How to Preview an Ultimeter

Table of Contents

Content Visibility
- Setting Page and Post Visibility
  - Password Protected Content

We’ve had a couple of users ask if there is any way to see a meter before it is published. There is currently no preview feature from within the plugin itself. This is because we do not load the styles and scripts in the backend. While it means that the plugin runs very efficiently, it does mean that backend previews won’t work. Any preview wouldn’t be a true reflection of what your users see on the front end, so a backend preview may do more harm than good. We will continue to get feedback on this so if you have any thoughts, please let us know. In the meantime, we suggest using WordPress’s built-in content visibility system to enable you to display a true preview of an Ultimeter.

Content Visibility #

Content visibility is about controlling who can see your blog content. WordPress allows you to control the visibility of your posts and Pages on an individual basis. By default, all posts and Pages are visible.

There are several ways to set the visibility for your blog content. You can set it on a per post/Page basis for public, private, or Password Protected, or make the entire blog private and Password Protected through the use of WordPress Plugins.

Setting Page and Post Visibility #

Visibility for posts and Pages is set from the Edit screen. The option is available under the “Publish” option normally found at the top-right of the Edit screen. The screenshot below shows the interface, with the relevant section highlighted in the red rectangle.

Publish metabox with "Visibility" highlighted — Publish metabox

The default state for post and Page visibility is Public. Public visibility means that the content will be visible to the outside world as soon as it is published.

By clicking on the edit link next to Visibility: Public in the Publish options, you can choose from an expanded selection of visibility options.

Publish metabox displaying options: Public, Password protected, and Private — Publish metabox visibility options

The options are:

Public: The default, viewable to all.
Password Protected: Clicking this radio button followed by “OK” causes a further text box to appear, into which you can enter a password.
Private: This option hides the content from the public completely.

Password Protected Content #

Password Protected content is not immediately visible to the outside world. Instead, visitors will see a prompt similar to this:

Password protected page asking user to enter a password to view content — Password protected page

The title for your protected entry is shown, along with a password prompt. A visitor to your site must enter the password in the box in order to see the content of the post or Page.