=== Blackhole Pro === Plugin Name: Blackhole Pro Plugin URI: https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro/ Description: Protects your site against bad bots by trapping them in a virtual black hole. Tags: bots, blackhole, honeypot, security, anti-spam Author: Jeff Starr Contributors: specialk Author URI: https://monzillamedia.com/ Donate link: https://monzillamedia.com/donate.html Requires at least: 4.7 Tested up to: 7.0 Stable tag: 3.6 Version: 3.6 Requires PHP: 5.6.20 Text Domain: blackhole-pro Domain Path: /languages License: The Blackhole Pro license comprises two parts (see "License" section below) Blackhole Pro is a WordPress security plugin that detects and traps bad bots in a virtual black hole, where they are denied access to your site. == Description == > ✨ Trap bad bots in a virtual black hole __Important:__ Do NOT use this plugin on sites with caching. [Learn more »](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/important-do-not-use-on-sites-with-caching/) ### Bye bye bad bots.. ### Bad bots are the worst. They do all sorts of nasty stuff and waste server resources. Blackhole Pro helps to stop bad bots and save precious resources for legit visitors. ### How does it work? ### First the plugin adds a hidden trigger link to the footer of your pages. You then add a line to your robots.txt file that forbids all bots from following the hidden link. Bots that then ignore or disobey your robots rules will crawl the link and fall into the trap. Once trapped, bad bots are denied further access to your entire site. I call it the "one-strike" rule: bots have one chance to obey your site's robots.txt rules. Failure to comply results in immediate banishment. And if that seems too harsh, you can adjust the number of allowed "strikes" via the plugin's Threshold setting. The best part is that the Blackhole only affects bad bots: human users never see the hidden link, and good bots obey the robots rules in the first place. Win-win! :) ### Features ### Visit the [Blackhole Pro homepage](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro/) for features, screenshots, and details. ### Getting Started ### For help getting started, visit the [Quick Start Guide](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-quick-start/). ### Documentation ### Explore the Blackhole Pro documentation: * [Blackhole Pro Docs](https://plugin-planet.com/category/docs+blackhole-pro/) * [Blackhole Pro Tutorials](https://plugin-planet.com/category/tuts+blackhole-pro/) * [Blackhole Pro FAQs](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-faqs/) For complete documentation, visit the Help tab on any Blackhole screen in the WP Admin Area. ### Stay Current ### Stay current with Blackhole Pro: * [Blackhole Pro News](https://plugin-planet.com/category/news+blackhole-pro/) * [Grab the News Feed](https://plugin-planet.com/category/news+blackhole-pro/feed/) * [Grab the Tutorials Feed](https://plugin-planet.com/category/tuts+blackhole-pro/feed/) ### Downloads ### Learn how to [download your pro plugin](https://plugin-planet.com/download-purchased-plugin/). ### Plugin License ### Check out [plugin license documentation](https://plugin-planet.com/documentation-plugin-licenses/). ### Privacy ### Check out [privacy and GDPR documentation](https://plugin-planet.com/gdpr-support/#plugin-blackhole-pro) for each of our pro plugins. ### Getting Help ### There are two channels for getting help: * [Ask a question in the Blackhole Pro Forum](https://plugin-planet.com/category/forum+blackhole-pro/) ([login required](https://plugin-planet.com/wp/wp-login.php)) * [Send an email via the contact form](https://plugin-planet.com/support/#contact) The contact form is best for direct support, bug reports, and feedback. ### Developer ### Blackhole Pro is developed and maintained by [Jeff Starr](https://x.com/perishable), 15-year [WordPress developer](https://plugin-planet.com/) and [book author](https://books.perishablepress.com/). == Installation == ### Installing Blackhole Pro ### 1. Deactivate free version of the plugin 2. Make sure your site is not running any cache plugin 3. Upload the plugin and activate via the WP Plugins screen 4. Visit Blackhole Pro > License to enter your license key Once Blackhole Pro is installed and active: * If your site is using the default robots.txt file that is automatically generated by WordPress, then you are done. No further steps are required. * __OR__ if your site is using a custom robots.txt file, visit the plugin settings > "Robots Rules", copy the provided rules, and paste them into your robots.txt file. Congrats! The plugin now is active, the [robots.txt rules](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-robots-txt/) are in place, and Blackhole Pro is protecting your site against bad bots. For more information on getting started, check out the [Quick Start Guide](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-quick-start/). For complete documentation, visit the Help tab on any Blackhole screen in the WP Admin Area. [More info on installing WP plugins](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/manage-plugins/#installing-plugins-1) ### How to use Blackhole Pro ### To use Blackhole Pro: 1. Install and activate the plugin as described above 2. Add the robots.txt rules to your site's robots.txt 3. To configure the plugin, visit the plugin Settings 4. To view and manage blocked bots, visit Bad Bots Links to reset the plugin options and Bad Bots Log are available in the plugin settings. Also check out the [Quick Start Guide](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-quick-start/). For