Steuard stores its settings, manual-menu content, connection details, and operational cache data in WordPress. Toast secrets and Google credentials are encrypted at rest. Google Places review responses are fetched for immediate display and are not stored in Steuard's response caches. Optional usage telemetry sends nothing unless an administrator explicitly clicks Allow.
Data stored on your WordPress site #
Steuard stores:
- Plugin settings, including currency, display choices, refresh frequency, and selected post types.
- Manual menus, sections, items, prices, images, calories, and tags.
- POS and review connection configuration, including location IDs and business selections.
- Encrypted Toast client secrets, Google Places API keys, and OAuth credentials for any gated review source you have enabled.
- Menu response caches, last-successful-refresh timestamps, connection health, and hidden-review IDs.
- License state and the site's optional telemetry-consent choice.
The encryption key is derived from the WordPress security keys and salts in wp-config.php. Rotating those values makes previously saved secrets unreadable; re-enter and save every connection afterward. See What should I do after WordPress salts are rotated?.
Data sent to Toast and Google #
When using Toast, Steuard sends the configured credentials and restaurant location IDs to Toast's API to authenticate and retrieve menu data.
When using Google Places, Steuard sends the API key and the selected Place ID to Google. Business search also sends the search text you enter. Google Places responses are requested when a public review widget, block preview, or Moderation screen renders. Steuard preserves the Place ID and moderation choices, but does not store the Places review response in its transient or stale-response caches.
These provider requests are governed by the site's agreements with Toast and Google. The Google setup and publishing requirements are covered in Displaying Google Reviews.
Optional Steuard usage telemetry #
On a production site, an administrator may see a notice asking whether to allow usage tracking. Tracking is disabled until the administrator clicks Allow; clicking Do Not Allow sends no telemetry. Steuard does not use this prompt to subscribe the administrator to a newsletter.
When allowed, a report can include:
- Site URL and site title.
- WordPress, PHP, server, language, charset, and text-direction information.
- Active and inactive plugin filenames and the active theme name/version.
- Steuard and telemetry-client versions plus a generated installation ID.
- The plugin's install path on the server.
- Non-secret Steuard usage information: currency, refresh interval, Demo Mode, selected meta-box post types, provider types and counts, review-provider types and counts, and location count.
The telemetry allowlist does not include Toast client secrets, Google API or OAuth credentials, license keys, restaurant or connection labels, menu content, review text, reviewer information, or selected Place/location IDs.
You can change your choice at any time: the Share usage data checkbox under Steuard → Advanced → Usage Sharing opts the site in or out, whether or not the original notice was answered.
Deactivation and deletion #
Deactivation keeps Steuard's data and stops its scheduled refresh jobs. Deleting the plugin through WordPress removes Steuard settings and caches; manual menus and menu tags are kept unless the opt-in delete-data setting on the Advanced tab was checked first. It does not delete pages or posts containing Steuard blocks or shortcodes. See What do deactivating and deleting Steuard remove? before uninstalling.
