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Use this article to troubleshoot sign-in, protected content, and common errors with the Memberful WordPress plugin. In this help article, we’ll cover sign-in problems, content access issues, and other common WordPress plugin errors.

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Sign-in problems

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No one can sign in

If all of your members are having trouble signing in or are repeatedly asked to sign in again, your hosting provider may be interfering with cookies or serving cached pages to members who are signed in. To check whether a cookie survives on Memberful endpoint URLs, run the Cookies Test. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings → Memberful → Cookies Test and click Run Cookies Test. Run Cookies Test If the test passes, it confirms that the test cookie survives on URLs containing memberful_endpoint. It does not confirm that your host bypasses the cache for logged-in members or passes WordPress’s sign-in cookie to the browser. If the test passes but members still can’t sign in, ask your hosting provider to check both of the following:
  • The cache is bypassed for requests with a cookie whose name starts with wordpress_logged_in_. WordPress adds a site-specific suffix to this cookie, so the rule needs to match the prefix.
  • The origin server passes WordPress’s sign-in cookie from the sign-in response through to the browser without filtering it.

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A member is stuck in a sign-in loop

If most of your members can sign in successfully but one member is prompted to sign in repeatedly, their browser may be blocking third-party cookies. Memberful requires third-party cookies to work. Ask the member to check that they aren’t using Private or Incognito mode, which often blocks third-party cookies by default. Some browsers, like Brave, block third-party cookies by default, and browser extensions or add-ons can also block them. If that doesn’t resolve the issue, ask the member to try a different browser or device, or temporarily disable their browser extensions to find out whether one is blocking third-party cookies.

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A member was redirected to a WordPress form

After you integrate Memberful, delete your WordPress users so Memberful can recreate them. If you don’t, members may be asked to sign in with their existing WordPress credentials so Memberful can sync their WordPress and Memberful accounts. We found an existing account
Be careful not to accidentally delete WordPress admins.
After integrating with Memberful, update any member account management links in your theme, content, and plugins. The sign-in link in your comments section is a common example. Update these links.

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Memberful OAuth error

We had a problem signing you in, please try again later or contact the site admin. memberful_oauth_error If a member reports this error, Memberful couldn’t communicate with your WordPress site. Disconnect / reconnect the plugin. If that doesn’t resolve the issue, contact us.

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Memberful OAuth state mismatch

We had a problem signing you in, please try again later or contact the site admin. We couldn’t confirm this sign-in started in this browser. Make sure cookies are enabled for this site, then try signing in again. memberful_oauth_state_mismatch This error only appears when a member signs in with an email address that matches an existing WordPress user who isn’t linked to a Memberful account yet. Before we ask them to sign in with their existing WordPress credentials, the plugin checks that the sign-in finished in the same browser where it started. This protects your existing WordPress accounts from being linked to someone else’s Memberful account. If the plugin can’t confirm that, it shows the error above. The most common causes are:
  • The member started signing in on one device or browser and finished on another, for example by opening the sign-in email on their phone or in their email app’s built-in browser.
  • The member’s browser is blocking cookies for your site.
  • More than an hour passed between starting and finishing the sign-in.
To resolve this error, ask the member to start signing in again from your site and finish in the same browser, with cookies enabled. If they sign in with an email link, they should open it in the same browser they started in. If several members get this error, run the Cookies Test to check whether your server is blocking Memberful’s cookies. You can also prevent this error by deleting WordPress users who will sign in through Memberful, as we recommend after integrating. Members without a matching WordPress user never reach this check. Be careful not to accidentally delete WordPress admins.

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Content access problems

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The Memberful plugin isn’t protecting my content

Make sure your theme and page builder are compatible with Memberful.

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My members can’t access my protected content

This is generally caused by a caching issue. Common symptoms include:
  • A member signs in but can’t access protected content until they refresh the page.
  • A member signs in but still sees the Sign in link instead of the Account and Sign out links until they refresh the page.
  • Members can access some protected posts but not others.

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Why this happens

During sign-in, Memberful loads URLs containing the memberful_endpoint query string. These URLs must not be cached, even when the query string appears alongside other parameters. For example, these URLs should not be cached:
  • https://YOURSITE.com/?memberful_endpoint
  • https://YOURSITE.com/?utm_campaign=ads&memberful_endpoint&utm_source=fb
The same pages without memberful_endpoint can still be cached:
  • https://YOURSITE.com/
  • https://YOURSITE.com/?utm_campaign=ads&utm_source=fb
Configure a pattern that matches memberful_endpoint anywhere in the URL, rather than adding individual URLs as cache exceptions. Account for trailing slashes and other query parameters.

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Set up a cache exception

The only way to solve any caching issues is to set up a cache exception with this exact criteria: “Any URL that contains memberful_endpoint anywhere in the URL” Set up the exception in every caching system on your site. This includes caching plugins and caching provided by your host. If you’re not sure which systems cache your site, ask your hosting provider.
Kinsta
Ask Kinsta support to add this Nginx rule:
This bypasses caching for URLs containing memberful_endpoint, even when other query parameters appear before or after it. URLs with only tracking parameters, such as UTM parameters, can still be cached.
Rocket.net
Ask Rocket.net to whitelist these cookies:
  • __cf_bm
  • memberful_session
  • member_referrer
  • remember_member_token
  • third_party_cookie_supported
  • wordpress_logged_in_
  • memberful_cookie_test
The wordpress_logged_in_ cookie name includes a site-specific suffix. Ask Rocket.net to match the prefix, rather than treating it as an exact cookie name. If sign-in still fails after these settings are in place, ask Rocket.net to confirm that its origin server passes authentication cookies from Memberful endpoint responses through to the browser without filtering them.
SiteGround
Add the custom cache exception through the SG Optimizer plugin.
SiteGround cache settings
Pantheon
Update Pantheon’s regex pattern to include memberful_endpoint:
Hosting with Bluehost, Dreamhost, GoDaddy, or EasyWP by Namecheap? We’ve found that these hosting providers can’t configure this type of cache exception. or consider using a different hosting provider.

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WordPress errors

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Could not create the Memberful mapping table

Could not create the Memberful mapping table If you see this error after cleaning up your WordPress database, you may not have removed Memberful’s mapping table. Delete the wp_memberful_mapping table from your database, then reactivate the plugin. This assumes your database table prefix is wp_. You can use a plugin like Advanced Database Cleaner to find the table, or ask your hosting provider for help.

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Parse error: syntax error, unexpected

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ’?’ in /home1/craftmba/public_html/tractionable/wp-content/plugins/memberful-wp/src/shortcodes.php on line 132 This error usually means your server is running an unsupported version of PHP, the language WordPress uses. The latest Memberful plugin uses a feature introduced in PHP 7. Older PHP versions no longer receive security updates. Ask your hosting provider to update your site to a recent version of PHP. If that isn’t possible, you can download an older version of the Memberful plugin. Version 10.5.2 should work.