Create membership areas and sell digital products

Build rock-solid membership sites with WordPress

Premise allows you to build paid membership sites with secure log-in-protected member gateways. The code is integrated seamlessly with the WordPress authentication and user access management protocols, so you know you’ve got maximum compatibility and functionality.

Membership

Enable Member Access

Find your way to the Premise Main Settings page:

1. In the left-hand menu, mouse over the "Premise" link and select "Main Settings."
2. If you have previously entered your API key and saved it, you will see a check box next to "Membership" to “ Enable the membership module.” Click the box to ad d a check.
3. Click the "Save Changes" button.
4. You will now see the "Member Access" menu along the left-hand side.

Member Access Main Settings

There is now a new top level menu on the left side of your screen called "Member Access." This is the main settings page for the Member Access module. This area has four submenu items and we’ll go through each one in a general overview.

Find your way to the Member Access Settings page:

1. In the left hand menu, mouse over "Member Access" and select "Settings."
2. Enable SSL – on checkout page or Enable SSL everywhere. Please note, you will need to talk to your web host about SSL protection and if it requires further setup.
3. Checkout Page – please choose from a previously created page. IF you have not created a page using the provided shortcodes, you may need to do this first.
4. Login Page – choose your member login page from a previously created page.
5. Member Page - choose a page to use for your customers’ Member Profile page for access to password, products purchased, etc.

See the "Shortcodes available for Member Access" for help setting up these pages.

Member Access Payment Settings

1. Payment Gateway Mode – the default is the test mode, so please ensure you change this to live when you are ready to accept payments.
2. Paypal Express Checkout and Website Payments Pro – if you are using either of these, please fill out the information needed to complete payments.
3. Authorize.net – if you are using this payment processor please fill out the information here.
4. Enable Recurring Payments Option – if you are setting up a membership option with recurring payments, please check this box.

Member Access Email Settings

Each Product that you add has the ability to send a custom email with further information, but this setting is to ensure the email sender and email address is filled out just how you would like it.

Member Access File Protection

In the File Protection Settings, you can name a folder under your uploads folder where your digital downloads will be stored. You will need to create this folder on your web server and you will also need to add a rewrite rule to your .htaccess file to ensure that visitors from outside cannot access the folder directly:

RewriteRule wp-content/uploads/member-access.*$ index.php [L]

This should go at the top of the WordPress rewrite rules.

Member Access Orders

Find your way to the Member Access Orders page:

1. Any order that is purchased on the website will be visible here, along with the "Date," Member," "Product," and "Access Level." If you gave any users a comp membership, they will also appear in this list.
2. Mouse over the purchase title and a submenu will appear. Select "Edit" to review the "Order Details.

1. The "Order Details" for the Free Membership will appear, including "Order Date," "Order Time," "Renewal Date," Status," and "Product."
2. You may give a free trial of a product to a user by entering a Product ID or a Product Name in the "Change Product" box to designate the product the user will have access to.
3. Click "Update" to save the changes.

Member Access Link Manager

This is the area to create the links for your digital downloads. Before creating the link, you must ftp the file to the previously created folder under Member Access File Protection settings.

To sell a digital product, you would create a new product with a specific access level, then associate the file using the link manager, and tie it to your new access level.

Find your way to the Member Access Link Manager page:

1. Give the link a "Name."
2. Enter the "Filename" of the file. The file must be uploaded to the /wp-content/uploads/member-access folder.
3. If you wish to "Delay Access" to the content for a certaiin number of days after signup, enter the number of days here. Leave at 0 for no delay.
4. Select the "Access Level" to associate with this file. Only those who have access to this level will be able to access the link.
5. Click "Add New Link" to create the new link.
6. The new link will appear on the right side under "Current Links."
7. Mouse over the link name and the "Edit" link will appear below so you may edit the link details.

Reports

Find your way to the Member Access Reports page:

1. Along the left-hand manu, mouse over "Member Access" and select "Reports."
2. Adjust the "Start Date" and "End Date" for the report.
3. Click the "Submit" button.

The screen will display all purchases during the designated time period, including Member, Product, Date, and Price.

Your Members

1. In the left-hand menu, mouse over "Users" and select "All Users."
2. A list of all users registered with the site will appear, including "Username," "Name," "Email," "Role," "Posts," and "Access Levels."
3. Mouse over a "Username" and you may "Edit" or "Delete" a user. You will also see "Complimentary Product" appear. Click this link to give this user a free membership.

1. The "Order Details" for the Free Membership will appear, including "Order Date," "Order Time," "Renewal Date," Status," and "Product."
2. Enter a Product ID or a Product Name in the "Change Product" box to designate the product the user will have access to. You may return to this screen at any time by clicking "Complimentary Product" and can change the product by entering a new Product ID or Product Name.
3. Click "Save Draft" or "Publish" to save the settings.

Recurring Payments

Take recurring payments with automated access management

Access to your member area can either be a one-time fee or a recurring charge. Premise helps manage member access after initial payment, continues access after each recurring payment, and denies access when the membership is cancelled or payment is otherwise not made.

Find your way to the Member Access Settings page:

1. In the left-hand menu, mouse over "Member Access" and select "Settings."
2. in the "Payment Settings" box, you will see "Enable Recurring Payment Option?" Click the box to add a check mark.
3. Click "Save Settings."

Find your way to the Member Access Products page:

1. In the left-hand menu, mouse over "Member Access" and select "Products."
2. Whether you are creating a new product, or editing an existing product, you will see "This is a subscription." Click the box to add a check mark. This will make this product a monthly recurring subscription.
3. Click "Save Draft" or "Publish."

