Settings

This page walks through each CookieRay setting and explains where the values are stored in your WordPress database. Use it as a reference when configuring consent behavior, expiry, retention, and Google Consent Mode v2.

Consent behavior: Log Only vs Strict blocking

CookieRay offers two consent-handling modes:

• Log Consent Only (Log Only) — CookieRay does not delay script loading. Known trackers are not held back; the plugin writes consent and inventory records. CookieRay still removes known tracking cookies for categories the visitor has not accepted. Use this mode while evaluating the plugin or comparing behavior against another stack.
• Block Until Consent (Strict blocking) — CookieRay delays known trackers until the visitor grants the relevant category. Scripts in regulated categories are held back until consent is recorded.

When troubleshooting compatibility, it can help to compare Strict and Log Only behavior side by side alongside your caching and optimization stack.

Consent expiry

Under Consent Expiration → Ask for Consent Again After, controls how long a visitor’s recorded consent choice remains valid before they are asked again. The presets are 6 Months, 1 Year and 13 Months (the CNIL maximum). Choose Custom — enter days to enter your own number from 1 to 3650. New installs start at 6 months (180 days). Once a stored consent passes its expiry, the banner re-prompts the visitor on their next visit.

Consent log retention period

Under Consent Storage → Storage Duration, sets how long CookieRay keeps individual consent audit records (presets or a custom number of days, from 30 to 3650; the default is 365). A scheduled WP-Cron job deletes consent records older than the configured retention period, so this value directly governs how much audit history is retained in your database.

Google Consent Mode v2 toggle

Enables or disables Google Consent Mode v2 signaling. When enabled, CookieRay communicates the visitor’s consent state in the format Google’s tags expect, so Google services can adjust their behavior based on the granted categories.

Uncategorized cookie handling

Settings → Uncategorized Cookie Handling decides what happens to cookies the scanner found but you haven’t categorized yet: Always Block Uncategorized Cookies or Treat Uncategorized Cookies as Marketing.

Saved cookie categories

Reuse Saved Cookie Categories keeps the categories you set by hand and reapplies them after later scans. Clear Saved Cookie Categories resets them.

Floating cookie settings button

Show Floating Cookie Settings Button (under Banner Display) lets visitors reopen their cookie settings after making a choice. See Cookie Banner.

Banner enable / disable

Turn the banner on or off with Show Cookie Consent Banner under Banner Display. Note that banner_enabled is stored inside cookieray_settings (not in the banner settings option).

Optional data portability / export flows

The Data Portability Export button exports consent records as a CSV file. PDF consent receipts are separate: download one per record from Consent Logs. Both run on demand — nothing is exported automatically.

Pro settings

With CookieRay Pro, the Settings page also shows Geo Targeting, Automated Cookie Scans, Integrations, and Trust Badge panels. Without a license they are locked.

For developers

Filters and actions you can hook into are listed in Developer Hooks.

Where settings are stored

CookieRay persists configuration in standard WordPress options:

Because these are normal WordPress options, they travel with your database backups and migrations.

CookieRay is not legal advice. Whether your configuration meets a given regulation depends on how you set these options and the rest of your site.