by Adam Greenwell 5 (2 reviews)

Guard Dog

Name: Guard Dog
Rating: 5.0 (2 reviews)
Author: Adam Greenwell

Plugin-first WordPress login and account security: custom login URLs, 2FA, passkeys, CAPTCHA, access control, sessions, and activity logging.

Guard Dog ranks #39,743 among WordPress.org plugins with 20+ active installations, is #596 of 1,659 in the Authentication category, a 5/5 rating from 2 reviews, and was last updated Oct 13, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Compatible with WP 7.1.4

v1.9.59 Current Version v1.9.59

Updated 3 weeks ago Last Update on 13 Oct, 2026

Refreshed 1 week ago Last Refreshed on

#596 of 1,659 in Authentication Top 50% by installs Downloads +126% this week Actively maintained

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Rank

#39,743

— No change

Active Installs

20+

— No change

KW Avg Position

133

36 worse

Downloads

2.8K

+6 today

Support Resolved

— No change

Rating

100%

Review 5 out of 5

5 (2 reviews)

Next Milestone 30

Total Progress 20%

20+ 30+

16,998

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

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Rank Changes

Current #39,743

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Active Installs Growth

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Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

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Reviews & Ratings

5.0

2 reviews

Overall 100%

2 (100%)

0 (0%)

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Plugin Details

Version: 1.9.59
Last Updated: Oct 13, 2026
Requires WP: 5.9+
Tested Up To: 7.1.4
PHP Version: 8.1 or higher
Author: Adam Greenwell

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5
Reviews: 2
Support Threads: 0
Resolved: 0%

Keywords

2FA authentication captcha security social login

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Guard Dog

Guard Dog includes a temporary access feature that generates secure bypass links. These can be created before lockout occurs. If you're already locked out, you can disable the plugin via FTP by renaming the plugin folder.

Google reCAPTCHA v3 - Invisible, best user experience Google reCAPTCHA v2 - Checkbox verification, widely supported hCaptcha - Privacy-focused alternative to Google Cloudflare Turnstile - Fast, privacy-first option

No, 2FA is optional but highly recommended. It can be enabled per-user and includes recovery codes for backup access.

Guard Dog is optimized for performance. Features like database query optimization and intelligent caching ensure minimal impact on your site speed. I'm getting false "IP shift" alerts showing the same IP for every user This happens when your site is behind a reverse proxy, CDN, or load balancer (common with hosts like Kinsta, WP Engine, Cloudflare, or AWS). The proxy sits between users and WordPress, so Guard Dog sometimes detects the proxy's IP instead of the real visitor's IP. To fix this: Go to Guard Dog > Sessions > Settings Scroll to "Reverse Proxy / Load Balancer" Set "IP Detection Method" to match your setup: Cloudflare - if your site uses Cloudflare (most common) X-Forwarded-For - for most other proxies (Kinsta, WP Engine, Nginx, AWS ELB) X-Real-IP - if your server uses Nginx as a reverse proxy Auto - tries all headers automatically (default, works for most sites) REMOTE_ADDR only - only use if you have NO proxy (direct connections only) Add your proxy's IP addresses to "Trusted Proxy IPs" (one per line, CIDR ranges supported) Check the "Detected IP" row to verify your real IP is shown, not the proxy IP Important: If you are unsure, leave the default "Auto" setting. Only change this if you are experiencing false IP shift alerts or if your hosting provider has instructed you to use a specific header. Misconfiguring this can cause Guard Dog to see incorrect IP addresses, which affects IP-based blocking, login attempt tracking, and activity logs.

If you're seeing false IP shift alerts, the alert email will contain the proxy IP (the "new IP" that keeps appearing). You can also check the "Detected IP" row on the Sessions settings page - if it shows your proxy's IP instead of your real IP, that IP should be added to the Trusted Proxy IPs list. Common proxy IP ranges: Cloudflare - see Cloudflare's IP ranges Kinsta - typically a Google Cloud IP (e.g., 34.x.x.x or 35.x.x.x) AWS ELB/CloudFront - check your AWS console for load balancer IPs Private networks - 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16

Guard Dog is designed to work alongside other security plugins, though we recommend testing in a staging environment first to avoid conflicts.

CAPTCHA (when enabled): Google reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, or Cloudflare Turnstile. Email (when Email 2FA enabled): Amazon SES, Mailgun, Resend, SendGrid, or Google SMTP. Social Login (when enabled): Google OAuth, Microsoft Azure AD, and Apple Sign In (authorization and user profile). IP Reputation (when enabled): DNS only: Spamhaus ZEN, CBL (abuseat.org), dan.me.uk (Tor). Optional geo: ip-api.com or ipinfo.io; geo can be turned off to use only DNS. Geolocation (country from IP): When CDN/proxy headers do not provide country, ip-api.com or ipapi.co may be used (e.g. access control, activity log). For details, data flows, and privacy policies, see the Privacy & Data Usage documentation in the docs folder.