White-Label Skill (FREE Plugins Only)

Complete WordPress white-labeling system using free plugins to create a professional, branded admin experience without any paid elements.

Plugin Stack

Recommended Approach

1. ASE - Security first (login URL, XML-RPC, author slugs)
2. White Label CMS - Use setup wizard for quick branding + menu hiding
3. Branda - Fine-tune login page if White Label CMS isn't enough

White Label CMS Quick Setup

Access: WordPress Admin → Settings → White Label CMS

Setup Wizard

White Label CMS has a built-in wizard that walks you through:

1. Your company logo (admin bar, login page)
2. Client details
3. Dashboard welcome panel
4. Menu visibility

Key Features

• Custom Welcome Dashboard: Add your own panel with Elementor/Beaver Builder support
• Hide Menus by Role: Built-in, no extra plugin needed
• CMS Profiles: Choose Website, Blog, or Custom preset
• Import/Export: Save and reuse settings across sites
• Login Page: Customize logo and use /login as URL alias

What We Can Configure (100% FREE)

Phase 1: Security First (ASE)

1.1 Change Login URL

• Plugin: ASE → Login/Logout → Change Login URL
• Setting: Custom URL like /client-login or /secure-access
• Why: Prevents automated attacks on /wp-login.php

Recommended slugs:

/client-login
/company-access
/portal
/secure-login

Avoid: /login, /admin, /signin (too common)

1.2 Login ID Type

• Plugin: ASE → Login/Logout → Login ID Type
• Setting: Restrict to "Username only" or "Email only"
• Reduces attack surface

1.3 Obfuscate Author Slugs

• Plugin: ASE → Security → Obfuscate Author Slugs
• Hides usernames from author archive URLs

1.4 Disable XML-RPC

• Plugin: ASE → Security → Disable XML-RPC
• Prevents brute force and DDoS attacks

1.5 Email Address Obfuscation

• Plugin: ASE → Security → Email Address Obfuscation
• Protects displayed emails from scrapers

Phase 2: Branding (Branda)

2.1 Login Page Customization

Access: Branda → Login Screen

Customize:

• Logo: Upload client's logo (recommended: 200-400px wide, PNG or SVG)
• Logo Link: Change from wordpress.org to client's site
• Background: Solid color or image
• Form Box: Background color, border radius, shadow
• Button: Background color, text color, hover state
• Links: "Lost password" and "Back to site" colors

Example Configuration:

Logo: /wp-content/uploads/client-logo.png
Logo Width: 300px
Background Color: #1a1a2e
Form Background: #ffffff
Form Border Radius: 8px
Button Color: #e94560
Button Hover: #c73e54

2.2 Admin Bar Branding

Access: Branda → Admin Area → Admin Bar

Options:

• Replace WordPress logo with custom logo
• Hide WordPress logo entirely
• Custom admin bar background color
• Custom menu item colors

2.3 Replace "Howdy" Greeting

Access: Branda → Admin Area → Howdy Message

Replace with:

• "Welcome, {username}"
• "Hello, {display_name}"
• "{display_name}" (just the name)

2.4 Admin Footer

Access: Branda → Admin Area → Admin Footer

Custom footer text (HTML supported):

&copy; 2025 [Client Name]. Powered by <a href="https://youragency.com">Your Agency</a>.

2.5 Dashboard Widget Branding

Access: Branda → Dashboard → Welcome Widget

Create custom welcome widget with:

• Client logo
• Quick links to common tasks
• Support contact information

Phase 3: Admin Cleanup (ASE)

3.1 Clean Up Admin Bar

• Plugin: ASE → Admin Interface → Clean Up Admin Bar
• Hide: WordPress logo, comments, new content, updates, help tab
• Keep: Site name, user menu, essentials only

3.2 Hide Admin Notices

• Plugin: ASE → Admin Interface → Hide Admin Notices
• Moves notices to separate panel (accessible via admin bar icon)
• Keeps interface clean for clients

3.3 Disable Dashboard Widgets

• Plugin: ASE → Admin Interface → Disable Dashboard Widgets
• Disable:
  • WordPress News
  • Quick Draft
  • At a Glance (optional)
  • Activity (optional)
• Keep: Custom widgets, Site Health (maybe)

3.4 Wider Admin Menu

• Plugin: ASE → Admin Interface → Wider Admin Menu
• Better readability for long menu items

Phase 4: Menu Organization (Admin Menu Editor)

4.1 Reorder Menu Items

Recommended Order for Clients:

1. Dashboard
2. Pages
3. Posts (or custom CPT name)
4. Media
5. (separator)
6. Comments (if enabled)
7. (separator)
8. Appearance (hide for editors)
9. Plugins (hide for editors)
10. Users
11. Tools (hide for editors)
12. Settings (hide for editors)

