by Kevin Vess 4.8 (101 reviews)

Force Login

Name: Force Login
Rating: 4.8 (101 reviews)
Author: Kevin Vess

Force Login is a simple lightweight plugin that requires visitors to log in to interact with the website.

Force Login ranks #974 among WordPress.org plugins with 30,000+ active installations, is #46 of 1,659 in the Authentication category, a 4.8/5 rating from 101 reviews, and was last updated Jun 19, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Tested up to WP 7 (Current: 7.1.4)

v5.6.3 Current Version v5.6.3

Updated 4 months ago Last Update on 19 Jun, 2026

Refreshed 2 days ago Last Refreshed on

#46 of 1,659 in Authentication Top 5% by installs Downloads -14.7% this week

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#974

— No change

Active Installs

30K+

-16.7%

KW Avg Position

11.4

2.8 better

Downloads

+5,132 today

Support Resolved

50%

— No change

Rating

96%

Review 4.8 out of 5

4.8 (101 reviews)

Next Milestone 40K

Total Progress 66.3%

30K+ 40K+

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

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Rank Changes

Current #974

Change

Best #

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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

4.8

101 reviews

Overall 96%

95 (94%)

0 (0%)

3 (3%)

Support Threads Overview

Resolved

Unresolved

Total Threads

Resolved

Unresolved

50%

Resolution Rate

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

No known vulnerabilities on record for Force Login. Checked 1 week ago.

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Plugin Details

Version: 5.6.3
Last Updated: Jun 19, 2026
Requires WP: 4.6+
Tested Up To: 7
PHP Version: N/A
Author: Kevin Vess

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.8
Reviews: 101
Support Threads: 2
Resolved: 50%

Keywords

privacy private protected registered only restricted

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TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

Force Login is for site owners who want to make their WordPress site private, whether for pre-launch staging or members-only access. It solves the problem of restricting public visitors from viewing the site by requiring login before any content, including the REST API, can be accessed.

WordPress Multisite compatible
Redirects visitors to requested URL
Extensive Developer API (hooks & filters)
Customizable login redirect URL
Filter exceptions for pages or posts
Restricts REST API to authenticated users
Translation Ready & WPML certified

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Force Login

By default, the plugin sends visitors back to the URL they tried to access. However, you can redirect users to a specific URL by adding the built-in WordPress filter login_redirect to your functions.php file.

You can bypass Force Login based on any condition by adding the following filter to your functions.php file. You may use the WordPress Conditional Tags in your code. /** * Bypass Force Login to allow for exceptions. * * @param bool $bypass Whether to disable Force Login. Default false. * @param string $visited_url The visited URL. * @return bool */ function my_forcelogin_bypass( $bypass, $visited_url ) { // Allow 'My Page' to be publicly accessible if ( is_page('my-page') ) { $bypass = true; } return $bypass; } add_filter( 'v_forcelogin_bypass', 'my_forcelogin_bypass', 10, 2 ); Check out the Force Login Wiki on GitHub for additional examples to allow URLs to be publicly accessible.

The WordPress login screen includes a "← Back to {sitename}" link below the login form; which may not actually take you back to the site while Force Login is activated. You can hide this link by adding the following action to your functions.php file. Requires: WordPress 2.5 or higher // Hide the 'Back to {sitename}' link on the login screen. function my_forcelogin_hide_backtoblog() { echo '<style type="text/css">#backtoblog{display:none;}</style>'; } add_action( 'login_enqueue_scripts', 'my_forcelogin_hide_backtoblog' );