Restrict access by category or tag
The simplest way to restrict access to posts, automatically, with the Memberful WordPress plugin is with the restrict access by category or tag setting (which works for custom taxonomies, too). This setting lets you define who should get access to groups of posts — eliminating the need to specify the restrictions on a post-by-post basis.
In this doc:
- Review your options for restricting content.
- Restrict content by category or tag
- Add marketing content or teaser text.
- How does this feature interact with other settings?
Review your options for restricting content
When it comes to restricting access to content with the Memberful WordPress plugin, you have several options. You can:
- Restrict access to a single WordPress post or page
- Restrict access using our shortcodes
- Restrict access using our WordPress Functions (developer feature)
- Bulk restrict access to posts and pages (one-time setting)
In this doc, we will describe how to automatically restrict access by category or tag each time you create a new post. This is different than our Bulk restrict access tool, which allows you to bulk restrict all posts within a specific category as a one-time action.
Restrict content by category or tag
We advise against using multiple restricted categories or tags in one post.
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Posts → Category or Tags, and select a category or tag from the list (custom taxonomies are also eligible).
If you've installed the Memberful WordPress plugin on your site, you'll see a Memberful: Restrict Access box at the bottom of the page. Choose who should have access to posts in the category (or posts with a specific tag) by checking the appropriate box(es):
- All members—active, inactive, or free (works well for a "Freemium" tier)
- Members with an active subscription to any Plan
- Members with an active subscription to a specific Plan
- Anybody who owns a specific Download
Add marketing content or teaser text
Add content to the Memberful marketing box like a Plan purchase link for non-members and a sign in link for existing members, and then click Update.
Check out these customer examples for inspiration:
Fade out text
If you’d like display the beginning of the post and then fade out with a lock-type image, you can use our Global marketing content setting.
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Settings → Memberful → Global marketing content, check the setting Automatically pull an excerpt from each post, and one of the two options:
- Override all marketing content
- Only use the global marketing content when other content doesn't exist
Memberful will pull the first two paragraphs from your protected posts to use as marketing content for logged out visitors. This feature requires <p>
tags in your posts to detect which content to use.
Create default marketing content
To create default marketing content for all new posts and pages, check the box at the bottom of the editor. Once you’re done, click Update.
See below to learn how this setting interacts with existing per-post settings.
Categorize or tag a new post
Moving forward, when you categorize or tag a post, the associated Memberful restrict access settings will be applied.
If a member is logged in to your site and has the correct access, they’ll be able to see the protected content on your page or post. If they don't have the right access or are logged out of your site—they'll see the marketing content.
How does this feature interact with other settings?
There are many ways to change the marketing content in Memberful’s meta box.
- If you restrict a group of posts by category or tag, the marketing content you generate will be applied to all applicable posts — now and moving forward.
- If you set marketing content on an individual post, it will override the marketing content that you set through category / tag restriction feature.
- If you add marketing text through the Bulk Restrict Access tool, it would override any existing restrictions and content on the applicable posts.
- The rules above also apply when you set default marketing content.
Individual posts that are already restricted
If you previously protected an individual post, the post-level requirements are prioritized — not the category / tag requirements, which means the post-level marketing text will be displayed.
Using multiple categories or posts
We advise against using multiple restricted categories or tags on one post.
If multiple restricted categories / tags are set on a post — and the member does not have access — the marketing text they see will be nondeterministic. They will see marketing text of one of the categories / tags, but it will be randomly chosen.
If multiple categories and / or tags — with their own restrictions — are applied to a post, then a member can access it if they have met requirements of any of the restricted categories / tags.
Related help docs:
- Check out our recommended WordPress hosting providers.
- Choose a great WordPress theme to use with Memberful.
- Install an SSL Certificate on your site (recommended).