Emoji Guard

Description

Emojis are the first thing a careless database migration loses: a dump written in the wrong character set turns them into question marks, and a search and replace that does not adjust serialized string lengths makes the stored data unreadable.

Emoji Guard keeps a small reference value with emojis in an option. On every admin screen it compares that value with what it should be, and if the two differ, administrators get a warning that says what was expected and what was found. Once the cause is fixed, the button in the warning stores the reference value again.

The plugin does not touch any other data and does not repair anything – it tells you that the migration needs another look before you notice it in your content.

The reference value can be changed with the emoji_guard_value filter.

Installation

Install the plugin from Plugins > Add New, or upload emoji-guard.zip there
Activate it – this stores the reference value
After a migration, open any admin screen: a warning appears if the emojis did not survive

FAQ

Who sees the warning?: Users who can manage options, which on a default site means administrators.
The warning appeared on a site I did not migrate.: Then something else rewrote the database – a backup restore, a plugin converting tables, or a search and replace. Check a few posts with emojis; if they are fine, store the reference value again with the button.