Slugs Manager Shows “No Slugs Found” – How to Fix

Problem Description #

You open Slugs Manager (Tools → Old Slugs) and the plugin reports that no old slugs were found, but you know some posts/pages/products previously had other slugs (e.g., post-name-2) and expect them listed.

Common symptoms:

• The plugin interface shows “No slugs found” or an empty list.

• You know the site previously had duplicate slugs or older permalinks but they aren’t listed.

• After renaming or restoring posts, you still don’t see old entries.

Cause:
Typical causes include:

1. The slugs were already cleaned up by another plugin, process, or manual DB cleanup.

2. The plugin’s scan is constrained by post type/taxonomy selection or filters; your old slugs belong to post types the plugin is not scanning.

3. Database rows for old slugs are missing/cleaned or stored in a different table/format (plugins or custom code sometimes store redirects/old slugs outside WordPress core tables).

4. Permissions or caching of admin page leading to stale UI. WordPress.org+1

Solution – step-by-step #

1. Confirm source of the old slugs
   1. Log into phpMyAdmin (or use a DB tool) and inspect the wp_postmeta and wp_posts tables for meta keys or entries containing old slug strings (search %old_slug% or the exact slug text). If old slugs are absent from the DB, the plugin correctly shows nothing.

   2. If you use a redirects / SEO plugin (Redirection, Yoast Premium, Rank Math) check their records, those plugins sometimes keep a history of old URLs or 301 rules.

2. Ensure correct post types are available to the plugin
   1. Open Tools → Old Slugs and check plugin settings (if any) for which post types the plugin scans. If the plugin filters to post only but your old slugs were for custom post types (products, CPTs), expand scanning to include them.

3. Clear admin caches and reload
   1. Clear any admin cache plugins/caching layers and reload the Tools page (use browser incognito). Sometimes stale caches hide updated results.

4. Check for other cleanup processes
   1. Ask site admins whether someone recently ran a DB cleanup or used another plugin (or custom script) that pruned old slugs. If so, there may simply be nothing left to show.

5. If you still expect entries: run a deeper manual scan
   1. Use a DB search (via WP-CLI or phpMyAdmin):

WP-CLI example (developer/SSH):

wp db query “SELECT * FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_value LIKE ‘%-2%’ LIMIT 50;”

2. This helps identify where old slugs are stored. If entries are found in unusual meta keys, share them with support.

1. Contact support with evidence
   1. If DB checks show old slugs exist but plugin still reports none, collect: WordPress version, plugin version, sample slug(s), and DB query results and open a support ticket. Provide screenshots and exact steps to reproduce.
      

Prerequisites #

• Admin access and (optionally) DB access or WP-CLI.

• Plugin up to date (check WPFactory docs/changelog). WPFactory

Additional Notes / Prevention #

• Periodically run DB scans or centralize slug handling with a single plugin to avoid fragmentation.
  

Document any custom code that manipulates slugs so you know where data lives.