In this tutorial, we walk through how to get started with iThemes Security (formerly Better WP Security). We cover important first steps and how to navigate the iThemes Security dashboard.
iThemes Security gives you over 30 ways to secure and protect your WordPress site. On average, 30,000 new websites are hacked each day. WordPress sites can be an easy target for attacks because of plugin vulnerabilities, weak passwords and obsolete software. Most WordPress admins don’t even know they’re vulnerable, but iThemes Security works to fix common holes, stop automated attacks and strengthen user credentials.
Getting started with iThemes Security (formerly Better WP Security) takes only a few minutes.
Before You Get Started: Make a Backup
Before you get started securing and protecting your site, we highly recommend making a backup of your site (specifically your WordPress database, config file, and .htaccess file). iThemes Security gives you the option of creating a basic database backup after activation, but we recommend making a backup before installation as well.
A database backup includes your posts, pages, comments and user information — or everything included in your site’s database. For a complete backup of all your site’s files, we recommend using BackupBuddy, our WordPress backup plugin. BackupBuddy backs up your entire WordPress site’s installation — everything included in the database plus all your images and media files, themes and plugins. Once you have a backup of your site, you’re ready to get started.
Installation & Activation
Follow the standard automatic or manual WordPress plugin installation steps by installing iThemes Security either via the WordPress.org plugin directory or by uploading the files to your server.
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress. After you activate iThemes Security, click the Secure Your Site Now button.
Kristen has been writing tutorials to help WordPress users since 2011. You can usually find her working on new articles for the iThemes blog or developing resources for #WPprosper. Outside of work, Kristen enjoys journaling (she’s written two books!), hiking and camping, cooking, and daily adventures with her family, hoping to live a more present life.
