Here is a quick guide that explains how to always allow (whitelist) other plugins when using Blackhole Pro or the free version, Blackhole for Bad Bots. This can help if you have plugins or services that require access to all links on the site (e.g., a plugin that scans for broken links).
Examples
The trick to whitelisting other plugins is getting the correct IP address. Here are some examples:
- WP Rocket Bot – whitelist the IP(s) of the bot
- Sucuri Site Check – whitelist the Sucuri IP(s)
- WP Time Capsule – whitelist your server IP(s)
- SEMrush – whitelist the Semrush Bot IPs
- Compatible cache plugins
- Contact us if you know of other examples!
And of course, you can whitelist specific user agents, and even whitelist your entire server, as explained below..
Whitelist bots via user agent
Instead of whitelisting a bunch of IP addresses (like for SEMrush, for example), you can simply whitelist requests via user agent.
Whitelist your own server
To be extra safe, you can whitelist the IP address of your server, and also whitelist the IP of any services used on your site (e.g., proxy, cache, load balancer, et al). Doing so will ensure that everything always has access for your site.
There are many ways to get the IP address of your server. If nothing else, use a browser extension that tells you the IP address of the sites that you visit. Then with the extension enabled, visit your own website and get the IP. In most cases, that will be the IP address of your server. So you can add it to the Blackhole whitelist settings as described next..
Whitelist IP addresses via Blackhole settings
To add any IPs to the whitelist, so they always are allowed, visit:
Blackhole Pro settings ▸ Whitelisted IPs
And for more information about this setting, visit the “Screen Options” tab in the upper-right corner of the settings screen.