A Beginner's Guide to Installing and Using the ​​​​WP eMember Plugin

Introduction

The WP eMember Plugin is a powerful membership management tool that integrates seamlessly with your WordPress website. With this tool, you can create various membership levels, secure content, and manage your members effectively. This article will provide beginners a detailed guide on how to install and use the plugin.

Installing the WP eMember Plugin

Download the plugin: You'll first need to purchase and download the plugin from the Tips and Tricks HQ website. After completing the purchase, you'll receive a zip file containing the plugin.

Upload the plugin to your WordPress site: Log into your WordPress dashboard. Go to 'Plugins' > 'Add New' > 'Upload Plugin'. Choose the zip file you've downloaded and click 'Install Now'.

Activate the plugin: After the upload is complete, click 'Activate Plugin'. You should now see the WP eMember Plugin in your installed plugins list.

Activating and Using Features

Creating Membership Levels

The WP eMember Plugin allows you to create unlimited membership levels, each with its own permissions and access levels.

Navigate to 'WP eMember' > 'Membership Level' in your WordPress dashboard.

Click 'Add New' to create a new membership level.

Provide a unique name for the membership level and set the access level.

Click 'Submit' to save your changes.

Protecting Content

Protecting your content is straightforward with WP eMember. You can protect your posts, pages, categories, comments, and even specific parts of a post.

While editing a post or a page, scroll down to the 'eMember Protection Options' section.

Select the 'Yes, Protect this content' option.

Specify the membership level required to access this content.

Click 'Update' or 'Publish' to save your changes.

Managing Members

The WP eMember Plugin provides an easy-to-use interface for managing your members.

Navigate to 'WP eMember' > 'Members' to view a list of all your members.

Here you can add new members, edit existing ones, approve or disapprove members, and more.

Configuring Settings

There are several settings you can configure to customize the functionality of the WP eMember Plugin.

Navigate to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings'.

Here you can configure various settings, such as enabling free memberships, configuring payment details, setting up email templates, and more.

After making your changes, click 'Update Options' to save them.

Partial Content Protection

Partial content protection allows you to restrict access to specific sections of your content. You can have a public post or page that contains certain sections only visible to members.

To use this feature, open the post or page that you wish to partially protect.

Use the [emember_protected] shortcode to wrap the content you wish to protect. For example:
Public content that everyone can see.
[emember_protected] This content is for members only. [/emember_protected]
More public content. 

Save or update your post or page to implement the partial content protection.

Membership Payments

WP eMember supports PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree out of the box and can also be integrated with WooCommerce for more payment options.

To set up PayPal, go to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings' > 'Payment Gateway Settings'. Enter your PayPal email, select the currency, and set the return page where customers will be redirected after payment.

If you wish to use Stripe, you'll need to install the Stripe Payments Plugin by Tips and Tricks HQ first. Then, in the 'Payment Gateway Settings', enable the 'Use Stripe Payment Gateway' checkbox and follow the instructions to connect to your Stripe account.

Autoresponder Integration

WP eMember integrates with several popular email marketing services, allowing you to automatically add new members to your email lists.

Navigate to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings' > 'Autoresponder Settings'.

Choose your email service provider from the list.

Follow the instructions to integrate your chosen service. This usually involves providing an API key that you can get from your email service provider's dashboard.

Social Media Login Integration

Allow your users to register and login using their social media accounts for a smoother user experience.

Navigate to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings' > 'Social Media Integration'.

Enable the social media platforms you want to use. Note that you'll need to create an application on these platforms to get the required API keys.

Seamless Integration with Other WordPress Plugins

WP eMember has excellent compatibility with many other popular WordPress plugins. This extends its capabilities and allows you to create a comprehensive and feature-rich membership website. For example, it works well with BBPress if you want to add a forum to your membership site. Also, it integrates seamlessly with WP eStore for selling digital products.
To integrate WP eMember with other plugins, usually you just need to have both plugins installed and activated on your site. For example, if you want to integrate WP eMember with WP eStore:

Install and activate both WP eMember and WP eStore plugins.

Navigate to the settings page of the plugin you want to integrate with WP eMember. You'll usually find an option to enable the integration.

Customizable Login Widget

WP eMember allows you to place a login widget on your site's sidebar. This widget is fully customizable. You can change the appearance to match your site's theme and choose what to display depending on the user's membership status.
To add and customize the login widget:

Go to 'Appearance' > 'Widgets' in your WordPress dashboard.

Locate the 'eMember Login' widget and drag it to your desired sidebar.

In the widget settings, you can customize the title and the message displayed to logged-in and logged-out users.

Content Teaser

This feature allows you to display a portion of your premium content to all users, thereby enticing them to subscribe. You can determine how much content to tease.
Edit the post or page where you want to add the teaser.

Insert the [emember_protected for=id_of_your_membership do_not_show_restricted_msg=1] shortcode before the content you want to hide.

Close the hidden section with the [/emember_protected] shortcode

Membership Upgrade Capability

WP eMember lets your members upgrade their membership. This is useful if you offer different tiers of membership, each with its own pricing and benefits.
To enable membership upgrades:

Go to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings'.

