Install & Activate Your Pro License

Goal: install your Pro plugin, paste your license key, and unlock every Pro feature in under 5 minutes

You just bought a Media Guard Pro license. This page takes you from “I got the order email” to a fully activated Pro install. No code, no terminal, just clicks.

What you need. The order confirmation email from wpmediaguard.com. It contains your license key (looks like MG-PRO-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX or MG-AGENCY-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) and a one-click Download Pro ZIP link. Keep the email open in a tab — you’ll use both.

Step 1 — Install the free plugin first (if you haven’t already)

The Pro plugin is an add-on. It needs the free PaulsPerfectPC Media Guard plugin underneath it to work.

  1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. Search for Media Guard.
  3. Install and activate PaulsPerfectPC Media Guard by Paul’s Perfect PC.
  4. You should now see a shield-icon Media Guard menu in the left sidebar.

Already running the free plugin? Skip to Step 2.

Step 2 — Download the Pro ZIP from your order email

Open the order confirmation email titled “Your … order is now complete”. Scroll to the Your License Key(s) table. In the Download column, click Download Pro ZIP.

Your browser will download a file named paulsperfectpc-media-guard-pro.zip (around 24 KB).

The download link is single-purpose. It uses your license key as an authentication token. Don’t share it publicly — anyone with that URL can download the Pro ZIP. The link is permanent for the life of your license.

Step 3 — Upload the Pro ZIP to WordPress

  1. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. At the top, click the Upload Plugin button.
  3. Click Choose File and pick the paulsperfectpc-media-guard-pro.zip you just downloaded.
  4. Click Install Now.
  5. When the install finishes, click Activate Plugin.

You’ll know it worked when the Media Guard menu sprouts new sub-items: Groups, Users, Access Log, and Pro License.

Step 4 — Paste your license key

  1. Go to Media Guard → Pro License in the left admin menu.
  2. In the License Key field, paste your key from the order email (the full MG-PRO-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX string).
  3. Click Activate License.

The page will reload and show:

  • Status: Active
  • Tier: Pro (or Agency)
  • Sites used: 1 of 1 (or 1 of 10 for Agency)
  • Expires: 1 year from purchase date

That’s it. Every Pro feature is now unlocked on this site.

What’s new in your dashboard

Now that Pro is active, you’ll see these unlocked across the WordPress admin:

  • Media Guard → File Manager — the 2-file limit is gone. Upload as many protected files as you want.
  • Media Guard → Groups — create groups (e.g. “Course Students”, “Premium Members”) and assign users.
  • Media Guard → Users — see which users belong to which groups, manage memberships in bulk.
  • Media Guard → Access Log — see who viewed which file, when, from which IP.
  • Media Guard → Pro License — manage your license and check renewal date.

For a guided tour of what each Pro feature does and when to use it, head to the next page.

Common gotchas

  • “Plugin install failed: destination folder already exists.” Deactivate and delete any older Pro install first (Plugins → Installed Plugins), then upload the new ZIP.
  • “License key is invalid.” Triple-check there are no spaces or line breaks. The key starts with MG-PRO- or MG-AGENCY- and has exactly three 4-character groups after that.
  • “This license has already been activated on another site.” A Pro license is for 1 site; Agency is 10. If you’re moving to a new site, deactivate the old one first (see License Management).
  • “I get a 401/403 when clicking the Download Pro ZIP link.” The link must include the ?license_key=… query parameter. If you copied just the base URL, go back to the email and click the full hyperlink.
  • “Staging site won’t activate.” Localhost and common staging subdomains (staging.*, dev.*, *.local) don’t count against your site limit and don’t need a key. Just install the Pro plugin — features unlock automatically.

What’s next?

You’re activated. Now learn what Pro actually does that the free version can’t.

Next: Pro Features Tour →