A metered paywall on WordPress without cookies
A meter lets someone who isn’t a member read a few locked items before the wall asks them to join. Most meters count in a browser cookie, which anyone can clear and which forces a page cache to keep a copy per visitor. RedeemID counts on the server instead, against the reader’s account, so the count holds across browsers and devices and cached pages stay shared.
1. Turn the meter on
On RedeemID → Access → Content rules, set the meter’s limit and period, for example 3 a month. It is off (0) by default. See The meter.
2. Decide what counts
Every locked item counts by default. Set an item’s access to Never count toward a meter to keep it behind the wall for everyone without the level, such as your newest issue or a premium report.
3. Ask guests to sign in
Guests see the wall with a sign-in button, not a free story. Signing in with Shopify takes an emailed code and no password, and it gives you a customer you can reach later, which a cookie never does.
What a reader sees
- A metered item opens with a line such as “Free story 2 of 3 this month” and the level’s call to action.
- An item counts once, when its own page is opened, and stays free for the rest of the period. Lists, feeds, search and the REST API never use up the meter.
- When the meter runs out, the wall says so and offers the membership.
- When they join, the level opens everything and the meter stops mattering.
What it doesn’t do
- It grants nothing in Shopify. The meter holds no level and no tag, and
redeemid_can_read()ignores it, so other plugins never treat a metered reader as a member. - It doesn’t follow guests. There is no cookie or IP meter.
- It isn’t hidden from the reader. The count is in their user meta, and WordPress’s personal data export and erasure include it.
To see how it’s used, RedeemID → Reports counts metered reads and readers who used up the meter, by day. Analytics tools can follow the same meter_used and meter_exhausted events; see the Developer API.
Written for: Publishers