How To Secure Your WordPress Websites With iThemes Security - Review & Setup Tutorial

[@montgomerydoug]

Seriously Adam... I literally just finished watching your quick overview of 5 security plugins and the moment it ended, literally, the moment it ended I got a notification from KZbin that you've uploaded this video...the next one I wanted to watch. I was actually wondering how long I'd wait....literally, less than 10 seconds. Thank you :)

[@WPCrafter]

Hey Doug, I'm glad that that happened! I'm trying to be more ahead of the game with my videos right now, trying to record them all on one day so that they're ready to go all week long.

[@pan.optikon]

thanks for sharing all the knoledge in your videos

[@monjesmedia]

Thanks for running through these settings, Adam! Huge help.

[@WPCrafter]

Sorry for the late reply, I have been sick. Your welcome.

[@christianlecuyer6380]

Thank you for all the settings, I'm using iThemes Security for all my new sites :)

[@WPCrafter]

Yes you can't beat it. And if you're interested in the Pro version they are always having a sale. Right now it's 50% off but they usually have something in the neighborhood of 30 to 50% off.

[@ashtonzainlima5856]

Subscribed 🔥 This helped a lot bro🔥

[@JulieKenk]

Thank you very much for the information - I know your video is from 2017 but the main information is still there. I am very please with the plugin. Not that is matter much, I've noticed since 2017 from the time you recorded your video the plugin/ security check doesn't have anymore the Admin users and everything else after that from what you are showing.. I am sure they improved and as you mentioned it's not need it. Thank you

[@TheCalgaryPainter]

Excellent video as always! I checked all the boxes that you recommended, Adam. This free plugin is amazingly detailed.

[@WPCrafter]

Thank you! Yes I just compared it today to Wordfence and I gotta tell you iThemes wins hands down. I will have the comparison video up on Thursday for anyone that is wondering why I prefer one over the other.

[@TheCalgaryPainter]

I had Wordfence for 3-4 years and was forced deactivate it because Hostgator froze my site. They said it was because I was using too much bandwidth. The second I deleted Wordfence they unfroze my account...Maybe I had all the notices activated, I don't know.

[@WPCrafter]

In my Wordfence video that's going up tomorrow you will see how the size of your WordPress database triples in size the minute you activate Wordfence. I was floored when I saw that it adds 24 tables to your database when iThemes Security only adds three.

[@lizarmond5346]

Hi, just going through your video and quite a few sections have changed since you made it. Managed to get most things tweaked though, so thank you

[@WPCrafter]

You're welcome Liz Armond! Thanks for watching.

[@bradforrester3181]

Very good informational video for WordPress neanderthals like me! Some of the WordPress features are now different in the most recent update of this plugin, but I was able to find what I needed to setup my plugin as you instructed. Thank you!!

[@WPCrafter]

I'm glad this was helpful Brad Forrester and thanks for watching.

[@BobDiamondRPhNC]

The HostGator tech couldn't say why iThemes was causing the problem; only that it was. I deleted iThemes and switched to 'All in One' and am not having a problem with any of my sites now. I am not a programmer, so I just try to find out what works for me. P.S. Thank you for all you have been doing for people like me, Adam. Blessings --- Bob

[@WPCrafter]

Sorry that you had this problem Bob.

[@itedup561]

"I've never needed support." Excellent.

[@WPCrafter]

Thanks for watching ITedup Agencia Digital!

[@evergriven7402]

@@WPCrafter Thanks for the video ..

[@plmcreative]

Excellent video as always. I'm really impressed with ithemes security. For my clients who don't want to pay for premium hosting, this could be the option I've been looking to validate. Thank you.

[@WPCrafter]

It's worked out fantastic for me. Also if you're thinking of purchasing the Pro version they have a 50% off coupon right now, but in reality they're always discounting it 30% or 40%.

[@EscapeAwayBeats]

Your videos are amazing Adam

[@MowerMan]

Fantastic video thanks a lot

[@frankstone]

I’ve now revisited this video twice and have gained a tremendous amount of great information. Thank you for putting this together. I do have one question I hope you can answer for me. I’ve initiated most all of your setup suggestions including the following: * Brute Force Protection * No “Admin” login allowed I’m now receiving emails from iThemes of “Site Lockout Notifications” that describe the following: * Attempting to access file that does not exist, or * Login as “Admin” My question is, contained in these email notifications is the IP address of each computer. Should I now copy these IP’s and paste them into the Email Ban List of “Banned Users?”

[@abdelwadoudadekpedjou4532]

hey adam. Thanks for your videos, i've been watching and found them useful and helpful.

