Advanced Country Blocker vs Ganava Location Access Control

Advanced Country Blocker helps you secure your WordPress site by restricting access based on the visitor’s geolocation (country) or IP address. Upon activation, the plugin detects the activating admin’s country and automatically sets that as the only allowed country. All other visitors from different countries are blocked, unless they use a secret key parameter to temporarily whitelist their IP. Country detection uses the privacy-friendly ip-api.com service by default but can be switched to a fully offline MaxMind GeoLite2 (or compatible) database file once you configure a local copy. Key Features: Automatically allows the admin’s country on plugin activation. Flexible IP-to-country lookups – start with the built-in ip-api.com integration and optionally switch to an offline MaxMind GeoLite2 Country (or compatible) .mmdb database file. Allowlist or blacklist mode – choose whether the country list acts as an allowlist or blocklist without re-entering countries. Temporary access via a customizable secret URL parameter (e.g., ?MySecretKey=1). CAPTCHA Challenge – allow blocked visitors to solve a CAPTCHA to gain temporary access (supports Google reCAPTCHA v2/v3, hCaptcha, Cloudflare Turnstile). Real-Time Activity Monitor – live dashboard showing active visitors, recent blocks, and traffic statistics. Analytics Dashboard – comprehensive charts and statistics about blocked attempts. Manual blacklisting and safelisting of IPs for added security and to accommodate uptime monitors. Optional email alerts when new visitors are blocked. Admin bypass so logged-in admins can always access the site (toggleable in the code). Detailed logging of blocked attempts in a custom database table, displayed in the WP admin. Custom response controls – personalise the block page title/message, choose the HTTP status (403, 410, 451) or redirect to any URL. Automatic log cleanup with configurable retention plus a one-click “Clear Logs” button. Use the plugin settings page (Country Blocker menu in WP admin) to configure the list of allowed countries, blacklisted countries, blacklisted IPs, and whether email alerts are enabled. License This plugin is open-sourced software licensed under the GPLv3 or later. External Services By default this plugin contacts the ip-api.com geolocation service to detect visitor countries. You can disable all external lookups by switching the IP lookup method to the local MaxMind database in the settings.

Ganava Location Access Control is a premium-grade, lightweight security tool designed to give you total control over who visits your WordPress site. Whether you need to block specific regions for compliance, redirect users to localized pages, or protect your store from high-risk countries, this plugin provides the tools you need with a modern, intuitive interface. Built with performance in mind, it integrates natively with Cloudflare Geolocation headers for zero-latency detection, falling back to reliable GeoIP services when needed. Key Benefits Precision Targeting: Don’t just block countries; target specific regions or cities for granular control. Modern UI: Manage your rules using a fast, React-powered administration dashboard. SEO Friendly: Built-in bot detection ensures that search engines like Google and Bing can still crawl your site while malicious traffic is blocked. WooCommerce Ready: Restrict product availability based on the shopper’s location. Features Rule Management: Create unlimited geo rules with priority ordering. Targeting Modes: Target specific pages, posts, or categories. Entire site protection (Global Blocking). URL path matching with wildcard support. Geographic Criteria: Block or allow based on Country, Region, or City. Connection Filtering: Detect and block VPN, Proxy, or Tor traffic (requires API key). Multiple Actions: Block: Show a 403 Access Denied status. Redirect: Send users to a custom URL (perfect for localized marketing). Custom Message: Show a beautiful HTML message or a dedicated WordPress page. Audit Logging: Track every block event with detailed visitor data (IP, Country, Time). Developer Friendly: Hooks and filters to extend functionality. External services This plugin utilizes external services to provide accurate geolocation data and threat detection capabilities (VPN/Proxy/Tor detection). These services are only queried when necessary (e.g. if the user’s IP address cannot be resolved locally or via Cloudflare headers). ProxyCheck.io Purpose: Used for high-accuracy geolocation and detecting whether a visitor is using a VPN, Proxy, or Tor network. Data Sent: The visitor’s IP address is sent to ProxyCheck.io upon request processing. Links: Terms of Service | Privacy Policy ip-api.com Purpose: Used as a fallback service for basic geolocation (Country, Region, City) if ProxyCheck.io is unavailable or unconfigured. Data Sent: The visitor’s IP address is sent to ip-api.com. Links: Terms of Service | Privacy Policy