Password Protected Links & Custom Password Page

Put a password on any short link. Visitors who open it see a password form instead of being redirected, and only reach the destination once they enter the correct password.

Protect a link with a password

1. Go to URL Shortify → Links and add a new link, or edit an existing one.
2. Scroll down to the Password field.
3. Enter the password you want to share with your audience.
4. Click Save Link.

That's it. The short URL itself doesn't change — anyone opening it now lands on the password page first.

To remove protection later, edit the link and clear the Password field.

What visitors see by default

Without any extra setup, URL Shortify shows a small built-in password screen: a heading, a short line of explanatory text, a password field and an Enter button.

It works, but it is deliberately plain — it renders on its own, outside your theme, so it has none of your site's header, footer, fonts or colours.

If you want the password screen to look like part of your site, create a custom password page.

Create a custom password page

A custom password page is just a normal WordPress page that contains one shortcode. Because it's a normal page, you have complete control over how it looks — background, logo, colours, extra text, blocks, anything your theme or page builder can do.

Step 1: Create the page

Go to Pages → Add New and give it a title, for example Protected Link.

Step 2: Add the shortcode

Add the shortcode anywhere in the page content:

[url-shortify-password]

Everything else on the page — a logo, a background image, a paragraph explaining how to request the password — is up to you. The shortcode only renders the form itself.

Step 3: Publish the page

Publish it as you would any other page. You don't need to add it to a menu.

Step 4: Select it in URL Shortify

Go to URL Shortify → Settings → Display and set Password Page to the page you just created, then save.

From now on, every password protected link sends visitors to that page instead of the built-in screen.

Customise the wording

The shortcode accepts three optional attributes:

Attribute	What it changes	Default
title	The heading above the form	Password
description	The line of text above the field	The link you are trying to access is password protected.
button_text	The submit button label	Enter

For example:

[url-shortify-password title="Members only" description="Enter the password from your welcome email to continue." button_text="Unlock"]

Styling the password page

Because the page is a normal WordPress page, the easiest way to add a custom background is your theme or block editor: set a page background colour or image the way you would on any other page, and the form sits on top of it.

For finer control, the form markup is wrapped in a container class you can target with CSS:

/* The whole password form area */
.kc-us-password-wrap {
    background: #0f172a;
    padding: 3rem 1rem;
    border-radius: 12px;
}

/* The password input */
.kc-us-password-wrap input[type="password"] {
    border-color: #6366f1;
}

/* The submit button */
.kc-us-password-wrap input[type="submit"] {
    background-color: #0ea5e9;
}

Add that CSS in Appearance → Customise → Additional CSS, or wherever your theme keeps custom styles.

Link previews when sharing a protected link

When you share a normal short link on social media or in a chat app, the preview card (image, title, description) comes from the destination page — the crawler follows the redirect and reads the destination's Open Graph tags.

A password protected link behaves differently. The crawler is stopped at the password page, exactly like a human visitor, so the preview it shows is whatever that page provides — not the destination.

What you can do today:

• With a custom password page, set the page's own social image, title and description using your SEO plugin (Yoast, Rank Math, SEOPress and others all support this per page). Every protected link then shares the same branded preview card — your logo and a line such as "This link is password protected", rather than no preview at all.
• With the built-in screen, no preview information is available, so most platforms will show a bare link.

Notes and limits

• The password is set per link. There is no single site-wide password.
• Protected links can still use redirect types, UTM parameters, expiry dates and other link options as normal.
• Query parameters on the incoming short URL are carried through to the destination after the password is accepted.
• After a correct password, the visitor is redirected with a 302, regardless of the link's configured redirect type. This is deliberate: it prevents the password form's POST request being repeated at the destination.

Troubleshooting

The password page is blank. The page is only populated when a visitor arrives from a protected link. Open a real protected short link to test it, rather than visiting the page directly.

Visitors still see the plain built-in screen. Check that URL Shortify → Settings → Display → Password Page actually points at your page and that the page is published, not a draft.

The form doesn't appear on my custom page. Make sure the shortcode is spelled exactly [url-shortify-password] and that it sits in the page content itself. Some page builders need a dedicated "Shortcode" block or widget rather than a plain text block.

Nothing happens when I submit the password. A caching plugin or CDN may be serving a cached copy of the password page. Exclude the page from caching, then try again in a private window.

FAQ

How do I password protect a short link in WordPress?

Edit the link in URL Shortify, enter a password in the Password field and save. Visitors then see a password form before they reach the destination.

Can I use my own design for the password page?

Yes. Create a normal WordPress page containing the [url-shortify-password] shortcode, then select it under Settings → Display → Password Page. Because it is an ordinary page you control the background, logo and styling.

Can each short link have a different password?

Yes. The password is set per link, so different audiences can be given different passwords.

Why does my password page look empty when I open it?

The form only appears when a visitor arrives from a protected short link. Opening the page directly shows the rest of your page content with no form, which is expected.

Do password protected links still track clicks?

Yes, but only once the correct password is entered and the visitor is redirected. Failed attempts are not counted as clicks.