noindex SEO vs Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL)

Fine-grained control over how search engines index and display your WordPress content. Apply 5 independent robots directives to 22 different page contexts with flexible implementation methods. 5 Robots Directives: noindex: Prevent search engines from indexing the page nofollow: Prevent search engines from following links on the page noarchive: Prevent search engines from showing cached versions nosnippet: Prevent search engines from showing text snippets in results noimageindex: Prevent search engines from indexing images on the page Implementation Methods: HTML Meta Tags: Traditional method, easy to verify in page source (default) HTTP Headers: More robust, works with all content types including PDFs and images Both: Maximum compatibility for all scenarios Control Levels: Global Settings: Apply directives to 22 different page contexts (posts, pages, archives, etc.) Granular Control (Optional): Override global settings for individual posts, pages, and custom post types via meta boxes in the editor Perfect for: Blocking indexing of attachment pages while allowing link following Preventing duplicate content issues with flexible directive combinations Controlling archive page indexing with granular control Managing pagination SEO with independent settings Protecting private content from search engine caching Preventing snippet display while still indexing content Main pages Front Page: Block the indexing of the site’s front page. Home: Block the indexing of the site’s home page. Pages and Posts Page: Block the indexing of the site’s pages. Privacy Policy: Block the indexing of the site’s privacy policy page. Single: Block the indexing of a post on the site. Singular: Block the indexing of a post or a page of the site. Taxonomies Category: Block the indexing of the site categories. The lists where the posts appear. Tag: Block the indexing of the site’s tags. The lists where the posts appear. Dates Date: Block the indexing when any date-based archive page (i.e. a monthly, yearly, daily or time-based archive) of the site. The lists where the posts appear. Day: Block the indexing when a daily archive of the site. The lists where the posts appear. Month: Block the indexing when a monthly archive of the site. The lists where the posts appear. Time: Block the indexing when an hourly, “minutely”, or “secondly” archive of the site. The lists where the posts appear. Year: Block the indexing when a yearly archive of the site. The lists where the posts appear. Archives Archive: Block the indexing of any type of Archive page. Category, Tag, Author and Date based pages are all types of Archives. The lists where the posts appear. Author: Block the indexing of the author’s page, where the author’s publications appear. Post Type Archive: Block the indexing of any post type page. Pagination Pagination: Block the indexing of the pagination, i.e. all pages other than the main page of an archive. Search Search: Block the indexing of the internal search result pages. Attachments Attachment: Block the indexing of an attachment document to a post or page. An attachment is an image or other file uploaded through the post editor’s upload utility. Attachments can be displayed on their own “page” or template. This will not cause the indexing of the image or file to be blocked. Previews Customize Preview: Block the indexing when a content is being displayed in customize mode. Preview: Block the indexing when a single post is being displayed in draft mode. Error Page Error 404: This will cause an error page to be blocked from being indexed. As it is an error page, it should not be indexed per se, but just in case. Important note: if you have any doubt about any of the following items it is best not to activate the option as you could lose results in the search engines. Using the plugin REST API The plugin exposes two read-only endpoints under /wp-json/noindex-seo/v1/ so headless consumers can read the configuration: GET /settings: returns the consolidated settings array (contexts and directives plus config). Requires an authenticated user with the manage_options capability. GET /effective?post_id=123: returns the list of active directives for a specific post, computed with the same precedence used on the front-end (per-post override, then per-post-type default, then the built-in context). Public only for published, non-password-protected posts; everything else requires edit_post capabilities. On WordPress versions with XML sitemaps (5.5+), URLs that are noindexed are automatically excluded from the core sitemaps. Compatibility WordPress: 4.0 – 7.1 PHP: 5.6 – 8.5 Compliance This plugin adheres to the following security measures and review protocols for each version: WordPress Plugin Handbook WordPress Plugin Security WordPress APIs Security WordPress Coding Standards Plugin Check (PCP) Privacy This plugin does not collect any information about your site, your identity, the plugins, themes or content the site has. Vulnerabilities No vulnerabilities have been published up to version 3.1.3. Found a security vulnerability? Please report it to us privately at the noindex SEO GitHub repository.

