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How to Password Protect Single Pages in WordPress (Step by Step)

How to Password Protect a WordPress Page (Step by Step) 

Written By: author image Stacey Corrin
author image Stacey Corrin
Stacey has been writing about WordPress and digital marketing for over 10 years and on other topics for much longer. Alongside this, she's fascinated with web design, user experience, and SEO.
     Reviewed By: John Turner
reviewer image John Turner
John Turner is the co-founder of SeedProd. He has over 20+ years of business and development experience and his plugins have been downloaded over 25 million times.

Have you ever wondered how to password protect a WordPress page?

It’s a scenario we’ve come across often. You have a page you’d like to share with a client but don’t want the public to see it.

This is where password protection can help. With the right tools, you can protect any WordPress page with a password, and it won’t require any technical expertise.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to password protect a WordPress page so only specific users can access your private content.

In This Guide:

Why Password Protect a WordPress Page?

Password protecting a WordPress page lets you keep certain areas of your site hidden from the public.

It could be you only want site editors or clients to see your login page, or you want to hide parts of your site that are still under construction.

Whatever the reason, password protecting a page lets you hide content from visitors unless they have a password. This can be useful for member-only pages or pages for a specific target audience.

There are several ways to password-protect WordPress pages. You can either use a WordPress plugin or WordPress’s built-in page settings. We’ll show you how below.

How to Password Protect an Under Construction Page

First, we’ll show you how to password protect an under-construction page using SeedProd.

SeedProd WordPress website builder

SeedProd is one of the best website builders for WordPress. It includes built-in coming soon and maintenance mode functionality.

In the plugin settings, you can use access controls to password protect a WordPress page for members only.

SeedProd also lets you create custom WordPress themes, landing pages, and responsive website layouts without CSS, HTML, or shortcodes. You can even create eCommerce sites with its WooCommerce integrations.

There are tons of premade templates and widgets you can use to customize your page, including:

  • WordPress login page blocks and templates
  • Signup forms and contact forms
  • Countdown timers and progress bars
  • Template parts to display a custom sidebar
  • And much more.

Follow these steps to password-protect WordPress pages with SeedProd.

Step 1. Install and Activate SeedProd

First, download the SeedProd plugin. Then, head to your account overview area after logging in.

Now click View License Key, Details, and Downloads.

Overview of seedprod account dashboard

From here, click the orange button labeled Download Landing Page Pro.

download seedprod landing page builder plugin for WordPress

Now head to Plugins » Add New in your WordPress dashboard, and click Upload Plugin.

Click Choose File to find the .zip file you downloaded on your computer, then click Install Now.

Upload SeedProd coming soon pro to WordPress

After you’ve installed the plugin, click Activate.

Step 2. Create a Coming Soon Page

To password-protect a page, you’ll need to create either a coming soon (under construction) or a maintenance page. These pages include access controls for protecting your page with a single password.

Follow these steps to create a coming soon page with SeedProd.

Step 3. Password Protect a Single WordPress Page

After creating your coming soon page, go to your SeedProd page overview and click the Edit Page button in the Coming Soon Mode section.

Edit coming soon page in WordPress

Click the Page Settings tab at the top of the visual page editor to see several configuration settings. You’ll need to click the Access Control option to hide certain pages.

To display your password-protected notice on specific WordPress pages, you need to scroll down to the Include/Exclude URLs section.

password protect single pages in WordPress

In this section, click the Include URLs radio button, then enter the URL of each page you’d like to protect in the box provided. You should enter each URL on a new line. You can also add the URLs of individual WordPress posts here.

When you’re done, click the Save Changes button.

There’s a simple solution for visitors who need access to a protected page but don’t have a WordPress login. You can make your WordPress page only accessible via a link.

The Access Control panel has an option that lets you bypass the restricted page.

Password protect a WordPress page with SeedProd

Here, you can add a secure password.

This option makes your WordPress page only accessible via a link you give to visitors, which ignores the coming soon page. If you forget your password, you can quickly glance at this page to refresh your memory.

It’s also possible to add specific visitors’ IP addresses in the Access IP section. This allows anyone with that IP to bypass your coming soon page.

Step 4. Add a Password Input Field for Your Landing Page

If you wish to add a form for users to enter a password and bypass your landing page, first go to the Design tab, then add the Custom HTML block to your page.

Bypass password form shortcode

Inside the block, type seed_bypass_form in square [ ] brackets and save your changes. The login form won’t show in the page builder preview.

To view it, you’ll need to visit that specific page on the front end of your site.

Landing page password input field

Step 5. Save Your Changes

Remember to save your changes before leaving this page. And if you haven’t already, you’ll need to enable your coming soon page from the dashboard.

Go to SeedProd » Pages from your WordPress admin panel to view the different page modes and landing pages available to you.

Under the Coming Soon Mode section, click the toggle to turn it from Inactive to Active.

enable maintenance mode in WordPress to protect pages

You’ve now enabled WordPress password-protected pages and subpages on your website.

Pro tip: Did you know that you can also password-protect WooCommerce products by enabling WooCommerce maintenance mode?

Password Protect a Page in WordPress Without a Plugin

Anyone can create a password-protected page using WordPress’s default settings.

This method doesn’t require any extra plugins and takes a few clicks. However, you won’t have access to the easy customization settings that you get with SeedProd.

To password-protect a WordPress page with the default editor, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to WordPress as an administrator.
  2. From the dashboard, head to Pages » All Pages.
  3. Click Edit on the page content you want to hide.
  4. In the top left corner of the WordPress editor, under the Status and Visibility settings, click the Public link.
  5. Select the Password Protected option to protect your page and enter a password.
  6. Then click Publish or Update.