Drip Content

Sequentially schedule and release member content over time

Some membership sites and online education programs provide an “info dump” at initial access. A better educational and business approach for you might be to “drip” your course or premium content sequentially over time, avoiding member overwhelm, prompting higher understanding and retention, and sustaining membership levels, no matter your business model.

Find your way to the Member Access Link Manager page:

Digital Sales

Securely sell ebooks, software, and other digital downloads

Paid ebooks, apps, and digital goods of all types are remaking the way business is done online. Premise allows you to create an unlimited set of digital products for sale, protect them from outside access until purchase, and create a seamless checkout process, all from within WordPress.

Member Access Products

Find your way to the Member Access Products page:

1. In the left-hand menu, mouse over "Member Access" and click on "Products."
2. You will see a list of your existing products, similar to a listing of posts.
3. When you begin, this list will be empty, so you can start by selecting the "Create New Product" link at the top of the page.
4. You can revisit the menu at any time to get an overview of all the products you are offering, whether they be digital downloads or membership options. Hovering over each product in the list will show a menu to "Edit" or "Quick Edit" each item.

Create New Product

1. The "Create New Product" screen looks very similar to a regular post or page. Fill in your "Product Title."
2. Add the "Product Description."
3. Enter the "Product Price."
4. By default, the product will always be accessible, indicated by a "0." To restrict the amount of time the product is available, change the "0" to another number, indicating the number of days the product will be available. When the product expires, a renewal link will appear in the customer’s member profile page.
5. To send an "Email Receipt" for purchase, check the box.
6. We’ve included a "Recipient Subject Line" and introductory text to appear before the purchase details in the receipt email.
7. In the "Access Levels" box on the right side of the screen, you may define the "Access Levels" for this product. Add a new Access Level or click the "Choose from previously used access levels" link to select an existing access level.
8. Select "Save Draft" or "Publish" to save the product.

Private Forums

Confidently create private forum areas with vBulletin

Any great membership site or online education program provides more than access to content. It also provides interactive access to instructors and other members, and often a paid forum can stand on it’s own with the right community. Premise integrates with the popular vBulletin forum software (purchased separately) to make paid forum areas possible.

1. Navigate to the vBulletin admin area. You should have vBulletin installed and working at this point. Create a new forum in the vBulletin admin area under Forums & Moderators for the membership.
2. Create a new usergroup and add that usergroup to your membership forum under Forum permissions.
3. Add code to your wp-config.php file (included in Premise help files).
4. Navigate to your WordPress admin area

WordPress Premise 2.0 Setup

Find your way to the Member Access Settings page:

1. In the left-hand navigation, mouse over the "Member Access" link and click on "Settings."
2. Scroll down to the "Forum Settings" meta box at the bottom of the page. Check the box to "Enable vBulletin Bridge."
3. Under "vBulletin User Group" fill in the user group numerical id of the group you created in step 2. In vBulletin you can find this under the Usergroup Manager in the admin area.
4. Click the "Save Settings" button.

As soon as a user makes a purchase, they will be added to the Registered Users group in vBulletin by default, as well as the additional usergroup you have created. In the event there is an error in setting up a user in vBulletin, the user will be set up in WordPress and an email noting the error will be sent to the site admin.

Content Libraries

Quickly set up password-protected content libraries

A great way to perform highly effective lead generation is to offer premium content in exchange for registration. With Premise, you can create high value content libraries that require email registration for access. Beyond email marketing alone, you create a “sense of place” for your white papers, webinars, and other premium content that move prospects closer to becoming a customer or client.

You can password protect content at the page level using the Access Manager meta box or at the content level using shortcodes.

Page Level Access

1. When you create a new post, page or landing page, you will see a meta box on the right labelled "Access Levels." Here you can determine which membership levels will have access to this page. By default, "No Membership Required" is selected, which means the page, post, or landing page is public. Change the setting to either "Has Member Access to" or "Does not have Member Access to" to define the level of protection.
2. Next "Choose the access level(s)." You will see the Access Levels available on your site. Check the boxes for the Members who will have access or will not have access, depending on your selection in the first step.
3. Remember to click "Publish" in order for the page to be live.

This sample page will be visible to members of the "SEO Starter Guide" level.

As a logged in member, the page content displays.

The public view of the page does not display the password protected page.

Check Out

Easily build log in and check-out pages for PayPal and Authorize.net

Premise makes it easy to coordinate payments, whether one-time or recurring, before log in access is granted to your member area or digital downloads. Create check-out pages to collect member/buyer information, then accept PayPal payments, take credit cards via Authorize.net, or both. It’s within your control directly from WordPress.

Premise makes it easy to add a Login Page for your customers with shortcode.

1. In the left-hand menu of your WordPress admin, mouse over the "Pages" link and select "Add New."
2. Add the login shortcode to the content editor using either [login-form] or [login_form]. Add your page title and any text as you would for any page.
3. Click the "Save Draft" or "Publish" button.

The customer Log in page now contains the log in form for user verification.

Checkout Pages

Once you have configured the "Payment Settings" in the Premise Member Access "Settings" page, you will be able to quickly add a checkout page using shortcode.

1. In the left-hand menu of your WordPress admin, mouse over "Pages" and select "Add New."
2. Add the checkout shortcode to the content editor using either [checkout-form] or [checkout_form]. Add your page title and any text as you would for any page.
3. Click the "Save Draft" or "Publish" button.

The Checkout page now contains the checkout form for a purchase transaction.