Better WP Security iThemes Security

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  • #14263
    b-cat
    Participant

    I’m using both BPS and Better WP Security (now called “iThemes Security” or “ITS”). Unfortunately, saving settings in one plugin inevitably seems to trigger conflicts or over-write various htaccess components of the other plugin.

    Any recommendations on the best way to enable these two plugins to play nice with each other? I’m happy to turn off various features in ITS  or change settings in ITS if it will enable BPS to function better.

    Thanks for any suggestions!

    #14270
    AITpro Admin
    Keymaster

    We recommend that you delete better wp security.  We will test the latest version of better wp security, but it is not our reponsibility to fix other broken or junk plugins.  We are getting several reports that it is breaking BPS and BPS Pro and breaking all sorts of other things, crashing websites, etc etc etc.  It has always been a website breaker plugin and the last 2 version releases of better wp security are worse than previous versions.

    At this point until testing of better wp security is performed we have these solutions – either delete the broken better wp security plugin from your website or delete the current version you have installed and install and older version of better wp security – at least 2 versions older.

    #14278
    AITpro Admin
    Keymaster

    At this point we have made a decision to create some of the features that better wp security has in BPS and BPS Pro so that folks will not have to install the better wp security plugin at all.  This will save us a lot of wasted time and money having to deal with that junk plugin.

    #14283
    b-cat
    Participant

    Thanks for the info above. I rolled back Better WP Security to an older version (3.6.6) and it appears to be behaving better with BPS and other plugins now.

    I think your proposal to offer a number of the features that BWPS/iThemes appears to offer is a good idea. This would certainly give users a lot of reason to stop trying to manage both plugins simultaneously.

    One element that was fairly appealing about the prior versions of Better WP Security (not the newer iThemes version) was a pretty user-friendly interface. It “felt” a simpler to use and navigate than BPS; whether its functionality was up to BPS standards is an entirely different issue, as you point out above.

    #14285
    AITpro Admin
    Keymaster

    Yep, the interface in better wp security is/was its best selling point.  We have not spent a lot of time on trying to impress folks and are concentrating on what is most important, but yep the BPS / BPS Pro GUI is long overdue for a face lift.  That has been scheduled for over a year, but it is very low priority so it keeps getting bumped down the list – visual appearance, bells/whistles/gimmicks = low priority.  New security features, enhancing functionality and features = high priority.  😉

    #14288
    AITpro Admin
    Keymaster

    We are still in the process of testing better wp security 4.0.5, but already we see why so many folks are experiencing crashed websites and other serious problems.  I will add this just as a summary instead of the long list of problems we have found so far.

    Basic/Brief Summary so far: BPS security code is being deleted from the root .htaccess file and numerous instances of the standard WordPress rewrite code are added in the root .htaccess file because the WordPress flush_rewrite_rules() function is being used inappropriately throughout the better wp security plugin.  Whenever you click/save any settings in better wp security problems occur.  The testing site crashes and goes white/blank repeatedly and needs to be manually restored.

    #14594
    mhenschel
    Participant

    Hi,

    I understand that sometimes plugins interfere with themselfs. If BPS (free) is doing all there needs to be done to secure a website, than there is no need to install a second plugin, which is presumably filling the voids and leading to higher security.

    So my question is, is BPS (free) sufficient and therefore a second plugin like “Better WP Security iThemes Security” obsolete?

    Michael

    #14595
    AITpro Admin
    Keymaster

    This is a very good question.

    BPS free contains all of the same .htaccess security and most of the Login Security features as BPS Pro.  What most folks do not get due to good marketing strategies by Better WP Security and bad marketing strategies by us is that all of those .htaccess option settings in Better WP Security are automatically done by clicking the BPS Activate buttons – one click in BPS as opposed to making multiple separate option choices.  BPS .htaccess files and code are much more advanced and comprehensive so you cannot really compare the .htaccess code in the 2 plugins.  Generally some things do overlap, but BPS .htaccess code does everything and much more than any Better WP Security .htaccess code and more importantly in a much better and more advanced/sophisticated way.  The Better WP Security folks are obviously not .htaccess code experts/specialists.

