WPBeginner

Beginner's Guide for WordPress

  • Blog
    • Beginners Guide
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Showcase
    • Themes
    • Tutorials
    • WordPress Plugins
  • Start Here
    • How to Start a Blog
    • Create a Website
    • Start an Online Store
    • Best Website Builder
    • Email Marketing
    • WordPress Hosting
    • Business Name Ideas
  • Deals
    • Bluehost Coupon
    • SiteGround Coupon
    • WP Engine Coupon
    • HostGator Coupon
    • Domain.com Coupon
    • Constant Contact
    • View All Deals »
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Products
X
☰
Beginner's Guide for WordPress / Start your WordPress Blog in minutes
Choosing the Best
WordPress Hosting
How to Easily
Install WordPress
Recommended
WordPress Plugins
View all Guides

WPBeginner» Blog» Tutorials» How to Hide Password Protected Posts From WordPress Loop

How to Hide Password Protected Posts From WordPress Loop

Last updated on December 24th, 2015 by Editorial Staff
17 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
Free WordPress Video Tutorials on YouTube by WPBeginner
How to Hide Password Protected Posts From WordPress Loop

WordPress allows you to create password protected posts. Recently one of our readers asked if it was possible to hide password protected posts from the site. By default, WordPress hides the content of a password protected post, but it still shows the post title with ‘Protected’ prefix. In this article, we will show you how to hide password protected posts from the WordPress loop.

Why Hide Password Protected Posts in WordPress?

By default, WordPress displays the password protected post with its title and a ‘protected’ prefix. Users will need to enter the password to view the content of the post.

Password protected posts displayed on homepage and in widgets

This post title is visible on the homepage, archives, recent posts widget, etc. If you want to keep some content completely private, then this is not a ideal.

Not only users who don’t have password can see the post title, they can also try to enter passwords. As we all know, passwords can be cracked.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to hide your password protected posts from WordPress loop so that other users cannot see them.

Hiding Password Protected Posts in WordPress

Simply add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or a site-specific plugin.

function wpb_password_post_filter( $where = '' ) {
    if (!is_single() && !is_admin()) {
        $where .= " AND post_password = ''";
    }
    return $where;
}
add_filter( 'posts_where', 'wpb_password_post_filter' );

This code simply modifies the query sent to the WordPress by using the posts_where filter. It asks WordPress to fetch all posts that do not have a password.

Visit your website and you will see that password protected posts are no longer visible on homepage, archives, or in widgets like recent posts.

Before and after hiding protected posts in WordPress

You can still visit the post by accessing it through a direct URL to the post itself.

The example above, hides password protected posts from all users. What if you ran a multi-author WordPress site and wanted protected-posts to be viewable by users with the capability to edit private posts?

Simply modify the above code with another conditional tag, like this:

function wpb_password_post_filter( $where = '' ) {
   if (!is_single() && !current_user_can('edit_private_posts') && !is_admin()) {
        $where .= " AND post_password = ''";
    }
    return $where;
}
add_filter( 'posts_where', 'wpb_password_post_filter' );

In this example, we check if a user cannot edit the password protected posts, then only show the posts that don’t have password. Doing so all users with user roles of administrator and editor will see the password protected posts on the front end of your site.

We hope this article helped you hide password protected posts from WordPress loop on your site. You may also want to see our tutorial on how to change private and protected posts prefix in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Google+.

17 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
Popular on WPBeginner Right Now!
  • Checklist

    Checklist: 15 Things You MUST DO Before Changing WordPress Themes

  • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org

  • Revealed: Why Building an Email List is so Important Today (6 Reasons)

    Revealed: Why Building an Email List is so Important Today (6 Reasons)

  • Google Analytics in WordPress

    How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners

About the Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi. Trusted by over 1.3 million readers worldwide.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

9 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. Vincent Zhang says:
    Jul 13, 2019 at 5:33 pm

    Thank you guys so much. This really helped me. I appreciate it. Please keep more of this type of posts coming that do not involve using a plugin.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jul 15, 2019 at 11:41 am

      When a plugin-free solution is available we will be sure to try to include it.

      Reply
  2. Louis Burkhardt says:
    Dec 5, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    Thanks. Works great.

    Reply
  3. Mark says:
    Oct 8, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    I created a site specific plugin and followed these steps and it worked for hiding my post on the “Posts” page of my site. However, the post is still visible on a Related Posts widget for each individual post. (Very similar to the image you have above, however my Password protected post is still visible.)

    Is there anything I can do to fix this?

    Reply
  4. Alex says:
    Jan 29, 2017 at 4:40 pm

    I wanted to make my own code adjustment to show the posts if you could read_private_posts.

    function remove_password_protected_posts( $where = ” ) {
    if (!is_single() && !current_user_can(‘read_private_posts’) && !is_admin() ) {
    $where .= ” AND post_password = ””;
    }
    return $where;
    }
    add_filter( ‘posts_where’, ‘remove_password_protected_posts’ );

    Great post as usual. Thanks.

