LaughterOnWater

<p>SanctumGate gives small websites an easy way to keep the majority of pages and posts private for active members without the complexity of a full-on membership system. With simple, granular access controls, you decide exactly what the public sees — and what stays reserved for your logged-in community.</p>
<p><strong>Key Features:</strong><br />
* <strong>Page-Level Control</strong>: Choose specific pages to make publicly accessible<br />
* <strong>Category-Based Access</strong>: Make entire categories of posts public<br />
* <strong>Category Archives</strong>: Public category archive pages for allowed categories<br />
* <strong>User-Friendly Interface</strong>: Checkbox-based selection instead of manual ID entry<br />
* <strong>Visual Feedback</strong>: See exactly what’s currently public at a glance<br />
* <strong>Lightweight</strong>: Minimal performance impact, perfect for smaller sites</p>
<p><strong>Perfect For:</strong><br />
* Small business websites<br />
* Community sites<br />
* Member-only content areas<br />
* Private blogs<br />
* Non-profit organization sites</p>
<h3>Usage</h3>
<h3>Basic Setup</h3>
<ol>
<li>Navigate to <strong>Appearance <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> SanctumGate</strong> in your WordPress admin</li>
<li>You’ll see two sections: “Allowed Pages” and “Allowed Categories”</li>
</ol>
<h3>Making Pages Public</h3>
<ul>
<li>Check the boxes next to any pages you want to be publicly accessible</li>
<li>The home page is always public by default</li>
<li>Save your changes</li>
</ul>
<h3>Making Posts Public by Category</h3>
<ul>
<li>Check the boxes next to categories whose posts should be public</li>
<li>All posts in checked categories will be accessible without login</li>
<li>Category archive pages for allowed categories are also public</li>
<li>Save your changes</li>
</ul>
<h3>What Stays Private</h3>
<p>Everything else on your site will require users to log in to access, including:<br />
* Unchecked pages<br />
* Posts in unchecked categories<br />
* All other post types and content</p>
<h3>Support</h3>
<p>For support, please visit the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sanctumgate/" rel="ugc">WordPress support forums</a> or check the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/sanctumgate/" rel="ugc">plugin documentation</a>.</p>
<h3>Credits</h3>
<p>Developed by LaughterOnWater<br />
Inspired by the need for simple, effective access control on small WordPress sites.</p>


SanctumGate

Simple granular access controls for WordPress sites. Keep content private for members while selectively making pages and categories public.

itthinx

<p>This plugin redirects 404’s caused by hits on pages that are protected by <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/groups/" rel="ugc">Groups</a>.</p>
<p>The redirection settings can be adjusted in Settings > Groups 404 :</p>
<p>Visits to protected pages can be redirected to:</p>
<ul>
<li>a specific post, or</li>
<li>the WordPress login</li>
</ul>
<p>The redirection can also be applied for restricted categories, tags and other taxonomy terms if <a href="https://www.itthinx.com/shop/groups-restrict-categories/" rel="nofollow ugc">Groups Restrict Categories</a> is used.</p>
<p>The redirect status code can be selected among:</p>
<ul>
<li>Moved Permanently (301)</li>
<li>Found (302)</li>
<li>See other (303)</li>
<li>Temporary Redirect (307)</li>
</ul>


Groups 404 Redirect

I know this plugin hasn't been updated in a couple years, but IMHO Groups and its related plugins (like this one) are a hidden gem for WordPress sites. So many people jump to complicated membership plugins when they could do everything they need with Groups. This 404 redirect add-on works like a charm. I'm using it on the latest version of WP 5.x

Perfect.

Redirect 404's when a visitor tries to access a page protected by Groups.

SanctumGate vs Groups 404 Redirect