The Like Button Is Not Showing
Check auto-injection is enabled
Go to Settings → Simple Post Like → Auto Injection and confirm the master toggle is enabled. If it is disabled, the button only appears where you place the [simple_post_like] shortcode manually.
Check the post type is enabled
Go to Settings → Simple Post Like → Post Types and confirm the post type you are viewing is checked. If it is not enabled, neither auto-injection nor the shortcode will render the button for that post type.
Check your theme calls the_content()
Auto-injection hooks into the the_content filter. If your theme renders post content without calling the_content() — for example, by accessing $post->post_content directly — the filter never runs and the button is never injected. Switch to auto-injection disabled mode and use echo spl_like_button() directly in your template instead.
Check for a conflicting plugin
Some caching plugins, page builder plugins, or content optimization plugins suppress or bypass the_content filter. Temporarily deactivate other plugins one by one to identify a conflict. If a conflict is confirmed, use shortcode or PHP template placement as an alternative.
Check the shortcode is correct
If you are using manual placement, make sure the shortcode is spelled correctly — [simple_post_like] with no typos. Test by pasting it into a new post and previewing.
The Like Button Appears Twice
This happens when both auto-injection and a manual shortcode or spl_like_button() call are active on the same page at the same time.
Fix: Either disable the Auto Injection master toggle and use manual placement only, or set the Position on Single Posts to None and let the shortcode or template function handle placement on that page.
See Auto Injection for details.
Clicking the Like Button Does Nothing
Check browser console for JavaScript errors
Open your browser’s developer tools (F12), go to the Console tab, and click the like button. Any JavaScript errors will appear here. Common causes are a JavaScript conflict with another plugin or theme script.
Check the AJAX URL is correct
Open the Network tab in browser developer tools and click the like button. You should see an AJAX request to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with a 200 response. If the request is missing or returns a non-200 status, a server-side issue is preventing the AJAX handler from running.
Check nonce verification is passing
If the AJAX request returns a 0 or -1 response, the nonce check is failing. This can happen when a caching plugin serves a cached page with a stale nonce. Exclude the page from caching or set a shorter cache expiry.
Check guest likes are enabled
If you are testing as a logged-out visitor and clicking does nothing, confirm Allow Guest Likes is enabled in Settings. When disabled, the AJAX handler rejects requests from unauthenticated users silently.
Like Count Is Not Updating
Hard refresh the page
After liking, the count updates instantly via AJAX without a page reload. If the count appears stale after a reload, your caching plugin may be serving a cached version of the page. Clear your site cache and reload.
Check post meta is writable
The like count is stored in post meta under _simple_post_like_count. In rare cases, a security plugin may block writes to post meta keys prefixed with an underscore. Check your security plugin’s settings and whitelist the _simple_post_like_* keys if necessary.
Like Count Shows Wrong Number
Check for duplicate meta keys
If the like count appears inflated or inconsistent, there may be duplicate _simple_post_like_count meta entries for the post. This can happen after a failed migration or import. Check the wp_postmeta table for duplicate entries for the affected post ID and remove the extras, keeping only one row per key.
Check after a plugin conflict deactivation
If you recently deactivated another likes plugin, it may have left its own meta data that is being counted alongside Simple Post Like’s data. Simple Post Like only reads its own _simple_post_like_count key, so conflicting data from other plugins should not affect it — but verify by checking the post meta directly.
Font Awesome Icons Are Not Showing
Check Font Awesome is loading
Open browser developer tools, go to the Network tab, and filter by font-awesome. Confirm a Font Awesome stylesheet is being loaded — either from your theme, another plugin, or Simple Post Like’s own fallback from cdnjs.
Check for a Font Awesome version conflict
If your theme loads Font Awesome 4 and Simple Post Like expects Font Awesome 6, the icon classes will not match. Simple Post Like uses fa-regular fa-heart and fa-solid fa-heart — Font Awesome 6 class syntax. If your theme loads FA4, the icons will be missing. Either update your theme’s Font Awesome to version 6, or use CSS to override the icon with your own approach.
Check the handle registration
Simple Post Like checks wp_style_is( 'font-awesome', 'registered' ) before loading its own copy. If your theme registers Font Awesome under a different handle — for example font-awesome-6 or fa-icons — the check will not detect it and both copies will load. Dequeue one of them to resolve the duplication.
Settings Are Not Saving
Check user permissions
Settings are saved via a form POST to admin-post.php. The save handler verifies a nonce and checks that the current user has the manage_options capability. If you are logged in as an Editor or lower role, the save will be silently rejected. Log in as an Administrator to configure the plugin.
Check for a security plugin blocking POST requests
Some security plugins block or flag POST requests to admin-post.php. Check your security plugin’s logs for blocked requests and whitelist the spl_save_settings action if necessary.
Getting Further Help
If you have worked through this guide and the issue persists:
- Check the FAQ for your specific question
- Search existing GitHub Issues to see if the problem has been reported
- Open a new GitHub Issue with the following information:
- WordPress version
- PHP version
- Active theme name and version
- List of active plugins
- A clear description of the problem
- Any relevant browser console or server error messages