There are so many users who walk around asking how to make WordPress sites private due to the desire to make WordPress plugin a private site. For instance, there are so many requests that come in from parents who are looking for ways of using WordPress as a platform for sharing baby products and photos. However, making WordPress a private site is not something that is not as much easy as many people think it is.
Thus, the discussion below looks at some of the ways that you can use to make WordPress a private site should you see the need to do so. Depending on your reasons for intending to make WordPress private, you will find the information in the text below very useful for this endeavor.
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Why Would You Make Your Website Private?
Are there any reasons that make it necessary to make your website private? Yes, there are and apply to different people differently. Take this case, for instance, you have a personal blog diary that rants so much about many things. Ideally, you might not find issues having your friends reading your blog but in the event that your boss gets to know about this then you might be in some kind of problems something that will send you looking for ways on how to make WordPress site private.
As such, you will always look for ways that you can use to avoid such a thing from ever happening. You will definitely want to make your site private regardless of its content. Doing this will come in handy especially if you aim to come up with a membership website containing some paid articles.
In such a case, only the people purchasing access can be able to view your content. In other cases, some people prefer using such websites as a playground for development. To make all this possible, you can make your WordPress website private only by playing around with the code without being paranoid of any fear of unwanted visitors.
There are many other reasons that warrant the need to make a WordPress website private. Depending on the reasons for doing so, the need to make a WordPress website private has grown over the recent years and the need is even more likely to grow in the coming days.
Does Search Engine Crawl A Hidden Website?
As you look to make your WordPress website private, you are more going to find yourself concerned with any crawling activities and attempts. Remember the intention here is to make sure that only authorized people view your content. However, with so many people using search engines to search and view website information this forms a serious point of concern. This then begs the question: does search engines crawl a hidden website? The answer to this question is no, it does not. Search engines only crawl information from authorized websites alone. This means that if the person carrying out the search is not authorized then the search engine might not be able to crawl it.
Therefore, if you are worried about the search engine activities and the kind of threat, they offer to your already made private WordPress website then worry no more. Search engines do not in any way Crawl a hidden website and therefore no need to worry.
How To Make A Single Post Private?
Do you have any intentions of creating a private post on WordPress? Unlike other posts on WordPress, a private post will never be visible to your website visitors. Only those logged-in users who have specific permissions are allowed to see your private post no wonder many people are looking for ways on how to make WordPress site private.
So how exactly do you create a private post on WordPress? There are procedures that you can use in the creation of a WordPress private single post. Once you have this post, it will only be visible to those users with the right permission.
For you to make a single post private on WordPress, you first of all need to come up with a new post or page. If not that, you also get an opportunity to edit an existing post that you wish to make private. Once you have a post edit screen, you need to go ahead and click on the edit link which is located next to the visibility option located in the publish meta box.
Once you do this, you will be able to see options that allow you to make a post sticky, or if not that then password protected or even private. Once you are here, move ahead and select the private button then after that click the okay button for you to proceed.
If you feel that you are not yet done with the post, you can continue editing it. However, if you feel that it reflects exactly what you intend to see then you can save or publish it. Once you do this, you will have completed making your post private. From here, only those users with permission will be allowed to see your posts, those that are not will not be able to do so.
How To Make A Previously Published Post Private?
The process of making a WordPress published and previously posted post is not a very complex process to take on, just simple. All you need to do is go to your existing post or if you like your previously published post and then move on to visibility. From here, click on the edit button and set the post private then click the ok button and then move on to update by clicking on the update button.
That is all with this process, it is not as hard and complicated as you might think it is, just some simple steps and you will be done with the entire process. In fact, this process takes less than one minute to complete compared to the others which sometimes takes time, something that comes in as good news to all those people asking how to make WordPress site private and maybe think that this process is complex.
Therefore, the next time you want to make your published pot private on WordPress then that is the process you need to follow. As you can see it, it is very simple and not complex at all, just a few seconds is all you need to make all this possible.
How To Make The Entire WordPress Website Private Without Plugins?
If you feel that hiding your website from search engines is not enough, you can use plugins by installing free plugins like my private site among others. These plugins prevent people from the outside world from viewing your website. However, in case it is not possible to use a plugin or you do not want to use one then there are other ways you can use to go about this process.
