DualFix Pro Documents
Version 1.0
Scan, review, preview, verify, and clean WordPress with a clear recovery path and scope-specific controls.
Start with installation →Meet DualFix Pro
DualFix is a WordPress maintenance workspace for inspecting cleanup candidates, protecting dependencies, creating backups, and reviewing changes.
Follow the operation flow in order. A scan identifies candidates; the later preview and verification steps decide what may safely proceed.
The WordPress menu in this version is DualFix, and the plugin list shows ARN Smart DualFix. Use the Pro package for these workflows.
Install and activate DualFix Pro
Prepare a recovery point
Take a current hosting or other independent backup of files and database before installing a maintenance tool. Keep a copy outside the site you will maintain.
Upload and activate
Open Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin, select the DualFix Pro ZIP, install, and activate ARN Smart DualFix. Plugin upload on multisite normally requires the network administrator.
Activate Pro
Open DualFix. Enter the complete one-time ARNA activation code on the license screen and select Activate. Confirm its active status, site address, and verification details before maintenance work.
While unlocked, license details are available through Settings → License. If verification fails, read the latest server-check and retry information. Offline fallback is a bounded temporary approval, not a subscription renewal.
Understand the dashboard and scopes
The dashboard shows module status, available recommendations, and recent recorded activity. Empty or neutral health indicators mean there is not enough measured data yet.
| Workspace | Scope |
|---|---|
| Cleanup Launcher | Full Cleanup or a selected maintenance area. |
| Media Hygiene | Original uploads, generated thumbnails, and media dependencies. |
| Residue Cleaner | Theme/plugin residue with registry protection. |
| WooCleaner | WooCommerce-specific candidates and related data. |
| Backup & Restore | Backups, snapshots, restore planning, and retention. |
| Smart Policies / Tools | Maintenance policies, verification, diagnostics, and logs. |
Each cleanup page carries its own scope through Scan, Preview, Verify, Cleanup, and Audit. A Media Hygiene scan does not mean every WordPress cleanup area has been scanned.
Review the Setup Wizard
Open DualFix → Setup Wizard before your first cleanup. Review the detected environment and proposed protection profile.
- Inspect the WordPress, server, database, active-theme, plugin, and store context shown by the wizard.
- Review the media and ecosystem assumptions. Keep the protection required by your current theme and plugins.
- Check the maintenance advisor’s recommendations and the user configuration it proposes.
- Confirm the profile only after verifying that it matches the site. Complete the setup steps exposed by the wizard.
Environment detection provides evidence about the current installation. If the site changes significantly, revisit the wizard and protection profile before making cleanup decisions.
Set conservative protection first
Open Settings → General. Start with Safe Mode enabled, modest batch sizes, and a high confidence threshold.
- Keep protection for original uploads and WooCommerce orders enabled when relevant.
- Choose a batch size your host can process without timeouts.
- Review the confidence threshold; lowering it expands what may qualify and requires more careful candidate review.
- Select Save General Settings, then confirm the values before scanning.
The Cleanup Launcher offers Safe, Balanced, and Aggressive profiles. Use This Profile changes batch/threshold settings; it is not itself a cleanup. The Aggressive profile disables Safe Mode and should be considered only after reviewing its effect on the specific site.
Backup, Notification, Automation, Advanced, and License tabs have their own settings. Save the tab you edited rather than assuming that navigation saves it automatically.
Create and verify a backup
Open Backup & Restore → Backup Center before any deletion workflow.
Choose the coverage
Select Full Backup, Database Only, Media Only, or Plugins/Themes Only according to what you need to protect. A partial backup covers only its selected area.
Wait for the result
Monitor the queued backup operation. Confirm that a completed backup appears in Recent Backups and review its coverage and status. A clicked button is not proof that a usable backup exists.
Verify and retain a copy
Use Verify for the backup where available, and inspect the result. Download a copy for independent retention. Ensure that the backup you intend to restore is marked ready for that operation.
