Pulse Storage Engine
What Pulse is, how legacy vs dual vs pulse modes work, and what changes for new and existing sites.
Pulse is WP ULike’s unified like-storage engine (5.2+). One table holds votes, emoji reactions, and star ratings with indexes built for stats, top lists, and busy sites.
Your buttons, counts, and settings do not change when Pulse is active. Only where records are stored and queried changes.
Why Pulse exists
Older installs stored votes in separate log tables per content type (ulike, ulike_comments, ulike_activities, ulike_forums). That worked, but rankings, period filters, and Pro engagement types needed more round trips as sites grew.
Pulse keeps a single {prefix}ulike_pulse table with typed rows (item_type, engagement_kind, engagement_key) so Statistics, Top List, and GDPR tools can read one consistent ledger.
Storage modes
| Mode | Writes | Reads | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|---|
legacy | Old log tables | Old log tables | Pre-Pulse sites that have not started the upgrade |
dual | Pulse (+ legacy history kept) | Merged legacy + Pulse | Existing sites after update, during / after migration copy |
pulse | Pulse only | Pulse only | Fresh installs, or sites that finished Finish upgrade |
- New installs start in pulse automatically. No migration screen.
- Existing sites keep working on update. WP ULike can move into dual, copy rows in the background, then switch reads to pulse when you finish.
Nothing is deleted during the move. Old log tables stay until you choose cleanup.
What stays the same
- Like buttons, shortcodes, blocks, and auto-display
- Counter meta (
like_amountand related values) - Statistics screens and Top List results (they route through Pulse-aware queries)
- GDPR export / erase for user-linked votes (Pulse rows included)
What you might see in admin
| Place | When |
|---|---|
Admin notice: “faster like storage is ready” | Existing site that still has migration work |
WP ULike → Overview storage card | Same — Get started / Continue / Finish / Review cleanup |
Hidden page Upgrade like storage | Linked from the notice, Overview, or Site Health |
Tools → Site Health | Three WP ULike checks (tables, storage & migration, old log tables) |
Step-by-step migration: Storage Upgrade.
WP-CLI for hosts and developers: Pulse WP-CLI.
Site Health checks
Open Tools → Site Health → Status. WP ULike registers:
- WP ULike database tables — required tables present (critical if missing)
- WP ULike storage & migration — mode, Pulse table, migration progress
- WP ULike old log tables — leftover legacy tables you can remove after cutover
The Info tab includes a WP ULike section (plugin version, storage mode, read mode, migration status, and related diagnostics). Use Copy site info to clipboard when contacting support.
Repair missing tables from WP ULike → Overview (Repair), or deactivate and reactivate the free plugin once.
Do I have to upgrade?
No. Existing sites keep voting if you dismiss the notice. We still recommend finishing the upgrade on busy sites: faster rankings, cleaner stats queries, and one storage path for likes, emoji, and stars.
Fresh installs already use Pulse. You can ignore this article unless you care how the table is shaped.
Developers
| Helper | Purpose |
|---|---|
wp_ulike_pulse_mode() | legacy | dual | pulse |
wp_ulike_pulse_read_mode() | legacy | merged | pulse |
wp_ulike_writes_pulse() | Whether new votes write to Pulse |
wp_ulike_use_pulse_queries() | Whether count/rank queries use the Pulse layer |
Table schema and column reference: Database & Meta.
Next: Storage Upgrade · Pulse WP-CLI
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