In the 'Pages/Forms Settings' section, select the page where you want the upgrade form to be displayed in the 'Membership Upgrade Page' field.

Pay Per View Content

If you have premium content that you'd like to offer on a pay-per-view basis, WP eMember has got you covered. You can charge users for individual content without requiring them to subscribe to a membership plan.
To set up pay per view content:

First, create the content you want to sell as a post or a page.

Install and activate the WP Pay Per View plugin (sold separately).

Follow the WP Pay Per View plugin's instructions to protect your content and set a price for it.

Detailed Reporting and Analytics

WP eMember provides a detailed account of your memberships, transactions, and overall performance of your site. This helps you make informed decisions about your content and marketing strategies.
To view reports:

Navigate to 'WP eMember' > 'Reports' in your WordPress dashboard.

Here you can view detailed reports about your members and their activities.

Multiple Membership Levels

WP eMember allows you to create unlimited membership levels, each with its own access rights. You can set the content access permissions individually for each level.

Go to 'WP eMember' > 'Membership Level' in your WordPress dashboard.

Click 'Add New' to create a new membership level and specify its access rights.

Secure RSS Feeds

This feature protects your premium content in RSS feeds. It can display a summary to non-members, enticing them to subscribe, while allowing full content access to the members.

In the WP eMember settings, enable the 'Enable RSS Feed Protection' option.

Free Trial Periods

WP eMember gives you the option to offer free trials to potential members. This can be a great incentive to encourage user registration.

When creating or editing a membership level, set the 'Free Trial Period' to the desired number of days.

Complete User Management

WP eMember provides a comprehensive user management system. You can manually approve members, upgrade or downgrade membership levels, manage user access, and much more.

You can manage your users from 'WP eMember' > 'Members' in your WordPress dashboard. Here you can view all your members, change their membership levels, approve new members, and more.

Download Folder Protection

With WP eMember, you can protect a whole folder so that its contents are only accessible to your members. This is especially useful if you provide downloadable content.

Go to 'WP eMember' > 'Admin Functions' > 'Folder Protection'.

Specify the path of the folder you want to protect.

Partial Content Display

This feature allows you to hide a portion of your content and make it visible only to your members. You can show some teaser content to non-members to entice them to subscribe.

Wrap the content you want to hide within the emember_protected shortcode. Anything inside this shortcode will be visible only to members.

Bookmarking Capability

Your members can bookmark their favorite content for easy access later. This enhances user experience as members can quickly navigate to their marked content.

Enable the bookmarking feature from the WP eMember settings.

A 'Bookmark' button will then be displayed on your content. Members can click this button to add the content to their bookmarks.

Autoresponder Integration

WP eMember can be integrated with popular email marketing services like Mailchimp and Aweber. When a new member signs up, their details are automatically added to your mailing list.

Go to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings' > 'Autoresponder Settings'.

Here you can enable the integration and enter your autoresponder details.

Pay Per Download

Aside from protecting content on pages or posts, WP eMember also allows you to sell individual downloadable files.

Install and activate the WP eStore plugin.

Create a new product in WP eStore and upload your file.

Use the eStore_download_now_button shortcode to add a purchase button for the file.

Member Profile Extended Addon

This add-on allows your members to edit their profile, change their password, and more from a front-end profile page.

Install and activate the Member Profile Extended Addon.

A new page will be created for the member profile. You can add this page to your menu for your members to access.

Custom Registration Fields

WP eMember allows you to customize your registration form with additional fields. This enables you to collect more information from your members during the registration process.

Navigate to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings' > 'Registration Form Fields' in your WordPress dashboard.

Click on 'Add New Field' to create a new custom field for your registration form.

Login Redirection

You can set a specific page where members will be redirected after they log in. This could be a welcome page, a dashboard, or any other page on your site.

Go to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings' > 'Pages/Forms Settings'.

Here, you can set the 'After Login Page' to your desired redirection page.

Content Drip Feeding

With content drip feeding, you can schedule content delivery for your members. This means that you can decide when each piece of your content becomes available to your members.

Go to 'WP eMember' > 'Content Dripping' to create a new content dripping configuration.

Specify the content and the duration after which it should become available.

Compact Login Form

Instead of the default WordPress login form, WP eMember provides a compact and sleek login form that can be embedded anywhere on your site.

You can add the compact login form anywhere on your site using the [wp_eMember_compact_login] shortcode.

After Login Redirection

You can choose to redirect members to a specific page after they log in. This could be a welcome page, dashboard, or another page that you want your members to see immediately after logging in.

This setting is similar to the Login Redirection feature. Go to 'WP eMember' > 'Settings' > 'Pages/Forms Settings' and set the 'After Login Page'.

Conclusion

In summary, the WP eMember Plugin is a powerful and flexible solution for anyone looking to add membership functionality to their WordPress site. Remember that the Tips and Tricks HQ website offers extensive documentation and support if you need more detailed guidance. Always make sure your plugin is updated to the latest version for best security and performance. Happy membership managing!