Block External Requests

Description

Block External Requests is a WordPress plugin designed to speed up your WordPress administration by blocking unwanted external HTTP requests.

Features:
* Block external requests by host, domain, or URL fragment.
* Hosts list is fully editable via Settings Blocked Requests.
* Supports regular expressions for flexible host matching.

License

GPLv2 or later. See https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Screenshots

Installation

  1. Upload the plugin folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory, or install via WordPress plugin uploader.
  2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
  3. Navigate to Settings Blocked Requests to edit the host list.

FAQ-e

Can this plugin break other plugins?

Yes, blocking certain external requests may interfere with plugins that require API access, updates, or check-ins. Review your blocked hosts list if another plugin stops communicating with an external service.

How do I use regular expressions?

Any line in the blocked hosts list that starts and ends with a slash (/pattern/) is treated as a regex pattern. Example: /example\.com/i.

Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

Contributors & Developers

“Block External Requests” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

Changelog

3.2.2

  • Improved WordPress.org plugin review readiness.
  • Removed the Domain Path header because no language files are bundled.
  • Improved permission error text for better clarity and translation.
  • Added uninstall cleanup for the stored blocked host rules option.
  • Confirmed WordPress Coding Standards, PHP compatibility, and i18n checks.

3.2.1

fixed texts (typos)
plugin review changes
* Removed logging, stats, auto-blocking, and upload-directory file storage.
* Stores blocked host rules in a WordPress option.

3.0.8

  • Nonce verified before touching any user input.n
  • All forms are routed via admin-post.php with explicit actions.
  • Added direct link to ‘Settings’ of the plugin.

3.0.6

  • Fixed typos in readme.txt and added media files for the repository.

3.0.4

  • Added regex support.

3.0.2

  • Added auto-blocking, stats.

3.0.0

  • Complete rewrite with logging.

1.0.4

  • Initial version: hardcodend host blocking using pre_http_request.