Editor’s guide
This page is for the people who write and publish. You can hand it to a newsroom as is. It assumes someone has already set up memberships; if you’re doing that, start with Access levels and Paywall rules.
The short version
Readers sign in with the same account they use at the store. Each membership they buy, such as Silver or Gold, is a level. Every post either is free to everyone or needs one of those levels. You choose per post, or leave it to the site’s rules.
Locked text never reaches a reader who can’t read it. It’s removed on the server, not hidden on the page, so it can’t be found with “view source”.
Who can read this post
The Who can read this box sits in the editor sidebar. Its first line says who can read the post right now and what decided it, for example “Right now: readers need Gold. Set by: Category: Investigations”.
You pick one of four options:
- Follow the site rules. The default. The post’s category (or other term) decides, then its post type. Most posts should stay here.
- Free to everyone. Opens this one post, whatever the site rules say.
- Only the levels ticked below. Ignores the site rules and uses the levels you tick. A reader needs any one of them.
- The site rules, and also a level ticked below. Keeps the site rules and adds a level on top, so a reader needs both.
Three optional settings sit underneath:
- Locked until, then free to everyone keeps the post’s usual rule until a date, then opens it to everyone. Use it to free a story after a members-first window.
- Free until, then locked does the reverse: free to everyone until a date, then the usual rule applies.
- Members can read it after a number of days holds a post back until a member has belonged that long. Each member’s count starts when they joined.
- Never count toward a meter keeps the post locked even when the site lets signed-in readers open a few locked stories a month.
The post list has the same choices under Quick Edit and Bulk Edit, and an Access column that shows each post’s rule.
What a locked reader sees
A reader who can’t read a post sees its teaser and a panel that tells them why it’s locked and what to do: sign in, join, upgrade, renew, or wait a moment after checkout.
The teaser is everything above a Paywall break block. Without one, the site’s setting for that post type decides, usually the first few paragraphs. Drop a Paywall break where you want the free part to end.
Locking part of a post
To keep a post free but lock a section, use the Membership Gate block. It has two areas: Members only, and what everyone else sees instead. In its sidebar, choose a level, or “This item’s access rule” to follow the post’s box.
Every block also has an Access panel, so you can show a box only to Gold readers, or an “Upgrade to Gold” prompt only to readers without Gold. A block can hide more of a post, never open a locked post to more readers.
The Access Badge block labels a post with the level it needs. Placed in a query loop, it labels every card.
Checking before you publish
- View it as a reader. On a post’s page, the toolbar’s Access menu shows it as a locked reader or as any level, for that one page view.
- Ask the site. If you can open RedeemID → Access → Test, pick the post and a reader. It lists every rule that applied and what that reader sees, block by block. The Test who can read it link in the box opens it for you.
Things to know
- Linked files stay public unless protected. A PDF or image linked from a locked post can be opened by anyone with its link. To lock it, set Who can download on the file in the media library; see Protected files.
- Newsletters may need care. A newsletter tool that copies the raw post skips the lock. Send locked posts with an excerpt layout.
- Changes to someone’s membership come from the store. If a reader says they paid but can’t read, it isn’t something you fix in the post. Send them to the Refresh Membership button, or pass it to whoever runs memberships. How changes reach WordPress explains the delay.