RC Geo Access Plugin

FAQ

What does this plugin do?

This plugin restricts access to the login page of your WordPress Admin based on the location of the user trying to access it. Restricting access in this way can be a useful way of reducing unwanted login attempts.

How does this plugin get the user’s location?

The plugin uses a geolocation API to look up the user’s location based on their IP address. Note: an active API Key may be required for this plugin to function, currently there are two external services available to use, you can choose from either ‘IPStack’ – http://ipstack.com and ‘IPGeolocation’ – https://ipgeolocation.io as the geolocation providers. There is also a third OpenLiteSpeed’s local GeoIP variables option which can be used if you are using OpenLiteSpeed server and have a properly configured geolocation database, more information about configuring that is available here: https://docs.openlitespeed.org/config/advanced/geolocation/#enabling-geolocation

Can I use other geolocation APIs?

No, at this time it is only possible to use either the external providers of IPStack.com or the IPGeolocation.io, or the locally configured OpenLiteSpeed Geolocation functionality.

How do I configure the plugin settings?

You can configure all of the plugin settings from the “RC Geo Access” menu found in the “Settings” menu in your WordPress admin.

How can I tell if it is working?

If you’re not seeing any error messages when you are in the plugin settings page then it should hopefully be working correctly. If you’ve enabled email notifications then at some point you should receive an email when your login page is restricted. There is a way to test it yourself but you need to be very careful! Uncheck your country from the list and save the changes (do not close the browser window or logout from WordPress or you will be locked out of your site – see below for help if that happens!), using another browser or browser tab attempt to access your login page.

Help! I’ve enabled this plugin and now I’m locked out of my site!

Yikes, sorry! There is a potential danger of this happening if you have enabled the restriction (including the required API key) but you did not set your own country location to be accessible. If this happens then I’m afraid the only option here is to connect to your site directly via SFTP / FTP and remove the plugin files from your site. Once removed you will then be able to login, you can then re-install the plugin, you should then immediately ensure that your current country location is given access in the “RC Geo Access” page in the Settings menu in your WordPress Admin.

I am using the OpenLiteSpeed Geolocation option but it isn’t blocking login access

If you are using the OpenLiteSpeed option the IP address of users to your site must be found in the configured Geolocation database in order to establish the user’s country. If the IP address isn’t found it will trigger an error message email to be sent which begins with “Sorry, the OpenLiteSpeed GeoIP variables could not be read…”. If you receive this error email then you should check that the Geolocation database is configured correctly and also that the database is up to date.