complete documentation, visit the Help tab on any Blackhole screen in the WP Admin Area. ### Caching Plugins ### __Important:__ Do NOT use this plugin on sites with caching. [Learn more »](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/important-do-not-use-on-sites-with-caching/) ### Verification ### Learn how to [verify that the plugin is working correctly](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-check-plugin-working/). ### Customizing ### Blackhole provides plenty of hooks for customizing and extending functionality. Visit Plugin Planet for a [list of all Blackhole Pro hooks](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-action-filter-hooks/). ### Whitelisting ### Learn more about [how to whitelist bots and IP addresses](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-whitelist-bots/). ### Upgrades ### Your purchase of Blackhole Pro includes free upgrades according to the purchased license (Yearly or Lifetime). Plugin upgrades include new features, bug fixes, and other improvements. When an upgrade is available, WordPress will notify you in the Admin Area. When you see that there is an update available, just click "Update" and WordPress will perform the upgrade automatically. Alternately, you can [download the latest version](https://plugin-planet.com/download-purchased-plugin/) and upgrade manually. [More info](https://plugin-planet.com/upgrade-plugin/) ### Uninstalling ### This plugin cleans up after itself. All plugin settings and collected data will be removed from the WordPress database when the plugin is deleted via the WP Plugins screen. If you manually added the Blackhole rules to your robots.txt file, then you should remove them. To restore default plugin options without uninstalling, visit the plugin settings. Likewise there is a settings link to clear/reset the Bad Bots Log. ### Credit ### Header Image Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. ### Like the plugin? ### If you like Blackhole Pro, please take a moment to [give a 5-star rating](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/blackhole-bad-bots/reviews/?rate=5#new-post). It helps to keep development and support going strong. Thank you! == Upgrade Notice == This plugin has been tested and is 100% current with the latest version of WordPress. == Frequently Asked Questions == Check out the [Blackhole FAQs](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro-faqs/) at Plugin Planet. ### Questions? Feedback? Bugs? ### There are two channels for getting help: * [Ask a question in the Blackhole Pro Forum](https://plugin-planet.com/category/forum+blackhole-pro/) ([login required](https://plugin-planet.com/wp/wp-login.php)) * [Send an email via the contact form](https://plugin-planet.com/support/#contact) The contact form is best for direct support, bug reports, and feedback. == Screenshots == [Screenshots available at Plugin Planet](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro/#screenshots) == License == The Blackhole Pro license comprises two parts: * __Part 1:__ Its PHP code is licensed under the GPL (v3 or later), like WordPress. [More info](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/). * __Part 2:__ Everything else (e.g., CSS, HTML, JavaScript, images, design) is licensed according to the purchased license. [More info](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro/). Without prior written consent from Monzilla Media, you must NOT directly or indirectly: license, sub-license, sell, resell, or provide for free any aspect or component of Part 2. Further license information is available in the plugin directory, `/license/`, and [online](https://plugin-planet.com/wp/files/blackhole-pro/license.txt). Copyright 2026 Monzilla Media. All rights reserved. == More from Jeff Starr == Premium WordPress plugins: * [Banhammer Pro](https://plugin-planet.com/banhammer-pro/) - Monitor traffic and ban bad users and bots * [BBQ Pro](https://plugin-planet.com/bbq-pro/) - Fastest firewall plugin for WordPress * [Blackhole Pro](https://plugin-planet.com/blackhole-pro/) - Block bad bots in a virtual black hole * [GA Pro](https://plugin-planet.com/ga-google-analytics-pro/) - Connect WordPress to Google Analytics * [Head Meta Pro](https://plugin-planet.com/head-meta-pro/) - Ultimate Meta Tags for WordPress * [REST Pro Tools](https://plugin-planet.com/rest-pro-tools/) - Awesome tools for managing the WP REST API * [SAC Pro](https://plugin-planet.com/simple-ajax-chat-pro/) - Unlimited chat rooms for WordPress * [USP Pro](https://plugin-planet.com/usp-pro/) - Advanced front-end forms Quality WordPress books: * [The Tao of WordPress](https://wp-tao.com/) * [Digging into WordPress](https://digwp.com/) * [.htaccess made easy](https://htaccessbook.com/) * [WordPress Themes In Depth](https://wp-tao.com/wordpress-themes-book/) * [Wizard's SQL Recipes for WordPress](https://books.perishablepress.com/downloads/wizards-collection-sql-recipes-wordpress/) More awesome stuff on the way :) == Changelog == If you like Blackhole Pro, please take a moment to [give a 5-star rating](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/blackhole-bad-bots/reviews/?rate=5#new-post). It helps to keep development and support going strong. Thank you! **3.6 (2026/04/24)** * Improves accuracy of GeoIP lookups * Fixes bug with reset options * Updates plugin settings page * Updates Help tab information * Adds check for `WP_CACHE` to abort function * Improves readme.txt documentation * Tests on WordPress 7.0 Full changelog @ [https://plugin-planet.com/wp/changelog/blackhole-pro.txt](https://plugin-planet.com/wp/changelog/blackhole-pro.txt)