htaccess on Wordpress - I want vBSEO staff's expert advice :)

I'm posting this question in the off-topic forum... I know it has nothing to do with vBSEO, but I trust their staff the most when it comes to these things so I would like to hear their feedback.

On Wordpress, what can and should be protected via htaccess passwords? I Googled to try and find out but couldn't find a consistent answer.

Originally Posted by MTD

I'm posting this question in the off-topic forum... I know it has nothing to do with vBSEO, but I trust their staff the most when it comes to these things so I would like to hear their feedback.

On Wordpress, what can and should be protected via htaccess passwords? I Googled to try and find out but couldn't find a consistent answer.

Hi Mike,

Though it is a great compliment that you trust our guidance this much it really isn't something that we can realistically answer. Though one or two of us may use wordpress it is not something any of us are experts in.

I would just suggest you protect any folder that shouldn't be publically accessible, IE admin folder, includes folder etc.

Make sure you don't protect any folders that contain files or content that users do need to access IE CSS/Template folders, Image folders things like that or you may cause parts of your sites to stop working.

Ceri

The biggest thing with wordpress is the templates themselves. Most people leave them writable so they can be edited in wordpress's theme editor. This is a big no-no. After you're done, jut like with the vbseo config file, lock it back down.

Originally Posted by Ceri May

Though it is a great compliment that you trust our guidance this much it really isn't something that we can realistically answer. Though one or two of us may use wordpress it is not something any of us are experts in.

Thanks for your feedback Ceri and Brian and don't worry, I completely understand this thread should in no way be interpreted as advice/support for Wordpress since it has nothing to do with vBSEO and therefore any information posted here is for informational purposes only and may even be inaccurate/erroneous

So about password protecting the admin and includes, I thought so but just wanted to make sure it wouldn't cause any problems. Have you heard of any problems being caused when a password is used for wp-admin and wp-includes? (in other words, will WP function normally for visitors with those protected?)

Brian regarding your comment about the templates... so the file permissions for the themes? (i.e. whatever theme(s) are in wp-content/themes/) I have the actual files inside each theme set at 644, but each theme's folder is at 755... is that bad?

Thanks guys!

644 on files and 755 on folders is locked down.
666 on files and 777 on folders is writable.

so, yes, you are good like that, but note that you can't edit the theme in the theme editor now (should get a not writable warning under the textarea box.)