# Dbmovies moved: one line to fix 2.5.5 Source: https://doothemes.com/p/dbmovies-moved-one-line-to-fix-2-5-5 --- The old Dbmovies service at `api.dbmvs.com` **has been shut down**. If you are staying on **DooPlay 2.5.5**, you do not need to update the theme — you need to change one line so it talks to our new server instead.This takes about two minutes. ## What you get, and what you don't The new endpoint serves the IMDb data from our current system: | | | |---|---| | ✅ IMDb rating and vote count | live, refreshed daily | | ✅ Title, year and content rating | | | ❌ Poster, trailer, runtime, budget, country, TMDb votes | **not included** | The old server made a second call to TMDb to fill those in. The new one does not, so those fields come back empty and DooPlay will fall back to what it already has. **This matters for imports.** Titles you import from now on will come in **without a poster and without a trailer** unless you have TMDb configured in DooPlay, which fills them from its own side. Titles already in your library are not touched. --- ## Before you start You need two things: 1. **Your license key**, from [your licenses page](https://doothemes.com/account/licenses). It is a long string of letters and numbers, and it is the same key you already use for DooPlay itself — you do not need a separate one. 2. **FTP or file manager access** to your site. > Back up `inc/core/dbmvs/init.php` before editing. One copy, thirty seconds, and you can always undo it. --- ## Step 1 — Edit one line Do this **before** touching the key in WordPress. The order matters, and the next step explains why. Open this file: ```file-path wp-content/themes/dooplay/inc/core/dbmvs/init.php ``` Find **line 32**. It looks like this: ```php define('DBMOVIES_DBMVAPI','https://api.dbmvs.com'); ``` Replace it with this, putting **your own license key** at the end: ```php define('DBMOVIES_DBMVAPI','https://edge.wupdater.com/dbmvs/{{YOUR-DOOPLAY-LICENSE-KEY}}'); ``` So if your key were `a1b2c3d4…`, the line would read: ```php define('DBMOVIES_DBMVAPI','https://edge.wupdater.com/dbmvs/a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0'); ``` Save the file. That is the whole change. > **No trailing slash** at the end, and keep the quotes exactly as they are. Everything else in the file stays untouched. --- ## Step 2 — Put your license key in Dbmovies In WordPress, go to **Dbmovies → Settings → General** and paste your license key into the **API key for Dbmovies** field. Save. If you already had a key there from the old service, replace it with your license key. ### If the field shows up red Dbmovies checks your key once and **remembers the answer for an hour**. If you saved the key before editing `init.php`, that check ran against the old dead address, and the red border will stay for up to an hour even though everything is already working. Do not re-save the key — saving the same value does not clear it. Instead: **Tools → DooPlay Database → Clear Transient options → Run process.** Reload the settings page and the field turns green. This is also why Step 1 comes first: do it in that order and you never see the red. --- ## Step 3 — Check that it worked Open this URL in your browser, with your key in it: ``` https://edge.wupdater.com/dbmvs/{{YOUR-DOOPLAY-LICENSE-KEY}}?auth=1 ``` You should see something like: ```json {"status":1,"credits":9985,"requests":41,"unlimited":0,"used_credits":41,"free_credits":false} ``` `"status":1` means you are connected. `credits` is how many requests you have left today. Then go back to WordPress, open **Dbmovies** in the admin menu, and reload. The status should read as active and the counters should fill in. --- ## If DooPlay itself shows the license as inactive This is a **separate** thing from the steps above, and you may not need it at all. The change you just made fixes Dbmovies. The theme's own license check is a different connection. DooPlay 2.5.5 validates its license against our old repository. If your server cannot complete that connection, the status never turns valid — you get the "Please activate a valid license" notice, and the theme's licensed features stay locked even though your license is perfectly fine. The theme ships with a built-in fallback for exactly this. It is not hidden and it is not a workaround we are inventing today; it has been in the Database tool since 2.5.0. **1.** Go to **Appearance → DooPlay license** and paste your license key into the field, then save. Do this even if the activation fails — the next step needs the key to be present. **2.** Go to **Tools → DooPlay Database**. **3.