[@bestcool8745]

Great tutorial , great voice and easy to understand . thanks

[@diannejimenez4082]

I was wondering, you would say you "wouldn't enable|" certain things but wouldn't click "disable" and vice versa... just got confused... :) Check as of 16:24 setting and after that. Great videos - wouldn't be able to do this alone without your guidance! Great job!!

[@kozmaalexandra]

Thank youuuu, God bless you! So simple and supportive!

[@LawsOfKnitting]

Hi Adam, I hope this is still the best plugin for security. :) I followed your advice, clicked all the boxes, and feel safe now. Thanks.

[@bonifacedjouari6540]

Thank you Adam:). That was amazing as usual.

[@WPCrafter]

Thank you!

[@danvidmar319]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Ithemes Security - I use it myself on all my websites. Why are you not a fan of Backupbuddy from the same company, a plugin I use a lot and are very satisfied with.

[@WPCrafter]

I have tried to use backup buddy many times, in fact it was the first backup plug-in that I used. Unfortunately, it failed me many many times. Also the restoration process is not as simple as I think it should be.

[@danvidmar319]

I see, so what is your prefered choice for backup and restoring sites?

[@WPCrafter]

After all the trouble I had with backup buddy I switched and started using updrafts. I tell you updrafts is worked amazingly well for me and has never let me down. I do have a tutorial video on updrafts. I'll let you know about two years ago I needed to back up and move an 8 GB website, backup buddy was a disaster but updrafts handled it like a champ. However that's more of a fringe case most websites are not can it be that large.

[@khankustomsaustralia]

Great tutorial, well explained and straight to the point . Thanks mate !!

[@shapeshifter3112]

Thank you so much! The video was very helpful! 🙌🏼

[@theodorafarah4905]

Thanks Adam . Excellent video

[@WPCrafter]

You're welcome Theodora, thank you for watching.

[@kma4309]

Will you be doing a video on the 2020 itheme pro (and how we should get rid of malware manually if the malware scan shows infection)?

[@mesalesme7501]

I have had nothing but trouble since I installed this, it seems every time I want to change anything in wordpress I have to disable it then re-enable after... not a good thing when you are a beginner feeling your way around in the dark..... nothing personal to you Adam you are a good teacher.

[@WPCrafter]

Thank you MeSalesMe. I hope it gets easier for you in time. There's definitely a learning curve. Thanks for watching.

[@jcsammy68]

Thank you. I needed this. Well done!

[@actionmediaonline8103]

Thanks Adam thats a great video , very helpful

[@lunirama7220]

I just have a quick question to ask you. I have a simple website and I don’t know which plan to buy. Basic plan is $5 and the other one is $10 per month. So according to you which plan is better. I don’t want to pay too much at first. Your video on WP security is awesome. I really want to download iThemes security. Amazing video and explained pretty well. Also I would like to know which Plugin I can use for Recaptcha and Backup that I can install for free on Wordpress.

[@wilkindessin5994]

Thank you so much. The video is excellent

[@WPCrafter]

You're welcome Wilkin Dessin! Thanks for watching.

[@viktoriabacher7475]

I loved your video! Thank you so much!

[@scottleadbeater2436]

Awesome chanel, it is helping me a lot! Thanks man

[@Dynamofoe]

Hi Adam, FOUND IT! Thanks for this!! :)

[@WPCrafter]

I need to do a better job interlinking my videos.

[@akfish3343]

Great video!

[@olinkpvtltd2055]

Thanks for the detail information, please let me know after installation of this plugin I am not getting the option of the new instalation of the plugin on my WordPress, did I have to enable any settings for the same? Please help

[@panthersphinx3901]

Hi Adam, thanks for the video. What do you think about Cerber Security?

[@sarahtebbutt468]

Could you possibly do an updated version of this tutorial? X

[@WPCrafter]

Yes certainly.

[@theterminaldave]

Been really happy to have your tuts, thanks! What would be the advantage/disadvantage to using clouldflare with Ithemes? Is it an "either or" prospect, or should/can they be used together? Thanks again!

[@AminAnvary]

Please answer this question. its so important to me. For god. Do we need these security plugins when we are using Cloudways? Becuase as they wrote on their website, cloudways have a dedicated firewall for managed servers. Is that enough? or we also need one of these security plugins?

[@92500NLE]

Great video!! Does this plugin work for a WP multisite website too? Didn't notice you mentioned it. Thanks for managing your channel. It does help!!

[@WPCrafter]

Yes it should work perfectly fine for multi site.

[@thepurpleufo]

Thanks, Adam...great video.

[@WPCrafter]

Your welcome!!