    If we could afford to offer BPS Pro for free we would have done that, but that is not economically doable.  BPS Pro is being constantly worked on and is now almost 3 years old.  New BPS Pro features are currently being created and will be released as they become ready for Public use.  Support costs alone do not allow us to offer BPS Pro for free without factoring in Development costs.  This is not an attempt at a sales pitch.  This is just pointing out how much time and money has gone into creating and supporting BPS Pro and continued time and money for further Development and support.  The cost of BPS Pro is very cheap compared to what BPS Pro offers and the top notch support that we provide.

    Now to answer your question.  BPS free offers excellent security protection, but does not offer all the additional advanced security protection that is available in BPS Pro.  BPS free and Better WP Security can be compared to each other relatively, but BPS Pro is in its own league.  You cannot really compare BPS free to BPS Pro due to the major additions in BPS Pro.  Better WP Security currently offers some things that BPS and BPS Pro do not have yet.  The features that have value will be added in the next coming versions of BPS free and BPS Pro.  The things that do not have any value will not be added.

    #15345
    guy te watson
    Participant

    When will BPS be updated with features so that iThemes Security is not needed?

    #15347
    AITpro Admin
    Keymaster

    Interesting question.  We have only been using BPS Pro and no other security plugins for 3 years.  So my answer would be – right now or Better WP Security was never needed at all.  😉  We have added some major new things in BPS Pro 9.0.  There are 2 new things in BPS Pro 9.0 that are in Better WP Security – DB Backup and a DB Table Prefix Changer/Renamer.  These 2 new BPS Pro features are of course very robust with advanced and extensive options and tools, unlike what you will find in all other WP security plugins like Better WP Security. We have also created another new website security concept & feature that has never been conceptualized or created before.  BPS Pro 9.0 will be a very impressive major version release.

    If you feel there is something of value that Better WP Security has that should be considered for inclusion in BPS Pro then feel free to post what that is.  Personally I think there are only 2 things of value in Better WP Security, which we have created in BPS Pro 9.0 – DB Backup and a DB Table Prefix Changer/Renamer.

    #15348
    guy te watson
    Participant

    When will BPS 9.0 be coming out?

    #15349
    AITpro Admin
    Keymaster

    As soon as final testing is completed – somewhere between 7 to 14 days.

    #15350
    guy te watson
    Participant

    Sounds Great!

    #26446
    mhenschel
    Participant

    Hi,

    BPS is supposed to NOT be compatible with iThemes Security (or the other way around). One reason is because both write into .htaccess. I’m running WordPress in its own directory. So I have two .htaccess files, one in root and one in the WP folder. In my installation, BPS is writing into the wordpress folder .htaccess, while iThemes Security is writing into the root .htaccess file.

    Maybe it’s useless to have both plugins at the same time, but at least they both work besides each other. Any comments on this?

    Michael

    #26448
    AITpro Admin
    Keymaster

    The reason we do not write htaccess code to the site root htaccess file for a “Giving WordPress It’s Own Directory (GWIOD)” Site is that if the site root is the hosting account root folder (/public_html/) then that could cause problems for any child folders in the hosting account root folder, unless of course you add this additional code:  http://forum.ait-pro.com/forums/topic/htaccess-files-for-multiple-website-domains/.  In most cases, it is best to compartmentalize website security per folder/directory/website.

    BPS and iThemes Security were not compatible at one point briefly during several versions of iThemes Security, but I believe that they are compatible currently.  Since both plugins write htaccess code and some of that htaccess code is redundant then you would choose which htaccess code you want to use.  Or it is probably possible to use all iThemes Security htaccess code and add it to BPS Custom Code.  BPS differs in that it is a Master htaccess file editor and has the advanced extended capability to manage htaccess code that is created by other htaccess plugins.  So you want to use the BPS Custom Code advanced htaccess file managedment tool to combine any/all other htaccess code that other htaccess writing plugins create.

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