Can’t identify originator of Update Error Message

  • Hi there,

    every now and then I see an error message on my backend saying:

    Update error: No license key set. Purchase a valid license to receive updates and support.

    My trouble is that I can’t find out who is telling me that and the message shows up although all plugins, themes and translations actually are up-to-date.

    The message appears on top of both the update screen and the plugins screen. See https://ibb.co/iRZ9yw and https://ibb.co/d9RNJw. The linked text “Purchase a valid license” always only refers to the current page itself (/wp-admin/plugins.php or /wp-admin/update-core.php) so that doesn’t help.

    I’ve also activated debugging, but there’s nothing about that in the debug log.

    Is there a way to identify the originator of that message (without having to uninstall and reinstall all the plugins)?

    Thanks for any help,
    Michael

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

  • Hey mischnu!
    If you are using any paid plugin without a license it will not provide an update and that’s the reason why this issue happened and if you have already purchased the plugin you can setup license key to receiving future updates.
    To identify plugin which causes this issue, try to disable all the installed plugins one by one and you will find that plugin that causes this issue and you can even identify plugin using developer tools(F12) using some basic coding skills in your browser.

    Thread Starter Michael

    (@mischnu)

    Thanks, magecomp!

    I’m using some paid plugins, but they all have their license keys set up. If that was the problem, then I sould see one of my plugins showing that there is an update available. But all of my components (plugins, themes, translation) are up-to-date, so there are no updates available.

    I’ve tried the developer tools before, but there’s no hint. See https://ibb.co/mWZsJw.

    Disabling plugins won’t help either. As far as I know, all installed plugins, no matter if they are active or disabled, are checked for updates. So I’d have to uninstall them entirely which I want to avoid.

    Anyway, many thanks!

    Thread Starter Michael

    (@mischnu)

    By the way, when looking closer at the dev tools image (https://ibb.co/mWZsJw), I see that there’s no href value at all. Strange, isn’t it?

    • This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by Michael.

    Deactivated plugins can be checked for updates, but they can’t output their own messages because they’re not running. The message should go away if the plugin is deactivated. Deactivating plugins one by one is the simplest way to find out the culprit.

    EDIT: The lack of a link in the message is probably because they’re using an off-the-shelf library for commercial updates but haven’t configured it with a purchase link.

    Thread Starter Michael

    (@mischnu)

    Thank you, Jacob!

    I thought the message came from the wp core system, but you were right and I could finally find the bad guy. I’ll contact the developer about this.

    Again, thanks to both of you for your support!

    Cheers,
    Michael

    @mischnu What was the plugin that gave you this error?
    I’m getting the same, but I can’t just turn off plugins as its a high traffic site.

    Thread Starter Michael

    (@mischnu)

    Sorry @aaronrobb, I should have posted the result of my research here.

    It was the plugin “Related Posts for WordPress” from Never5. They (quite silently) released a new subscription-based version of their plugin. We’ve had the previous premium version installed, which was a one-time payment plugin.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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