StaticGuard

StaticGuard generates a local static copy of your public WordPress site and serves it to logged-out visitors from the same domain. WordPress remains installed and available to authenticated administrators, while ordinary public pages no longer need to execute PHP or query the database. The Free edition is focused on Elementor brochure sites and includes:

• a five-step first-run setup assistant with actionable diagnostics;
• manual full-site static publication;
• local discovery and copying of pages, styles, scripts, fonts, images and videos;
• Elementor-aware asset discovery and validation;
• frontend support for menus, galleries, lightboxes and common interactions;
• classic Elementor Pro form delivery through the site's own AJAX endpoint;
• form origin checks, a honeypot and essential rate limiting;
• validation before activation and anonymous verification after activation;
• automatic recovery to the previous public copy when a new publication fails;
• daily local integrity checks that rebuild or restore the public copy when it is damaged;
• two locally stored, restorable versions, with a configurable retention of 2 to 20 copies;
• hosting diagnostics for Apache, LiteSpeed and common proxy configurations.

No subdomain, second hosting account, DNS change, external static hosting service, StaticGuard account or license key is required for Free. The administration interface is available in French and English and follows the WordPress dashboard language automatically. What StaticGuard changes StaticGuard writes generated files under the WordPress uploads directory, in uploads/staticguard/. Private releases live in uploads/staticguard/data and the active public copy lives in uploads/staticguard/static/current. Already-deployed wp-content/wordpress-shield-data and wp-content/wordpress-shield-static trees can still be read so a live publication is not moved, but new files are never created there. If uploads are offloaded or stored outside the WordPress web root, StaticGuard reports a blocking admin diagnostic instead of writing to wp-content. On supported servers it adds a clearly delimited routing block to the WordPress .htaccess file. Disabling the plugin removes this managed routing and restores ordinary WordPress delivery. Security scope Static publication substantially reduces the code exposed on ordinary public pages, but it does not make the complete WordPress installation invulnerable. Keep WordPress, themes and plugins updated; use strong passwords, backups and HTTPS; and protect the hosting account itself. Free and Pro StaticGuard Free contains no paid-feature code and does not contact a license or update server. StaticGuard Pro is a separate GPL extension. Pro adds:

• automatic publication
• integrity monitoring and repair
• a private back-office address
• email two-factor authentication
• login protection
• multipage Elementor audits
• extended publication history

Buy Pro at staticguard.io/tarifs: 59 € TTC/year per site, 119 € Pro, 239 € Agency.

1. Upload the staticguard folder to /wp-content/plugins/ or install the ZIP from Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
2. Activate StaticGuard.
3. Open StaticGuard in the WordPress administration menu.
4. Follow the five setup steps shown by StaticGuard.
5. Select Check my site and use the recommended action displayed below any blocking diagnostic.
6. Select Protect my site to build and publish the first static version.
7. Open the site in a private browser window and check navigation, images, videos, galleries and lightboxes.
8. Send a real test message through every Elementor form, verify receipt and complete the setup checklist.

StaticGuard Free currently requires readable permalinks, WordPress at the public-domain root, a writable local uploads directory and a server configuration that honors WordPress .htaccess rules. Apache and LiteSpeed are the primary supported targets. A pure Nginx or IIS setup requires server rules that this first release does not install automatically.

1.0.7

• Elementor form rate limits now reserve one slot per request with add_option instead of a get-and-increment transient.
• The shared generation lock now uses add_option plus a compare-and-set replace so an expired lock cannot delete a lock another request just acquired.

1.0.6

• New releases, probe files and generated data are written only under uploads/staticguard.
• Offloaded or non-local uploads now fail in the administration screen instead of writing to wp-content.
• Existing staticguard-* trees remain readable so a live publication is not moved.
• Replaced leftover historical option, hook and define prefixes with staticguard_, including form rate-limit transients.

1.0.5

• Sanitized Free settings in the same assignment before save.
• Stopped calling load_plugin_textdomain; WordPress.org loads translations by slug.

1.0.4

• Wired daily integrity monitoring and repair in Free, including a manual check from the administration screen.
• Allowed administrators to keep between 2 and 20 local versions in Free.
• Sanitized settings form input before it is stored or passed to extension filters.
• Stopped shipping an en_US translation catalog; translate.wordpress.org remains the source for locale packs.
• Stored new generated files under uploads/staticguard, with a fallback for already-deployed staticguard-* folders.

1.0.3

• Recognized StaticGuard frontend assets independently of the plugin installation folder name.
• Stopped requiring the Pro-only multipage functional audit asset in Free builds.
• Added a regression test covering the packaged Free folder and Elementor validation profile.

1.0.2

• Cleared interrupted generation locks safely when upgrading from the former monolithic plugin.
• Repaired pending publications when their WP-Cron event is missing or late.
• Added live publication status polling and automatic page refresh after completion.
• Improved WP-Cron diagnostics for manual Free publications.

1.0.1

• Created a standalone Free distribution with no license client, private updater or paid-feature code.
• Added manual verified static publication on the existing WordPress domain.
• Added Elementor-aware page, media, style and script discovery.
• Preserved menus, galleries, lightboxes and common Elementor interactions.
• Included the classic Elementor Pro form with origin checks, honeypot and essential rate limiting.
• Kept two restorable local versions and automatic recovery when activation verification fails.
• Added Apache, LiteSpeed and proxy-aware hosting diagnostics.
• Added a guided first-run assistant, actionable fixes and automatic French/English administration localization.