** A box titled **Force license activation** appears, with the note *"This measure is required when your server does not complete the connection with our repository."* Click **Activate license**. **4.** Reload the admin. DooPlay now reports the license as active and its features unlock. > **The box only appears if a key is saved and the status is empty.** If you do not see it, either the field is blank (go back to step 1) or the license already validated normally — in which case there is nothing to fix. This does not contact any server. It writes the "valid" status locally, on your own site, which is what lets a paid install keep working while our infrastructure moves. **It sticks.** Nothing reverts it on its own — not the updater, not a WordPress update. There is exactly one thing that clears it: **changing the key** in the license field. The theme treats a different key as a new license and wipes the status, so if you edit that field later you will need to force it once more. Saving the same key again changes nothing. --- ## Optional: faster bulk imports Skip this if you do not import hundreds of titles at a time. Everything works without it. When DooPlay imports a movie it asks TMDb first, then asks us for the IMDb rating — but it does not pass along the TMDb id it already has, so we have to resolve it again on our side. That costs about 200 ms per movie: on a 500-title import, a minute and a half of waiting for nothing. One line fixes it. Open: ```file-path wp-content/themes/dooplay/inc/core/dbmvs/classes/importers.php ``` Find this block, around line 121: ```php $imdb_args = array( 'key' => $this->dbmvkey, 'imdb' => $imdb_id ); ``` Add the `tmdb` line, and mind the new comma after `$imdb_id`: ```php $imdb_args = array( 'key' => $this->dbmvkey, 'imdb' => $imdb_id, 'tmdb' => $tmdb ); ``` That is all. It only affects movies — TV shows never use this endpoint. Back this file up too before editing. --- ## Troubleshooting | What you see | What it means | |---|---| | `{"status":0,"error":"API Key invalid"}` | The key in the URL is wrong. Copy it again from [your licenses page](https://doothemes.com/account/licenses) — no spaces, no line breaks. | | `{"error":"Api key invalid or blocked"}` | Same as above, or the license is expired or disabled. | | `{"error":"Insufficient Credits"}` | You have used your daily allowance. It resets each day. | | `{"response":false}` | That specific title could not be resolved. Other titles will still work. | | The **API key for Dbmovies** field is red | A cached check from before the edit. **Tools → DooPlay Database → Clear Transient options**, then reload. Re-saving the same key does not clear it. | | Nothing changes in the admin | Clear any full-page cache and hard-reload (Ctrl+Shift+R). DooPlay caches the status check for one hour. | | A blank white screen after editing | The file has a typo. Restore your backup and try again — the most common cause is a missing quote or semicolon. | | "Please activate a valid license" from the theme | That is the theme's own license check, not Dbmovies. See the section above. | | The license went back to inactive | You changed the key in the license field, which clears the forced status. Force it again. | --- ## Questions people ask **Do I have to update DooPlay?** No. That is the point of this change. 2.5.5 keeps working. **Will a theme update undo this?** Yes. `init.php` is a theme file, so updating DooPlay overwrites it and you would have to redo the edit. If you are staying on 2.5.5, this will not come up. **Can I do this from a child theme instead?** Not cleanly. The constant is defined without a guard, so overriding it from a child theme works but makes PHP log a warning on every single request. Edit the file. **How many requests do I get?** Your license's daily allowance — the same one your site already uses, and it is generous: the smallest plan allows thousands of lookups a day. You can see exactly what is left at any moment with the `?auth=1` URL from Step 3. It is measured per day, not per month, and it resets daily. **Does checking my balance use up requests?** No. Only actual title lookups count. **My posters stopped coming in.** That is expected — see the table at the top. Configure TMDb in **Dbmovies → Settings** if you have not already, and DooPlay will pull images from there. --- ## If you would rather move forward This endpoint exists so nothing breaks while you decide, not as a permanent home. The current version of DooPlay talks to the new platform directly, with no manual edits and no license key in a URL. When you are ready to move, everything you import will come back complete. Until then, this keeps 2.5.5 running.