Now, when viewing the page, you’ll have to enter a password.

password protect a WordPress page using default settings

Here’s what your password-protected post or page would look like to people visiting your site. All they need to do is enter the correct password to gain access.

Password Protected Page WordPress Example

Your pages are now marked as private in WordPress, so you can easily see protected pages in the list view.

List view of a WordPress password protect page

If you want to remove password protection, switch the status back to ‘public.’ This method works on every page and post in WordPress, including custom post types.

Password Protecting a PDF File

You might be wondering, “can I password protect a PDF file?” and the answer is, yes, you can.

After adding your file to a page, use the method above to password-protect the page with your PDF document.

Password protect a PDF in WordPress

That way, you can protect your PDF from people who shouldn’t have access.

Password protected PDF page in WordPress

When setting up a locked page or password-protected posts, you may also notice the option to mark it as Private.

WordPress’s private post visibility option restricts WordPress content to the person who created it or anyone logged in with the Editor or Administrator role. It’s best to avoid this option when restricting content, as visitors who are not logged in can’t enter a password to get access.

Password Protect WordPress Post Categories

You can also use SeedProd to create a protected category or multiple WordPress categories. Follow the steps in Method 1, and on the SeedProd Access Controls page, click the Include URLs toggle.

Password protected category WordPress

You can then paste the full URL for each category you wish to protect. Now, anyone viewing that category will see your coming soon page without needing to add category passwords.

Password Protect a WordPress Page Form

The great thing about WordPress is it lets you add all manner of useful features to your site. Perhaps the most popular is the humble contact form.

But let’s say you want to make a password-protected form. You can do this with the handy Content Locker addon for WPForms.

Here are some of the great things you can do with the Content Locker addon:

  • Lock forms – Users will have to enter a password to submit the form. This protects you from unwanted form submissions.
  • Close form submissions on a certain date/time – This is useful for application forms with a set deadline.
  • Restrict forms to members – You can restrict forms to only logged-in user roles, which is ideal for membership sites. Businesses can also use this to restrict support to paying customers.
  • Limit the number of total submissions – Contests and giveaways can benefit from this. The form will automatically close when the max number of entries is reached.
  • Limit entries to one per person – An excellent choice for free sample forms and giveaways; this option helps you avoid duplicate submissions.

Why not check out this in-depth WPForms review for the full details?

To enjoy this addon, you’ll first need to grab the pro version of WPForms.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the plugin, head to WPForms » Addons.

Here, you’ll see a list of add-ons available to you. Choose the Form Locker Addon and click Install Addon.

Install the Form Locker Addon from WPForms to password protect forms

Now go to your forms list and click Edit on the form you’d like to password-protect. Alternatively, you can build new password forms.

Click Edit to edit your form

Next, click Settings » Form Locker from the left-hand admin panel.

Click the form locker option to password protect your WPForm

From here, you can set conditions for the following options:

  • Password – Enter a password for people to use to access the form. You can also add a custom message to the password page.
  • Scheduling – Set a start and end date/time and a message for when form entries are closed.
  • Entry Limit – Enter a number for max form entries. Again, you can write a message when the form is closed.
  • User Roles – Restrict your form to logged-in users and custom user roles like subscribers and a custom message.
Form locker addon protection options

This feature is excellent because it doesn’t just apply to the forms you create with WPForms.

You can also use the Content Locker to restrict access to your surveys and polls. This gives you so much more control over your protected content.

Password Protect a WordPress Page FAQs

We get a lot of questions from our readers about password protection. Below, we try to answer as many of them as we can:

Is it necessary to password-protect my WordPress pages?
If you have sensitive information or exclusive content that you want to restrict to a certain audience, then password-protected content is a useful feature.
Will password-protecting my pages affect my SEO?
When you password protect parts of your site, it typically isn’t indexed by search engines, meaning they won’t appear in search results. This won’t negatively impact the SEO of your public pages, but it does mean that the protected content won’t contribute to your site’s overall SEO.
Can I password-protect my entire WordPress site?
Yes, you can password-protect your entire website. This is often done when a site is under construction or when it’s used for a private purpose, such as an internal company website. Please see method 3 for instructions on sitewide protection.
Can I have different passwords for different pages?
Yes, WordPress allows you to set different passwords for different pages. This can be useful if you want to restrict access to different levels or types of content.
What if my users forget their passwords?
If a user forgets their password, they won’t be able to access the protected content. It’s important to have a system in place for users to recover or reset their passwords. WordPress has built-in features for password recovery that you can use.
Is password protection the best way to secure my content?
Password protection is a simple and effective way to restrict access to your content. However, for more sensitive content, you might want to consider additional security measures, such as two-factor authentication or secure user roles.

Next, More Ways to Protect Your Site

You’ve now learned how to password protect a WordPress page for testing purposes and private content.

Locking pages in WordPress is easy with SeedProd’s powerful Access Controls. Plus, the drag-and-drop page builder gives you complete control over the design of your password-protected page, with no coding required!

You may also want to check out the following guides for protecting your WordPress site:

Thanks for reading! We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to leave a comment with any questions and feedback.

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author avatar
Stacey Corrin Writer
Stacey has been writing about WordPress and digital marketing for over 10 years and on other topics for much longer. Alongside this, she's fascinated with web design, user experience, and SEO.

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that we believe will add value to our readers.

Comments

  1. Hi

    I am looking to protect one page per user, so that is a different gallery page for each user

    So user 1 would have access to only their gallery/custom page

    and User 2 would have access to only their gallery

    Does your system do this?

    Cheers
    Rob

  2. Please look into allowing Seedprod to protect pages with multiple passwords that either expire after use or after a couple of days. :)

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