To make a WordPress site private, decide how much you need to hide. WordPress can make a single post or page private on its own. To make the whole site private, so visitors have to log in before they see anything, you need a plugin: the free WP User Manager plugin does it with one setting. This guide covers both, plus the middle ground where some content is public and some is for members.
Which kind of private do you need?
- One post or page. A draft you want to share, an internal page, a password for a client. WordPress does this without a plugin (option 1).
- The whole site. A club, an intranet, a family site, or a site that isn’t ready to launch. Visitors see a login page and nothing else (option 2).
- Some of the site. A public homepage and blog, with a members area behind a login (option 3).
Option 1: Make a single post or page private (no plugin)
Every post and page has a visibility setting. In the editor, open the post’s status settings and choose one of:
- Public: anyone can see it.
- Private: only logged-in Administrators and Editors (and the post’s own author) can see it. Everyone else gets a “not found” page.
- Password protected: anyone with the password can see it. They don’t need an account.
This works well for a handful of pages. It doesn’t scale: private posts are only for your editors, and a shared password can’t be withdrawn from one person without changing it for everyone.
Option 2: Make the whole WordPress site private (free)
To lock the whole site behind a login, so every page and the RSS feed send visitors to a login page, use WP User Manager’s site lock.
Step 1: Install WP User Manager
Install and activate WP User Manager from wordpress.org. On activation it creates a login page, plus registration, password reset and account pages, using your theme’s design. That login page is where locked-out visitors will land, so log out and take a look at it first.
If you’d like to change how it looks, our guide to creating a custom login page covers it.
Step 2: Turn on Prevent site access to visitors
Go to Users > Settings > General > Login Settings and tick Prevent site access to visitors. Save, then open your site in a private browser window: every page now redirects to the login page. Logged-in users see the site as normal.
While you’re there, consider Lock Access to wp-login.php too, which sends anyone who tries the default WordPress login screen to your login page instead.
Step 3: Decide whether people can sign up
With the site locked, the registration page is locked too. That’s right for a site where you add every user yourself. If new members should be able to join, tick Allow site registration, which appears once the site is locked, and the registration page stays open. Pair it with the User Verification addon (paid) if you want to approve each new member before they get in.
Step 4: Keep it out of search engines
A locked site has nothing for search engines to read, but it’s worth telling them anyway. In Settings > Reading, tick Discourage search engines from indexing this site. Untick it when you launch.
Private until launch
The same steps work for a site you’re still building: lock it, leave registration off, and only you and your team can log in. When you’re ready, untick Prevent site access to visitors and the search engine setting, and the site is public.
Option 3: Make part of the site private
Most membership sites are private in places: a public homepage and blog, with member pages behind a login. WP User Manager covers this too:
- Parts of a page: wrap members-only content in the free
[wpum_restrict_logged_in]shortcode, or restrict any block from the WP User Manager – Restriction panel in the block editor. Our gated content guide walks through both. - Whole posts, pages and categories: the Content Restriction addon (paid) adds a box to every post, page, category and tag to restrict it to logged-in users, roles or specific users, and hide it from menus and archives.
- Content for one user only: the Private Content addon (paid) adds a Private Content tab to each member’s profile that only they can see, with content you set for everyone or for each user. See getting started with Private Content.
If you’re comparing other tools for this, see our roundup of content restriction plugins.
FAQs
Can I make my WordPress site private without a plugin?
Only post by post. WordPress can make individual posts and pages private or password protected, but it has no setting to lock the whole site. For that you need a plugin.
Will logged-in users notice anything?
No. Once they log in, members see the site as normal. You can choose where they land after logging in in Users > Settings > Redirects.
Is a private site bad for SEO?
While it’s private, yes: search engines can’t see anything behind the login. That’s usually the point. If you want to be found, keep a public homepage and lock only the members area (option 3).
Get started
Locking a whole site takes one setting in the free plugin: download WP User Manager from wordpress.org, tick Prevent site access to visitors, and check it from a logged-out browser window.
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