ShieldPRO 22.0 Upgrade Guide
ShieldPRO 22.0 is our major release. It reshapes daily security workflows with a guided dashboard that highlights fixes, investigations, configurations, reports, and many other improvements.
This guide outlines what have been added/removed, changed, or improved.
Firstly, we're going to explain what major changes are made and which options you'd need to review.
Major Changes
The plugin is no longer organised around features alone. The dashboard workflow has been reorganised to better reflect how you manage security. It now leads you through fixes, investigations, configuration tasks, and reports in a clear order.
#1 Actions Queue: Focus on what needs attention first
The Actions Queue has been reorganised to distinguish between urgent issues and routine follow-up work. Tasks are grouped by type, including scans, maintenance, FileLocker, and quick actions, allowing you to address them more efficiently.
Previously, tasks were listed together without clear separation, making it harder to identify what required immediate action.
#2 - Investigate: More efficient data exploration
The Investigate section now provides dedicated views for users, IPs, plugins, themes, core files, traffic, and sessions, so it’s easier to find what you need quickly. IP analysis is also clearer, with key details and relevant actions shown upfront.
The IP Analysis dialog (now "IP Lookup") has also been improved with built-in search, so you can quickly find a specific IP and review all related activity in one place.
#3 - Live Activity: Real-time visibility
The dashboard now includes a live activity feed, so you can see site activity in real time. Traffic and live logs provide more useful request details, while routine admin traffic is filtered out by default to reduce noise and highlight what matters.
#4 - Configure
Configuration is now easier to manage, with a clear overview of what’s good, what needs attention, and where to take action. Plus, you can use in-place search to find and fix problems without losing your place in the plugin.
#5 - Reports
You no longer need to move between pages to manage reports, delivery, and trends, it’s all available together in one workspace.
Reports configuration, namely:
Info, Alert, Report Email, Instant Alerts are now under the Reports > Reporting & Alerts Configuration.
Here, you can also review and manage Reports and Charts.
Other Important Changes
For this release, we've also made the following changes:
#1 - MFA verification portal
The MFA verification portal has been redesigned with a cleaner layout and a clearer step-by-step flow, making it easier to set up MFA for your own account or guide other users through the process.
#2 - Admin/User Login and Firewall Alert
Admin and user login alert settings, and Firewall alerts are now better organised.
The admin login alert setting has been moved from Users > Sessions to Reports > Reporting & Alerts Configuration > Instant Alerts, where you can now manage notifications for administrator logins.
User login alert settings is moved to Configure > Users > General settings.
Firewall alert setting is moved to Reports > Reporting & Alerts Configuration > Instant Alerts.
#3 - Request Logging
Request Logging (enable) and Live Traffic options are now under the Configure > General.
#4 - Security Admin control
Security Admin controls are now more transparent and reliable, with a simplified way to disable them for short periods.
#5 - Scan Results table: "Results Display Options" option changes
The display options for scan results have been improved and are now easier to find and use.
Previously, these options were hidden under the “Additional Actions” menu in the top right of the Scan Results page. They’re now placed directly in the main table menu, so you can access them more quickly.
#6 - Scan Results table: New "Ignore All Results" option added
Previously, you could only ignore results page by page. Now, you can use “Ignore All Results” option to ignore all flagged files at once, which helps you quickly clear false positives in bulk.
You can still review them by selecting “Include Ignored Results” in the display options.
#7 - Run Manual Scan
This option is now under the Actions Queue.
Removed options
For this release, we removed the following options:
- Request Logging options: log exclusions, custom exclusions, Log Retention
- WP Activity Log options: logging levels, Log Retention
- Scans: Re-Install Links and Optimise File Scans options
- Tools menu: Tools is completely removed. All items are now under the main navigation menu > Configure.
For more information on Shield 22.0 release, read the blog article here.