[@NqyNik]

I know this video is a few years old but ... Great video as always 👍, only criticism is “two factor authentication, I don’t like that” two factor authentication is seriously something that should be on all sites. I know some users would find it annoying but they are also the users that moan when their account/data is hacked.

[@RMHART]

Thank you Adam!!! Absolute legend!

[@WPCrafter]

You're welcome RMH ART! Thanks for watching.

[@guyedrington]

That was great!!!! Thanks so much.

[@WPCrafter]

You're welcome Guy Edrington! Thanks for watching.

[@raphaelbriguet-lamarre5409]

Hello Adam, your videos are really great!!! I don't know if i'm the only one to have this problem but It's impossible for me to download the extension Ithemes Security. I have a message "not supported". Do you know why?

[@charlgood4you]

Adam Sir , i have learned website designing because of your great videos . Thank you . And this security plugin is untested with my version of wordpress. still can i install it , will it provide good security ?

[@jwhit3849]

Adam, GREAT VID man! Question or for the others here, at the 09:17 mark, GLOBAL SETTINGS, you did not mention the first box that states "Allow IThemes Security to wp-config.php.......what exactly does that do if we leave it checked? Thanks Jimmy

[@benou2013]

Thank you Adam, the settings are a little bit complicated and of course you had to go quickly :-)

[@WPCrafter]

Sorry if I went too fast in the video. Usually I get the opposite complaint, that I go too slow and I need to stop talking as much.

[@lifetrail_hiking_mentoring]

This is for non-techies? :-I Please only speak about things that we must change. If I needed to understand everything you just said, that would make me a techie in my eyes. But good on you for making videos and sharing, your knowledge I admire you greatly for that.

[@rmita6384]

Thank you for this video.

[@dasd.bilany]

One question, if your hosting company has a secuirty placement made on there hosting, Does that apply to your website? And last question what about when you have to separate secuirty plugins is this recommanded or unrecommanded on a website, And why?

[@petermuiangabarlyng8038]

Hi. GREAT VIDEO! You went a bit fast when it came to Wordpress Tweaks. Do you have all of them enabled?

[@CarinaParry]

I use a database server to backup my website but wondering whether it is always a good idea to have 2 places to back it up, say for example iThemes as well? The service I use is a paid version so I know it is very safe there., but always wondered whether 2 is better? BTW- really appreciated this video. I nearly used Sucuri because it also has good reviews and apparently does not clog up your system, but at the last minute changed my mind.

[@ArcticWolfVa]

I have a quick question on all the plugins you are doing a video on. Can you comment on performance issues. Did it slow you site load down at all? I know particularly with WordFence a lot of comments surround bogging site down and bloating DB. I use iThemes as well, would also highly recommend them. Great video as usual.

[@WPCrafter]

Hey Steve, the unfortunate reality is any security plug-in that you add to your website is going to have some effect on performance. The question is how much of an effect. In my testing, iThemes Security has had the lowest impact on performance.

[@daddylogan]

I also have a question I hope you can answer. Shouldn't you change the login to be the default email (in the general settings) because if hackers can find/guess your username and they use that in a brute force attack and it causes a "site lockup" that would mean the real user could not login using their username...is that correct? Also shouldn't we always choose to lockout anyone who uses the username "admin?" BTW...sent you an email you did not reply to about htaccess files and hoping you do a tutorial on setting up the "best" htaccess file when you first start a new site. Love your videos....nice job?

[@kimberlysmith3784]

I love this channel. Thanks

[@WPCrafter]

Thank you Kimberly Smith & thanks for watching.

[@user-on6pe5nm8m]

the hide backend function does not work properly ... after you have entered a personalized name you can still reach the login page with wp-admin

[@colombino]

Hey there, thank you so much for all of your videos! They are very helpful to me. Can you please tell me how important that 404 Detection option is? I'm not sure but I think it messes up my google crawlers. I might be wrong though :D

[@jadadocs8844]

Hello, will you recommend this plugin to be used with the Kadence theme? If not, what will you suggest?

[@capreo83]

Does anyone know a good resource on how I can learn how to tell if a file change is "normal" or if it is one that needs attention? I keep getting file change warnings but I have no idea whether or not I need to worry about them. It is driving me nuts.

[@joiningtogether3345]

another great video :-)

[@WPCrafter]

Thank you Joining Together & thanks for watching.

[@kcmclove]

in the inspection element in google under security why does my website indicate not secure? I have installed the IThemes Security

[@waltan888]

If I run into problem during the security check. How do I fix them?

[@NashMackey]

Fantastic!

[@WPCrafter]

Thank you Ignatius & thanks for watching.

