Requirements and Installation

This guide covers what your site needs before you install Dantian Clinical Training Logbook, how to install the free plugin and the optional Pro add-on, and exactly what happens the moment you activate each one. It is written for site administrators.

Requirements

Both plugins share the same minimum requirements:

Requirement	Minimum
WordPress	6.7 or later
PHP	8.1 or later
Other plugins	None for the free plugin. Pro requires the free plugin to be installed and active.

A standard WordPress install is enough. No page builder, LMS or membership plugin is needed — students and trainers are ordinary WordPress users.

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

Pro has a few extra, optional dependencies that only matter if you use the matching feature:

• WordPress cron running normally — Pro’s weekly reminder emails, licence checks and background storage clean-up are scheduled tasks. See Reminder emails.
• A Bunny.net storage zone or a Google Drive service account, only if you want evidence stored in the cloud instead of on your server. See Cloud storage.
• A licence key from the Dantian Health Studio store, which enables automatic Pro updates. See Licensing and updates.

Installing the free plugin

From the WordPress plugin directory:

1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin.
2. Search for Dantian Clinical Training Logbook.
3. Click Install Now, then Activate.

From a zip file (for example, a copy downloaded from the Dantian Health Studio store):

1. Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.
2. Choose the zip file and click Install Now.
3. Click Activate Plugin.

After activation, the plugin’s row on the Plugins screen gains a Settings link that opens Plugin Settings.

Updates for the free plugin

How the free plugin updates depends on where your copy came from:

• Installed from the WordPress plugin directory — updates arrive through the normal Dashboard → Updates screen, like any other directory plugin.
• Downloaded from the Dantian Health Studio store — that copy includes its own update channel and checks the Dantian Health Studio store for new versions. Updates still appear on the normal Dashboard → Updates and Plugins screens. No licence key is needed for the free plugin.

Updating never removes your levels, clinic types, requirements or student entries. When an update includes database changes, they are applied automatically the next time the site loads.

Installing the Pro add-on

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

Pro is an add-on, not a standalone plugin. It extends the free plugin and needs it installed and active first.

1. Purchase Dantian Clinical Training Logbook Pro from the Dantian Health Studio store and download the Pro zip.
2. Confirm the free plugin is installed and active.
3. Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin, upload the Pro zip, click Install Now, then Activate Plugin.
4. Go to Clinical Training Logbook → Plugin Settings → Licensing, paste your licence key and click Activate License.

If the free plugin is missing or inactive:

• WordPress lists the free plugin as a required plugin on Pro’s row and will not let you activate Pro until the free plugin is active.
• If the free plugin is later deactivated while Pro stays active, Pro does not load any of its features. Instead, administrators see the notice “Dantian Clinical Training Logbook Pro requires the Dantian Clinical Training Logbook (Free) plugin to be active.” Reactivate the free plugin and Pro resumes where it left off — nothing is deleted.
• If your free plugin is older than the version Pro needs, administrators see “Dantian Clinical Training Logbook Pro requires Free version 1.0.0 or newer. Please update the Free plugin.” Pro stays inactive until the free plugin is updated.
• On a server running PHP older than 8.1, Pro shows “Dantian Clinical Training Logbook Pro requires PHP 8.1 or newer.” and does nothing else.

Pro updates are delivered from the Dantian Health Studio store while your licence is active. Your licence controls updates only: Pro features keep working if a licence lapses, and students are never locked out. See Licensing and updates.

What activation does

Activating the free plugin:

1. Creates the logbook’s database tables — levels, clinic types, interventions, requirements, clinic minimums, treatment entries and their evidence links, and the admin Activity Log.

2. Protects the private evidence folder — the folder that holds uploaded evidence files is locked against direct web access. See Evidence storage and privacy.

3. Gives each student page a home, in this order for each page:

   • Keep — if a page is already assigned and published, it is left alone.
   • Adopt — otherwise, if a published page already contains the shortcode, that page is assigned.
   • Create — otherwise, a new published page is created and assigned.

   Page created	Address	Contains
   Log a Treatment	/log-a-treatment/	[dclb_entry]
   My Logbook	/my-logbook/	[dclb_overview]

4. Queues a one-time welcome notice. The next time an administrator opens the Plugins screen or Plugin Settings, a notice reads “Clinical Training Logbook is active. Finish setting up your program →”. It appears once and does not return.

Activation does not add the new pages to your site’s navigation menus — that is up to you.

Activating Pro:

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

1. Creates Pro’s own database tables — cohorts, student allocations and their history, the treatment audit log, reflection feedback, and the cloud evidence index.

2. Gives Pro’s three front-end surfaces a page, using the same keep → adopt → create order:

   Page created	Address	Contains
   Reflective Journal	/reflective-journal/	[dclb_journal]
   My Usage	/my-usage/	[dclb_usage]
   Trainer Workspace	/trainer-workspace/	[dclb_trainer_workspace]

3. Schedules the background clean-up that removes cloud evidence files after a student’s data is erased.

4. Shows a one-time welcome notice listing the newly unlocked tools, with links to Student Allocations and Reflections Overview.

5. Hides the free plugin’s Upgrade to Pro tab and replaces the read-only Logbook Entries and Reflections screens with Pro’s full versions.

Deactivating either plugin keeps all of your data and pages. It only stops scheduled tasks. Data is removed only if you uninstall the plugin and have switched on the data-removal options — see Plugin settings and pages.

First steps after activation

1. Click Finish setting up your program → in the welcome notice, or go to Clinical Training Logbook → Logbook Configuration. The Program setup wizard opens on your first visit and walks you through five steps: add a level, add a clinic type, add interventions, set requirements, and set clinic minimums. See Program catalogue.
2. Open Clinical Training Logbook → Plugin Settings → Site Setup and check:
   • Eligible student roles — Subscriber is ticked by default. Administrators are always included so you can test.
   • The Entry form page and Overview page pickers point at the pages created during activation.
   • Pro: the Reflective Journal page, Usage page and Trainer Workspace page pickers.
3. Add the student pages to your site menu, then log in as a test student and submit a test entry.

The Quick start walks through all of this in order.

Worked example

A naturopathy college installs the free plugin on its student portal. Activation creates Log a Treatment and My Logbook. The college already had a page called “Clinic Logbook” containing [dclb_overview], so activation adopts that page instead of creating My Logbook. Only Log a Treatment is new. The administrator adds both pages to the “Students” menu. When the college later buys Pro, activation creates the Journal, Usage and Trainer Workspace pages, and the setup checklist gains three “Publish the … page” steps that are already ticked.

Troubleshooting installation

Symptom	Cause and fix
Pro cannot be activated; WordPress says a required plugin is missing	The free plugin is not installed or not active. Install and activate it first, then activate Pro.
Red notice: “…Pro requires the Dantian Clinical Training Logbook (Free) plugin to be active.”	The free plugin was deactivated after Pro was activated. Reactivate it. Your data is intact.
Red notice: “…Pro requires Free version 1.0.0 or newer…”	Update the free plugin from Dashboard → Updates.
Red notice: “…requires PHP 8.1 or newer.”	Ask your host to move the site to PHP 8.1 or later.
Two “My Logbook”-style pages after reinstalling	Activation only adopts published pages. A draft or private page holding the shortcode is not adopted, so a new page is created. Assign the page you want on Site Setup and delete the extra one.
A student page you deleted reappears	Activation and database upgrades recreate a surface’s page when its assigned page is no longer published. Assign a different page on Site Setup if you moved the shortcode, or trash the recreated page.