How to Create a WordPress Membership Site

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Your Members The Wordpress Management PluginI’ve been developing websites for many years, and I use WordPress as the backend for most of them. I’ve often thought about creating membership based websites for various informational and download products, but when looking for a solution that offered the straightforward functionality I was looking for, all of the plugins I had looked at fell short of my expectations.

Today, that may have all changed. During my daily journey on the web I came across a plugin called Your Members from Cambridge New Media Services. Here’s the description from the plugin’s page:

Allows you to set up a blog which accepts money in return for access to individual posts or general membership. Your Members is the Wordpress Membership Plugin designed and built to allow you to build membership sites quickly and easily.

It includes:

  • Flexible Membership and subscription management
  • Pay per Post (not to be confused with the other one)
  • Authenticated Downloads

and loads of other features…

If you have visited the links above, you’ve already learned that this is a paid plugin. If you’re just learning that as you read this, well, now you know…it’s a paid plugin. Does that make it any less useful? Absolutely not! In fact, I think that’s a tell tale sign that it works, and that it can be flexible enough to help you earn a serious income from running a membership based WordPress installation.

Of course, you have to have some legitimate and worthy products or reasons for people to want to join, but that’s up to you. The technical challenge of how to offer those products can be achieved by using the Your Members WordPress plugin.

Your Members The Wordpress Management Plugin

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48 Comments

  1. Posted July 16, 2008 at 2:49 pm | Permalink

    Hello Sir :-)
    I am looking for a plugin that can enable the download of files only when users are registered and logged in, do you know of something like that?

    NBWeb.it’s last blog post..Difendiamo la privacy: come utilizzare il campo CCN nelle email

  2. Posted July 16, 2008 at 2:58 pm | Permalink

    I’m sorry I don’t. I’ll keep that in mind during my WordPress travels…

  3. Posted July 16, 2008 at 3:04 pm | Permalink

    This one has a feature called “member only” downloads…
    http://blue-anvil.com/archives/wordpress-download-monitor-plugin-2-wordpress-25-ready

  4. Posted July 17, 2008 at 12:54 am | Permalink

    Wow!
    Thanks, i will check asap that Blue-Anvil plugin :-D

    NBWeb.it’s last blog post..Difendiamo la privacy: come utilizzare il campo CCN nelle email

  5. Posted July 28, 2008 at 7:52 am | Permalink

    That’s exactly what I’m looking for. Great plug-in, thx for discovery ;)

  6. Posted August 8, 2008 at 5:23 pm | Permalink

    I tried using a few free plugins, but I kept having problems. Its not that I am not technically savvy, I know a lot about networking and software, I just do not know anything about php. And this was my problem. Whenever the plugin I was using developed a problem I had to rely on the person or people who released it to help. As it was a free plugin that left me with users ready to signup, no working membership site and waiting for free support for a free plugin.

    I looked everywhere for a wordpress membership plugin that would take subscriptions via paypal and would allow me to charge on a subscription basis for each access level I wanted to set up. Eventually I have up and bought one. It was only €19.99 for a whole year and that included support. It is called wp-member and I have found it really easy and straight forward to use. I contacted their support when I had a quick question and found that they have online support! I can not shout about this membership / payment plugin enough.

    Iammes last blog post..We are the Best Membership Website with the Best Membership Plugin

  7. Posted August 9, 2008 at 11:46 am | Permalink

    …looks like we’ve all learned about another great WP Membership plugin, and from my initial browsing, it seems the price and support level is pretty good:)

  8. Iamme
    Posted August 9, 2008 at 2:56 pm | Permalink

    I didnt even pay full price! I found a coupon for it on a discount forum and got 25% off the total (including support).
    Heres the details from the discount forum. I tried using the code again today and it still seems to be working. I dont know if it expires.
    Discount coupon code: promo25
    http://www.wp-Member.com

  9. Posted October 15, 2008 at 4:42 pm | Permalink

    I think that WP lost its path as a blogging platform, nothing more then that. It’s a simple platform to run a blog.

  10. Posted October 25, 2008 at 8:12 pm | Permalink

    ill give it a try, looks like a great plugin for 50$.

  11. Posted November 3, 2008 at 12:20 pm | Permalink

    This is a new concept in plugins. I wonder if anybody is using this plugin and making money?

  12. Posted November 3, 2008 at 6:22 pm | Permalink

    This idea is not bad, but the problem is that, what product should we create for our members? Any ideas?

  13. Posted November 4, 2008 at 2:03 am | Permalink

    Nice post. I’ve also built many of my websites in WP but never used this plug in or heard of it for that matter. Membership site always seem daunting and because I have little programming knowledge I have always avoided them.

    How long have you been using this plug in and what are your experiences thus far with it? Thanks for pointing this plug in out and keep the good info on plug ins and WP coming, very useful to us!