[@auwssessam6734]

Your awesome thanks alot

[@rafaellopez6013]

Hi there, Im just crating my website and i dont have an ssl certificate. I saw that there is choice there to enable it, does it mean that i dont have to purchase one? thanks in advance. and thanks for the videos it really comes handy : P

[@AkmaAit]

but this plugin really affects the website speed. Is it possible to set it up in a way so it doesn't slow the speed? Thanks!!!

[@gazelgazell3322]

Hello , thank you very much fot this video and your help. However I have a big problem.In the SECURITY CHECK part , under this note : ****With Network Brute Force Protection, your site is protected against attackers found by other sites running iThemes Security. If your site identifies a new attacker, it automatically notifies the network so that other sites are protected as well. To join this site to the network and enable the protection, click the button below.**** I wrote my e-maili as **YES.**. And right now I have no **notification e-mail** . I want to change this setting. please please urgently help me please.

[@patriciahe2010]

Thank you Adam!

[@liv-rd7vm]

Hi Adam, thanks for this, I have enabled the away mode but it does not seem to be working. my admin dashboard should not be available between 12am to 6pm, however, I tested and can log in it at 1am. any idea why this is the case. my time zone is correct 19/04/2020 at 11:46 pm. you assistance will be grateful

[@nofood1]

Please make a review of Wordfence vs iThemes Security 2019 :)

[@jasonng3239]

Wordfence is the worst

[@kylepearse973]

@@jasonng3239 I've seen people say that disabling certain functions brings the performance back to on par with IThemes while providing superior security....is that not your experience? Genuinely interested..

[@mukbangeatingseries8763]

Thanks so much, Adam, i have a little worry. What do i do if i am notified about file changes and all that?

[@danishbokhari541]

Hi, Adam your videos are always great. I am using ITheme security and I have followed your video tutorial for settings. I AM USING nextend social plugin for facebook and google login on my website But now after activating itheme my customers cannot login to my website through facebook and google. An error is shown "Error 403 - Forbidden You don't have permission to access the requested resource. Please contact the web site owner for further assistance." (I disabled the Itheme plugin and everything works fine) Can u tell me how can i fix this problem.. Please i really need your help sir..

[@DigitalInfosync]

hi, please help me out, i have enabled the hide backend option and now when i tried to relogin with the new backend url i am getting locked out..

[@AlexPaulsen1]

Great tutorial, Adam, thanks. :-) can you perhaps elaborate on which types of plugins need to know the wp-login-url? I'm puzzled as to what the plugins need this for. As you mention, it really is one of the best protection methods to prevent the site from becoming low-hanging fruit for hackers - which is an awesome and simply explained argument when customers enquire as to the security measures for their Wordpress-sites.

[@WPCrafter]

Thank you and to answer your question, it's mainly external services. So a perfect example is if you're using a management solution like main WP or infinite WP or manage WP.

[@AlexPaulsen1]

Great, thanks. :-) One more question: I'm developing websites on a demo-server before I deploy them. When would be the best time to setup ithemes security: before deployment or right after? Because when deploying a website from demo to live, url's are changing to the live domain.

[@aaronmarvin9465]

Great Video! Curious though, what is your income revenue (Per Month/Day/Year) from your website?

[@TaylorStauss]

Thanks for a great video Adam. I've been using iThemes Security for a while now and you helped clear up some things I've always wondered about. Do you have any suggestions (or can you point me to any resources) on files/folders to exclude in the 'Files and Folder List' section of 'File Change Detection'? I remember reading an article that outlined a good set up to help clean up the notification frequency a bit, but I can't seem to find it anymore. For example, the 'wp-content/cache/' folder seems like an obvious one. Thanks!

[@marryjuss9151]

Hello ! thanks your perfect video. However unfortunatelly I couldn't complete these settings. First of all I can not close those KPI and *what thats new for DASHBOARD* boxes ? And I can not see setting menues. Please can you give me information about this issue. Thanks & Regards.

[@WPCrafter]

Any widget on your dashboard can be hidden in the screen options. It's a little option box in the top right of the backend of WordPress.

[@marryjuss9151]

Hello Mr, thank you very much for your reply. However I have a big problem now.. While I start fot to set up my ithemes security settings with your valuable video; unfortunatelly in the SECURITY CHECK part I wrote the my e mail. And also I choosed YES and I confirmed **Activate Network Brute Force Protection** ... after I get an API key with an e-mail. Unfortunatelly , there is no *Notification email* and **Send Digest e-mail** and **Back up delivery e-mail**in the Global setting part. I am afraid this is a big problem for my site. Ya please kindly can you help me ? Kind Regards

[@ankits4650]

Great..

