3. My Sites Overview

To access all your preset configurations, go to the Configs screen in your Hub by clicking that menu item on your My Sites overview screen.

The first thing you’ll see are the available default WPMU DEV configs denoted with blue checkmarks. These are designed to get you up and running quickly with the selected plugin/service.

Click the My Configs tab to get started on creating your own custom configs.

If you have not yet created any, you’ll first see the initial welcome message.

Once you have created at least one config (see below), you’ll see them listed under the My Configs tab.

If needed, you can edit the name of a configuration, view further details about it, or delete it, by selecting the appropriate option from the dropdown that appears when clicking on the kebab icon. Note that you cannot rename or delete the default WPMU DEV configs.

Clicking the Details option there will pop open a modal to display exactly what has been included in that config.

Creating a new config

There are two ways to create custom configs for any service:

• From the My Configs screen
• From the Overview screen or applicable plugin/service for any site in your Hub

Creating a config from My Configs

To create a new config for any service from the My Configs screen, click the Create Config button at the top-right of that screen.

In the modal that pops open, give your config a Name, select the Site you want to create it from, and select the Plugin the config should apply to. Click Save when you’re done.

Creating a config from a site service

You can create a new config for any plugin/service from a site’s Overview screen, or the specific plugin/service screen.

From the site’s Overview screen

Click the kebab icon in the plugin module you want to open the options, and click Save Config.

Enter a Name for your configuration in the modal that pops up, and click Save.

From the plugin/service screen

On the plugin/service screen, click Config in the main module on that service’s screen, and select Save Config. Enter the desired config name as above and click Save.

Applying a configuration to a site

Applying a config from the Configs screen

You can apply any of your available configurations to any or all of your sites in one go from the My Configs screen. Click the Apply to site link for the configuration you want.

Then select the site(s) where you want to apply this configuration.

By default, this list will display the first 20 sites in your Hub. If you have more than than that, click the Load More button to load an additional 20. You can also use the Find a website search form to locate the specific one(s) you want.

You’ll see the Apply to “x” sites button will update dynamically with the total number of sites you select. Once you’ve selected the site(s) you want, click that Apply button to apply your chosen config to those sites.

Note that if you apply an Uptime config to a site where Uptime is not yet active, it will be activated automatically. You’ll see a reminder of this when you select the site(s) where you want to apply the config.

Applying a config from a site service

You can apply any one of your preset service configurations to a site while on the site’s main Overview screen, or the service’s screen for that site.

From the site’s Overview screen

Click the kebab icon in the plugin module you want to open the options, and click Apply Config.

That will pop open a modal displaying all the custom configs you have created for that plugin/service. Select the one you want and click Apply.

As on the My Configs screen, clicking the Details option here will pop open a modal to display exactly what has been included in that config.

From the plugin/service screen

On the plugin/service screen, click Config in the main module on that service’s screen, and select Apply Config.

In the modal that pops open, select the configuration you want, and click the Apply button.

Again, clicking the Details option here will pop open a modal to display exactly what has been included in that config.

When applying a custom config from a site’s Overview or plugin/service screens, a modal will pop up prompting you to confirm the action. Click Yes to confirm, or Cancel if you do not wish to proceed just yet.

If the plugin or service is not yet active, you’ll be greeted with the initial setup screen where you’ll have the option to apply a preconfigured or custom config right away.

To apply a config from the setup screen, check the Apply recommended settings using configs box, select the config you want to apply, and click the Activate button.

By default, every site that you create on our hosting comes equipped with Pro versions of several of our award-winning plugins automatically installed for you.

However, you can use the Quick Setup feature to easily install & configure several premium WPMU DEV plugins & services on any 3rd-party site that you connect to your Hub.

You can apply either our default configurations, or use your own custom ones that you set up in the Configs section of your Hub.

To launch the Quick Setup, click either the Open Quick Setup button in the feature’s hello bar, or click the kebab icon at top right to open the site options, then click the Quick Setup link there.

Clicking either option will open the Quick Setup screen where you’ll see all the services that can be enabled and configured at once on that site.

There are two ways to run the Quick Setup wizard: use the Default Setup or select to use Advanced Options.

The Default Setup is the fastest way to get all available services up and running in just a few clicks using our default configurations. Available services are grouped in 2 categories:

• Security, Backups & Automated Updates – Check this category to include Defender, Snapshot and Automate in the setup.
• Performance & Uptime – Check this category to include Smush, Hummingbird and Uptime in the setup.

