Title: Understanding plugins/database in Network
Last modified: August 20, 2016

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# Understanding plugins/database in Network

 *  [Shasta](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shastaw/)
 * (@shastaw)
 * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/understanding-pluginsdatabase-in-network/)
 * My server is set up so that I need to manually upgrade items via FTP. Recently
   I upgraded a plug-in and got an internal server error 500. Restoring to the old
   version didn’t help, nor did deleting that plugin, so I headed to the database.
 * Once there I checked the contents of the wp_options table’s active_plugins and
   didn’t find a reference to the one I’d just removed, so I put in the “no plugins”
   value: `a:0:{}` to turn everything off.
 * It fixed the site, so I went into the admin and started turning on the plug-ins
   I wanted. Out of curiousity I checked the field I’d just made “empty” to watch
   it change as I added plugins back.
 * Only it didn’t change. Further, there are some plugins I have network active 
   which didn’t show up there before, I now realize.
 * Could someone explain to me how plug-ins work for network systems? Since I have
   to upgrade manually I’m guessing I’ll see this again.
 * Also, why didn’t removing the changed plugin directory help?

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [Drew Jaynes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/drewapicture/)
 * (@drewapicture)
 * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/understanding-pluginsdatabase-in-network/#post-2860970)
 * Hi shastaw
 * You might have more luck asking your question in the [Multisite](http://wordpress.org/support/forum/multisite)
   forum. I’m not a mod, so I can’t move it there for you.
 *  Thread Starter [Shasta](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shastaw/)
 * (@shastaw)
 * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/understanding-pluginsdatabase-in-network/#post-2860971)
 * That’s a good idea — I don’t think I can move it either, but perhaps a moderator
   will if they see this. Otherwise maybe I’ll post there too later if I don’t get
   an answer. :/
 *  Moderator [Samuel Wood (Otto)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/otto42/)
 * (@otto42)
 * WordPress.org Admin
 * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/understanding-pluginsdatabase-in-network/#post-2860991)
 * Few points:
 * – In multisite, each separate site has its own options table. The normal “wp_options”
   table is the options table only for the “main” site.
 * – Sitewide options are actually stored in “wp_sitemeta”.
 * – Network-activated plugins will be in the wp_sitemeta table and have a key of“
   active_sitewide_plugins”.
 * – Deleting a plugin always works. I mean, it can’t be running if it’s not actually
   there. _However_, if you’re using certain types of PHP opcode-caching mechanisms,
   then what’s “running” on the site may be stored in memory until the cache is 
   cleared. Generally this isn’t a problem unless you have some strange configuration,
   standard servers don’t do that.
 *  Thread Starter [Shasta](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shastaw/)
 * (@shastaw)
 * [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/understanding-pluginsdatabase-in-network/#post-2861008)
 * Thanks Otto. I appreciate the pointers to the other fields.
 * I was surprised that removing the plug-in didn’t work too. I completely eliminated
   the directory from the server — still an internal server error 500.
 * I’m not convinced it was caching though…after I set the wp_options.active_plugins
   to a:0:{} and the site came back I tried putting back the previous value (which
   did not list the plug-in I’d just tried to upgrade) and the site went back to
   the internal server error. Removed it and it was ok again.
 * I initially assumed that the plug-in hadn’t gotten disabled, but that maybe the
   manual update didn’t cause some db change it needed. That doesn’t really make
   sense either though, because that plugin wasn’t listed in the field that I made“
   empty” (which then fixed the site.)
 * I’m pretty baffled by this one. I’m not a noob to code or to WordPress, but this
   just isn’t adding up for me.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘Understanding plugins/database in Network’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [multisite](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/multisite/)

 * In: [Networking WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/multisite/)
 * 4 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [Shasta](https://wordpress.org/support/users/shastaw/)
 * Last activity: [13 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/understanding-pluginsdatabase-in-network/#post-2861008)
 * Status: not resolved

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