[@waynethiel523]

Great job what is the best backup plugin or the one you use ? Thank you much

[@WPCrafter]

I have a video on it, it's updrafts.

[@Gii_zus]

hi, i'm starting to build my personal web site in wordpress and i use this plugin in the website in the company i work and the site is on version of wordpress is on 4.9 i haven't updated to 5.0, but the site i'm staring to build is on wordpress 5.0.2, i want to install this plugin but it says that this plugin is "Untested with your version of WordPress", what i want to ask is if this plug in compatible with wordpress 5.0?

[@auwssessam6734]

Thanks alot

[@haidongpark5427]

On my WordPress plugin page, it says not supported. Is there any way to install?

[@DescendantsOfEnoch]

How do we guard from vulnerable plugins?

[@daddylogan]

Things don't look the same as in your video....guess they moved things around a bit in the CP?

[@hrhumani]

Hi, i have a very annoying problem. Nearly each 10 or 20 min`s time I need to login again on my page when I am working and I have looked into the plugin iThemes Security. I have also tried the button log out everywhere and nothing happens. I also have tried to change the strong password password and it didn`t help either. What can it be at iThemes Security. the have a big feeling it started after I have setup iThemes Security, what can the problem be?

[@ElChris619]

Need Help!! I’m currently having hack issues. I’m using the free Word Fence pluging just to use the scan feature. Does iTheme have something that would let us know what file to correct or how does it work. So this is what im going through i go ahead and preform the scan using Word Fance clean up the files and in a few days I have to clean up again. any idea, would iTheme stop this from happening if i buy the paid version?

[@marysandford4722]

Watched and rewatched video, which is excellent by the way, but even after checking everything multiple times, my website still shows as "unsecure". What could be wrong?

[@amrabdelmonen8569]

thank you for this already subscribed for that useful content and + energy. I have an important question, please. when I run the security check it gives me this error "Invalid IP returned: 401 Authorization Required 401 Authorization Required nginx/1.16.1 " I am using a wp-admin Login Prompt is it what causing the problem?

[@ralphwinter]

I installed the I themes plugin but Im lock out of my site. How can I fix this?

[@mickimoss9673]

Hi Adam! Oops! I went under File Permissions and clicked the Load File Permissions Details, and you mentioned in your video not to bother with it. As a complete newbie, did I just cause major problems for myself? Is there a way to undo this? Thank you for this video and your help!

[@1holly1]

on starting with plugins which would be the first to start with - as with security should it came 3rd or later until one has content loaded? would maintenancewp be better to start with? as a beginner could kadence and gutenburg be ok to start with...?

[@WPCrafter]

Kadence Theme for the theme, and for plugins you want a backup, security, SEO, and some builder. I like WPVivid, iThemes Security is still good, RankMath, and Kadence Blocks.

[@DinoArmani]

Hi Adam ... Do you need, or is it best to have a different API Key for each individual website?

[@WPCrafter]

It will be unique per site.

[@kevinmccaughey5436]

Adam, thanks for the great video. Question. My client is hosting with a service that offers a web security package. It seems iThemes is more robust. One thing the host's security offer has that iThemes does not have is a Web Application Firewall. Is this necessary for his WordPress site? If so, what would you recommend? If it's not necessary, why not? Many thanks!

[@Shagun3895]

This was extremely helpful! Thanks so much! I have a question: what to do when iThemes detects a file change? I just got a warning that a file change was detected and I have no idea how to interpret it or what to do about it...

[@WPCrafter]

I like to disable notifications for that because there are many normal times when a file will be changed and it gets a little annoying.

[@Shagun3895]

Oh, alright. I just wanted to ensure that it isn’t something I should be too concerned about. Thanks so much for replying, Adam!

[@veereshk7670]

Hi there, On my website, I’ve hidden my log-in link and didn’t allow users to sign up for an account. But still, I receive emails from iThemes security that said “Site Lockout Notification” and “Too Many Bad Login Attempts”. Now my question is, when I’ve already hidden the login URL of my website and not allowing users to create an account, then why and how people are still able to find out my login URL and putting the wrong credentials to try to login into my dashboard? If anybody knows the cause of this issue, then please help, any suggestions and thoughts are welcome.

[@brucewashington6744]

Hey Adam, if DISABLE is shown does this mean that the feature is enabled?

[@MrGiuGuz]

Hi, thank you for this video. I have a question I hope you will answer: Do we still need Jetpack if we decide to go with Ithemes security? Cheers

[@mosesiheanacho901]

Thanks for your informative tutorial on ithemes security. I installed it on my website but it caused my PDF files not to open properly. They show error 403 forbidden. Please I don't know how to correct this error through resetting the ithemes the plugin.