Use Storage & Retention and the backup settings to control schedules, retention, and available delivery options. Check storage capacity before a large full backup and confirm that retention will not remove the only recovery point you need.
Follow the guarded cleanup flow
Open Cleanup Launcher for Full Cleanup, or the dedicated module page for a narrower scope.
Scan
Select Run First Scan or Run Scan. Wait for the scoped scan to complete. Inspect counts, severity, and candidate details. Scanning does not delete the candidates.
Review and create a preview
Review the findings and the protection/dependency information, then select Create Preview. The preview classifies candidates such as safe to clean, needs review, protected, snapshot required, or verify required.
Verify before cleanup
Select Run Verify. Review relation, dependency, risk, and cleanup-gate results. Resolve blocked or uncertain candidates first. Verification approval is part of the automatic safety-snapshot path.
Confirm only the approved cleanup
Check the scope and the approved items again, then select Confirm Cleanup and read its confirmation. Cleanup removes the items Verify approved as safe, with the required safety snapshot created before execution.
Audit the result
Inspect the automatic post-cleanup audit and completion state. Use Run Audit or Re-run Audit where offered, then check the actual website and affected functions.
Interpret findings and locked controls
A candidate is an item to inspect, not an instruction to delete it.
| State | Your next step |
|---|---|
| Safe to clean / Safe | Review its context and proceed only through the remaining gated steps. |
| Needs review | Investigate the relation, owner, or uncertain classification before proceeding. |
| Protected | Keep it protected unless you have verified why that protection is no longer needed. |
| Snapshot / Verify required | Complete the required protection and verification stage. |
| Critical / Dangerous | Read the specific issue and resolve it before authorizing maintenance. |
Preview becomes available after a completed scan with candidates. Verify depends on a preview. Cleanup depends on verification and an allowed gate. Audit depends on an executed cleanup. An unavailable button often means its prerequisite has not been completed.
Rebuild Preview or Re-run Verify when the interface requires refreshed evidence. A newly changed site can invalidate assumptions from an older review.
Use Media Hygiene carefully
Open Media Hygiene. Review the detected theme profile before accepting generated-image candidates.
- Review Auto-detect active theme or choose a manual preset appropriate to the actual site.
- List any custom protected dimensions and filename patterns used by your theme, plugins, or layouts.
- Save the Media Profile, then run the Media Hygiene scan.
- Inspect original/generated image counts, referenced files, and candidate details.
- Complete Preview and Verify before confirming the scoped cleanup.
Original uploads and generated thumbnails have different roles. A thumbnail may still be needed by a theme or a custom layout even if you do not recognize its dimensions. Test galleries, product images, responsive layouts, and original downloads after maintenance.
If you use WebPix or another image-conversion tool, confirm which generated formats and references remain in use before cleanup.
Review theme and plugin residue
Open Residue Cleaner and inspect the Plugin Registry.
- Review active adapters, protected metadata/option keys, generated file patterns, and known adapter coverage.
- Run the residue scope’s scan.
- Inspect the owner and relation of each leftover candidate. An inactive plugin can still have data you intend to use again.
- Complete Preview and Verify, retaining protected or uncertain records.
- Confirm only the reviewed approved cleanup and inspect the audit.
Uninstalling a plugin, deactivating it temporarily, and removing its stored data are different decisions. Retain configuration or content you may need when reactivating the plugin.
Use WooCleaner on store data
Open WooCleaner on a WooCommerce site and use its scoped flow.
- Confirm that the store context and protections are correct.
- Take a suitable current backup and keep order protection enabled.
- Scan and inspect candidates, including their links to products, orders, and other store records.
- Create Preview, run Verify, and read every blocked/protected condition.
- After approved cleanup, test product pages, cart, checkout, account pages, and representative existing orders.
Do not equate old or inactive store data with disposable data. Historic orders and their relations may be operationally important. A module health score does not certify a completed checkout test.