4.2 Rename Confusing Items

4.3 Hide Advanced Items

Hide from Editors:

• Plugins
• Appearance → Editor
• Tools → all except Export
• Settings → all

Hide from Authors:

• Everything in Editor list
• Plus: Users, Comments settings

4.4 Add Custom Menu Items

Admin Menu Editor allows adding links to:

• External resources
• Custom admin pages
• Help documentation

Phase 5: Performance & Cleanup (ASE)

5.1 Heartbeat Control

• Dashboard: Disable or reduce to 60s
• Post Editor: Reduce to 30s (for autosave)
• Frontend: Disable

5.2 Revisions Control

• Limit to 5-10 revisions per post
• Prevents database bloat

5.3 Image Upload Control

• Max dimensions: 2560x2560px
• Convert BMP to JPG: Enable
• Convert PNG to JPG: Enable (non-transparent only)

5.4 Disable Bloat

• Embeds: Disable if not using oEmbed
• Emoji: Disable (system emojis work fine)
• Dashicons on frontend: Disable
• jQuery Migrate: Disable if not needed

Automated White-Labeling (Claude Can Do This!)

This skill includes automation scripts that allow Claude to configure ALL white-label settings programmatically based on brand information you provide.

Quick Start

# Apply white-label config from JSON file
/root/.claude/skills/white-label/scripts/apply-white-label.sh config.json container-name

# Example for CSR Development:
/root/.claude/skills/white-label/scripts/apply-white-label.sh \
  /root/csrdevelopment.com/white-label-config.json \
  wordpress-local-wordpress-1

Configuration File Format

Create a JSON file with your brand settings:

{
  "brand": {
    "company_name": "Your Company",
    "logo_url": "https://example.com/logo.png",
    "website": "https://yourcompany.com",
    "colors": {
      "primary": "#2271b1",
      "primary_dark": "#135e96",
      "background": "#1a1a2e"
    }
  },
  "login": {
    "background_color": "#1a1a2e",
    "form_background": "#ffffff",
    "button_color": "#2271b1",
    "logo_width": 300
  },
  "security": {
    "login_url": "secure-login",
    "disable_xmlrpc": true,
    "obfuscate_authors": true
  },
  "dashboard": {
    "hide_news": true,
    "hide_quick_draft": true,
    "welcome_title": "Welcome",
    "welcome_message": "<p>Your custom dashboard message</p>"
  },
  "greeting": "Welcome,"
}

What Gets Configured

The automation script configures:

Asking Claude to White-Label

Just say:

• "White-label this site for [Company Name]"
• "Apply branding with primary color #e94560"
• "Set up client handoff for [Company]"

Claude will:

1. Create or use existing config JSON
2. Run the automation script
3. Verify all settings applied
4. Report completion

Scripts Location

/root/.claude/skills/white-label/scripts/
├── apply-white-label.sh           # Main runner script
├── configure-white-label.php      # WP-CLI configuration script
└── white-label-config.example.json # Example config file

Programmatic Configuration

All three plugins store settings in wp_options:

Reading Current Settings

# ASE settings
docker exec wordpress wp option get admin_site_enhancements --format=json

# Branda settings
docker exec wordpress wp option get ub_settings --format=json

# Admin Menu Editor
docker exec wordpress wp option get acp_custom_menu --format=json

Updating Settings via WP-CLI

ASE Configuration:

docker exec wordpress wp option update admin_site_enhancements '{
  "change_login_url": {"enabled": true, "slug": "secure-login"},
  "hide_admin_notices": true,
  "disable_xmlrpc": true,
  "obfuscate_author_slugs": true,
  "heartbeat_control": {
    "dashboard": "disable",
    "post_editor": 30,
    "frontend": "disable"
  },
  "revisions_control": 5
}' --format=json

Branda Login Customization:

# Upload logo first
docker exec wordpress wp media import /path/to/logo.png --title="Client Logo"

# Get attachment ID
LOGO_ID=$(docker exec wordpress wp post list --post_type=attachment --name=logo --field=ID)

# Update Branda settings
docker exec wordpress wp option update ub_login_image "$LOGO_ID"
docker exec wordpress wp option update ub_login_background_color "#1a1a2e"

Automation Script

Complete white-label setup script:

#!/bin/bash
# white-label-setup.sh - Apply complete white-labeling

CLIENT_NAME="${1:-Client Name}"
LOGIN_URL="${2:-client-login}"
LOGO_PATH="${3:-}"
PRIMARY_COLOR="${4:-#2271b1}"
BACKGROUND_COLOR="${5:-#1a1a2e}"