Click the Advanced Options toggle at the top if you prefer to include only selected plugins & services in the setup, and optionally use your own custom configs for them.

By default, all services are pre-selected, regardless of which option you choose. If there are any services that you do not want to configure with the Quick Setup, simply uncheck them.

Note that if any services are already active on your site, they would be disabled in the Quick Setup wizard (greyed out) as their configuration cannot be overwritten by this feature. In that case, you’d want to first deactivate the desired service in your Hub. Then launch the Quick Setup again, and it will then be available for selection.

Available services will have an active selectbox where you can select either the default WPMU DEV config, or any custom config you may have already set up. See the My Configs chapter below for more info on creating custom configs.

If you have already selected a custom config for a service, and want to revert back to the default WPMU DEV config, simply select the default config at the top of that service’s configs list in the dropdown.

Once you have selected the services you want to configure with the Quick Setup, and have selected any custom configs you want to apply to those services, click the Start Setup button at the bottom.

The configs labels will change to display which services have Completed their configuration, which one is currently Activating, and which are still Pending configuration.

The whole process only takes a few seconds. Once the Quick Setup has completed, your Hub will automatically refresh and you’ll be directed to the Overview screen for that site.

Resetting the Quick Setup

You can dismiss the Quick Setup either by clicking the [x] icon in the hello bar to close it, or by clicking the Skip quick setup link at the bottom of the Quick Setup screen.

If you had previously dismissed the Quick Setup and wish to get it back again, click the kebab icon at top-right to open the site options, and select Settings. Then click the Reset link for the Reset quick setup option.

Will custom templates cost me anything?

Nope. Each custom template that you create is actually a full backup of the selected site which we store on our servers. It does not affect your hosting storage at all. When you choose to use a custom template to create a new site, that backup is fetched and restored at your chosen new site URL.

Is there a limit to how many custom templates I can create?

Yes. You can have up to a total of 25 custom templates in your account. Note that you can only create one custom template at a time though; the create template buttons will be disabled while a template creation is in progress.

Can I create a custom template from a 3rd-party site connected to my Hub?

No. It is only possible to create custom templates from sites hosted by WPMU DEV.

If I create a custom template and then delete the site from which it was created, does the template get deleted as well?

No. Your custom template would not be affected if you delete the site it was made from.

Can I make multiple custom templates from the same site?

Yes. You can save a first custom template. Then make changes to the site and save a second template. Make more changes and save a third template, and so on.

Can I edit or update the content of existing custom templates?

No. As custom templates are actually full site backups, it is not possible to edit or update anything in them once they’re created. If you do need to edit or update your template, you’d need to create a new one from your updated source site, then delete the outdated template.

Why don’t I see a screenshot or preview button in My Templates?

Since custom templates are backups, they cant be previewed live. However, you can choose to upload custom thumbnails for your templates. To do this, click Edit details in the template options, and then click Add Thumbnail.

Is there any limit to the size of my custom templates?

No, your templates can be made from sites of any size. However, if you try to create a site on a hosting plan whose available storage space is less than the size of your template, the site creation will fail. For example, if you have a template made from a large site on a Gold plan and try to use that for a new site on the Quantum plan, it would most likely fail as only 4 of the 10Gb of storage is available to use on the Quantum plan. See About System Storage for more.

Are all the users, license keys, settings, site data, etc. preserved in templates?

Yes. Creating a site with a WPMU DEV or custom template creates an exact duplicate of the site the template is made from.

Note that if there are any premium theme or plugin licenses on a site you use for a custom template that you do not want enabled on sites created from that template, you would want to remove those before making a template from the site.

There are also a few differences in how users are handled for the two template types as seen below.

WPMU DEV Templates

When a site is created using a WPMU DEV template:

• The existing wp-admin user is deleted and a new admin user is created using your email address and a random password.
• SSO login is enabled for this new admin user and access to the WPMU DEV Dashboard is limited to this admin user only (you can add other admin users later if you need to under the Permissions tab in the Dashboard settings).
• If the site is created by a client when purchasing a Hosting Reseller product from you, another user is created for the client based on the credentials they provide when creating the site, with the WordPress user role you set for that Reseller product.