Easily improve site security with WordPress Hardening, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Login Protection, Vulnerability Detection and SSL certificate. Really simple, Effective and Performant WordPress Security Really Simple Security is the most lightweight and easy-to-use security plugin for WordPress. It secures your WordPress website with SSL certificate generation, including proper 301 https redirection and SSL enforcement, scanning for possible vulnerabilities, Login Protection and implementing essential WordPress hardening features. We believe that security should have the absolute minimum effect on website performance, user experience and maintainability. Therefore, Really Simple Security is: Lightweight: Every security feature is developed with a modular approach and with performance in mind. Disabled features won’t load any redundant code. Easy-to-use: 1-minute configuration with short onboarding setup. Security Features Easy SSL Migration Migrates your website to HTTPS and enforces SSL in just one click. 301 redirect via PHP or .htaccess Secure cookies Let’s Encrypt: Install an SSL Certificate if your hosting provider supports manual installation. Server Health Check: Your server configuration is every bit as important for your website security. WordPress Hardening Tweak your configuration and keep WordPress fortified and safe by tackling potential weaknesses. Prevent code execution in the uploads folder Prevent login feedback and disable user enumeration Disable XML-RPC Disable directory browsing Username restrictions (block ‘admin’ and public names) and much more.. Vulnerability Detection Get notified when plugins, themes or WP core contain vulnerabilities and need appropriate action. Login Protection Allow or enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for specific user roles. Users receive a two-factor code via Email. Improve Security with Really Simple Security Pro Protect your site with all essential security features by upgrading to Really Simple Security Pro. Advanced SSL enforcement Mixed Content Scan & Fixer. Detect files that are requested over HTTP and fix them to HTTPS, both Front- and Back-end. Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security and configure your site for the HSTS Preload list. Firewall Really Simple Security Pro includes a performant and efficient WordPress firewall, to stop bots, crawlers and bad actors with IP and username blocks. 404 blocking – Blocks crawlers as they trigger unusual numbers of 404 errors. Region blocking – Only allow/block access to your site from specific regions. Automated and customisable Firewall rules. IP blocklist and allowlist. Security Headers Security headers protect your site visitors against the risk of clickjacking, cross-site-forgery attacks, stealing login credentials and malware. Independent of your Server Configuration, works on Apache, LiteSpeed, NGINX, etc. Protect your website visitors with X-XSS Protection, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, a Referrer Policy and CORS headers. Automatically generate your WordPress-tailored Content Security Policy. Vulnerability Measures When a vulnerability is detected in a plugin, theme or WordPress core you will get notified accordingly. With Vulnerability Measures, you can configure simple but effective measures to make sure that a critical vulnerability won’t remain unattended. Force update: An update process will be tried multiple times until it can be assumed development of a theme or plugin is abandoned. You will be notified during these steps. Quarantine: When a plugin or theme can’t be updated to solve a vulnerability, Really Simple Security can quarantine the plugin. Advanced Site Hardening Choose a custom login URL Automated File Permissions check and fixer Rename and randomize your database prefix Change the debug.log file location to a non-public folder Disable application passwords Control admin creation Disable HTTP methods, reducing HTTP requests Login Protection Secure your website’s login process and user accounts with powerful security measures. Two-Step verification (Email login) 2FA (two factor authentication) with TOTP Passwordless login with passkey login Enforce strong passwords and frequent password change Limit Login Attempts With Limit Login Attempts you can configure a threshold to temporarily or permanently block IP addresses or (non-existing) usernames. You can also throw a CAPTCHA after a failed login (hCaptcha or Google reCaptcha) Access Control Restrict access to your site for specific regions. Add specific IP addresses or IP ranges to the Blocklist or Allowlist. Useful Links Documentation Security Definitions Translate Really Simple Security Issues & pull requests Feature requests Love Really Simple Security? If you want to support the continuing development of this plugin, please consider buying Really Simple Security Pro, which includes some excellent security features and premium support. About Really Simple Plugins Our mission is to make complex WordPress requirements really easy. Really Simple Security is developed by Really Simple Plugins. For generating SSL certificates, Really Simple Security uses the le acme2 PHP Let’s Encrypt client library, thanks to ‘fbett’ for providing it. Vulnerability Detection uses WP Vulnerability, an open-source initiative by Javier Casares. Want to join as a collaborator? We’re on GitHub as well!