WordPress is one of the simplest and feature rich platforms that help you to not only built a website without necessarily having to do any coding but also make money through wordpress membership sites.
Instead of solely relying on advertisements (such as AdSense) and affiliation programs (such as Commission Junction) to make money from your website, there is a way you can sell content and even create subscription programs for members who want to join your website.
Natively, WordPress does not allow website owners to restrict their content to a specific group but with the use of some plugins, you can restrict any type of content quite easily.
In this article, we will talk about wordpress membership plugins, how you can create a registration function and restrict paid contents to only subscribed members. Additionally, we will comprehensively discuss two of the best plugins you can use to build wordpress membership sites.
What is a WordPress membership site?
A membership site is a website that allows VISITORS to sign up so as to access the contents. A good example of membership website is the online dating websites. Most of these sites will require you to first sign up before accessing some of their features.
In some cases you are required to pay a fee to access restricted contents.
What makes a website qualify as a membership site?
There are various features that make a website to qualify as a membership site. They include;
- Hosting contents that you must sign up for you to access it.
- Each member who has signed up has a profile which is customized.
- There is a platform or rather a community build in your website
- In some cases, one has to pay some fee so as to access some premium content.
Steps to creating a wordpress membership site.
1. Get all the required tools
Before starting to build a membership site make sure you have the following;
- Domain name. This is the website address. Domain name can be bought online and it goes for $12 per year. Domain name are like test.com, test .co.ke. Etc
- Webhosting account. The webhosting account can be bought online and it goes for around $ 7 per month. Web hosting allows you to store your website files
- Get a plugin that will convert your website into a membership site. Do not worry about which plugin you will need as we give you two best plugins to choose from.
2. Choosing the plugins for your membership site
There are many premium plugins that can be used to make a membership website. Each of these programs have an advantage and a disadvantage and thus when choosing one, make sure you are comfortable with it and it suits your needs.
When choosing a plugin, first of all decide on what membership program you want to build.
Do you want a website that only allows your users to only sign up so as to access contents or you want a site where users can register and subscribe to get premium contents or digital downloads?
Depending on your needs, you might want to opt for a specific product instead of another.
3. Building your membership site
Our preference for plugins are Memberpress plugin or restricted content pro. Both of these plugins are great because they have robust features which can allow to do all your requirements in one plugin; whether it’s registering, subscription, selling contents etc.
Memberpress plugin
Memberpress is a premium plugin that works with all WordPress themes. This plugins enable you to convert your website into a membership site. You can hide content, set up membership subscription and even charge visitors to access restricted posts.
Overview
- Ability to do payment integration with numerous payment gateway providers.
- Super member management feature
- Very awesome Pricing Tables
- Good analytics reporting
- Integration with BuddyPress etc.
- Step to step videos and tutorials multiple roles to a specific user
- Full control of your membership plans
If you’d like to know more about this plugin, check out the following article: Memberpress Review + Ultimate Guide To Creating A Membership Site With WordPress by Collectiveray.com
How to install memberpress plugin
Go to memberpress.com and purchase the member plugin. Once you have paid for it, you will be prompted to download the plugin which you will download.
Go to wordpress and click add new, upload a plugin, choose the file containing your plugin and click Upload plugin. It will be uploaded and you can click activate button to start using your plugin.
Setting membership plans
To set up different membership plans select
> MemberPress then >Memberships’ from the WordPress menu. Click > ‘Add New’.
Then you will be prompted to enter name of membership plan. You can also enter the terms of payment. There are more payment features which are self explanatory.
Restrict content pro plugin
Restrict Content Pro is a simple to use plugin that offers very powerful membership solutions for WordPress allowing you to set a restriction of contents to members and create numerous membership levels.
Overview
Restricted pro plugin offers numerous features which include;
- A well arranged dashboard programs that allow you to manage subscriptions easily.
- There are unlimited membership levels with upgrade and downgrade features.
- Ability to restrict paid contents to subscribed members.
- Ability to do email integration with various payment gateways.
- Access to free and paid on add-ons
- Ability to integrate with woo-commerce
How to install it
You can purchase the restrict content pro from restrictcontentpro.com website. Once downloaded you can add to wordpress by going to >plugins on your wordpress account then >upload and >choose file then click upload. Then click activate and begin using the plugin.
Setting up subscription Levels
Once you have activated the plugin click on Restrict then > Subscription Levels. You will launched to a new page where will be prompted to enter name and the description for the subscription level. Additionally you will be asked to configure the subscription and pricing duration.
Restricting content
If you want to restrict a page or any post you can do this by using [/restrict] and [restrict] short codes. You can also restrict the entire page by simply >checking off the Paid Only checkbox which you can locate below the post editor. >checking the Paid only checkbox restricts the content to all subscription levels.
If you wish to restrict content for categories go and click on Posts > then Categories > then Edit Category. You can then put all your premium content in a single category and restrict it to the subscribers who pay.
Payments and reports
You can track payments by various members by going to payment settings tab then view payments. You can filter payments are to monthly, weekly, quarterly or yearly.
This are just few membership site commands you can set on your restrict pro plugin. The plugin is really simple to use and if you find any trouble check on little question mark icon located next to each action.
Conclusion
Setting up a membership program with wordpress is as simple as you can think. All you need is the right plugins and boom!
You will be able to restrict content, set membership levels, and create a subscription plan and many more other activities. The two plugins listed are the best for beginners and skilled developers as they are simple to use and various steps are self explanatory.
We hope this article will be an eye opener and help you get set to creating wordpress member site website. When getting plugins avoid downloading a cracked or nulled version. Some may contain virus which may shut your website down or even give access to hackers. Always buy the plugin from the vendor directly to ensure your website stays secure.