Description

The WooCommerce Protected Categories hides and protects entire product categories in WooCommerce with a password or by user role, automatically removing them from the store, search, sitemap, and navigation menus for unauthorized visitors. Merchants who sell B2B catalogs, exclusive products for VIP customers, reseller materials, or restricted content use the plugin to unlock specific collections via login or password, without needing to set up a structured membership platform.

Main Features

  • Password protection: locks entire categories with one or multiple passwords, granting access after the customer enters the correct credential.
  • User role restriction: unlocks categories only for specific profiles such as wholesale, reseller, subscriber, or registered customer.
  • Private categories: displays collections only for logged-in users, keeping them invisible to anonymous store visitors.
  • Automatic propagation: applies the parent category protection to all subcategories and linked products, without configuring each item individually.
  • Complete hiding: removes protected categories from internal search, feeds, sitemaps, widgets, and theme menus, preventing indirect exposure of the content.

Benefits of WooCommerce Protected Categories

  • Segmented catalog: allows running a single store serving the general public, wholesale, and special customers with distinct visibility rules.
  • Granular access control: combines password and user role to create different release levels within the same catalog.
  • Commercial privacy: keeps prices, terms, and exclusive items away from competitors and unregistered visitors.
  • Quick implementation: eliminates the need to build a dedicated membership system to unlock restricted areas in WooCommerce.

Who Is It For?

  • B2B stores, wholesalers and distributors who need to separate wholesale catalogs from the open retail.
  • Businesses with a customer club, VIP area or loyalty program that release exclusive products via login.
  • Brands that sell restricted digital content, libraries, courses, or technical materials to selected groups.

Recommended for WooCommerce merchants who need to control who sees each catalog category and serve different audiences without exposing the entire inventory to casual visitors.

Frequently asked questions

Is Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories GPL-licensed?

Yes. Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories is distributed under the GPL (GNU General Public License). You may legally use, modify and redistribute it on as many sites as you want.

Can I use Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories on multiple sites?

Yes. You can install Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories on as many sites as you want. Only automatic updates through Ultrapack Auto Updater have a limit: from 3 to 80 sites, depending on the plan.

How much does Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories cost at Ultrapack?

Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories costs US$2.99 as a single purchase, and it is also included in the subscription plans starting at US$12/mo (VIP I).

Does Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories include updates?

Yes. The current version of Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories is 2.8.2, published at Ultrapack on Jul 17, 2026. Subscribers update straight from the WordPress dashboard with UAU (Ultrapack Auto Updater).

Is Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories scanned before publication?

Yes. Every version of Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories goes through a malware scan (ClamAV and YARA rules, at UltraHub) before it is published.

What are the requirements for the plugin Barn2 WooCommerce Protected Categories?

Requires WordPress 6.1 or higher and PHP 7.4 or higher. Tested up to WordPress 7.0.0.