Security Headers Generator
Generate HTTP security headers for WordPress, including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, and Permissions-Policy guidance.
What is Security Headers Generator?
Security headers tell browsers how to handle framing, HTTPS, permissions, referrers, and script sources. Strong settings help, but overly strict rules can break analytics, ads, embeds, payments, or admin assets.
Deploy strict CSP changes in report-only mode first, and do not enable HSTS until HTTPS is stable for every affected host.
The generator runs in your browser, but the final output should still be checked against the target host, theme, plugins, cache layer, and deployment workflow before release.
How to Choose Headers That Do Not Break WordPress
- List the services your site loads before writing a CSP: analytics, AdSense, tag managers, fonts, CDNs, payment widgets, maps, video embeds, and chat scripts.
- Start with the low-risk headers first: X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, X-Frame-Options or frame-ancestors, and a narrow Permissions-Policy.
- Test Content-Security-Policy in report-only mode before enforcing it, especially on pages with forms, ads, embeds, Elementor, WooCommerce, or membership plugins.
- Enable HSTS only after every subdomain that will be covered is stable on HTTPS and you understand the effect of includeSubDomains and preload.
- Apply headers at the correct layer: Apache, Nginx, Cloudflare, a security plugin, or hosting panel. Avoid setting the same header in several places with conflicting values.
Where This Helps Most
- Hardening a WordPress site that currently has missing or weak browser security headers.
- Building a CSP allowlist for common third-party services without guessing every directive from scratch.
- Preparing a staging test before moving security rules into .htaccess, an Nginx server block, Cloudflare, or a host-level config panel.
- Documenting why a site allows specific script, image, frame, font, and connect sources.
Mistakes That Break Real Sites
- Do not enforce a strict CSP before checking the browser console on login, checkout, contact, embedded media, and ad-supported pages.
- Do not enable HSTS preload casually; removal from preload lists can take time and HTTPS mistakes become much harder for visitors to bypass.
- Do not mix X-Frame-Options and CSP frame-ancestors with contradictory values when the site needs embeds or protected iframe behavior.
- Do not copy a header score template that blocks your own CDN, REST API calls, admin assets, or external images used in posts.
Validation Checklist
- Use DevTools Network headers to confirm the final response includes the intended values after cache, CDN, and plugin processing.
- Open the browser console on key templates and resolve CSP violations before enforcing the policy.
- Test WordPress admin, media upload, block editor, login, forms, comments, checkout, and any page that loads third-party scripts.
- Recheck after clearing page cache and CDN cache so you are not validating stale headers.
Security Headers Generator FAQs
Which security header should I test most carefully?
Content-Security-Policy needs the most testing because it can block scripts, images, frames, styles, fonts, API calls, ads, and embeds if the allowlist is incomplete.
Can I set these headers in a WordPress plugin?
Yes, but server or CDN-level headers are usually more reliable for static files and cached pages. Use one clear source of truth so values do not conflict.
Should I enable HSTS preload?
Only enable preload when HTTPS is permanent and correct for the root domain and every covered subdomain. It is a commitment, not a quick score improvement.