Possible to select which countries are blocked?

Hi John,

Although I describe the functionality of this plugin just conceptually, I agree that it’s rather difficult to understand.

Yes, you can set the specific countries which you want to block or permit by specifying “Black list” or “White list” and the country code.

Thank you for your interest.

Many thanks for your kind feedback. That’s fine then.

2 more questions if you don’t mind:

– Are those country IPs updated in the background (without having to update the plugin itself?

– Are there any known issues with cache plugins such as Super Cache?

Thanks again!

– Are those country IPs updated in the background (without having to update the plugin itself?

Absolutely, yes.

– Are there any known issues with cache plugins such as Super Cache?

I use this plugin with WP Super Cache in my site. I’ve found no issues because this plugin does not act on cached page. So if you expect blocking on your public facing pages those which are chaced, you’ll be disappointed.

Thanks.

Great, thanks a lot for this, will install and test further asap!

Just installed and I have to say I’m a bit lost with settings…

I understand that I first have to whitelist my own country.
But how do I blacklist other countries? Has this to be done one by one?
Where can I see which countries are blackilisted/whitelisted?

You can’t choose both whitelist and blacklist as “Maching rule” at the same time.

Make sense?

I’m not sure I understand…

Does this mean that if:

– I whitelist only my country, ALL others are blacklisted?
– I blacklist some countries, ALL others are automatically whitelisted?

At first installation it was very confusing because I got a message stating that I had to whitelist my own country otherwise I would not be able to login again after logout. I did that but now I see that all accesses from outside my country are blocked..

(it’s not important as I’m first testing on a test site that has no visitors)

– I whitelist only my country, ALL others are blacklisted?
– I blacklist some countries, ALL others are automatically whitelisted?

You’re right!

At the first installation, you’ll see the following messsage:

Now downloading geolocation databases in background. After a little while, please check your country code and “Matching rule” at “Validation rule settings”.

When the downloading has finished, this plugin will automatically set “white list” as “Matching rule” and your country code. You can change it as you like.

But when you set it as to block yourself out, you’ll see the following:

You’ll be blocked after you log out. Please confirm “Matching rule” and “Country code for matching rule” at “Validation rule settings”. Otherwise select “Block by country (register, lost password)” for “Login form” at “Validation target settings”.

This is the caution to prevent blocking yourself.

OK I now better understand the logic.
But this last message is really very confusing:

You’ll be blocked after you log out. Please confirm “Matching rule” and “Country code for matching rule” at “Validation rule settings”. Otherwise select “Block by country (register, lost password)” for “Login form” at “Validation target settings”.

I still don’t clearly understand it.
In fact I understand the first 2 sentences, but the word “otherwise” makes the whole meaning really obscure and contradicts my initial understanding:

– I whitelist only my country, ALL others are blacklisted?
– I blacklist some countries, ALL others are automatically whitelisted?

Block by country? – which country, if I only whitelisted my own?

For me it’s either I whitelist my own country and all others are blacklisted, or I blacklist some countries and all others are automatically whitelisted. But this has nothing to do with the “Validation target settings”, or I’m completely wrong?

I’m sorry to insist but I want to be sure I fully understand what I’m doing here and the logic with those settings is far from clear…

When you enable “Anyone can register” at “Membership” on “Settings” –> “General” page, you’ll see the links of “Register | Lost your password?” on your login form page. Any accesses to those links from prohibited countries will be blocked while the registered users can login from anywhere when you choose “Block by country (register, lost password)“.

This feature was requested in here. I agreed this feature is useful especially with BuddyPress.

So even if you configure IGB as to block yourself but choose this feature, you can login/logout from anywhere. Of course, the functionality of limiting login attempts is still effective with it.

I hope this helps you to clarify your understandings.

Thanks!

Yes, I also fully agree, this feature is of real interest and extremely useful.

My problem is not this point but rather the phrasing of your warnings and some options that are a bit confusing in some cases.

For instance, I would rename this option “Block by country (register, lost password)” to something like “Block by country-bypass for existing members”.

And what started this tread here is mainly the warning a new user gets when installing this plugin:

You’ll be blocked after you log out. Please confirm “Matching rule” and “Country code for matching rule” at “Validation rule settings”.
Otherwise select “Block by country (register, lost password)” for “Login form” at “Validation target settings”.

My understanding of this sentence now would be rather something like:

Don’t be blocked yourself after you log out!
Please select a “Matching rule” and “Country code for matching rule” at “Validation rule settings”.
If you whitelist your own country, all other countries will be blocked, but if you blacklist one or some countries all other remaining countries will be allowed (including your own).

The last sentence of your warning (Otherwise select “Block by country (register, lost password)” for “Login form” at “Validation target settings”.) is very confusing at this stage and I don’t think should be placed in the context of this particular warning.

It’s more part of the general instructions than of an initial setup warning.

The same goes for the plugin’s main introduction page. I was a bit lost when I first found your plugin here and I first posted a message asking whether we are able to block particular countries as this is not clearly defined there.

Your introduction states:

It blocks any spams, login attempts and malicious access to the admin area posted from outside your nation, and also prevents zero-day exploit.

My understanding now is rather that way:

It blocks any spams, login attempts and malicious access to the admin area posted from defined countries (by blacklisting them or alternatively by whitelisting your own), and also prevents zero-day exploit.

Further down, in description, I would add more details after this sentence: “That’s why this plugin is here.”
Something like:

It allows you to either whitelist your own country (and automatically exclude all other countries) or to blacklist some specific countries (and thus allow access to all others).

Just my two cents.
In any case this plugin is great and you offer an awesome support!

Thank you for the very useful and informative suggestions.

I assumed that the meaning of the words “whitelist” and “blacklist” are quite obvious, but this was a big mistake.

I’d like to improve the descriptions that you have pointed out at some time in the future.

I really appreciate it!

You are welcome, no problem.

It would also be nice to hear other users about the same topic and see how they understand those statements.

in any case, don’t hesitate to ask later should you need any advice pn this matter.