Custom Templates

When a site is created using a custom template:

• Existing users are preserved with the assumption that you would have an admin user in the template already, with SSO login enabled for that user and access to the WPMU DEV Dashboard plugin already restricted to that user. This is recommended so you can provide support on your client sites.
• If the site is created by a client when purchasing a Hosting Reseller product from you, another user is created for the client based on the credentials they provide when creating the site, with the WordPress user role you set for that Reseller product.

The AntiBot Global Firewall enables you to synchronize an automatically-updated IP blocklist with any or all of your sites. The feature actively monitors millions of IP addresses and intelligently updates its blocklist data twice daily to ensure your sites are protected by the most robust firewall available.

This service works out of the box with WPMU DEV hosted sites & servers. However, 3rd-party hosted sites where you wish to enable the service must be connected to your Hub, with the Defender plugin (version 5.3 or greater) active on them.

Click the Protect your sites now button to get started. Or click the View AntiBot in Action button to see current statistics about the feature; see AntiBot Stats below for more information.

Once activated, the screen will refresh and will display some cumulative data in the AntiBot in Action section. Click View Daily Stats to get detailed statistics.

• Blocked IPs – Basic Mode – The total number of IPs blocked by AntiBot Basic mode.
• Blocked IPs – Strict Mode – The total number of IPs blocked by Strict mode
• Suspicious IPs – The number of IP addresses currently being monitored for suspicious activity.

Add to Sites

Click the Add to Sites button to pop open a modal window where you can select the AntiBot Mode that you wish to be applied on selected WPMU DEV dedicated or 3rd-party hosted sites.

• Basic – This is the default mode and it allows safe bots and tools like uptime monitors or SEO scanners to access your site, and it skips blocking visitors with minor issues like 404 errors.
• Strict – This mode blocks all suspicious activity, including visits with broken links.

Then check the Select all box or select just the specific sites you want.

Filters & Labels

If you have a large number of sites, you can filter the list to display only those you need. Click Filters & Labels and select to display sites according to Hosting, Favorites, custom Labels or currently active AntiBot Mode. Click the Activate button when you’re done.

Note that the filters & labels here work just as they do on your My Sites screen to filter your sites. See Filters & Labels below for details.

Manage Sites

Once you’ve activated the service on at least one site, a Manage Sites button will appear. Click it to view all sites where AntiBot is active, and optionally switch modes or deactivate the service on selected sites.

That will pop open a modal window where you can check the Select all box or just select the specific sites you want. As above, you can filter the list to display only those sites you need. Then click the Apply Action button to select the action to apply to all selected sites.

Add to Servers

Click the Add to Servers button to pop open a modal window where you can select the AntiBot Mode that you wish to be applied on selected WPMU DEV unlimited hosting servers. Note that when active on an unlimited hosting server, AntiBot protects all sites on that same server; there is no option to enable or disable it per site on unlimited servers.

• Basic – This is the default mode and it allows safe bots and tools like uptime monitors or SEO scanners to access your site, and it skips blocking visitors with minor issues like 404 errors.
• Strict – This mode blocks all suspicious activity, including visits with broken links.

Then check the Select all box or select just the specific servers you want. There are no filtering options in this modal.

Manage Servers

Once you’ve activated the service on at least one server, a Manage Servers button will appear. Click it to view all servers where AntiBot is active, and optionally switch modes or deactivate the service on selected servers.

That will pop open a modal window where you can check the Select all box or just select the specific servers you want. Note that there is no option to filter servers here.

AntiBot Stats

Click the View AntiBot in Action button on the welcome screen, or the View Daily Stats link that appears in the AntiBot in Action section once activated on at least one site. That will pop open a modal window where you can view detailed statistics, categorized as follows:

