Exporting Your Data

Your subscriber list, episode library, and subscription history all live in your own WordPress database. The export feature puts that same data into a spreadsheet whenever you need it — to analyze it, share it, keep a local record, or take it somewhere else.

Where to Find It

Benecaster → Settings → Your Data

The Your Data tab sits between Tools and GDPR / Privacy in the Benecaster settings navigation. Look for the download icon.

How to Generate an Export

1. Go to Settings → Your Data.
2. A PII warning banner reminds you that subscriber names and email addresses are included in some sheets. Note this before sharing any export file externally.
3. Choose a date range using the preset bar: Last 30 days, 90 days, 12 months, All time, or Custom. For Custom, two date pickers appear so you can enter your start and end dates manually. The date range applies to event-based data (Subscription Events, download logs, etc.) — content records like Subscribers, Shows, and Episodes always export in full regardless of this setting.
4. Check the boxes for the sheets you want. Each sheet shows its title, a brief description, and — where relevant — a badge indicating which add-on provides it.
5. Click Generate Export.

Benecaster builds the file on your server and displays a result card with the filename, file size, and a Download XLSX link. Click the link to save the file to your computer.

File Persistence and Automatic Deletion

The generated .xlsx file is saved to wp-content/uploads/benecaster/exports/ on your server.

Exports are deleted automatically after 7 days. A nightly cleanup sweeps the directory and removes anything past that age, so exports no longer accumulate indefinitely. The Export screen shows “Deletes in N days” beside each file, so you can always see how long one has left.

Download the file before it expires. Deletion unlinks the file — there is no recycle bin, no recovery, and no notification when it happens. If you need an export for your records, save it somewhere of your own rather than treating the server copy as storage.

Changing or disabling the retention window

If 7 days is wrong for you, a developer can change it two ways. Both are in Data Export Format with the exact syntax.

• A constant in wp-config.php — BENECASTER_EXPORT_TTL_DAYS. This is the hard override and wins over everything else.
• A filter — benecaster_export_ttl_days, for themes and plugins.

Setting either to 0 disables automatic deletion entirely, restoring the old behavior of keeping files until you remove them by hand. That is the right choice if your backup or compliance process manages retention already.

⚠ A longer window is a privacy decision, not just a convenience one. Exports contain subscriber email addresses and token records. Keeping them on disk for longer means keeping personal data for longer, and it may interact with what your privacy policy commits to.

One caveat on timing. The cleanup runs on WordPress’s scheduled-task system, which only fires when your site receives traffic. On a quiet site, files can outlive their stated age by a day or two — the countdown is the intention rather than a guarantee. If exact timing matters for a retention policy, ask your host about a real server cron.

Your .htaccess file in that directory is never deleted. It is what stops the folder being publicly browsable, so it stays regardless of the retention setting.

What’s Included

Core Sheets

These four sheets are always available, regardless of which add-ons you have installed:

Subscribers
One row per subscriber: name, email address, membership tier, subscription status (active, cancelled, expired), date joined, and date cancelled (if applicable).

Subscription Events
The full history of subscription activity on your account — every join, cancellation, tier change, renewal, and payment failure, with timestamps. Useful for understanding churn, auditing your subscriber history, or importing into an external CRM. Filtered by the date range you select.

Shows
Your show configuration: show name, feed slug, number of tiers, episode count, and date created. One row per show.

Episodes
Your episode library: title, episode type (full, trailer, bonus), show, tier availability settings, publish date, and any custom field values. One row per episode.

Add-on Data

When add-ons are active and have data to export, additional sheets appear automatically in the same file. You only see sheets for add-ons that are installed and active.

† Requires the download proxy to be active. Sheet is absent if the proxy is not enabled.
‡ Requires at least 60 days of subscriber history.

Other add-ons will contribute additional sheets as they are released.

Date Range

The date range selector applies to event-based data: Subscription Events, episode downloads, click logs, broadcast history, and similar time-series records.

Content and configuration data — Subscribers, Shows, Episodes, Guests, Link Registry — always exports in full regardless of the date range you select. These records represent your current state, not a time window.

File Format

The export is a multi-sheet .xlsx file — the native Microsoft Excel format — built using the OpenSpout library. It opens without conversion in:

• Microsoft Excel (Windows and Mac)
• Google Sheets (File → Import, or drag and drop)
• LibreOffice Calc
• Apple Numbers

Each selected data type is a separate sheet (tab) within the same file. The filename includes your show name and the selected date range: benecaster-export-[show]-[start]-[end].xlsx.

Add-on Sheets

Add-ons can register additional sheets via the benecaster_export_sheets filter. When an add-on is active and provides exportable data, its sheets appear automatically in the checkbox list on the Your Data screen alongside the built-in sheets.

A Note About Personal Information

Your export includes subscriber names and email addresses. This is personal data — please handle exported files with care:

• Store files securely. Don’t leave them in Downloads or email them casually.
• Delete files you no longer need.
• Only share them with people who genuinely need access — your producer, accountant, or network, for example.

How you handle your subscribers’ personal information is your responsibility. This is a reminder, not legal advice.

What You Can Do with Your Export

Share with your team. Your producer or podcast network needs subscriber numbers or episode metadata. Export the relevant sheets and send the file.

Analyze in a spreadsheet. Churn rate calculations, tier conversion rates, monthly growth trends — sometimes a pivot table is the right tool. Your export gives you the raw material.

Keep a record. A periodic export is a useful offline backup of your subscriber history. If anything ever goes wrong with your database, you have a reference point.

Move to another platform. If you ever decide Benecaster isn’t the right tool for you, your data goes with you. Export everything, import it wherever you’re headed. No hostage data.

Related

• Dashboard Overview — subscriber and episode data in the admin
• Subscriber Dashboard — managing individual subscriber records
• Settings Reference — full list of Benecaster settings