Private Suite
You must have at least one public page. Otherwise, as of 3.1, the front page settings (where you can choose a static page as your home page) will not appear on the settings page at all. As long as you have one public…
Consider an alternative
Private Suite shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 60+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 10 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (60+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 10 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.5 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Private Suite stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| categories | >100 |
| password | >100 |
| privacy | >100 |
| private | >100 |
| users | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
About Private Suite
From the official readme · v2.1Description
- Optionally adds private pages to
wp_list_pages(),wp_page_menu(), and the Pages widget - Provides a separate
wp_list_private_pages()tag (a clone ofwp_list_pages()that accepts all the same arguments) - Specifies private categories, in which all posts will automatically be set to private
- Lets you change the “Private:” prefix on private post/page titles
- Lets you change the “Protected:” prefix on password-protected post/page titles
- Lets you choose which user roles can read private pages and posts
Now on GitHub.
Translations
- French (fr_FR) by Regis Lemaire
- Bulgarian (bg_BG) by SiteGround
- Turkish (tr_TR) by Ömer Faruk Karabulut
Notes
Reading Settings
You must have at least one public page. Otherwise, as of 3.1, the front page settings (where you can choose a static page as your home page) will not appear on the settings page at all. As long as you have one public page, all the private pages will appear as options in the dropdown menu.
Page Lists and Widgets
Adding private pages to wp_list_pages(), wp_page_menu(), and the Pages widget does not always work as it should. The private pages will be out of order, and they might appear as children of the wrong parent page. If this occurs, try using the wp_list_private_pages() template tag instead. It’s a clone of wp_list_pages() and should accept all the same arguments. This plugin includes an extra Pages widget that includes private pages.
Private Categories
When you mark a category as private, all the posts in that category will have their visibility set to private when they are published, even if you don’t change the visibility setting on the edit screen. Only published posts are affected; your draft, pending, and scheduled posts will work as usual, except that scheduled posts will be set to private when they become active.
Acknowledgments
Huge thanks to mtekk for providing the patch that makes the page list features possible. The alternative method of listing pages was adapted from Branko Ajzele.
Translations
If you would like to send me a translation, please write to me through my contact page. Let me know which plugin you’ve translated and how you would like to be credited. I will write you back so you can attach the files in your reply.
Installation
- Upload the plugin directory to
/wp-content/plugins/ - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Changelog
This version requires WordPress 3.3! For earlier versions of WordPress, download 1.2.3 from the Other Versions page. PLEASE NOTE: 2.0 no longer includes options for setting privacy-related permissions. You should use the Members plugin in addition to this one.
2.1
- Fixed bug where password-protected prefix field incorrectly displayed private prefix value.
- Category walker update.
- Widget constructor update.
2.0
- private, future, draft, and pending pages are now available as parents in page attributes and quick edit dropdowns
- private pages can be added to nav menus (but do not announce themselves as private, and will lead anonymous visitors to a 404 page)
- private pages can be added to page lists and widgets
- fixed uninstall hook
- fixed ‘8’ in add_options_page, argh
- updated options page to use settings API
- referred role management to Members
- fixed save_post action to avoid database call
- using mb_ereg_replace to handle multibyte strings in Private/Protected prefixes
1.2.3
- Turkish translation
1.2.2
- Bulgarian translation
1.2.1
- Fixed a bug involving a reference to an obsolete function. (January 3, 2011)
1.2
- Added support for custom roles.
- Fixed a problem in the way roles worked.
- Fixed bug with accented characters in title prefixes. (December 16, 2010)
Screenshots
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FAQ
Private Suite: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 27, 2026
Is Private Suite free?
Yes. Private Suite is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Private Suite safe to use in 2026?
Private Suite shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 60+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 10 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Private Suite?
Private Suite is active on 60+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 13,159 times since it launched in October 2009. It was downloaded 63 times in the last 30 days.
Does Private Suite work with WordPress 7.1?
Private Suite is officially tested up to WordPress 4.5.33, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Private Suite last updated?
The latest version, 2.1, was released on April 22, 2016 (10 years ago).
Who makes Private Suite?
Private Suite is developed and maintained by Stephanie Leary.
What are the best alternatives to Private Suite?
The most popular alternatives to Private Suite are List category posts (80K+ installs), Media Library Assistant (70K+ installs) and Tag, Category, and Taxonomy… (40K+ installs).
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