Scanning Preferences

This page covers how to configure scanning settings for SMART Database Scan, SMART File Scan, SMART Patch, and Vulnerability Scan. Each section explains available options for scan frequency, automatic removal of threats, exclusions, and patching, helping users customize how their website is monitored and protected.

SMART Database Scan

The SMART Database Scan checks your website’s database for spam, malware, and suspicious content. Use the settings below to customize how and when scans occur, and how threats are handled.

Navigate to Site Settings Scanning Preferences SMART Database Scan.
Configure the following options:
- Scan Frequency — Select how often the database is scanned.
- Automatically remove spam code — Enable to let the system find and remove hidden HTML spam code from your database.
- Automatically remove spam links — Enable to let the system find and remove links to known spam sites from your database.
- Automatically remove malware — Enable to let the system find and remove malware from your database.
- How to handle edit conflicts — Choose how to resolve conflicts if a record changes while a scan is running.
Save your changes.

Adjust these settings to balance automation and control, depending on your site’s needs and your comfort with automatic removals. Refer to the table below for details on each option:

Name	Value
Scan Frequency	Decide how often to scan the database. On Demand (once per day maximum): Scans can be run manually, but only once per day. Automated Daily Scans — If the plan is eligible, this option will automatically scan the database daily.
Automatically remove spam code	Decide if the system should clean spam code from your database. Yes — Spam code is removed automatically. No, just warn me — You are notified, but code is not removed.
Automatically remove spam links	Decide whether to automatically remove spam links. Yes — Spam links are removed automatically. No, just warn me — You are notified, but links are not removed.
Automatically remove malware	Decide if the system should clean malware from your database. Yes — Malware is removed automatically. No, just warn me — You are notified, but malware is not removed.
How to handle edit conflicts	If a record changes while a scan is running, choose how to resolve it. Overwrite edit(s) — The scan’s changes overwrite any conflicting edits. Don’t fix the record (recommended) — The scan skips the conflicting record and tries again in the next scan.

Name

Value

Scan Frequency

Decide how often to scan the database.

On Demand (once per day maximum): Scans can be run manually, but only once per day.
Automated Daily Scans — If the plan is eligible, this option will automatically scan the database daily.

Automatically remove spam code

Decide if the system should clean spam code from your database.

Yes — Spam code is removed automatically.
No, just warn me — You are notified, but code is not removed.

Automatically remove spam links

Decide whether to automatically remove spam links.

Yes — Spam links are removed automatically.
No, just warn me — You are notified, but links are not removed.

Automatically remove malware

Decide if the system should clean malware from your database.

Yes — Malware is removed automatically.
No, just warn me — You are notified, but malware is not removed.

How to handle edit conflicts

If a record changes while a scan is running, choose how to resolve it.

Overwrite edit(s) — The scan’s changes overwrite any conflicting edits.
Don’t fix the record (recommended) — The scan skips the conflicting record and tries again in the next scan.

SMART File Scan

The SMART File Scan checks your website files for malware and suspicious code. You can customize scan frequency, enable automatic malware removal, and set exclusions for specific files, folders, or file sizes.

Navigate to Site Settings Scanning Preferences SMART File Scan.
Configure the following options:
- Scan Frequency — Choose how often files are scanned.
- Automatically remove malware — Enable to let the system detect and remove malicious code automatically.
- Exclude files and/or folders — Select files or folders to skip during scans.
- Exclude files by size — Exclude files larger than a specified size from scanning.
Save your changes.

Adjust these settings to balance thoroughness and performance, depending on your site’s needs.

Name	Value
Scan Frequency	Decide how often to scan files. Continuous Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Never
Automatically remove malware	Decide whether to automatically remove malware. Yes — The system will automatically detect and remove malicious code detected within the website files. No, just warn me — The system will detect malware but only notify, without removing it.
Exclude files and/or folders	Specify which files and/or folders should be excluded from scans. Red background: Indicates excluded files and/or folders.
Exclude files by size	Decide whether to exclude files based on their size. Exclude files larger than 5MB Exclude files larger than 10MB Exclude files larger than 15MB Exclude files larger than 20MB No: No exclusions based on size.

Name

Value

Scan Frequency

Decide how often to scan files.

Continuous
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Quarterly
Never

Automatically remove malware

Decide whether to automatically remove malware.

Yes — The system will automatically detect and remove malicious code detected within the website files.
No, just warn me — The system will detect malware but only notify, without removing it.

Exclude files and/or folders

Specify which files and/or folders should be excluded from scans.

Red background: Indicates excluded files and/or folders.

Exclude files by size

Decide whether to exclude files based on their size.

Exclude files larger than 5MB
Exclude files larger than 10MB
Exclude files larger than 15MB
Exclude files larger than 20MB
No: No exclusions based on size.

SMART Patch

Configure automatic patching of known vulnerabilities in your website’s software and plugins.

Navigate to Site Settings Scanning Preferences SMART Patch.
Choose one of the following options for automatic patching:
- Scan and patch automatically — The system will automatically apply patches for detected vulnerabilities.
- Scan automatically but do not patch — The system will detect vulnerabilities but will not apply patches without user consent.
- Turn off scanning — Opt-out of automatic scanning and patching entirely.
Save your changes.

Refer to the table below for details on each option:

Name

Value

Automatically scan and fix files that should be patched?

Scan and patch automatically — This will automatically patch issues the scan finds.
Scan automatically but do not patch — The system will detect issues but will not apply patches without user consent.
Turn off scanning — Opt-out of automatic scanning and patching entirely.

If the patch feature is not enabled, the website can remain vulnerable. It is advised to perform full updates regularly to keep the site secure against new threats.

Vulnerability Scan

Configure scan for vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.

Navigate to Site Settings Scanning Preferences Vulnerability Scan.
Set the Scan Frequency to determine how often the system checks for vulnerabilities.
Save your changes.

Refer to the table below for details on each option:

Name	Value
Scan Frequency	Daily Weekly Monthly Never

Name

Value

Scan Frequency

Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Never