Install
This is the repository archive. It installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow.
Install straight from GitHub with WP-CLI:
wp plugin install https://github.com/starbase118/sb118-private-sites/archive/refs/heads/main.zipA WordPress must-use plugin that enforces per-site membership on private sub-sites of a
multisite network. If a sub-site is marked private (blog_public = 0), only users who have
been explicitly added to that sub-site can see it — over the web, the REST API, or feeds.
Built and used by StarBase 118 to keep staff and training areas of our WordPress multisite genuinely private. Shared here because it's a small, clean solution to a problem a lot of multisite operators hit.
Why this exists
WordPress's built-in "Discourage search engines" toggle (blog_public = 0) only sets a
noindex hint — it doesn't actually block anyone. Popular "private site" plugins typically
gate the front end but leave two side doors wide open:
- the REST API (
/wp-json/…) happily serves pages and content, and - RSS/Atom feeds (
/feed/) stream posts to anyone who asks.
This plugin closes all three doors, and goes one step further: being logged into the network isn't enough — a user must be a member of the specific sub-site.
What it does
On any sub-site where blog_public = 0, for a visitor who is not a member of that
sub-site:
| Vector | Behaviour |
|---|---|
REST API (/wp-json/*) |
401 Unauthorized |
RSS / Atom feeds (/feed/, /feed/atom/, …) |
403 Forbidden |
| Direct page access | Logged-out users go to wp-login.php; signed-in non-members get a 403 with their account identity and a nonce-protected sign-out link |
Feed <link> tags in <head> |
removed |
Access rule: logged in and a member of the current sub-site. Network super admins
always have access. Public sub-sites (blog_public = 1) are completely unaffected, and the
login, cron, AJAX, and activation endpoints are always allowed through.
Install
This is a must-use plugin — it loads automatically on every site in the network and can't be deactivated from the admin UI.
- Copy
sb118-private-sites.phpinto your network'swp-content/mu-plugins/directory (create the folder if it doesn't exist). - That's it — there's no activation step and no settings page.
- Mark a sub-site private under Settings → Reading → Search engine visibility
(this sets
blog_public = 0), and add the users who should have access under Users for that sub-site.
Requirements
- WordPress multisite 5.0+
- PHP 7.2+
How it works
The whole plugin is a handful of WordPress hooks (rest_authentication_errors, the do_feed_*
actions, template_redirect, and wp). Each one first checks blog_public, then checks
membership via core's is_user_member_of_blog(). No database tables, no options, no admin UI.
Read sb118-private-sites.php — it's short.
Checks
php -d zend.assertions=1 -d assert.exception=1 tests/denial-message.phpLicense
GPL-2.0-or-later, the same license as WordPress itself.
Maintained by StarBase 118 — a fan-run Star Trek play-by-email RPG since 1994. We write collaborative fiction together across a fleet of starships. If that sounds like your kind of thing, come write the next chapter →