# Configure ASE
docker-compose exec -T wpcli wp option update admin_site_enhancements "$(cat <<EOF
{
  "change_login_url": {"enabled": true, "slug": "$LOGIN_URL"},
  "hide_admin_notices": true,
  "disable_xmlrpc": true,
  "obfuscate_author_slugs": true,
  "email_address_obfuscation": true,
  "clean_up_admin_bar": {
    "enabled": true,
    "hide_wp_logo": true,
    "hide_comments": true,
    "hide_new_content": true
  },
  "disable_dashboard_widgets": {
    "welcome": true,
    "quick_draft": true,
    "wordpress_news": true
  },
  "heartbeat_control": {
    "dashboard": "disable",
    "post_editor": 30,
    "frontend": "disable"
  },
  "revisions_control": 5
}
EOF
)" --format=json

# Upload logo if provided
if [ -n "$LOGO_PATH" ] && [ -f "$LOGO_PATH" ]; then
    docker cp "$LOGO_PATH" wordpress:/tmp/logo.png
    docker-compose exec -T wpcli wp media import /tmp/logo.png --title="$CLIENT_NAME Logo"
fi

# Configure admin footer
docker-compose exec -T wpcli wp option update ub_admin_footer_text \
  "&copy; $(date +%Y) $CLIENT_NAME. All rights reserved."

echo "White-labeling complete for: $CLIENT_NAME"
echo "Login URL: /wp-login.php → /$LOGIN_URL"

Template Configuration Export

Save this as your baseline white-label configuration:

{
  "ase": {
    "change_login_url": {
      "enabled": true,
      "slug": "secure-login"
    },
    "hide_admin_notices": true,
    "disable_xmlrpc": true,
    "obfuscate_author_slugs": true,
    "email_address_obfuscation": true,
    "clean_up_admin_bar": {
      "enabled": true,
      "hide_wp_logo": true,
      "hide_comments": true,
      "hide_new_content": true,
      "hide_updates": true
    },
    "disable_dashboard_widgets": {
      "welcome": true,
      "quick_draft": true,
      "wordpress_news": true,
      "activity": false
    },
    "heartbeat_control": {
      "dashboard": "disable",
      "post_editor": 30,
      "frontend": "disable"
    },
    "revisions_control": 5,
    "image_upload_control": {
      "max_width": 2560,
      "max_height": 2560
    }
  },
  "branda": {
    "login_screen": {
      "logo_enabled": true,
      "background_color": "#1a1a2e",
      "form_background": "#ffffff",
      "button_color": "#e94560"
    },
    "admin_bar": {
      "hide_wp_logo": true,
      "custom_logo_enabled": true
    },
    "howdy_message": {
      "enabled": true,
      "text": "Welcome,"
    },
    "admin_footer": {
      "enabled": true,
      "text": "© {year} {client}. All rights reserved."
    }
  },
  "admin_menu_editor": {
    "hide_for_non_admins": [
      "plugins.php",
      "theme-editor.php",
      "options-general.php",
      "tools.php"
    ],
    "rename": {
      "Posts": "News",
      "Media": "Files"
    }
  }
}

Client Handoff Checklist

Before handing off to client:

• Custom login URL set and tested
• Login page has client logo
• Login page colors match brand
• Admin bar shows client branding (not WordPress)
• "Howdy" replaced with professional greeting
• Admin footer shows client copyright
• Dashboard widgets cleaned up
• Menu items renamed and organized
• Advanced items hidden from editors
• WordPress version hidden
• XML-RPC disabled
• Author slugs obfuscated
• Email addresses obfuscated
• Heartbeat optimized
• Revisions limited
• Image upload limits set

Troubleshooting

Login URL Not Working

1. Flush permalinks: Settings → Permalinks → Save
2. Check for plugin conflicts
3. Verify .htaccess is writable
4. Clear all caches

Logo Not Displaying on Login

1. Check image dimensions (not too large)
2. Verify image URL is accessible
3. Clear browser cache
4. Check Branda settings saved

Admin Bar Items Still Visible

1. Clear browser cache
2. Check if other plugins are adding items
3. Verify ASE/Branda settings saved
4. Check user role (some items only for admins)

Settings Not Saving

1. Check user capabilities (must be admin)
2. Clear cache (if using caching plugin)
3. Disable other security plugins temporarily
4. Check PHP memory limit

Related Skills

• wp-docker: Development environment
• wp-playground: Testing environment
• wordpress-admin: Site management
• seo-optimizer: SEO configuration
• brand-guide: Brand documentation

Sources

• ASE Plugin
• Branda Plugin
• Admin Menu Editor
• White-Labeling Best Practices