Content Protection discourages visitors from copying your text and images. You can disable right-click, text selection, copying and image dragging. Or allow copying, and add a link back to your page to whatever is copied.
Requires Essential Elements Pro.
Switch it on: Essentials → Modules → Content Protection.
Configure it: Essentials → Content Protection.
What it can and can’t do: no website can fully stop a determined person from copying content, because the page has to be sent to their browser to be shown. Content Protection stops casual copying (right-click → Save, select-and-copy) and makes the rest more effort. It doesn’t hide your content from search engines.
Protection
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Right-Click | Disable the right-click menu. | On |
| Text Selection | Disable selecting text. | On |
| Copy & Cut | Block copying and cutting content. | On |
| Image Dragging | Prevent dragging images to the desktop to save them. | On |
| Shortcuts | Block the view source, save page and print keyboard shortcuts. | Off |
| Notice | A short message shown when a blocked action is tried. Leave empty to stay silent. | "This content is protected." |
| Editors | Don’t apply protection to logged-in users who can edit posts. | On |
Forms keep working: text inputs, text areas, dropdowns and other editable fields are never protected, so visitors can still type, paste and select in your contact forms, search box, checkout and comments.
Testing tip: with Editors on, you won’t see the protection while logged in as an admin or editor. Open your site in a private window to test it as a visitor.
Copy Attribution
When copying is allowed, add a link back to your page to the copied text. Readers who quote you then credit you automatically.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Attribution | Append a link to copied text. Only applies when Copy & Cut protection is off. | Off |
| Attribution Text | Text placed before the link. | "Read more at:" |
For example, a visitor who copies a sentence and pastes it elsewhere gets:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Read more at: https://example.com/your-post/
Attribution instead of blocking: many sites get more from attribution than from blocking. Turn Copy & Cut off and Attribution on, and readers can still quote you, with a link back every time.
Display
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Show On | Entire site, Front page only, or Selected post types only. | Entire site |
| Post Types | Used with Selected post types only. For example, protect only blog posts. | Post |
| Exclude Pages | Comma-separated post or page IDs where protection is off, for example a page of code snippets meant for copying. | (empty) |
Troubleshooting
Protection doesn’t work for me. You’re probably logged in as an editor or admin. Test in a private window, or switch Editors off temporarily.
Visitors can’t use my form. Form fields are always excluded. If a custom field still can’t be used, it’s probably not a standard input or text area. Exclude that page with Exclude Pages.
Attribution isn’t added. Attribution only works while Copy & Cut protection is off.
Accessibility: blocking selection can make it harder for some visitors to use assistive tools such as text-to-speech or translation. Consider protecting only the post types that need it.