Protected Files - WordPress

We have configured WordPress at sites.evergreen.edu to allow you to protect certain files and posts/pages while keeping other areas of your site publicly available.

To add a protected file to your page or post:

1. Upload your file to your Media Library: Media > Add New (check the Protect Media Uploads box)
2. Go to your post/page where you want the link to appear and click the “Add Media” button to insert the link into your post or page
3. Click the Media Library tab to choose your already uploaded file
4. Make sure the Protect Files checkbox is checked
5. Set the Files access permissions to Subscriber. This will limit access to enrolled students in your course.
6. Click the Insert into Page blue button to add a link to the protected file

Private Posts/Pages

With the Subscribers Only plugin activated, subscribers to your site will have access to Private posts or pages. Consider setting a post or page to Private for any areas of the site where you would not want Google to index. For example, a page that lists links to copyrighted materials that would never be publicly available.
To make a post/page private:

1. Make sure the Subscribers Only plugin is active
2. Edit the page/post you want to make private
3. In the “Publish” block click Edit next to Visibility
4. Set the visibility to “private”
5. Click OK and Update the post/page

Common Issues

My students get a 404 error when trying to access protected files

This is most likely because permissions were changed on the Media File after a link to the non-secure location was inserted into a post/page.

Fix: Remove the link in your post/page and Add Media again to insert the link to the protected file location. When unauthenticated students access protected files now, they will be prompted to login before gaining access to file.

Best Practice: Always set file protection first in the Media Library before inserting into a post/page.