5 Easy Ways to Password Protect WordPress Content

As a WordPress site owner, you may want to adjust the privacy settings of your resource. How to limit access to a whole website or certain parts of it and keep strangers away from your content? That’s easy – all you need is to set a password. No worries, you don’t have to be a programmer to do that. There are fast and easy ways to password protect the WordPress site entirely or close particular categories. The platform provides several security options, but if these are not enough for you, try additional plugins. We will discuss both variants in this article. Here you will find information on how to protect your content partly or entirely, so stay tuned!

Protecting pages

Set WordPress password – protect a page or a specific post. You can do that manually, and you don’t need any additional plugins or software. Here is how you do that:

  • Open a post you want to hide and go to Visibility settings
  • Pick Password Protected
  • Set your password
  • Publish your post or page
Best Way to Protect WordPress Content

Image source: wordpress.org

That’s it! Now only those visitors who know the password can see the page. This protecting option is the most straightforward privacy measure you can take on your WordPress site.

Protecting categories

If your resource is relatively small, then protecting the content is a matter of minutes – you can easily do that manually using the previous tip. On the other hand, massive websites need another approach. If you have a large site, make sure to make a category password to protect certain content you post. Divide your WordPress content into categories and set a password for those you want to restrict. Visitors won’t be able to enter these sections if they don’t have a password.

Tips to Password Protect WordPress Content

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To protect categories, follow these instructions:

  • Visit Posts section
  • Open Categories section
  • Create and name your category
  • See the Visibility section at the bottom of the page
  • Choose Password Protected
  • Add your password
  • Press Add New Category button

Now you have your category hidden. Make sure to provide your selected visitors with a password to let them access the content.

Protecting the entire site

You might have reasons to close your entire resource. This is a perfect option if your site is still under construction and you are not ready to show it to the wide audience yet. Or maybe you want people from certain regions or age to have access to it.

In case you want to set a password for your entire website, you should try using a WordPress plugin called Password Protected. This plugin allows you to close a whole site and provide a password only to those users you want to invite. They will see this login page when opening your resource:

How To Password Protect A Specific Content Section In WordPress

Image source: wordpress.org

To get yourself this plugin, you should follow these simple steps:

  • Enter the WordPress Dashboard
  • Head to Plugins section
  • Choose Add New and find “Password Protected” using the in-built search
  • Click Install Now and then Activate

After you have activated the plugin, make sure to proceed with closing the site:

  • Go to WordPress Settings
  • Open Password Protected Settings
  • Check the box near Password Protected to switch it on
  • In the same section, check the boxes called Allows Logged in Users and Allow Administrators
  • Add a password and save changes

There are additional restriction options here. For example, you might want to allow users with specific IP addresses to enter the site. However, if you are not sure that you need something that advanced – just leave it.

Protecting online stores

If you own an online store, you might want to set a password to restrict access to your entire site or an individual page/section of it. The process is quite the same as for any other WordPress site, but some plugins will help you do everything even faster.

Stores might use membership access to let approved clients visit certain sections. Also, you may want to close it for a while if you need to make a fundamental reconstruction or upload a massive amount of new items. You may try using the Private Store plugin to close the entire website or its parts. This one will suit WooCommerce shops perfectly.

How to Password Protect Specific Content in WordPress

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The good thing about this plugin is that it allows you to close your shop only, while the blog section can stay open. Also, you can leave your main page accessible for everyone but hide particular segments from the public view. The hidden parts will be available for customers who know the password. This is how you install this tool:

  • Get yourself a Private Store plugin
  • Enter the Plugins section and click Add New
  • Click Upload Plugin and pick it from your PC
  • Press Install Now
  • Activate the plugin

Now you need to launch it:

  • Enter your Dashboard
  • Choose Settings
  • Enable Private Store tab
  • Add license key and adjust settings
  • Set your password

Now only those visitors who have the password will get access to your resource.

Protecting particular items

You may want to close certain products from the public view and gladden your privileged buyers with exclusive offers. Closed products won’t be available for those customers who don’t have a password. To close particular items, follow these instructions:

  • Open Dashboard and find the item you want to close
  • Get to Publish tab and click Edit
  • Enter Password Protected categories
  • Set a password and then Publish/Update button

Now your customers will see the following message:

Image source: barn2.co.uk

Still, you should remember that restricting access to certain products is not a very user-friendly decision. Make sure not to overdo with that and use restrictions as motivational strategies to encourage your buyers. Such a limitation might be relevant if you create custom products for certain users per order. You may publish them on your site to show how great they are, but only an ordering customer would pay for it. At the same time, the other clients might become interested in exclusive content and make an order as well.

Conclusion

Whether you own a store, blog, or website, you may want to set a password to close some sections or posts from the public view. WordPress allows you to restrict access to the entire resource as well as to separate parts of it. There are simple default options available at WordPress as well as some plugins that add more safety capabilities. Plugins work best for the WooCommerce shops and massive websites. Choose the option that suits your particular needs, strategies, and resource type. Use restrictions to provide clients with membership and exclusive content, but be sure that these limits won’t frustrate them anyhow! Good luck!

Author’s Bio:

Sandra Larson is a professional writer at custom writing.com who interested in E-commerce and site-building. She writes articles to inform users about new marketing trends and tools that might help them create more efficient services. Sandra used to work as a marketing copywriter, and now she gladly shares some tips and tricks in her personal blog.

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