• Suspicious IPs – IPs we’re keeping an eye on due to unusual behavior patterns.
• Blocked IPs – A running total of all the harmful IPs we’ve added to the blocklist.
• IPs Sneaking Around Your Non-Existent Pages (404) – IPs caught accessing non-existent pages (404s), which means they were probably probing or scanning sites.
• IPs Triggering Failed Login Attempts – IPs responsible for failed login attempts across the AntiBot network.
• IPs Flagged for Spam Comments – IPs that have been caught posting spam comments across the AntiBot network.
• IPs Attempting Unauthorized Auth – IPs that have repeatedly attempted to access areas protected by HTTP authentication.
• IPs Flagged by Web Application Firewall – IPs with suspicious behavior that have been blocked by server-level Web Application Firewall rules.
• IPs Trying Suspicious SSH Access – IPs attempting to use brute-force attacks to connect to your server via SSH.
• IPs Caught Exploiting XML-RPC Endpoint – IPs accessing the WordPress XML-RPC endpoint, a common target in DDoS or brute-force attacks.
• IPs Recognized as Potentially Harmful Traffic Sources – IPs that attempted actions which could pose a risk to online services, based on automated traffic analysis.
• IPs Associated with Suspicious Website Requests – IPs of requests that matched patterns commonly associated with misuse or automated abuse, identified through routine review of website traffic.

Note that only the first two categories of statistics are immediately viewable, but you can scroll through the list to view all categories.

Use the date range toggle at top-right to view stats for the last 7, 15 or 30 days.

Blocklist Checker

If you ever have the need to allow an IP address that might be on the AntiBot blocklist, first click the Check IP button in the Blocklist Checker section of the main AntiBot screen.

That will pop open a modal window where you’ll enter the IP address you wish to check, and click the Search button.

If the IP is on the blocklist, you’ll see a confirmation message with options to Report as a Trusted IP or to Add to Your Custom Allowlist if you want to allow that IP to access sites where you have synced that list.

Selecting Add to Custom Allowlist will prompt you to confirm the action.

If the IP is not on the AntiBot blocklist, the tool will inform you of that as well.

The Custom IP List is where you can create and manage your own custom lists to allow and block IP addresses, and automatically sync those lists with any or all of your sites (both dedicated hosting and 3rd-party) as well as your unlimited hosting servers.

Once synced with a site or server, you can also view your Custom IP Lists in a synced site’s wp-admin at Defender > Firewall > Local Blocklist. You can sync the lists from there as well at any time.

Both the allowlist and blocklist accept IPv4 and IPv6. IP ranges are also accepted, in either CIDR or hyphenated format.

Add the IPs you want to allow or block to the corresponding list, one address or range per line, and click the Save button for each list.

Add to Sites

Click the Add to Sites button to pop open a modal window where you can select the WPMU DEV dedicated hosting or 3rd-party sites where you wish to activate the feature. Check the Select all box or select only the specific sites you want.

Just like with the AntiBot site filters, you can filter the list of sites here to display only those you want by clicking the Filters & Labels dropdown.

Add to Servers

Click the Add to Servers button to pop open a modal window where you can select the WPMU DEV unlimited hosting servers where you wish to activate the feature. This enables the Custom IP List feature on all sites on the selected server(s).

Check the Select all box or select only the specific servers you want. Note that there are no filtering options for unlimited hosting servers.

Activating on a Single Site

Dedicated or 3rd-party Hosted Site

To activate the Custom IP List on a single dedicated hosting or 3rd-party site, navigate to the site’s Security tab in your Hub, and locate the Advanced Tools widget on that screen.

In that widget, toggle on the Custom IP List option. Your site is now synced with your custom allow & block lists.

Site on an Unlimited Hosting Server

To activate the Custom IP List on a site hosted on an unlimited hosting server, navigate to the site’s Security tab in your Hub, and locate the Advanced Tools widget on that screen.

If the service is not yet active on the server the site is hosted on, clicking the Off link will direct you to the server’s Tools screen where you can activate it for the server hosting that site. That will effectively activate the service on all sites on that same server.

If the service is already active on the server the site is hosted on, a Manage link will appear instead that will also direct you to the server’s Tools screen where you can manage it for all sites on that same server.

Manually Syncing Your Lists

The Custom IP List automatically syncs daily with all active sites. But you can click the Sync IPs buttons that appear once you have activated the service on at least one site and/or server. That will instantly sync your lists with all sites and/or servers.

Allowlist and Blocklist Logic

If you also have local IP allow/blocklists set up in Defender, this is the logic that will be followed once your Custom IP Allow/Blocklists have been synced with your site:

• If an IP address is in either the Local IP Blocklist in Defender on your site, or the Custom IP Blocklist in your Hub, but not in either Allowlist, that IP will be blocked from accessing your site.
• If an IP address is in your local Allowlist, it will be allowed to access your site even if that same IP is in the Local and/or Custom Blocklists.
• If an IP address is present in your Custom Allowlist, it will be allowed to access your site even if that same IP is in any of the other lists

This table shows all the possible combinations where an IP address is either present or not in each list, and the result; either allowed or blocked. A “0” indicates the IP is not in the list, and a “1” indicates the IP is in that list.

