Easy Basic Authentication – Add basic auth to site or admin area vs Mandate App Security

The Easy Basic Authentication plugin provides a simple method to add basic authentication to your WordPress site. You can enable basic authentication for the entire site or only for the admin area by setting a custom username and password. Secure your site by restricting access only to authorized users. Try it on a free mock site: click here Key Features Simple Configuration: With Easy Basic Authentication, you can easily set up basic authentication for your entire website or specifically for the admin area. Set a custom username and password to ensure secure access. Admin Area Protection: If you wish to restrict access to your WordPress admin area, Easy Basic Authentication allows you to do so quickly and effectively. Only users with the correct credentials will be able to access this critical part of your site. Entire site protection: If you wish, there is an option to extend the access limitation to the entire site and not just for your WordPress admin area, Easy Basic authentication allows you to do this quickly and effectively. Only users with the correct credentials will be able to access this critical part of your site. Failed Access Logging: The plugin keeps track of failed login attempts, helping you identify unauthorized access attempts. This is particularly useful for monitoring your site’s security. Access Log: If you choose to enable this feature, Easy Basic Authentication allows you to log successful logins, providing a comprehensive overview of login activities on your site. Easy Management: The plugin’s intuitive interface makes it simple to manage basic authentication settings. You can easily enable or disable basic authentication and adjust credentials to suit your needs. Email Alert Functionality: Easy Basic Authentication includes an email alert feature to notify you of unauthorized access attempts. You can receive email alerts when someone tries to access your site without proper credentials. White List Functionality: Easy Basic Authentication now includes a White List feature, allowing you to specify trusted IP addresses exempt from basic authentication. Configure this list to grant immediate access to known users or systems without requiring credentials, enhancing convenience while maintaining security. Protect your WordPress site with basic authentication quickly and reliably. Easy Basic Authentication gives you control to ensure that only authorized users can access your online resources. Maintain your site’s security and prevent unwanted access today with Easy Basic Authentication. Usage Visit the plugin settings page to configure your desired basic authentication options. Choose whether to enable basic authentication for the entire site or just the admin area. Set a custom username and password for secure access. Monitor failed access attempts and access logs for added security. Troubleshooting: Resetting Basic Authentication If you’re having trouble logging in due to the basic authentication, you can reset it and regain access by following these steps: 1 Connect to your website via FTP. 2 Navigate to the plugin directory: wp-content/plugins/easy-basic-authentication/class/ 3 Locate the file: easy-basic-authentication-class.php 4 Find the following line: add_action( 'init', array($this,'basic_auth_admin') ); 5 Comment out that line by adding a # at the beginning: #add_action( 'init', array($this,'basic_auth_admin') ); 6 Save the file and re-upload it to your server. This will disable the basic authentication temporarily, allowing you to log in. Once logged in, you can adjust the plugin settings as needed. If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out. GitHub Repository You can find the source code and contribute to the project on GitHub: Easy Basic Authentication on GitHub

WordPress Application Passwords prove identity. They do not limit what an authenticated request can do. If the user behind a password is an admin, every tool that authenticates as that user has admin-level access — with no native way to narrow it. Today, REST clients, automation platforms, AI agents, management tools, and MCP connectors all authenticate with Application Passwords. Any of them, if misconfigured or compromised, can do anything that user can do. Mandate App Security adds the missing layer: a capability policy per Application Password. You define what each credential is allowed to do. Mandate App Security enforces it on every request. Normal wp-admin sessions and user roles are unaffected. Instead of treating every Application Password as equally trusted, Mandate App Security lets administrators and password owners save a capability allowlist per password. An administrator can choose: a WordPress user one of that user’s Application Passwords the capabilities that password should be allowed to use an optional expiration date for that password whether the scope is locked so the password owner can view it but not edit it Users can scope their own Application Passwords when WordPress allows Application Passwords for their account. Only administrators can edit another user’s scope or lock a scope against owner edits. When a request is authenticated with that Application Password, Mandate App Security checks the saved allowlist and removes capabilities that are not allowed for that password. Mandate App Security never grants new permissions. It only narrows an Application Password to capabilities the selected user already receives from assigned roles. If the selected Application Password is past its saved expiration date, Mandate App Security removes all capabilities for that request. Normal browser and wp-admin sessions for the same user are not changed. Example scopes A reporting dashboard that only needs to read posts and media should never be able to edit settings or manage users. A content automation tool that publishes posts has no reason to access WooCommerce orders. An AI writing assistant does not need plugin management access. With Mandate App Security, each of those tools gets a dedicated Application Password scoped to exactly what it needs. Nothing more. Source Code Mandate App Security is available at https://wpmandate.com. The public development repository, release packages, and build documentation are at https://github.com/FernleafSystems/Mandate-for-WordPress.