org and is awaiting review. Once it’s listed there, you’ll be able to install it from Plugins → Add New Plugin by searching for “Dantian Attestation Core”.

Download the latest attestation-core zip from the Dantian Health store.
In WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.
Choose the zip file and click Install Now.
Click Activate Plugin.

The free plugin needs no licence key. The store copy checks the Dantian Health store for new versions, and updates appear in Dashboard → Updates like any other plugin. See Licensing & Updates for what that check sends.

While setup isn’t finished, the plugin’s row on the Plugins screen shows a Get started link that opens the setup wizard. After the wizard is complete, the link changes to Settings.

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

Installing the Pro plugin

Pro extends the free plugin and can’t run on its own.

Make sure Dantian Attestation Core (free) version 1.0.0 or newer is installed and active. WordPress won’t let you activate Pro until it is. If the free plugin is later deactivated, Pro shows “Attestation Core Pro requires the AttestationCore free plugin to be installed and active.” and does nothing.
Download the attestation-core-pro zip from your Dantian Health store account.
Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin, upload the zip, and activate it.
A welcome notice lists some of the new Pro features and offers an Enter licence key button.
Go to Attestation Core → Settings → Licence, paste the key from your purchase confirmation into Pro Licence Key, and click Activate Licence.
The tab now shows Status: Active, your licence key (masked, with only the first and last four characters visible), your Plan, and the Expires date (“Never (lifetime)” for a lifetime licence).

Only full site administrators can activate or deactivate the licence. The key is checked once a day. If it stops being valid, Pro keeps working for a 7-day grace period before its features switch off. Full details are in Licensing & Updates.

If you use the Australian RTO module, go to Settings → General, set Industry to RTO — Registered Training Organisation (Australia), and save. Then use Re-run the setup wizard, which now includes a Units of Competency step.

What activating the plugin creates

Free plugin

On activation, the free plugin:

Creates 17 database tables using your WordPress table prefix, for example wp_attestation_core_trainers and wp_attestation_core_documents. They hold profiles, credentials, documents, evidence, attestations, the notification log, the admin action log and the file access log.
Adds the “Trainer / Assessor” WordPress role. The role is only a label and carries no special permissions. Portal access comes from having a linked, active compliance profile, not from the role.
Gives the Administrator role all Attestation Core management permissions.
Creates the private documents folder. Where the host allows, this is one level above the WordPress folder, outside the web root. Otherwise it’s a protected folder inside uploads. Deny-access files are written into the folder either way.
Seeds seven default document types: Professional qualification, First Aid certificate, Working With Children Check, Industry qualification, Current CV, National Police Check, and Continuing development evidence. You can rename, edit or remove them.
Seeds two default evidence categories: Currency Evidence and Role-Specific Evidence. The RTO module renames these.
Schedules the daily background task. Its first run is 2:00 am UTC the following day (around midday in eastern Australia), and it repeats every 24 hours. It checks document expiry, sends reminder emails and re-checks that the private folder is protected.
Schedules a one-off storage security self-test that runs about 30 seconds later and warns you if the private folder can be reached from the web.
Creates a unique signing secret for this site, used to fingerprint attestation records.
Opens the setup wizard on your next admin page load, the first time the plugin is ever activated. See the Quick Start.

Re-activating, or updating to a new version, re-runs the table, role, folder and seeding steps safely. Existing records and your edits to document types are never overwritten.

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

Pro plugin

On activation, Pro:

Creates its own additional database tables (plans, departments, webhooks, scheduled reports, RTO events and similar) and adds Pro columns to some free tables.
Seeds a Default Validation Template used by the RTO Validation Panels feature, and three starter RTO compliance events due 12 months from activation: ASQA Re-registration Review, Annual Self-Assessment Against Standards, and Marketing Materials Review.
Shows the one-time welcome notice to users who can activate plugins (it expires after an hour if no one sees it).
Schedules its daily licence check about an hour later.

Deactivating and deleting

Deactivating the free plugin stops the daily background task. No data is removed.
Deactivating Pro stops all Pro scheduled tasks (licence check, scheduled reports, RTO milestone and validation panel checkers, SMS sending, webhook delivery). No data is removed.
Deleting the free plugin always removes its settings (including organisation details), its scheduled tasks and security secrets such as the signing secret and stored credentials. Compliance records are kept by default: the tables, uploaded files, the staff role and its permissions. To erase everything when you delete the plugin, first tick Erase all data on uninstall under Settings → Advanced. See Privacy, Security & Data.

Worked example

A registered training organisation with 25 trainers on a managed WordPress host. The IT contractor checks the host’s control panel (PHP 8.2, WordPress 6.6, InnoDB tables) and installs an SMTP plugin. She uploads and activates the free plugin, and the setup wizard opens. She exits it, uploads and activates Pro, and enters the licence key on Settings → Licence. She then sets Industry to the RTO option, saves, and clicks Re-run the setup wizard to get the RTO wording and the Units of Competency step. Finally she checks Settings → General → System status to confirm the daily task shows “Scheduled. Next run: …”.

Troubleshooting

“Plugin activation blocked … requires the InnoDB storage engine.” One or more tables use an older storage engine. Ask your host to convert the named table to InnoDB, then activate again.
The wizard didn’t open after activation. The automatic redirect only happens once, on the first activation, and only for a user who can manage settings. Open it yourself from Attestation Core → Settings → General → Re-run the setup wizard, or the Get started link on the Plugins screen.
System status says “Not scheduled”. The daily task is missing. Deactivate and reactivate the plugin to reschedule it.
Pro shows “requires the AttestationCore free plugin”. Activate the free plugin first, or update it to 1.0.0 or newer.