[Plugin: Better WP Security] Better WP Blocking GoogleBot!

ElleJG
(@ellejg)

13 years, 9 months ago

Using 3.4.3

I see someone else here saying they are having problems with Analytics. I tried to do a Fetch as Google in Webmaster Tools on a new site, and got an error message. Returning a HTTP/1.1.418. All pages that had been indexed are now deindexed. Not good!!

Contacted my host and they said it was this plugin. Of course I had deactivated all plugins EXCEPT this one while trying to find the problem. They suggested trying to whitelist Google bot but I see no way of doing that. Deactivated the plugin, tried fetch as google and it worked.

The weird thing is I use this plugin on multiple sites. I’ve only checked one other – I’ll be checking them all! – and Google is able to access that site. For the most part, I install all the same plugins on each site I set up.

So a few things. WHY is this blocking Google and is there a way to whitelist Google if there is a problem?

Oh, and one more thing. It appears that once you’ve enabled the banned default blacklist and added it, there is no way to disable this feature. That was the first thing I tried – before deactivating the plugin entirely – and once you disable the feature and save, it just shows as enabled again. I’ve tried this on my test site as well, and the same thing. No way to disable feature once enable.

Thanks.

http://ww.wp.xz.cn/extend/plugins/better-wp-security/

Viewing 5 replies - 31 through 35 (of 35 total)

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tinozee
(@tinozee)

13 years, 1 month ago

Wow, thank you very much that is very helpful. I appreciate it.

arthlete
(@arthlete)

13 years ago

I have been using the plugin for a week and my traffik has decreased progressively down to 50%. I disabled the “Enable 404 Detection” and the Blacklist Repeat Offender. Will this unblock all Google IPs? Also how come I can’t see a list of all the banned IPs?

Handoko
(@handoko-zhang)

13 years ago

It depends on the cause of your issue. There are some possibilities why you have decreased of traffic:

1. Google dance effect, Google sandbox effect, or any google penalty that may cause (temporary) drop of your ranks and traffic

2. Your website generate 404 errors, it may happen if you enable the “change wp-content directory” which is not compatible with some plugins or the theme you’re currently using

3. Your website generate 404 errors because of other reasons

If the reason of your problem is no. 1 then, disable the “Enable 404 Detection” and the “Blacklist Repeat Offender” will have no effect.

If the reason if 404 errors (no. 2 or no. 3) then by disabling the features, it may help. But what you should do is not simply disabling them, you should check why your website generate 404 errors. Some plugins are not compatible with the feature “change wp-content directory”, which is the reason no. 2.

arthlete
(@arthlete)

13 years ago

Thank you!

arthlete
(@arthlete)

13 years ago

Here’s a direct reply from Bit51 that I received on facebook:

Bit51
To be honest that behavior is exactly what it should be doing. To prevent Google from being blocked for too many 404s you can turn off the 404 detection, white list Google’s IPs, or fix the 404 errors. Fixing the 404 errors is your best bet as Google is seeing them anyway which can be a problem for SEO.

Try using 301 redirects in your .htaccess to point to the new content, a search page, or something similar. 404 is for something that is “missing” not necessarily something that was “deleted.”

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