If what you desire is to grow your community while making some cool cash at the same time, setting up a membership site is just right for you. To create a membership site, you need to download membership program of that suits your choice. Basically, for the sake of this membership tutorial, we shall be making use of the Wishlist Member software.
So what you need to do is
- Upload Wishlist Member to your WordPress site. You can do this by signing up for Wishlist Member. A confirmation message will be sent to your mail with which you registeres. Click on the link in your mail to download the plugin.
- Save the downloaded file to your computer, then extract it with any FTP program to your plugin directory.
Note: ensure your FTP software is on the binary setting before you upload the Wishlist Member plugin as not doing so can cause conflict while uploading. - Proceed to the dashboard on your WordPress and activate the wishlist plugin.
- Once your plugin is activated, enter your product key and the email address with which you signed up for Wishlist Member.
Your membership site is that easy to set up.
Best Membership Plugins
WishlistMember
What do you wish for in the functionality of your membership plugin? Gross control over your contents, unlimited membership levels an auto upgrade of membership, partial content display for protecting as little as one sentence in a post, or a well integrated fiscal system like the PayPal and ClickBank? WishlistMember has got all of this for you. This plugin is also equipped with a good class of support materials such as video tutorials, one year free update and one year free support system that makes its usage extreme fun.
MagicMembers
If you desire a plugin that suits best for delivery online tutorials, without the intention of letting go of all you content in one instance, then this plugin is what you should consider. It possesses a multiple gateway payment system.
MagicMember is also integrated with email newsletter and a download manager for restricting files download. For a feature packed plugin that is outstanding at content dripping and sequential course delivery and everything else associated with running a membership site, MagicMember is reliable support that you can count on.
aMember Pro
This plugin has one beautiful attribute, and that’s the fact that you can use it on many online platforms including WordPress. It offers unlimited membership levels and items, automated members sign-up and expiration, integrated modules for newsletter, help desk and affiliated management. You can even create coupon codes with aMember Pro.
MemberPress
MemberPress is a well integrated plugin suitable for WordPress sites. It has all the functions and features you need to set up a working membership site. It enables you to manage infinite number of members, create unlimited pricing pages and sell unlimited amount of digital products. You can also create unlimited access rules for your members. MemberPress also comes with a functional premium support should you have any issues you want to resolve.
MemberMouse
MemberMouse is a premium membership and eCommerce solution that is built with simplicity in mind. You can set up your membership site within 2 minutes. With MemberPress, you can also restrict and protect your website contents using the built in password features. You can also showcase what content you have for your members and the content you will have in the future. MemberMouse supports 7 payment gateways, share anywhere link, social media integration, overdue payment handling and a lot more.
Basic Plugin Setup
After installing WordPress on your server and the membership plugin, you need to create a membership level. This phase in unlimited as you can create as many membership levels as you desire. To create membership levels, go to
- ‘membership level’ from the menu on the admin interface and then click ‘add new’
- A page where you can set up your membership level appears and you’re expected to fill in the conditions like the membership level name, WordPress role and subscriptions durations.
Now that you’ve created your membership levels, you can now proceed to protect your contents to enable restricted access. You can do that by
- Editing the post or page you wish to protect
- Scroll down to the section: Simple WP Membership Protection
- Select the option, ‘Yes, protect this content’
- Check the membership levels that should have access to the selected page or post.
- Click on update or save, and you would have successfully protected your content.
Setting Configuration
You need to configure your membership platform. From the admin interface on your WordPress, click on ‘Setting’. You will see a new page where you can configure general settings like enabling free membership. On the page setting(still on the setting), type in the URLs for your login, registration, join us, edit profile and reset password pages. Click ‘save changes’ to implement your settings.
Payment for Membership
If you want to charge members on your site for the services you render, you can charge a one-time fee to enable access, So you can also make use of the PayPal integrated gateway to charge for recurring subscriptions.
Email Setting
For your email (newsletter), you can click on the ‘Email Setting’ in your setting. You can fill in your address, email subject and messages. The email will be sent to your users when setting is complete.
Following all of this will fit your setting in the right phase. Note that most plugins already have the capability to do some of these things for you so you wouldn’t have to go through so much stress.
Creating a Membership Plan
Operating a membership site can often be sometimes demanding, considering the numbers of to-dos and procedures that must be dutifully followed. These are a number of thoughts and decisions you might likely make:
- Develop a system for running your membership program
- Choose a coordinator for the program
- Decide on your target group
- Determine when to begin your membership campaign
- Figure out what members will receive from your site
- Decide how you’re going to reach out to potential members furthermore decide how you’ll handle response.
- Maintain the program with great dexterity as long as it continues to exist.
Final Words
WordPress is a great software to create blogs/websites. There are thousands of WordPress plugins available in the market. If you want to create a membership website with WordPress, You need to install and use a membership plugin to extend functionality of WP and add new functions. WordPress membership website allows you to sell membership accounts with PayPal or credit cards. This way you can sell your courses, solutions, webinars and much more on straight to your website. Your website users will be paying you monthly subscription amount for accessing private contents available in member area.
Have Any Questions?
If you have any questions in mind please do not hesitate to ask us. Your questions will be answered asap when you publish your questions in comments section.
