Are you seeing the “Failed to retrieve settings data” error message when trying to use Invoize on your WordPress site? Don’t worry, this is a fairly common issue that is often easy to fix. This message appears when a plugin cannot retrieve its settings data, typically due to a communication or configuration problem on your site.
Before reaching out to technical support, you can try this simple solution that has worked for many users.
The Solution: Change Your Permalinks Setting #
Although it sounds unrelated, this step is often the most effective way to fix this issue. Simply follow these steps:
- From your WordPress Dashboard, go to Settings and then click Permalinks.
- Take a look at your current permalink setting. If it’s currently set to Plain (usually looks like
?p=123), change it to the Post name option.
- Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.
After you save the changes, go back and check your plugin’s settings page. The error will likely be gone.
Why This Solution Works #
You might be wondering why changing permalinks would fix a plugin error. The answer lies in how WordPress interacts with your server.
When you save your permalink settings, WordPress automatically regenerates the .htaccess file. This file is crucial because it contains rules that tell the server how to handle and route URLs on your site. Sometimes, this .htaccess file can become corrupted, empty, or have a permissions issue. When this happens, the communication between your plugin and the server can be cut off. By forcing WordPress to rebuild a correct .htaccess file, you are effectively repairing the broken communication path, allowing the plugin to access its data again.
