Title: Using plugin on password protected development server
Last modified: August 21, 2016

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# Using plugin on password protected development server

 *  [Stevish](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stevish/)
 * (@stevish)
 * [12 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-plugin-on-password-protected-development-server/)
 * I am trying to test out the plugin and widget on our development server, but 
   am unable to connect. I go to the MailChimp settings page and click on “Connect”
   then put in my username and password when prompted. It responds with the following
   error:
 * error!
 * POST to [http://dev.ntmtechcenter.org/index.php?mcsf_action=authorized&salt=e59d9463b1966df4f446f98f6648f7e3&user_id=4](http://dev.ntmtechcenter.org/index.php?mcsf_action=authorized&salt=e59d9463b1966df4f446f98f6648f7e3&user_id=4)
   failed with 401: **A bunch of html** 401 – Unauthorized: Access is denied due
   to invalid credentials.</h2> <h3>You do not have permission to view this directory
   or page using the credentials that you supplied.
 * I’m sure this is due to our development blog being protected by an http username
   and password (since we use it to test potentially insecure or less secure scripts
   and plugins). Is there any way to get the plugin to connect while this protection
   is in place? The production environment will not have this password problem in
   place, so I’m willing to hack the plugin a bit if that’ll get it working on the
   development server, then I’ll use the un-tampered-with plugin for the production
   site.
 * Any insight or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 * [http://wordpress.org/plugins/mailchimp/](http://wordpress.org/plugins/mailchimp/)

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  [mc_dominic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mc_dominic/)
 * (@mc_dominic)
 * [12 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-plugin-on-password-protected-development-server/#post-4557073)
 * Hi Stevish,
 * Thanks for hopping in the forum. We actually have a development mode that allows
   you to test out the plugin in your development environment. To use that, you 
   would need to make a few changes to your wordpress setup. This guide has instructions
   on enabling and using the development mode: [http://connect.mailchimp.com/how-to/90](http://connect.mailchimp.com/how-to/90)
 * Let us know of you have any other questions.
 * -mcd
 *  Thread Starter [Stevish](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stevish/)
 * (@stevish)
 * [12 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-plugin-on-password-protected-development-server/#post-4557077)
 * Wow, that’s great, thanks!
 * In the meantime, however, I found a cool way of getting around the problem and
   still use production mode:
 * I changed my Site URL in general options to [http://USER:PASSWORDdev.example.com](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-plugin-on-password-protected-development-server/?output_format=md)
   and that seems to work great. I haven’t noticed anything not working on the site
   as a result of that. Is there any reason wh this might be a bad idea?
 *  [mc_dominic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mc_dominic/)
 * (@mc_dominic)
 * [12 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-plugin-on-password-protected-development-server/#post-4557080)
 * Hi Stevish,
 * I wouldn’t recommend adding your username and password anywhere that could be
   potentially public. Using the development mode is the best way to test it out
   the plugin. But if the username and password method is working, you can continue
   to use it. Just keep in mind the security issues.
 * Let us know if you have any other questions.
 * Thanks
 * -mcd

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [mc_dominic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mc_dominic/)
 * Last activity: [12 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-plugin-on-password-protected-development-server/#post-4557080)
 * Status: not resolved