    Residual Income Businesss last blog post..Starting Residual Income Business Opportunities

  14. Posted November 4, 2008 at 2:54 am | Permalink

    This is very good plugin and am looking for people who already use it to buy a post on their blog, But I wan’t to know if the price is fixed and where can I find those who use it?

  15. Posted November 4, 2008 at 6:26 am | Permalink

    I didn’t know there was something like this. I have been planning on making a membership site but I don’t like the script available around so I might try this out.

  16. Posted November 4, 2008 at 1:56 pm | Permalink

    Spending money on this stuff makes me nervous.

  17. Posted November 5, 2008 at 5:05 pm | Permalink

    The discount code: promo25 isn’t working anymore, but $50 may be worth it.

  18. Posted November 10, 2008 at 1:56 am | Permalink

    Easy step by step guide to creating a membership site, not sure if i’ll ever use it, but good to know.

    Running Stretchess last blog post..Easy Run to the Park

  19. Posted November 11, 2008 at 10:59 pm | Permalink

    This is just what I am looking for. Thanks!

  20. Posted November 29, 2008 at 10:32 am | Permalink

    Membership site ? I plan to make a kind of it. But not now, coz as a newbie I’m still in building my recent blog and stil learning time by time about blogging.

    b0tsk1es last blog post..Reduce Posts Makes Your Blog Faster

  21. Posted December 5, 2008 at 10:55 pm | Permalink

    I wish there is a free version O_O

    Popular Technologys last blog post..Hello Kitty C1 Netbook Can Make a Few Scratches

  22. Posted December 7, 2008 at 5:29 pm | Permalink

    I’d choose this any day over trying to learn Drupal or Joomla. The price is affordable and I know Wordpress better than any other CMS. I have to disagree with one of the above posters that WP has lost it’s path. There are more users using it as a blogging platform than anything else, and I doubt that’s about to change anytime soon. Just a thought.

    Dirty Blue Widgetss last blog post..Navigation with Dirty Blue Widgets

  23. Posted December 8, 2008 at 11:07 am | Permalink

    Have you guys ever looked at WishList Member?

    It’s our product (so I’m a little biased) but it certainly fits with what you are discussing here since it’s a membership site solution that was built for WordPress.

    Take a look when you get a chance.

    Take care.

    Stu McLaren

    Stu McLarens last blog post..Installing WishList Member

  24. Posted December 13, 2008 at 8:32 pm | Permalink

    I have been looking for a plug-in like this. I will be definitely looking at this as a future monetization option for the future.

    Phil Thomass last blog post..Top Carp bait from the supermarket?

  25. Posted December 15, 2008 at 5:51 am | Permalink

    Your blog is great. I have subscribed in a reader.

    Koopys last blog post..Watch Dexter Season 3 Episode 12 (S03E12) Online

  26. Posted December 15, 2008 at 5:05 pm | Permalink

    wow, this was exactly the thing i was looking for :)
    thanks a lot :)

    Sebastian.

  27. Posted December 16, 2008 at 2:18 pm | Permalink

    Hi, do you have infos, if its possible to implement payment into wordpress like http://www.paypal.com or http://www.expercash.com ?

  28. Posted December 22, 2008 at 2:59 am | Permalink

    You have discussed about some great plugins and yes these will help me lot is learning the wordpress. I am new here, just came from drupal to wordpress.

  29. Posted December 24, 2008 at 12:35 pm | Permalink

    Interesting post, do you actually find that people are willing to pay the money for this though? Maybe if you have a super dedicated reader base but otherwise I doubt you could get it to work.

  30. Posted December 27, 2008 at 5:59 pm | Permalink

    I think I might give it a try also, sounds like a very handy tool!

    Alberts last blog post..Promote Your Blogs Even More For Free

  31. Posted December 28, 2008 at 1:29 am | Permalink

    Looks like a nice plugin, but i just wish the price was a little lower.

    sports sedans last blog post..Barack Obama’s Chrysler 300C Hemi for sale on eBay

  32. Posted December 30, 2008 at 8:24 am | Permalink

    Social networking, web 2.0, and membership sites are without a doubt the future of the internet. A small fee such as this for a quality WP plugin is well worth its cost.

  33. Posted January 2, 2009 at 11:49 am | Permalink

    :) Glad I found this, whether or not I’m late. My friend has been searching for something like this!
    Thanks!

  34. Posted January 5, 2009 at 8:26 am | Permalink

    i will check asap that Blue-Anvil plugin

    Patrick McDowells last blog post..Tips On Improving Focus Throughout The Day

  35. Posted January 5, 2009 at 2:29 pm | Permalink

    That is amazing!

  36. Posted January 7, 2009 at 10:56 am | Permalink

    I tried using a few free plugins

    Eric Baglios last blog post..Lets Put Some Light on the Subject!

