Title: Set blog content visibility (Classic Editor)
Author: Howdy_McGee
Published: November 6, 2018
Last modified: January 11, 2023

---

# Set blog content visibility (Classic Editor)

## In this article

 * [Setting Page and Post Visibility](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#setting-page-and-post-visibility)
    - [Password Protected Content](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#password-protected-content)
    - [Private Content](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#private-content)
 * [Hiding The Entire WordPress Blog](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#hiding-the-entire-wordpress-blog)

[ Back to top](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Content visibility is about controlling who can see your blog content. WordPress
allows you to control the visibility of your posts and [Pages](https://wordpress.org/support/article/pages/?output_format=md)
on an individual basis. By default, all posts and Pages are visible.

There are several ways to set the visibility for your blog content. You can set 
it on a per post/Page basis for public, private, or Password Protected, or make 
the entire blog private and Password Protected through the use of WordPress Plugins.

## 󠀁[Setting Page and Post Visibility](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#setting-page-and-post-visibility)󠁿

Visibility for posts and Pages is set from the **Edit** screen. The option is available
under the “Publish” option normally found at the top-right of the Edit screen. The
screenshot below shows the interface, with the relevant section highlighted in the
red rectangle.

[⌊Publish metabox with "Visibility" highlighted⌉⌊Publish metabox with "Visibility"
highlighted⌉[

Publish metabox

The default state for post and Page visibility is **Public**. Public visibility 
means that the content will be visible to the outside world as soon as it is published.

By clicking on the edit link next to **Visibility: Public** in the Publish options,
you can choose from an expanded selection of visibility options.

[⌊Publish metabox displaying options: Public, Password protected, and Private⌉⌊Publish
metabox displaying options: Public, Password protected, and Private⌉[

Publish metabox visibility options

The options are:

 * **Public:** The default, viewable to all.
 * **Password Protected:** Clicking this radio button followed by “OK” causes a 
   further text box to appear, into which you can enter a password.
 * **Private:** This option hides the content from the public completely.

### 󠀁[Password Protected Content](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#password-protected-content)󠁿

Password Protected content is not immediately visible to the outside world. Instead,
visitors will see a prompt similar to this:

[⌊Password protected page asking user to enter a password to view content⌉⌊Password
protected page asking user to enter a password to view content⌉[

Password protected page

The title for your protected entry is shown, along with a password prompt. A visitor
to your site must enter the password in the box in order to see the content of the
post or Page.

### 󠀁[Private Content](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#private-content)󠁿

Private content is published only for your eyes, or the eyes of only those with 
authorization permission levels to see private content. Normal users and visitors
will not be aware of private content. It will not appear in the article lists. If
a visitor were to guess the URL for your private post, they would still not be able
to see your content. You will only see the private content when you are logged into
your WordPress blog.

[⌊Publish metabox with visibility set to private⌉⌊Publish metabox with visibility
set to private⌉[

Publish metabox with visibility set to private

Once you change the visibility to private, the post or page status changes to “Privately
Published” as shown. Private posts are automatically published but not visible to
anyone but those with the appropriate permission levels (Editor or Administrator).

**WARNING:** If your site has multiple editors or administrators, they will be able
to see your protected and private posts in the **Edit** screen. They do not need
the password to be able to see your protected posts. They can see the private posts
in the **Edit** Posts/Pages list, and are able to modify them, or even make them
public. Consider these consequences before making such posts in such a multiple-
user environment.

## 󠀁[Hiding The Entire WordPress Blog](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/content-visibility-classic-editor/?output_format=md#hiding-the-entire-wordpress-blog)󠁿

Currently the functionality to hide your entire blog from public view, or to restrict
it to certain users, is not part of the core WordPress product. There are possible
plans to introduce this functionality into a later version.

There are various WordPress Plugins to restrict the visibility such as:

 * [Page Restrict](https://wordpress.org/plugins/pagerestrict/)
 * [Force Login](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-force-login/)
 * [jonradio Private Site](https://wordpress.org/plugins/jonradio-private-site/)

Alternatively, you could use the `.htaccess` to restrict who can visit your web 
site, but this is beyond the scope of this document.

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First published

November 6, 2018

Last updated

January 11, 2023