    Reply
  5. Harin says:
    Jun 12, 2016 at 8:59 am

    Hi guys

    I made a site specific plugin with the following code:

    If I try to attach a nextgen gallery to my post, the gallery doesn’t load, as soon as I disable the plugin, the nextgen gallery goes back to normal.

    Regards

    Reply
  6. Brandon says:
    Feb 15, 2016 at 12:51 pm

    Thanks for this snippet. So helpful!

    Regarding hiding these posts from the rss feed, I ran across this snippet.


    function rss_filter_protected($query) {
    if ($query->is_feed) {
    add_filter('posts_where', 'rss_filter_password_where');
    }
    return $query;
    }
    add_filter('pre_get_posts','rss_filter_protected');

    Reply
  7. Chris says:
    Jan 14, 2016 at 5:12 pm

    Thanks for that great tip!
    But are these posts hidden from the loop with your code snippet also hidden from the RSS feed?

    Reply
    • Louis Burkhardt says:
      Dec 5, 2018 at 1:31 pm

      Based on a single test, the pw protected post is hidden from the RSS feed.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.

Over 1,320,000+ Readers

Get fresh content from WPBeginner

Featured WordPress Plugin
TrustPulse
TrustPulse
Instantly get 15% more conversions with social proof. Learn More »
How to Start a Blog How to Start a Blog
I need help with ...
Starting a
Blog
WordPress
Performance
WordPress
Security
WordPress
SEO
WordPress
Errors
Building an
Online Store
Useful WordPress Guides
    • 7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons)
    • How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress
    • Why You Need a CDN for your WordPress Blog? [Infographic]
    • 30 Legit Ways to Make Money Online Blogging with WordPress
    • Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]
    • Free Recording: WordPress Workshop for Beginners
    • 24 Must Have WordPress Plugins for Business Websites
    • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
    • 5 Best Contact Form Plugins for WordPress Compared
    • Which is the Best WordPress Popup Plugin? (Comparison)
    • Best WooCommerce Hosting in 2021 (Comparison)
    • How to Fix the Internal Server Error in WordPress
    • How to Install WordPress - Complete WordPress Installation Tutorial
    • Why You Should Start Building an Email List Right Away
    • How to Properly Move WordPress to a New Domain Without Losing SEO
    • How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting for Your Website
    • How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform (Comparison)
    • WordPress Tutorials - 200+ Step by Step WordPress Tutorials
    • 5 Best WordPress Ecommerce Plugins Compared
    • 5 Best WordPress Membership Plugins (Compared)
    • 7 Best Email Marketing Services for Small Business (2021)
    • How to Choose the Best Domain Registrar (Compared)
    • The Truth About Shared WordPress Web Hosting
    • When Do You Really Need Managed WordPress Hosting?
    • 5 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Compared
    • How to Switch from Blogger to WordPress without Losing Google Rankings
    • How to Properly Switch From Wix to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • How to Properly Move from Weebly to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • Do You Really Need a VPS? Best WordPress VPS Hosting Compared
    • How to Properly Move from Squarespace to WordPress
    • How to Register a Domain Name (+ tip to get it for FREE)
    • HostGator Review - An Honest Look at Speed & Uptime (2021)
    • SiteGround Reviews from 4464 Users & Our Experts (2021)
    • Bluehost Review from Real Users + Performance Stats (2021)
    • How Much Does It Really Cost to Build a WordPress Website?
    • How to Create an Email Newsletter the RIGHT WAY (Step by Step)
    • Free Business Name Generator (A.I Powered)
    • How to Create a Free Business Email Address in 5 Minutes (Step by Step)
    • How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners
    • How to Move WordPress to a New Host or Server With No Downtime
    • Why is WordPress Free? What are the Costs? What is the Catch?
    • How to Make a Website in 2021 – Step by Step Guide
Deals & Coupons (view all)
PremiumCoding
PremiumCoding Coupon
Get 40% off on PremiumCoding's collection of beautiful WordPress themes.
Churnly Coupon
Get 30% OFF on Churnly WordPress automated churn-busting plugin.
Featured In
About WPBeginner®

WPBeginner is a free WordPress resource site for Beginners. WPBeginner was founded in July 2009 by Syed Balkhi. The main goal of this site is to provide quality tips, tricks, hacks, and other WordPress resources that allows WordPress beginners to improve their site(s).

Join our team: We are Hiring!

Site Links
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • FTC Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Free Blog Setup
  • Free Business Tools
  • Growth Fund
Our Sites
  • OptinMonster
  • MonsterInsights
  • WPForms
  • SeedProd
  • Nameboy
  • RafflePress
  • Smash Balloon
  • AIOSEO

Copyright © 2009 - 2021 WPBeginner LLC. All Rights Reserved. WPBeginner® is a registered trademark.

Managed by Awesome Motive | WordPress hosting by SiteGround | WordPress Security by Sucuri.