Jordan Hlebarov

<p>Frontend Gatekeeper hides the public frontend of your WordPress site unless visitors arrive with a configured URL parameter and value. It is useful for staging sites, soft launches, client previews, and pre-release content where you want to share a single shareable link instead of issuing individual user accounts.</p>
<p>Logged-in users always see the site normally, so editors and administrators are never blocked.</p>
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Hide the entire public frontend with a single toggle.</li>
<li>Configurable parameter name and secret value, set per site.</li>
<li>Custom blocked message shown to unauthorized visitors (served with a 404 status).</li>
<li>Same-site link propagation: WordPress-generated links, menus, and block content automatically carry the access parameter forward, so visitors stay authorized while browsing.</li>
<li>Footer-script fallback that adds the parameter to links and forms rendered outside normal WordPress filters.</li>
<li>Gutenberg and block-theme aware through the <code>render_block</code> filter and <code>WP_HTML_Tag_Processor</code> when available.</li>
<li>Multisite-aware URL scoping for subdomain and subdirectory networks: access on <code>/site-a/</code> will not leak the token to <code>/site-b/</code>.</li>
<li>Logged-in users, wp-admin, REST API, AJAX, cron, and <code>wp-login.php</code> are always allowed through.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Typical use cases</h4>
<ul>
<li>Sharing a staging or pre-launch site with clients and stakeholders.</li>
<li>Gating a soft launch behind a single link instead of provisioning accounts.</li>
<li>Hiding draft or campaign content until you are ready to publish.</li>
</ul>


Frontend Gatekeeper

Hide the public WordPress frontend behind a secret URL parameter. Anyone with the link gets in; everyone else sees a 404.

