How to Restrict Content in WordPress (Paid Membership Pro, Restrict Content Pro)

Restricting content in WordPress is essential when running a membership site, offering exclusive content, or creating a paid subscription model. Plugins like Paid Memberships Pro and Restrict Content Pro are designed to help you manage content restrictions based on user membership levels or subscriptions.

Below, we’ll explore how to restrict content in WordPress using Paid Memberships Pro and Restrict Content Pro.

1. Restricting Content with Paid Memberships Pro

Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro) is a feature-rich plugin that allows you to restrict content, manage memberships, and integrate payments. Here’s how to restrict content using PMPro:

Step 1: Install and Activate Paid Memberships Pro

1. From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for “Paid Memberships Pro” and click Install Now, then activate it.

Step 2: Set Up Membership Levels

1. After activation, go to Memberships > Membership Levels.
2. Click Add New Level.
3. Create the membership levels (e.g., Free, Basic, Premium) and configure their settings, such as price, duration (monthly, yearly), and whether they grant access to specific content.

Step 3: Configure Content Restriction Rules

Once your membership levels are set up, you can restrict content for each membership level.

1. Restrict Posts or Pages:
   • Edit the post or page you want to restrict.
   • In the Paid Memberships Pro meta box (usually on the right side of the post/page editor), you’ll see an option called Require Membership.
   • Select the membership levels that should have access to the content. For example, if you want to restrict a post to Premium members only, select Premium.
   • Update or publish the post.
2. Restrict Categories or Tags:
   • Go to Memberships > Memberships > Settings.
   • Scroll down to Content Protection and enable the option to restrict content by category or tag.
   • When creating or editing posts, you can assign them to the restricted categories, which will limit access to only the members you select.
3. Restrict Entire Site or Specific Sections:
   • If you want to restrict access to the entire site or specific sections, you can use PMPro’s built-in content protection options in the Settings > Content Protection section.
   • For example, you can create a page for only logged-in members or protect your blog, forum, or other content types based on the membership levels.
4. Custom Redirects After Login:
   • You can set up custom redirects after a user logs in, so they are sent directly to a members-only page or dashboard.
   • Go to Memberships > Settings > Page Settings and choose the page to which users should be redirected after login.

Step 4: Test Content Restrictions

It’s important to test the content restrictions to ensure they are working properly. You can create test user accounts for each membership level and log in to see if they can access the content that corresponds to their membership.

2. Restricting Content with Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro (RCP) is another powerful plugin that focuses specifically on restricting content and offering paid memberships. Here’s how to restrict content using RCP:

Step 1: Install and Activate Restrict Content Pro

1. Go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for “Restrict Content Pro” and click Install Now, then activate the plugin.
3. After activation, you’ll be prompted to configure the plugin by entering the license key (if you have the premium version) and setting up basic options.

Step 2: Create Membership Levels

1. Go to Restrict > Membership Levels.
2. Click Add New Level to create your membership plans.
   • Name your level (e.g., Free, Basic, Premium).
   • Set the price, billing cycle (e.g., monthly, annually), and other details.
3. Repeat the process for as many membership levels as you need.

Step 3: Configure Content Protection

Now that you’ve created membership levels, it’s time to restrict content.

1. Restricting Posts/Pages:
   • When editing a post or page, scroll down to the Restrict Content Pro meta box.
   • You will see options to select which membership levels have access to the content.
   • Choose the levels that should have access and save the post or page.
   • If you want to restrict all posts under a certain category or tag, you can apply restrictions globally by going to Restrict > Settings > Content.
2. Restrict Content by Categories:
   • To restrict content by categories, go to Restrict > Settings > Content.
   • Enable the option to restrict access by category.
   • When creating or editing posts, assign them to restricted categories. Only users with the correct membership level can access content from those categories.
3. Restricting Custom Post Types:
   • If you’re using custom post types (e.g., a course or a podcast), you can restrict access to them by going to Restrict > Settings and checking the box to restrict custom post types.
4. Restrict Access to Specific Pages:
   • You can restrict access to specific pages or entire sections of your site.
   • For example, you can create a “members-only” area that only allows premium members to access certain content.
   • Go to Restrict > Settings > Pages to choose which pages should be accessible to specific membership levels.
5. Set Up Redirects for Unauthorized Users:
   • If a non-member or a member without sufficient access tries to view restricted content, you can redirect them to a different page (e.g., a login or upgrade page).
   • Go to Restrict > Settings > General to set a custom URL to redirect unauthorized users.

Step 4: Test Content Restrictions

After setting up the content restrictions, it’s essential to test them to ensure they work as expected. Create test accounts for each membership level and verify:

• Whether users can access content restricted to their membership level.
• Whether users who are not members are redirected or shown restricted access messages.
• If members are redirected after logging in (to their dashboard or another page).

Additional Tips for Restricting Content in WordPress

• Use Shortcodes: Both Paid Memberships Pro and Restrict Content Pro offer shortcodes to restrict parts of your content within posts or pages. For example:
  • In Paid Memberships Pro, you can use the [membership] shortcode to show or hide content based on membership levels.
  • In Restrict Content Pro, you can use [restrict] to wrap content that should only be available to certain members.
• Custom Messages: Both plugins allow you to show custom messages to users who are not authorized to view restricted content. For instance, you could display a message asking users to upgrade their membership or sign up to view the content.
• Integrating with Other Plugins: Both plugins work well with other WordPress plugins, such as those for email marketing, forums, or ecommerce, so you can further enhance the functionality of your membership site.

Conclusion

Both Paid Memberships Pro and Restrict Content Pro provide powerful tools to restrict content based on membership levels. While Paid Memberships Pro offers extensive payment integration and advanced features, Restrict Content Pro focuses on a more lightweight and intuitive solution for restricting content. Either plugin can help you set up a successful membership site with content protection, payment integration, and member management.