ADOPT THE POLICIES WITH THEIR AUTHORITY AND RECOVERY PATHS IN VIEW
Setup & Administration
SiteWatch Setup & Administration covers the setup wizard's blog, corporate and commerce profiles, security approver designation, WordPress multisite and network authority, installation-bound ARN licensing with guarded updates and optional advisory AI review.
Setup Profiles
Start from a reviewed policy set.
The setup wizard provides blog, corporate and commerce profiles for relevant login, observation and configuration safeguards. Review proposed changes before applying them.
Stronger supported existing policies are retained rather than silently weakened. The setup does not force an untested browser-email gate into the site's sign-in workflow.
The profiles do not designate a security approver. Do that as part of setup in Plugin Review → Accounts & Permissions; until an approver exists, plugin installations and updates made from WordPress accounts wait in Pending Reviews.
Security approver step. From SiteWatch 2.0.1, SiteWatch opens on Settings → Setup & Profiles while no approver is designated, with a required "Become the security approver" step above the profiles. Without an enrolled Authenticator, Set up authenticator leads to your profile first; then confirm with your current WordPress password and a fresh code. Administrator accounts never become approvers automatically.
Until the step is done, the five-step setup list includes it, the Dashboard and Plugin Review show "Setup is not complete: no security approver is designated." and held plugin operations say "No security approver is designated yet." with a link to Plugin Review → Accounts & Permissions.
Keep hosting recovery access and a current backup available when adopting restrictions or configuration changes.
Policies & Permissions
Assign authority to the supported decision path.
Designate security approvers separately from WordPress roles. Use the documented verification for authority/policy changes and the current eligible verified-session workflow for routine package operations.
Scoped temporary permission can be granted to another eligible administrator, with expiry and immediate revocation. It does not become permanent authority merely because the account can access WordPress administration.
Encrypted-inbox delegation and package approval are separate permissions. Grant only the access needed for the task.
Multisite
Keep local policy context within the network.
Use supported network activation, the paginated dashboard and site-specific policies/reports. New-site initialization prepares the relevant local storage and settings within the documented bootstrap path.
Review the selected site's context when performing an inspection. A network overview is not permission for a local administrator to change shared files.
Keep installed product and network licence administration connected to the appropriate network-level authority.
Network Authority
Protect actions that affect shared installation files.
Shared-file mutation and shared PHP configuration require network-level permission. Review the exact site, file scope and operation before applying a change.
Local policies can remain site-specific while the physical plugin/theme files are shared. Keep that difference visible in reports and repair decisions.
Network context also belongs to the scoped approval/delegation safeguards; it should not be inferred from an account's role label alone.
Licensing & Updates
Follow the installation's entitlement and guarded download route.
SiteWatch licensing, licence renewal and updates run in the bundled ARN Core, shared with other ARN products on the same site. Activate the licence once with its one-use code in Settings → ARN Center → Licences. On a network-activated multisite, one licence is bound to the network's main domain and only a network administrator manages it, under Settings → ARN Center in the network admin.
Visitor, AJAX and REST requests never contact the licence server; a signed offline approval of up to 24 hours keeps SiteWatch open while ARN Core renews it in the background. An update is installed only with current licensed access, a fresh download ticket, a matching SHA-256 and a valid release signature.
Sealed product files. Every packaged SiteWatch file is checked on every request. If a file is missing or changed, SiteWatch opens only a small repair screen that names the changed files instead of running untrusted code, and it reopens on the next request after the official files are restored. This does not make the plugin impossible to remove through hosting access.
Uninstalling SiteWatch removes its licence data; settings and reports stay until an administrator removes them.
Existing configured public protections and documented monitoring/recovery continuity have their stated behaviour when licensing changes. New restricted actions follow the installation's verified access state.
AI Review
Approve the aggregate scope before requesting guidance.
Use the shared ARN Smart AI provider/model connection in Settings → ARN Center and review the outgoing aggregate counts and policy states. The supported review excludes private message content, file contents, private keys and SMTP secrets.
AI returns advisory guidance. It does not automatically edit files, approve a package or enable a protection policy.
Review the available provider usage information and keep external service costs separate from the product's licence.
A Practical Adoption Process
Review profiles and authority, configure a small relevant policy set and test legitimate workflows. Confirm recovery and mail routes before expanding restrictions, then inspect reports in the correct site/network context.
Questions About Administration
Are all WordPress administrators automatically security approvers?
No. Approval authority is explicitly designated and verified through its own workflow.
Does AI review apply its recommendations?
No. The described workflow returns advisory output; administrative changes remain deliberate actions.
Does the setup wizard weaken policies that are already stronger?
No. Stronger supported existing policies are retained, and the wizard does not force an untested browser-email gate into the site's sign-in workflow.
What data does the optional AI review send?
The supported review sends aggregate counts and policy states through the shared provider/model connection. It excludes private message content, file contents, private keys and SMTP secrets.
Which outside services does SiteWatch contact?
Only these, and only in the described situations:
- the ARN licence and update service, for licence activation, renewal and licensed updates;
- Cloudflare Turnstile, after an administrator enters Turnstile keys and enables a challenge;
- WPVulnerability, when the published vulnerability comparison is refreshed or runs daily;
- WordPress.org, for core checksums, release metadata, plugin references and official originals for repair;
- rdap.org, only when an administrator researches a recorded connection host;
- the selected AI provider, only after an administrator approves an AI Security Review.
Visitor, AJAX and REST requests never contact the licence service.
Continue the Review
Reviewed against SiteWatch 2.0.1 · Last updated 29 October 2026