David Gewirtz

<p><strong>My Private Site</strong> makes your WordPress site private so only logged-in users can see your content. With one click, you can restrict access to all posts and pages, automatically redirect visitors to the login screen, and keep your site visible only to people you trust.</p>
<p>Unlike full membership or subscription systems, My Private Site focuses on strong privacy without unnecessary complexity. It is ideal for family sites, schools, clubs, client previews, or development environments where you want to share content with a trusted audience without managing payments, profiles, or custom roles.</p>
<h3>Ideal Use Cases</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Family sites and school projects</strong>: Share personal updates, photos, or assignments only with family members, classmates, or teachers you choose.</li>
<li><strong>Development and staging sites</strong>: Safely show work-in-progress to clients or teammates without exposing unfinished content or letting it be indexed by search engines.</li>
<li><strong>Clubs, groups, and internal blogs</strong>: Create a private online space for members or staff without the overhead of a complex membership system.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Digital Fortress protection</h3>
<p>My Private Site helps protect the “front door” of your private site with built-in safeguards for login and user registration, including registration spam protection and optional reCAPTCHA support. It also includes AI Crawler Defense to discourage automated collection of your site’s content.</p>
<h3>Key Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Make your entire WordPress site private with a single setting  </li>
<li>Redirect logged-out visitors automatically to the login page  </li>
<li>Choose where users land after login (requested page, home, dashboard, or custom URL)  </li>
<li>Support user self-registration on private sites when enabled  </li>
<li>Protect registration with built-in spam controls and optional reCAPTCHA  </li>
<li>Optionally block unauthenticated access to the WordPress REST API  </li>
<li>Simple, no-code setup using standard WordPress settings </li>
<li>Privacy shortcode lets you selectively show or hide content within a page or post.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Built-in Registration Spam Guard</h3>
<p>Fake registrations can quickly fill your user list and trigger a flood of notification emails. My Private Site includes <strong>Registration Spam Guard</strong> controls that help block automated signups before they become user accounts:<br />
* <strong>Honeypot field</strong>: Adds an invisible registration field that normal visitors do not fill in, but many bots do.<br />
* <strong>Gibberish username detection</strong>: Blocks long, randomly mixed usernames often generated by registration bots.<br />
* <strong>URL-like username detection</strong>: Blocks usernames that look like domains or URLs, including phishing-style hosted page addresses.<br />
* <strong>Crypto scam phrase detection</strong>: Blocks usernames that carry common bait phrases such as balance checks, transfer notices, or withdrawal prompts.<br />
* <strong>Excessive email dots</strong>: Blocks email addresses with unusually dotted local parts commonly used in bulk fake accounts.<br />
* <strong>Missing MX records</strong>: Blocks registrations when the email domain is not configured to receive mail.<br />
* <strong>Disposable email domains</strong>: Blocks common throwaway email services, including matching subdomains.<br />
* <strong>StopForumSpam lookup</strong>: Checks registrants against the StopForumSpam database.</p>
<p>Each Registration Spam Guard option can be enabled separately, so you can choose the level of protection that fits your site. Blocked attempts are logged in the System Log area for quick review.</p>
<h3>Built-in AI Crawler Defense</h3>
<p>The internet is rapidly changing, with AI crawlers and bots harvesting content without consent. My Private Site helps you defend your work with integrated <strong>AI Crawler Defense</strong> features:<br />
* <strong>NoAI and NoImageAI tags</strong>: Automatically add meta tags and headers that signal compliant AI systems not to use your text or images for training.<br />
* <strong>Block GPTBot</strong>: Add a robots.txt rule to prevent OpenAI’s crawler from accessing your site.<br />
* <strong>Really Simple Licensing (RSL)</strong>: Publish a machine-readable license that explicitly prohibits AI training on your content.</p>
<p>These protections are included free in the core plugin, easy to enable with a checkbox, and designed to safeguard your site without affecting normal visitors or search engines. You can use them even if you’re not using any other site privacy features.</p>
<h3>Watch the Video Overview and Demo</h3>
<p><span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jry3DHD-OB8?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe></span></p>
<h3>Premium Add-ons</h3>
<p>Premium add-ons turn My Private Site into a comprehensive privacy suite, giving you enterprise-style layered security defenses, smarter oversight, and flexible access, without the complexity or cost.</p>
<p>Advanced AI Crawler Defense, Visitor Intelligence, and Block IP provide protections regardless of whether you’re using any site privacy features.</p>
<p><span class="embed-youtube" style="text-align:center; display: block;"><iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B6s8O9VZLc0?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe></span></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://zatzlabs.com/project/my-private-site-public-pages/" rel="nofollow ugc"><strong>Public Pages 2.0</strong></a>: Allows site operators to designate certain specific pages, or pages with specified prefix, to be available to the public without login. Now also allows public site, private pages. <a href="https://youtu.be/u7BuYtzS_pI" rel="nofollow ugc">Watch the video</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zatzlabs.com/project/my-private-site-advanced-ai-defense/" rel="nofollow ugc"><strong>Advanced AI Crawler Defense</strong></a>: Protect WordPress content from AI crawlers using licensing, opt-out tags, selective bot blocking, and firewall defenses to control and safeguard your data. <a href="https://youtu.be/Eb4qQDafaRk" rel="nofollow ugc">Watch the video</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zatzlabs.com/project/my-private-site-visitor-intelligence/" rel="nofollow ugc"><strong>Visitor Intelligence</strong></a>: Track logins, logouts, failed attempts, and bot activity with a unified log, anomaly detection, and export tools for stronger site oversight and security. <a href="https://youtu.be/TTK8bGVD8pM" rel="nofollow ugc">Watch the video</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zatzlabs.com/project/my-private-site-guest-access/" rel="nofollow ugc"><strong>Guest Access</strong></a>: Grant temporary, secure access to private WordPress content using unique shareable links with expiration, one-time use, and full admin-controlled invite management. <a href="https://youtu.be/j1vYV8lhqcc" rel="nofollow ugc">Watch the video</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zatzlabs.com/project/my-private-site-block-ip/" rel="nofollow ugc"><strong>Block IP</strong></a>: Block unwanted visitors by IP address or range with full IPv4/IPv6 support, configurable scope, and fast enforcement to secure your WordPress site. <a href="https://youtu.be/vsxLqYXWITs" rel="nofollow ugc">Watch the video</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zatzlabs.com/project/my-private-site-tags-and-categories/" rel="nofollow ugc"><strong>Tags & Categories</strong></a>: Allows you to make pages public or (with Public Pages 2.0) private based on tags and categories. <a href="https://youtu.be/dEv7lXxU5lo" rel="nofollow ugc">Watch the video</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zatzlabs.com/project/my-private-site-selective-content/" rel="nofollow ugc"><strong>Selective Content</strong></a>: Allows hiding, showing, and obscurifying page content through the use of shortcodes. Can also selectively hide widgets and sidebars. <a href="https://youtu.be/exgJrJJSCNY" rel="nofollow ugc">Watch the video</a></li>
<li><a href="https://zatzlabs.com/project/my-private-site-pricing/" rel="nofollow ugc"><strong>Digital Fortress Bundle</strong></a>: All add-ons are available in bundle form.  <a href="https://youtu.be/B6s8O9VZLc0" rel="nofollow ugc">Watch the video</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Limits</h3>
<p>This plugin does not hide non-WordPress web pages, such as .html and .php files. It also won’t restrict images and other media and text files directly accessed by their URL. If your hosting provider’s filesystem protections haven’t been set up correctly, files may also be accessed by directory listing.</p>
<h3>Support Note</h3>
<p>Support has moved to the ZATZLabs site and is no longer provided on the WordPress.org forums. If you need a timely reply from the developer, please <a href="http://zatzlabs.com/submit-ticket/" rel="nofollow ugc">open a ticket</a>.</p>
<h3>Mailing List</h3>
<p>If you’d like to keep up with the latest updates to this plugin, please visit <a href="http://zatzlabs.com/lab-notes/" rel="nofollow ugc">David’s Lab Notes</a> and add yourself to the mailing list.</p>


My Private Site

Make your WordPress site private with one click for family, projects, or teams. Protection for content, login, and registration.

Frontend Gatekeeper vs My Private Site