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Uninstalling AI Content Writer

This guide explains how to safely deactivate and uninstall the AI Content Writer plugin from your WordPress site, and what happens to your data during the process.

Important: Always back up your site (files and database) before uninstalling any plugin, especially one that creates custom post types and scheduled tasks.

Table of Contents

Before You Uninstall

Before uninstalling AI Content Writer, consider the following:

1. Do You Still Need Generated Content?

Uninstalling the plugin does not automatically remove the posts it has already created. This is by design to prevent data loss.

  • Published posts remain in your WordPress database
  • You can keep, edit, or delete those posts manually at any time

2. Export or Review Important Content

If you plan to remove or change your site significantly:

  • Export posts generated by AI Content Writer if you want an offline backup
  • Review campaigns and logs to understand what has been generated

3. Back Up Your Site

Always perform a full backup before uninstalling:

  • Database backup
  • Files backup (wp-content, including plugins and uploads)

This ensures you can restore if anything unexpected happens.

Step 1: Deactivate the Plugin

First, deactivate AI Content Writer from your WordPress admin.

  1. Sign in to your WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins
  3. Find AI Content Writer in the list
  4. Click the Deactivate link under the plugin name

Deactivation will:

  • Stop the plugin’s admin interfaces from loading
  • Prevent new cron tasks from being scheduled
  • Leave existing posts, campaigns, and logs untouched

Note: Deactivation does not remove data or files. It just turns the plugin off.

Step 2: Delete the Plugin

After deactivating, you can delete the plugin files.

  1. On the same Plugins → Installed Plugins page
  2. After deactivation, you’ll see a Delete link under AI Content Writer
  3. Click Delete
  4. Confirm the deletion when prompted

WordPress will:

  • Remove the plugin directory from wp-content/plugins/
  • Trigger the plugin’s uninstall routine (if present)

AI Content Writer includes an uninstall handler (uninstall.php or equivalent logic inside the main plugin file) that cleans up plugin-specific data.

If you remove the plugin files manually via FTP without using the Delete button in the admin, the uninstall routine will not be triggered and data will remain in the database.

What Data Is Removed

During a proper uninstall (via the Delete button in the Plugins screen), AI Content Writer typically removes:

  • Plugin options saved in the WordPress options table
    • General settings (e.g., campaign defaults, host settings)
    • API keys and configuration (Gemini, ChatGPT, Pexels)
  • Custom post types and their metadata (depending on implementation)
    • Temporary or internal post types such as campaigns/logs may be removed
    • Some CPTs may be cleaned via uninstall logic
  • Cron events registered by the plugin
    • Hooks like aicw_generate_title, aicw_generate_content, aicw_generate_thumbnail, aicw_publish_posts, aicw_cleanup_logs

To know exactly what your version removes, you can inspect the uninstall logic in:

  • uninstall.php (if present)
  • Or uninstall-related code paths in ai-content-writer.php or includes/ if the uninstall hook is defined there

What Data May Remain

For safety, AI Content Writer generally does not delete your published content.

The following may remain after uninstall:

1. Generated Posts

  • All WordPress posts, pages, or custom post type entries created by AI Content Writer remain in the database
  • This includes content generated via Articles, RSS, Gemini, and ChatGPT campaigns

You can:

  • Keep them as part of your site
  • Manually edit them
  • Or bulk delete them if you no longer want AI-generated content

2. Media Library Items

  • Images downloaded and attached as featured images (e.g., from Pexels) remain in the Media Library
  • These files are not automatically removed to avoid breaking existing content

3. Residual Database Entries (Advanced)

In some setups, you may still see:

  • Custom tables (if any were created by older versions)
  • Some transient or orphaned options

These are usually harmless but can be removed by an experienced developer if necessary.

Cleaning Up Manually (Optional)

If you want to fully remove all traces of AI Content Writer, you can do some manual cleanup.

Warning: Manual database edits can permanently delete data. Make sure you have a backup first.

1. Remove AI-Generated Posts

If you assigned a specific category or tag to AI-generated posts (recommended), you can:

  1. Go to Posts → All Posts
  2. Filter by that category or tag (e.g., AI Generated)
  3. Select all posts
  4. Use Bulk Actions → Move to Trash

You can also filter by author if you used a dedicated â€śAI Writer” user.

2. Remove Unused Media

Over time, you may want to clean up images that are no longer used.

Options:

  • Use a media cleaner plugin to detect unused attachments
  • Carefully remove images that are not referenced by any posts

3. Remove Custom Tables or Options (Developers)

Advanced users can:

  • Inspect the database for tables or options with a prefix related to the plugin (e.g., aicw_)
  • Remove them manually, only if you are sure they belong to AI Content Writer and are safe to delete

Always test changes on a staging site before applying them to production.

Disabling Cron Jobs

After uninstall, the plugin’s scheduled tasks should be removed automatically. If you had a real server cron job calling wp-cron.php, you may keep it if other plugins rely on WordPress cron.

If you want to stop WP-Cron entirely (not just for this plugin):

  1. Edit wp-config.php
  2. Add or set:
define( 'DISABLE_WP_CRON', true );
  1. Ensure you have a proper server cron calling wp-cron.php if other functionality depends on it.

Note: This is a global WordPress setting and not specific to AI Content Writer.

Reinstalling After Uninstall

If you change your mind or want to start fresh with AI Content Writer:

  1. Install the plugin again from the WordPress Plugin Directory or upload the ZIP
  2. Activate it via Plugins → Installed Plugins
  3. Reconfigure your settings under AI Content Writer → Settings
  4. Recreate campaigns as needed

Because uninstall usually removes plugin options, you’ll be starting from a clean slate (unless you still have some residual data by design).

Best Practices

  • Always deactivate before deleting the plugin
  • Take a full backup before uninstalling
  • Consider preserving AI-generated content that is valuable to your audience
  • Use a dedicated category/tag/author for AI-generated posts to simplify future cleanup
  • Review logs and campaigns before uninstalling to understand what has been created

Last Updated: November 28, 2025 | Plugin Version: 2.1.0

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