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What You’ll Learn

  • Installing the Wordfence extension and plugin on child sites
  • Configuring global and per-site Wordfence settings
  • Scanning child sites for security issues
  • Monitoring live traffic across your network
Integration Add-on - This add-on extends MainWP to work with Wordfence. Requires Wordfence to be installed on your child sites.
Installation of the MainWP Wordfence Extension requires two important steps:
  • Installing the Extension itself
  • Installing the Wordfence plugin on Child Sites.

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1. Installing the Extension

MainWP Wordfence Extension is a WordPress plugin, and the installation process is the same as any other WordPress plugin. Follow the steps below in your MainWP Dashboard site, not child sites:
1

Go to the WP Admin > Plugins > Add New

2

Click the “Upload” link

3

Click “Choose File”

4

Locate the mainwp-wordfence-extension.zip file and click the “Install Now” button.

Locate the mainwp-wordfence-extension.zip file and click the “Install Now” button.
5

After installations, click the “Activate Plugin” link.

6

Next, go to the MainWP > Add-ons page,

7

locate the new extension and enable it by clicking the Enable button.

That is it. The extension is ready for use. If you prefer, you can install MainWP Extension by uploading it to the server with your favorite FTP client. You need to extract the MainWP Extension file to yourdomain.com/wp-content/plugins 

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2. Installing the Wordfence Plugin

For the proper use of the MainWP Wordfence Extension, you need to install the Wordfence Plugin on your child sites. To do that,
1

Go to the WP Admin > Plugins > Add New page;

2

In the search form, enter “Wordfence”;

3

Click the Search Plugins button;

4

When you get Search Results, locate the plugin and click the Install Now link.

When you get Search Results, locate the plugin and click the Install Now link.
5

Click the Activate Plugin link.

6

Once the installation is complete, Sync your MainWP Dashboard

Now, your MainWP Wordfence Extension is ready for use!

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WordFence Settings

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Global Settings

The Wordfence Settings tab enables you to control the Wordfence options across all your child sites. It allows you to set:
  • Scan Schedule
  • Basic Settings
  • Alerts
  • Live Traffic View
  • Scans to Include
  • Firewall Rules
  • Login Security Options
  • Other Options

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Saving the Wordfence options will overwrite options on your child sites.

If you add the Wordfence plugin on more child sites, after setting Wordfence options, you will need to re-save settings to apply on newly added child sites.

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Individual Site Settings

The extension enables you to set Wordfence options individually on a per-site basis. To do this,
1

Locate the wanted child site in the Manage sites list

2

Click the Edit link in the Actions menu

3

Scroll down and locate the Wordfence section

4

Locate the Override General Settings option in the Wordfence Settings box

5

Set to YES

6

Use the rest of the Wordfence section to set your preferences

7

Click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page.

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Wordfence Dashboard

From the MainWP > Add-ons > Wordfence > Overview page**,** you can monitor all of your child sites where you have the Wordfence plugin installed. In the sites list, you will be notified if the plugin has an update available or if the plugin is deactivated.
  • In case the plugin is not activated, the Activate action will appear in the corresponding site row
  • In case there is a new version of the plugin, the Update action will appear in the corresponding site row

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Available Actions

From the MainWP > Add-ons > Wordfence > Overview page**,** you can hide/unhide the Wordfence plugin on your child sites, quickly access the plugin settings on a child site or the WP Admin section. Actions are provided in the actions menu.

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Important Notes

If you know that you have the plugin installed on a child site, but the child site doesn’t appear in the list, try to re-sync your sites.

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How to Scan Child Sites With the MainWP WordFence Extension

The Wordfence extension enables you to trigger the scanning process on child sites directly from your dashboard. To do this,
1

Go to the MainWP > Add-ons > Wordfence page

2

Locate the site you want to scan and click the Scan Site action

Locate the site you want to scan and click the Scan Site actionScreenshot highlighting the Scan Site action in the Wordfence extension

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Monitor Child Sites Live Traffic

If you want to monitor live traffic on your child sites directly from your dashboard, you can do that by clicking the Live Traffic action on the Wordfence Dashboard page.
  • Locate the wanted child site in the list
  • Click the Live Traffic action in the menu
  • The live traffic tab will be opened
Screenshot of Live Traffic view showing requests to a child site If the Live Traffic feature is disabled, you need to enable it. You can do that in the Wordfence Settings tab.
  • Locate the Basic Settings box.
  • Find the Enable Live Traffic View option and check the checkbox
  • Click the Save Settings button
  • Click the Sync Data button

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Monitor Network Live Traffic

If you want to monitor live traffic across your network directly from your dashboard, you can do that by clicking the Network Live Traffic tab. Screenshot of Network Live Traffic showing combined traffic from all child sites It will show you traffic (hits) from all your child sites in the same window.