  37. Posted January 15, 2009 at 10:10 am | Permalink

    Wow. Awesome. Just the plug-in I wanted. Searched for similar stuff but had no luck. But came to the correct place now. Thanks for the info. Cheers

  38. Posted January 16, 2009 at 4:32 am | Permalink

    Being unknown of how to create a WordPress Membership Site, the best option is to use “WishList Member Plugin” for WordPress which is one of the easiest way for the one who really wants to create an affordable WordPress Membership Site.

  39. Posted January 16, 2009 at 9:47 am | Permalink

    I just learned of the WishList Member Plugin recently and had a look at their site to see how much it cost. That turned me off right away, it’s your standard internet marketing sales page, complete with dropdown form overlay asking me to join their mailing list. Yuck. I hate that, but that’s just me. However, the functions it lists seem pretty good, and it seems like a mature piece of software, so I bookmarked it for later viewing.

    Your comment prompted me to do a little more research and I found this thread you may be interested in reading… http://forum.semiologic.com/discussion/4792/wishlist-member-membership-plugin/

    I respect the people behind http://semiologic.com because they’ve been around WP for a long time. There are some good points brought up there. Maybe WishList will be the only way to go with a few more pieces of added functionality???

  40. Posted January 21, 2009 at 10:47 pm | Permalink

    I heard about the Wish List Member Plug-in but never did give it a try. And as WordPress Modder I’m not a fan of ‘Join the mailing list’ stuff either. But the plug-in is supposed to be good. Learnt it through one of my buddies who is using it. Well this article gave me few options. Need to go work on them tonight. Thanks for the good stuff.

  41. Posted January 22, 2009 at 10:07 am | Permalink

    You’re welcome, and thanks for the comments. As for membership plugins, stay tuned to WPM via email or feed because I just might be making an announcement in the coming weeks…

  42. Posted February 4, 2009 at 6:23 am | Permalink

    Wow, That’s cool. I was planning to make a membership site for my book club and this is just what I was looking for. Thanks Wordpress modder. You saved me a lot of trouble. Appreciate the work. I’ll bookmark your post. Byee

  43. Posted February 4, 2009 at 8:10 am | Permalink

    Hi Lana,

    I’m glad you found this post helpful, however, I’m a bit confused. When I go to your site I see nothing at all about a book club as the name would suggest???

  44. Posted February 15, 2009 at 9:50 pm | Permalink

    I am planning to start up a membership site for my photography club and I was looking for a plug-in for wordpress. This plug-in would be ideal. I came across few more which were a bit more complicated. Anyway, how will the load on the blog be after implementing the plug-in?

  45. Posted February 18, 2009 at 5:39 am | Permalink

    Hello, I was told about this page by one of our clients.
    Paying for a plugin or other online software makes a lot of people nervous. For this reason we now offer a full 30 day refund if you decide that wp-member is not for you.

    wp-Member has been designed so that experienced users can jump straight it, but it is also very user friendly, using a point and click interface and requiring you to know no code at all. You simply tell it what you want, and it does all the work for you behind the scenes.

    wp-Member was recently included in a book about monetizing your blog.
    Details here: http://wp-member.com/site-news/wp-member-plugin-in-new-membership-blogging-book/
    The author has commented on his experience with wp-Member saying “wp-Member plugin is definitely one of the necessary tools to monetize WordPress by creating an online store or membership site”

    If that wasn’t enough there is also an independent review by
    Details here: http://jaypeeonline.net/wordpress-plugins/wp-member/

    We presently have 15% discount on every sale by using the coupon code: LOVE
    We will give 15% discount to any users of wordpressmodder.org. You can get this at any time by using the coupon code: wordpressmodder.org

    If there is anything at all that we can help with, please contact us via the support section of our site http://wp-member.com/support/

    Best wishes
    Dave
    wp-Member.com

    Dave – wp-Member.coms last blog post..wp-Member Review

  46. Posted February 18, 2009 at 9:12 am | Permalink

    Hi Dave,

    Thanks for taking the time to comment here. I hope everyone who has already commented here and new readers of this post will take heed.

    You cannot go wrong with a 30 day money back guarantee, plain and simple.

    You cannot go wrong with a 15% discount, plain and simple.

    For all readers: Dave took the time to post here and offer this discount, sure to promote his plugin, but also let it be a testament to how much he (and the WP-Member) team believe in this product.

  47. Posted March 10, 2009 at 11:08 am | Permalink

    Well interesting post in deed. First of all, nice work with the article. appreciate all the efforts and wordpress is a really good platform to handle a membership site and many other types of sites to.

    And Dave, appreciate the offer :) I might just check it out later. Thanks guys. Keep up the good stuff.

    Nadeesha @ ROCKFUSE Blog Resourcess last blog post..I moved to HostClear! Probably the best blog host I’ve been with.

  48. Posted March 31, 2009 at 9:35 pm | Permalink

    That’ some super awesome information WordPress Modder. I recently moved to Wordpress and your site is providing with me an overwhelming amount of information :) So happy. Thanks a lot. I certainly will try to make a membership site in few weeks :) Thanks again.

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