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Installation

Club Player Manager is distributed as a release zip, not through the WordPress.org directory. Installing it is the ordinary upload-a-plugin flow.

1. Get the zip

Download the latest zip from the repository's Releases page. Each release attaches one zip per plugin:

File What it is
club-management-<version>.zip The core plugin. Install this one first.
club-english-fa-<version>.zip Optional — fixtures and results from FA Full-Time
club-mailer-<version>.zip Optional — send club email from members' own mailboxes

Release zips are complete. Composer dependencies are already installed inside them and scoped to the plugin's own namespace, so nothing has to be built on the server and the plugin cannot collide with another plugin shipping the same library.

2. Install and activate

  1. Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
  2. Choose club-management-<version>.zip and select Install Now
  3. Select Activate Plugin

Extract the zip into the plugins directory, keeping the folder name:

cd wp-content/plugins/
unzip ~/Downloads/club-management-1.1.1.zip     # creates club-management/
wp plugin activate club-management              # or activate from the admin

The directory name matters: the companion plugins declare Requires Plugins: club-management and WordPress matches that against the folder.

Activation creates the plugin's database tables. It is safe to run again — activation checks the stored schema version and applies only the migrations that have not run yet, so reactivating an existing install changes nothing.

If activation is refused, WordPress will say why. It is almost always the PHP version: the plugin declares Requires PHP: 8.2, and WordPress blocks activation rather than letting the site fatal.

3. Install the companion plugins (optional)

Install English FA and Club Mailer the same way, after the core plugin. WordPress will not activate either one before it. Neither is required, and each stores its data in its own tables, so you can add or remove one later without touching player records.

4. Set the plugin up

Activation gets the tables in place; it does not configure anything. Work through First-run setup next — the order matters, and doing it in a different one means redoing work.

Updating

Updates are not delivered automatically — there is no update server behind a plugin outside the WordPress.org directory. To update:

  1. Download the new zip from Releases.
  2. Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the new zip, and confirm the overwrite when WordPress offers it. (Over SSH: delete the plugin folder and extract the new one. Deleting the folder is not the same as deleting the plugin from the admin — see the warning below.)
  3. Load any admin page once. Schema migrations run on the version change.

Take a database backup first, as with any plugin update.

Versions move independently

Each plugin's version moves only when its own shipping files change, so a release may bump the core plugin and leave the companions where they are. A companion plugin also declares the minimum core it needs, and refuses to load — with a notice, rather than a fatal — against a core that is too old. Update the core plugin first.

Deactivating and uninstalling

Deactivating stops the plugin and clears its scheduled jobs. Your data stays exactly where it is, and reactivating picks up where you left off.

Deleting the plugin deletes the club's records

Plugins → Delete runs the plugin's uninstall script, which drops every table it created — players, guardians, squads, seasons, registrations, payments, the GoCardless event log and the email log — and removes its options and tokens. There is no confirmation beyond WordPress's own, and no undo.

Take a database backup before deleting, and deactivate rather than delete if you only want the plugin to stop running.

Each companion plugin has its own uninstall script that removes only its own tables, so deleting English FA leaves the club's players untouched.