Password Protected Categories

Password Protected Categories is a WordPress plugin developed by Barn2 Media that allows you to restrict access to entire categories and taxonomies using passwords, user roles, or individual accounts. It is designed for websites that need to create private areas within a public site, such as exclusive catalogs, areas for recurring customers, restricted portfolios, private events, or reserved commercial content, without the need to implement complex membership systems.

The plugin works with any hierarchical WordPress taxonomy, including post categories, pages, and custom content types such as events, portfolios, or products. This makes it a flexible solution for online stores, course sites, blogs with premium content, and any project that requires granular access control.

Its main features include:

• Password protection: assign one or more passwords to a category and automatically protect all its subcategories and associated content.
• User role protection: restrict categories to specific WordPress roles, such as administrators or editors, or to specific individual users.
• Multiple passwords per category: allows assigning different passwords to different users, facilitating access management and revocation.
• Centralized login page: visitors can enter their password from a single page or sidebar widget and are automatically redirected to the corresponding category.
• Search engine hiding: protected content is automatically marked with noindex tags, preventing it from appearing in Google and other search engine results.
• Access form customization: allows configuring the title, message, password label, and button text of the login form.
• Expiration control: define how many days a category remains unlocked before the user must re-enter the password.
• Compatibility with custom content types: works with any custom post type that uses hierarchical taxonomies, including event and e-commerce plugins.

Configuration is simple: after installing and activating the plugin, you access the settings from the admin panel to define protection options and customize the access form. Then, when editing any category, a visibility section appears where you can choose between password, role, or specific user protection.

Password Protected Categories is the ideal solution for those who need to keep private sections on their site without technical complications, ensuring that only authorized people can access restricted content.