Controlling content distribution via Jetpack

Jetpack adds a suite of powerful security, performance, and marketing tools to all VIP sites, including various tools to aid in content consumption, distribution, and syndication. These include:

• Programmatic access to content via the WordPress.com REST API and Jetpack Search
• Subscriptions via the WordPress.com Reader
• Syndication via the WordPress.com Firehose

For sites with restricted access, the behavior of these tools can be modified depending on the specific use cases.

Enabling content distribution

For sites that rely on IP Allow List or Basic Authentication to restrict access, Jetpack’s content distribution tools are automatically disabled. This means that content is blocked from being:

• Accessed via the WordPress.com REST API or Jetpack Search via unauthenticated requests
• Consumed via the WordPress.com Reader
• Syndicated via the WordPress.com Firehose

If there is a preference for a site to be restricted but for content to continue to be distributed via Jetpack, add the following code snippet to the site’s vip-config.php file:

if ( ! defined( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE' ) ) {
	define( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE', false );
}

Within 30 minutes, the default content distribution features that are included with Jetpack will be restored.

To selectively enable content distribution features, use the jetpack_get_available_modules filter.

Non-production environments

An application’s non-production environments will have content distribution disabled by default.

To enable content distribution for these environments, or tweak their behavior, follow the “Enabling content distribution” instructions above.

Disabling content distribution

Sites that rely on restricting access via plugins or mechanisms that aren’t native to the VIP Platform (e.g. paywalls) may want to restrict content distribution via Jetpack.

To disable content distribution via Jetpack, add the following code snippet to the site’s vip-config.php file:

if ( ! defined( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE' ) ) {
	define( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE', true );
}

Content distribution via Jetpack can be code-disabled for specific network sites on a WordPress multisite.

In this example, content distribution is disabled for the network site with the assigned subdomain site.example.com:

if ( 'site.example.com' === $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] ) {
    define( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE', true );
}

Content distribution via Jetpack can be code-disabled for specific network sites with a subdirectory structure:

if ( 'example.com' === $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] &&
	0 === strpos( $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], '/subdirectory-example/' )
) {
    define( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE', true );
}

Within 30 minutes, content will no longer be accessible via Jetpack’s default content distribution features.

Preventing Jetpack from loading

Define the VIP_JETPACK_SKIP_LOAD constant as true in the vip-config.php file to prevent Jetpack from loading in an environment.

define( 'VIP_JETPACK_SKIP_LOAD', true );

Preventing Jetpack from being automatically connected

If Jetpack is enabled for a site, it will automatically connect to WordPress.com when the site launches. It might take a few minutes for a site’s connection to Jetpack to appear active after a site launch.

A process will run every hour after that to check that the connection is still active. If the connection is not active, the system will attempt to reconnect.

If an environment needs to be opted out of this behavior, define the VIP_JETPACK_AUTO_MANAGE_CONNECTION as false in the site’s vip-config.php file:

define( 'VIP_JETPACK_AUTO_MANAGE_CONNECTION', false );