Want to know how to hide that a website is using WordPress? How to hide the wp-admin folder? How to change the plugin and image directories? In this article we will teach you how to hide the existence of WordPress on your website.
Why do you want to hide your WordPress?
For some developers, it may be embarrassing for some customers to have an idea that a site uses WordPress. I thought so myself, trying several times to hide that my site was WordPress, today I think differently.
Some believe that it can make an unprofessional image, others believe that it can make the site venerable, but in fact trying to hide the fact of using WordPress is just a whim. I use the WordPress Newsletter myself because it's free.
Regardless of the reason, hiding WordPress is not as easy as it looks. A person can easily find out that a site is wordpress by looking at the source code, tags, image links and static files (css, js).
Why not hide your WordPress
As I said earlier, I use the WordPress Newsletter because it is free and unlimited. It sends emails for each new article using a WordPress email along with logos and information that the site uses WordPress. If this is the case, there is no point in hiding the origin of the site.
Another reason not to worry about your site using WordPress is the famous Jetpack CDN. Your images and static files can stay secure without using your server's memory by utilizing the Jetpack plugin that hosts on WP domains.
Another reason for not hiding your WordPress is the great difficulty of doing so. To remove any traces of the existence of WordPress on your site, it will be necessary to modify several CMS files and theme, which can cause bugs when undergoing updates.
Remember that WordPress is a secure system, you will only have problems if you use a bad server and plugins with vulnerabilities. Not to mention that 99% of people who browse your site don't even know what WordPress is and will never know about it.
How can anyone find out that a website is WordPress?
A person can easily find out that a website is WordPress by typing / wp-admin / or / wp-login / in the website's URL. When opening the source code of the site you can look for links that contain the directory / wp-incluides / / wp-content / or anything written WP.
In the CSS Classes of the site you will find tags such as page-id, post-id, wp-image and many others. Files like dashicons can prove that a website uses WordPress. Another way is to use sites that detect WordPress, plugins and themes.
That is, there is no use just hiding the wp-admin or wp-login, if the person wants to know if a website is WordPress, they will get it easily. Unless you decide not to use WordPress anymore (lol).
How to Improve WordPress Security
You don't have to hide the fact that you are using WordPress. Like many, you probably want to do this to “improve” security. Hiding the fact that you are using WordPress for security does not help.
Most attacks and scans are automated, so it really doesn't matter. Instead, focus on keeping it safe. There is a lot you can do, but to keep your website safe you must:
- Keep WordPress, plugins and themes updated;
- Keep your server safe and up to date;
- Use two-factor authentication;
- Apply strong passwords to users;
- Use the jetpack that takes down bot attempts;
- Use plugins that redirect wp-admin and wp-login;
- A simple change in the permalinks already makes it more secure;
- Try to hide your WordPress version to avoid bots;
How to hide the fact that you are using WordPress?
I don't know how you want to hide WordPress, but the tips below can help you take each step:
Hiding in Front End
You may want to hide just a few messages like "this site uses WordPress" or the credits messages with WordPress links at the bottom of the theme. Perhaps a WP icon that appears on the browser taskbar and other signs.
The best way to do this is by choosing WP themes that are paid for or different from those offered natively by the WordPress company. It is not necessary, but just by not using these themes you already take the face of WordPress from the site.
You can also easily remove any traces by messing with WordPress customization in the Appearance tab. Look in the footer or even in the settings. Study and take a trip through your WordPress dashboard.
Hiding wp-admin
For security reasons you may just want to hide the wp-admin folders and the login page. There are hundreds of plugins that do this, just search the wordpress plugin directories for words like hide wp-admin and things like that.
As I said, it is not mandatory, I myself preferred to make it accessible and put security measures like a CAPTCHA and disable it after a number of attempts. You can customize the login screen to look cute using plugins.
Hiding website files in another folder
In the General WordPress settings you have the URL field for the website and also for the WordPress application. You can move all WordPress to a secondary folder like / site-content / and configure the application from there.
Before making any modifications, we recommend researching thoroughly for videos and explanations on “How to change the file and directory structure of WordPress” to avoid potential headaches from some errors.
Advanced removals
If you want to remove even more traces of WordPress, we recommend searching for things like:
- Function to remove all image classes from posts;
- Removing CSS classes from WordPress;
- Host wordpress images externally;
- Plugins that automate the hiding of WordPress;
Do not use WordPress
The best way to hide wordpress is not to use it. As I said at the beginning of the article, trying to change all CMS files and folders can lead to future problems and incompatibilities with plugins that use the standard WordPress directories.
If you don't want to use WP, look for another CMS or create a website from scratch. Nowadays languages like JS and HTML are better for developing small projects that don't need a lot of articles and a control panel.
There are other alternatives like Ghost, Drupal, Joomla, but they all have a type of identification that shows the site uses a particular content manager. It's best to get that wacky idea out of your head.
I hope you enjoyed this article. We recommend reading our Complete WordPress Setup Guide.