Getting help with BetterShield

In BetterShield, most answers are already written down: start with Troubleshooting and the FAQ. If you still need a person, this page says where to ask and how to give them what they need in one message. All the routes are also on the Support page.

Where to ask

What to include

A good first message gets a good first answer. Include:

• What you did and what you expected, step by step.
• What you saw, with the exact message. BetterShield’s messages are specific, so the wording matters.
• Where you saw it, such as BetterShield › Protection › Hardening, or the sign-in page.
• The diagnostic report, described below.
• What changed recently: a plugin installed or updated, a host or server move, a new proxy or CDN.

Report a problem

BetterShield › Settings › General has a Report a problem card under Privacy & sharing. It describes how BetterShield is set up on your site, ready to paste into a support thread. Nothing is sent by the plugin: you read it, copy it and decide where it goes.

1. Press Prepare the report.
2. Read it in the box that appears.
3. Press Copy the report, then paste it into your forum post or ticket. If the browser will not copy it, select the text and copy it by hand. Refresh prepares it again after you change something.

The card links to the support forum too.

What it contains

• BetterShield’s version, and the WordPress and PHP versions.
• Whether the site is multisite, the web server type and whether it reads .htaccess, the environment type and the language.
• Whether safe mode is on, whether the site is locked down, and whether a recovery link is on record.
• Which hardening fixes are on, any whose undo failed, and any not available on this server.
• Your Login & Access settings, including whether the attempt limit is on and whether the server firewall line is on (and whether your host set it), with only a count of entries in each list.
• The password rules, how many accounts use two-factor, whether agents may read the site, and your alert settings with a count of recipients.
• The last audit: when it ran, how many checks ran, the score and the open findings by severity.
• Up to ten of BetterShield’s own errors from the last 7 days.
• Your theme and active plugins, with their versions.

What it leaves out

The report ends with the line “Left out on purpose: site address, email addresses, usernames, IP addresses, keys, tokens, hashes and file contents.”

It does name your theme and plugins, because support often starts by ruling out a clash with another plugin. If you would rather not post that list in public, open a ticket instead of using the forum.

From the command line

If you or your host use WP-CLI, wp bettershield diagnostics prints the same report. It works even when you cannot reach the dashboard. See WP-CLI commands.

wp bettershield diagnostics

Site Health

Tools › Site Health carries BetterShield’s open findings on the Status tab, each with a BetterShield badge, and a section on the Info tab called BetterShield: what it keeps about people. That section describes the records BetterShield keeps and how long, and holds nobody’s data, so it is safe to share. WordPress’s own sections on the Info tab are not BetterShield’s: read them before you post them anywhere public. See Dashboard and Site Health.

Never paste these in public

A support forum is public and indexed. Never post, and never show in a screenshot:

• Passwords, including application passwords.
• Your recovery link, recovery codes, or an unlock link from a lockout email.
• Two-factor backup codes, or the setup code or QR code from your authenticator app.
• The credential an AI assistant uses to connect.
• The contents of wp-config.php, which hold your database password and keys.

If one slips out, replace it straight away:

Related

• Troubleshooting
• FAQ
• Server compatibility
• WP-CLI commands
• Dashboard and Site Health
• Privacy and personal data