The filters feature allows you to hone in on a specific group of sites that need attention.

Filter by Hosted Site Type, Status or Creator

Dedicated Hosting

These are the sites you have hosted on WPMU DEV dedicated hosting.

Unlimited Hosting

These are the sites you have created on WPMU DEV unlimited hosting servers.

Active

These are all the active WPMU DEV hosted sites in your Hub.

Suspended

These are sites that you have suspended using the Suspend Site option under the Hosting > Tools tab of those sites.

Reseller Client

These are hosted sites purchased from you through the Reseller feature in your Hub.

Filter by Category

When you select a category, any sites that are experiencing issues related to that category will be listed. The relevant sites will appear with an icon associated with the issue and a status giving more information about the problem. Clicking on the icons will take you to the Hosting Overview dashboard page in the Hub.

Updates

If this category is selected, the sites that require updates will appear. The update icon will be visible in the site row with a counter indicating how many updates are available for that site.

Security

Select this category to view sites with security issues that need to be tweaked. The security icon will be accompanied by the number of security issues to be resolved. For more information on resolving security issues picked up by our Defender plugin, visit the Security Tweaks document.

Performance

Choose the Performance category to group sites that have performance opportunities to be actioned. The performance icon will display your site’s current performance score in our Hummingbird plugin.

SEO

Click on the SEO category to view sites with optimization issues that need attention. This is based on your SEO performance in the WPMU DEV Smartcrawl plugin.

Backups

If the Backups category is selected, sites that have backup problems will be listed. The listed sites will show the backups icon with an informative status message.

Uptime

When the Uptime category is chosen, any sites experiencing downtime issues will be listed. The Uptime icon will appear with a status describing the issue.

Link Checker

When the Link Checker category is selected, any sites with broken links or backlinks will be listed.

Client Billing

Selecting the Client Billing category will display sites with outstanding invoices from your Client Billing tool.

Label Websites

Labels allow you to categorize your websites in any way you see fit, and filter the display of all sites to show only the ones you want.

Note that if you have team members or clients accessing your Hub, any labels you set will be visible only to you, and any labels set up by a team member or client will be visible only to that user.

The Hub includes 6 preset color-coded labels for grouping and sorting websites. To select a label for a site in the List view, hover over the space next to the three-dot icon for the site, and click on the label icon that will appear. You can customize these preset labels and add your own as well. See Customize Labels below for more on that.

A drop-down menu will appear with the different color-coded labels available and all you have to do is click on the desired label to assign it to that site.

Only one label can be assigned to a site at any given moment but labels can easily be changed by simply selecting a different label, or removed by selecting None.

The default available labels are:

• None
• Purple
• Blue
• Green
• Yellow
• Orange
• Red

Labels can also be assigned to sites in the Grid view through a similar process. The only difference being that the label icon is located to the top-right of the icon list.

Filter by Label

To filter sites associated with the same label, click on Filters & Labels and select the label you want to action.

Multiple labels can be selected which will display all sites associated with any of the chosen labels. In the example below, both the orange and blue labels have been selected, meaning that sites labeled with either the orange or blue tag are listed.

Customize Labels

In order to give you more control over the organization of your sites, the Hub allows you to customize your labels. Click on Filters & Labels and click the Edit link to access the configuration panel.

The configuration panel allows you to add, remove, rename, change colors and change the order in which the labels are listed.

Add

New labels can be added by clicking the plus icon next to Add label.

Remove

Remove labels by clicking on the minus icon.

Rename

All labels can be renamed by clicking on the existing name and replacing the text with the new name.

Change Color

To choose a unique color for your labels, click on the circular color icon.

You can then move the color picker to choose the desired color or you can type in the hex color code for a specific color. Click Save to select the new color or Cancel to exit without making any changes to the original color.

Re-order

Labels can be moved around to any order you would like. This can be done by clicking on the icon with three stacked horizontal lines and by dragging the label to its new position.

Remember to click Save to keep all of the changes you have made to your labels. Click Cancel to exit the configuration panel without changing any labels.