[Plugin: AskApache Password Protect] How to upgrade automatically without a problem

This is one of my favorite plug-ins barnone (thanks, Apache!). It adds a 2nd gate of protection into your wp-admin directory, keeps people out of you content and includes directories, wards off vicious bots, etc.

I noticed that the plug-in does duplicate some of the commands upon automatic upgrade, however, for my setup. If not careful, you could get locked out of your wp-admin and have to manually adjust your .htaccess settings to get back in.

1) Despite “Automatic upgrade,” you still need to go into the plugin page and re-configure your settings each time.

2) Re-enter your htaccess user and password first.

3) On the next page, the “Manage .htaccess Security Modules” page, it is most important that you UNCHECK the enable box for the “Password Protect wp-admin” option. Not doing so before hitting the “update modules” button could cause the conflict in your .htaccess file that creates an “Internal Server Error” page when you then try to access wp-admin.

After unchecking the box, check the enable boxes for the other options and hit update modules. To be safe, you may even consider doing them one at a time while testing your site in another browser window. Most importantly, open up a new browser instance in which you are logged out of wp-admin and try to log back in. If you see the htpassword login prompt, you’re all set.

It is possible that with certain setups, leaving the box checked still works. In which case, this post is not for you.