Restore a backup or cleanup snapshot
Use Backup & Restore when you need to recover a known earlier state. Identify the exact backup or cleanup run first.
Choose the recovery method
Snapshots & Rollback lists cleanup-related safety snapshots. Restore Snapshot rolls back database rows changed by that cleanup run. A normal backup restore has its own coverage and can overwrite broader live data.
Preview a backup restore
In Restore Wizard, select a restore-ready backup, configure the offered scope, and select Preview Restore Plan. Confirm what the plan will overwrite before proceeding.
Confirm and verify recovery
Use Restore Now only for the intended recovery point and read the confirmation. The product takes a fresh safety backup before backup restoration. Monitor completion, inspect logs, and test the actual restored website.
Keep access to hosting backups and administration outside WordPress in case a failed site cannot open the plugin’s restore interface.
Introduce automation after manual review
Open Settings → Automation. Begin with automation disabled while you validate manual scans and recovery.
- Choose scan schedules and frequencies appropriate to your site.
- Review the selected Auto Mode and its snapshot requirements.
- Confirm the policies, protection thresholds, and backup configuration before enabling cleanup automation.
- Save Automation Settings and inspect the next scheduled event and execution history.
- Review the first scheduled result and disable or adjust the specific rule if it does not behave as intended.
Scheduled scan and automated cleanup are different settings. A schedule requires a working WordPress cron/runtime environment. Use notification settings to monitor failures and completed work; test delivery before relying on it.
Smart Policies, tools, and diagnostics
Smart Policies groups WooCommerce, WordPress Core, Media, and Performance policies. Review a policy’s scope, fields, and enforcement state before enabling it.
Some rules are observation only. Use Run Policy Verification and inspect the result and Policy History rather than assuming that an enabled card changed site behavior.
Tools provides diagnostic and logging views. Use the current error and the operation’s reference ID to identify a failed step. Inspect health and hardening findings as specific issues, not a guarantee that the entire site is secure.
Settings → Advanced contains advanced behavior and configuration portability. Export a configuration before broad changes. When importing, review the proposed configuration and domain-specific values rather than blindly applying another site’s settings.
Your first maintenance session
- Confirm license activation and review the Setup Wizard.
- Keep protections enabled and automation off.
- Create and verify a current backup; retain an independent copy.
- Choose one narrow scope and run a scan.
- Read candidates, create Preview, and resolve uncertain items.
- Run Verify and confirm that the required snapshot and gate are ready.
- Authorize only the intended cleanup, inspect Audit, and test the site.
- Record the run and recovery references before planning another scope.
For an update, back up first, install the verified complete new Pro package, and inspect protection settings and existing recovery records. A plugin update should not be used as an occasion to delete retained maintenance history.
Troubleshooting
Cleanup is locked
Check that the same scope has a completed scan, a current preview, completed verification, an allowed cleanup gate, and required protection. Read the specific gate reason and correct it; do not disable protection merely to unlock the button.
A job does not finish
Inspect its queue/error state and server logs. Check scheduling, available resources, filesystem access, and batch size. Determine whether it already changed data before repeating it.
Media is classified as protected or uncertain
Review the active theme profile, dimensions, patterns, and references. Keep uncertain candidates until their use is established.
A backup is not restore-ready
Review its completion, verification result, archive accessibility, and storage state. Create and verify a new suitable backup; do not rely on an incomplete one.
Something changed unexpectedly after cleanup
Pause automated cleanup, identify the scope/run, inspect Audit and logs, and choose the appropriate snapshot or backup recovery. Review the restore plan and coverage before overwriting current data.
License or protected-file warning
Read the connection diagnostic and domain/code state. For a file-integrity problem, reinstall the official complete package and check whether upload/extraction finished.
For support, provide DualFix/WordPress/PHP versions, the scope and run reference, the failed stage, and sanitized logs. Omit ARNA codes, backup credentials, private database content, and customer data.