Introduction To the Request Logging System

Request Logging system is a silent site traffic watcher which you can use to find out what exactly is going on your site.

So, you can think of the this system as nothing more than a window into web requests to your WordPress site.

In everyday use, you wouldn't need it to be active. It'll use resources that you otherwise don't need to use.

But, if you're concerned about a sudden performance drop, or feel that your site is subject to some sort of attack, you can enable it to get a more informed view on your traffic.

Please note that the Request Logging doesn't use a lot of resources. But it will perform an database insert (write) on each page load. It's a tiny execution and not one that will impact your page loading.

Shield performs this database write at the very end of execution so any page loading for the visitor will complete 99.99% and then the database execution starts.

In this way there'll be no noticeable performance impact from it if, for example, your SQL server is having trouble at the time.

This system is enabled by default and you can use Traffic: HTTP Request Log Viewer to review and monitor your site traffic logs, including live traffic.

Provides real-time visibility into all incoming traffic to your WordPress site by temporarily logging all requests, without any exclusions. This feature can be useful for monitoring site activity, debugging issues, or gaining insights into user behavior.

Read more about this feature here.

Important: The traffic log expiry will also depend on the WP Activity Log as the Activity Log relies on data from the traffic log too.