There are ways that you can use to completely make your WordPress website private without using plugins for the people who want to know how to make WordPress site private and this is how you do it.
Many power users make the decision of avoiding using plugins when making their WordPress website private because of many reasons. One of these reasons is because of the simple tasks where power users in many cases find it easy accomplishing the same goals that they would have with plugins using just a few lines of codes instead.
There Are Two Ways You Can Use To Make A WordPress Website Private
There are two main ways you can use in making your WordPress website private without necessarily using plugins. One of these ways is a method that will work in many hosting environments and also requires an expeditious addition of a theme function file.
This snippet is more likely to have the same effect just like my private site plugin. If you have some users who are already signed in then they will be able to browse more easily and without any kind of restrictions while the other people will all be sent to the login screen.
Ideally, it is possible for you to add a snippet to the child theme for a much new website then move ahead to remove it just before you go live. Doing this will make your entire website private until you launch it. If you wish, you can add a code to the pinch in a parent theme but take note of the fact that this code will be lost in the subsequent updates but in general, you have an idea of how to make WordPress site private.
How To Make The Entire Website Private With Plugins?
Making your WordPress website private using plugins is also another way that you can use to restrict access to your website. If you feel that your efforts of hiding your website from search engines are not paying enough then you can make use of a plugin to enhance the privacy levels on your websites.
What plugins do is that they make it very hard for anyone from the outside world to view your website. With this kind of approach, it means that any person visiting your website without an account will automatically be directed to the WordPress login.
If you decide to use my Private Site as your plugin it will make your WordPress site private. For as long this plugin is still active, there will be no one who will be allowed to view your website even in cases where they already know your website URL.
My Private Plugin Is A Reliable Plugin
This increased level of protection from My Private plugin makes it such a perfect plugin for those families and organizations who wish to keep their content protected to the public. If you have a WordPress website that is still under construction then you can still benefit from this plugin as well especially if you really need to know how to make WordPress site private.
To get started with the plugin, go to the Add new item on your control panel and click it. Once you are on the Add Plugins screen, go ahead and search for My private site then install it and activate it thereafter. Once you complete doing this, the plugin will then add My Private Site tab and submenu right to the admin menu.
Once this happens, click on the submenu specifically on the site privacy icon or link where you will find a checkbox with an Enable login privacy label. From here check the label and then save your status changes once you do this you will have completed making your entire WordPress website private.
Top 3 Plugins To Make A Website Private
Sometimes the need to limit your WordPress website content to only a few people becomes overwhelming. Doing this though is never easy but there are so many ways that you can use to make all this possible among them the use of website plugins. Website plugins hold the reputation for offering website privacy safety but choosing the best among them can make a huge difference.
Listed below are some of the top 3 plugins that you can use to make your website more secure if you feel the need to learn how to make WordPress site private. Depending on why you need to make your website secure, you can use these three website plugins.
- Private content
- My Private site
- Password protect WordPress
Private Content
This is one of the best WordPress website plugins that you can use in keeping your site content away from any of the many prying eyes. You can use this plugin in showing part of your post content to just specific roles with the use of a shortcode.
However, it is important for you to know that private content only works with standard WordPress roles which include administrators, authors, and editors. This plugin also comes with some benefits which include allowing only specific roles to view the private content and permitting higher roles to take control over the lower roles during the role’s visibility changing process and others.
My Private Site
This is one of the most popular plugins that you can use in privatizing your plugin. With this plugin, only your registered users get the opportunity to access your WordPress content. What this means is that anytime new users try to access your site, they will be taken to a new page where they will be required to fill in a username and key in the right passwords for them to be allowed to use your website.
This plugin also is very effective especially when it comes to excluding parts of your website from being private. It also means that your visitors can access some parts of your website while the rest of the website is hidden.
Password Protect WordPress
Password protect WordPress is a plugin that makes your website private using a simple password. Instead of acquiring the login details which include usernames and passwords, you can only supply your users with a simple password. Once you users have this password, they will be able to unlock your website and read the content without registration.
Final Thoughts
For the people looking for ways on how to make WordPress site private you can consider the information above. There are so many reasons that warrant the need to make a website private among those listed above. Depending on your reasons to do this, there are various ways you can use to make this process a success using plugins or other ways as well.
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