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PathGuard Redirects

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PathGuard Redirects

by MD. Samrat Hossen

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Description

URL Blocker is a lightweight, developer-friendly plugin that lets site administrators block any relative URL on their WordPress site and control exactly what happens when a visitor tries to access it.

How it works

Add the relative paths you want to block (one per line) and choose what should happen when someone visits them:

  • Custom URL redirect — send visitors to any destination URL with a 302 redirect.
  • 404 Not Found — serve your theme’s native 404 page with a proper HTTP 404 status header (no redirect, the URL stays the same).

Key features

  • Block any number of relative paths (e.g. /secret-page/, /members-only/).
  • Choose the redirect action per-site: custom URL or 404 page.
  • Exclude Admins — logged-in administrators are bypassed by default so they always have access. The option can be unchecked to restrict admins too.
  • One-click access via the Settings link on the Plugins list page.
  • All plugin data is removed from the database automatically when the plugin is deactivated.
  • Paths matched with and without trailing slash — /secret-page and /secret-page/ both work.
  • URL-encoded paths are decoded before matching, preventing bypass attempts like /%73ecret-page/.

Security

  • CSRF protection on every save using WordPress nonces.
  • Strict capability check (manage_options) before processing any form data.
  • All input is sanitised (sanitize_textarea_field, esc_url_raw, sanitize_key).
  • All output is escaped (esc_textarea, esc_attr, esc_html_e).
  • Uses wp_safe_redirect to prevent open-redirect abuse.
  1. Upload the pathguard-redirects folder to /wp-content/plugins/.
  2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen in WordPress.
  3. Go to Settings URL Blocker (or click the Settings link on the Plugins page).
  4. Enter the relative URLs you want to block, choose a redirect action, and click Save Settings.
What URL format should I use in the blocked URLs list?

Enter relative paths starting with /, one per line. Example:

/secret-page/
/members-only/
/private-area/

Do not include the domain name. Paths are matched with or without a trailing slash, so /secret-page and /secret-page/ are treated as the same rule.

Will administrators be blocked?

No — by default the Exclude Admins option is enabled, which means logged-in users with the manage_options capability can always access blocked URLs. You can uncheck this option to apply blocking to administrators as well.

What is the difference between the two redirect actions?

  • Custom URL (302 redirect) — the visitor’s browser is redirected to the URL you specify. The blocked URL disappears from the address bar.
  • Not Found (404 page) — the browser stays on the blocked URL but receives an HTTP 404 status and sees your theme’s 404 template. No redirect occurs.

What happens if I choose “Custom URL” but leave the destination field blank?

The plugin falls back to serving the 404 page so the blocked URL is never accidentally left accessible.

Does this plugin affect REST API or admin requests?

No. The block logic runs on the template_redirect hook which only fires for standard frontend page requests. REST API, WP-CLI, and admin requests are unaffected.

Will my settings be lost if I deactivate the plugin?

Yes. The plugin removes all its stored options from the database on deactivation. This keeps your database clean. If you need to keep your settings, do not deactivate — simply disable blocking by leaving the blocked URLs list empty.

Does the plugin block query strings?

No. Only the path portion of the URL is compared (e.g. /secret-page/). Query strings like ?preview=true are ignored, which means /secret-page/?anything=value is still blocked by the rule /secret-page/.

1.0.0

  • Initial release.
  • Block relative URLs with per-line textarea input.
  • Redirect action: Custom URL (302) or 404 page.
  • Exclude Admins option, pre-enabled on activation.
  • Settings link on the Plugins list page.
  • Automatic database cleanup on deactivation.
  • URL-encoding bypass protection via rawurldecode().
  • CSRF, capability, and sanitisation hardening.
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