HumanGate vs Selective Image Guard | A deterrent for unauthorized downloads and scraping

HumanGate protects your WordPress site from AI training crawlers, search engine bots, and unauthorized scraping bots. Add global refusal signals (meta tags, HTTP headers, robots.txt), actively block bots (AI crawlers, scrapers, etc.), and deter large-scale bot extraction with lightweight JavaScript challenges—all without CAPTCHAs or heavy databases. Perfect for: * Journalists protecting sensitive content * Activists and independent creators * Nonprofits and whistleblower support projects * Anyone wanting to opt out of AI training data collection Core Features: Block Search Engines – Clear, top-level setting to block all search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) via noindex/nofollow meta tags Global AI Refusal – Adds AI-specific meta tags, HTTP headers (X-AI-Training), and robots.txt rules to refuse AI training crawlers Active Enforcement Modes – Choose from Signals Only (default), Challenge Mode (JS verification), or Block Mode (403 Forbidden) for AI crawlers and other bots Bot Challenge System – Automatically detects suspicious bot traffic patterns (burst traffic, sequential traversal, deep-link access) and serves lightweight JavaScript challenges to all bots—not just AI crawlers Emergency Lockdown – One-click site lockdown with HTTP 451 responses and optional login-only access SEO Plugin Compatible – Works seamlessly with Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO, and other SEO plugins Privacy-Focused Stats – Lightweight telemetry using WordPress transients (no database bloat, no IP storage) Performance Optimized – DNS lookup caching and user agent pattern caching for faster response times Whitelist Support – IP address and user agent whitelists to bypass blocking for trusted sources How It Works: Block Search Engines – Optional setting to block all search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) using noindex/nofollow meta tags. This is a separate, clear setting at the top of the plugin configuration. AI Refusal Signals – Adds AI-specific meta tags, HTTP headers, and robots.txt rules that tell AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, etc.) not to train on your content. This works independently from search engine blocking. Active Enforcement – Optionally block or challenge bots at the HTTP level: Signals Only (default): Sends refusal signals only Challenge Mode: Requires JavaScript execution verification for all bots Block Mode: Returns 403 Forbidden to AI crawlers and other unauthorized bots Selective Friction – Automatically detects bot scraping patterns and serves invisible JavaScript challenges to any suspicious traffic: Burst traffic detection (12+ pages in 5 seconds) – catches all bots, not just AI crawlers Sequential traversal detection (machine-like pagination) Deep-link access detection (direct access to old content) Auto-completing challenges (no user interaction required) Works against all types of bots: AI training crawlers, scrapers, data harvesters, etc. Emergency Lockdown – Instantly lock down your site with one toggle, returning HTTP 451 responses with optional login-only access. Design Philosophy: HumanGate doesn’t try to perfectly identify machines. Instead, it makes large-scale extraction economically inefficient while keeping the experience invisible to 99% of real human users. No CAPTCHAs, no heavy databases, just lightweight protection. Development For development, bug reports, and contributions, please visit the plugin’s GitHub repository at https://github.com/NomadBuilder/HumanGate

Selective Image Guard is a lightweight WordPress plugin that adds multiple layers of protection to your website’s images. It’s ideal for photographers, designers, and content creators who want to deter theft and unauthorized use of their visual content. Key Features Desktop Screenshot Prevention: Applies a blur filter to protected images when specific keyboard shortcuts for screenshots are detected. This is a deterrent, not a foolproof solution. Print Protection: Blurs protected images when a user attempts to print the page. Selective Protection: You control which images are protected. The plugin only affects images you mark as protected in the media library. How It Works Navigate to your media library and select the image you want to protect. Check the “Protect this image” option. The plugin will automatically apply front-end protections to the selected image to help prevent unauthorized access. Free Features The free version gives you solid protection against common image theft techniques: DevTools Detection – Prevents users from opening browser developer tools to inspect and steal images. JavaScript Disabling Detection – Detects when JavaScript is disabled, ensuring protections remain active. Desktop Screenshot Prevention – Blocks most attempts to capture screenshots of your images on desktop. Print Protection – Prevents printing of protected images directly from the browser. PRO Features The PRO version unlocks advanced and flexible controls for complete image protection: Bulk Protection – Quickly apply protection to all images across your website with a single setting. Featured Images Protection – Protects your WordPress featured images from theft. Protection by Post Type – Apply image protection only where you need it (e.g., posts, pages, custom post types). WooCommerce Product Galleries – Keep your product images safe and protect your online shop from unauthorized copying. Watermark – Automatically add a customizable watermark to your images for extra security. Premium Support – Get direct, priority support from the plugin author. Don’t understimate the value of a deterrent. This plugin provides a deterrent, not a foolproof solution. No client-side technique can offer 100% protection against a determined attacker. But don’t underestimate the value of a deterrent. Think about the methods used to keep mosquitoes away. Even if they don’t work 100%, would you rather be surrounded by hundreds of mosquitoes or just a couple? That’s the idea of a deterrent. Examples of Use Here are several examples where you would want to display an image on a site but discourage people from sharing it: Online course slides – You want students to see diagrams or infographics, but not download or redistribute them outside your platform. Stock photography previews – You show high-resolution images to logged-in subscribers, but do not want those same images shared publicly without a license. Members-only content – For example, fitness programs or meal plans with recipe cards as images, visible only to paying members. Confidential documents – An internal portal where staff see charts or scanned reports, but you do not want them forwarded outside the company. Product prototypes – Showing early design mockups (e.g. fashion sketches or unreleased product photos) to investors or testers, but preventing leaks to competitors. Protection against unauthorized scraping – Preventing automated bots from copying images and republishing them without permission. E-commerce product photos – Protecting your catalog from competitors scraping product images to use in their own stores. Real estate listings – Preventing property photos from being scraped and reused on unauthorized portals. Artistic portfolios – Protecting photographers, illustrators, and designers from having their portfolio images scraped and reused without attribution. News and media outlets – Protecting journalistic images from being scraped and re-hosted by content farms. Stock agencies – Protecting preview images (with or without watermarks) from being scraped in bulk to avoid licensing. Recipe or DIY blogs – Protecting step-by-step photos from being scraped and republished elsewhere. More Information About Image Protection For more details about image protection and the limitations of client-side techniques, read the article: How to Protect Images on WordPress (And How to Prevent Theft) Credits Developed by Jose Mortellaro