In this article, we set up the Simple Membership Plugin in WordPress to help you create a basic but powerful membership site.
What Is the Simple Membership Plugin?
The Simple Membership Plugin is a free and lightweight WordPress plugin designed to add membership functionality to your website. It allows you to:
- Create and manage membership levels (free or paid)
- Protect specific posts or pages for members only
- Let users register and log in from the front end
- Accept payments via PayPal (for paid memberships)
- Control content access based on user roles
Step #1:Install the Simple Membership Plugin
We begin by installing the plugin:
Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
Go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
Search for Simple Membership.
Find the plugin by wp.insider
Click the Install Now button next to the plugin.
Once the installation is complete, click the Activate button.
After activation, a new WP Membership menu will appear in your dashboard.
Step #2:Create Membership Levels
In this step, we define who can access what on your website by creating different membership levels.
In your WordPress dashboard, go to WP Membership > Membership Levels.
Click the Add New button at the bottom of the page.
Fill in the membership level details:
Membership Level Name (required):
- Give your level a clear name, such as:
Registered User(for general access)
Default WordPress Role (required):
- Choose a role to associate with members of this level.
- Typically, select
Subscriberto keep permissions limited.
Access Duration (required):
- Set how long the membership should last:
Default Account Status:
Select the default status for accounts created under this level:
- Use global settings
- Active
- Inactive
- Pending
This is useful if you want to manually approve new members or use email verification.
Email Activation:
- You can enable email-based activation by checking this option.
- When enabled, users will receive an email with an activation link after registering.
Once all fields are completed, click the “Add New Membership Level” button.
You can create multiple membership levels to offer tiered access to your content.
Step #3:Protect Your Content
We also show you how to restrict access to specific content, making it visible only to members of selected levels.
The Simple Membership plugin allows you to protect posts or pages so only logged-in users with the correct membership level can view them.
Edit the post or page you want to protect.
Scroll down to the section labeled “Simple WP Membership Protection” (usually below the content editor).
Check the box that says “Protect this content”.
Select one or more membership levels that should have access to this content.
Click Update or Publish to save your changes.
Step #4:Protect All Posts/Pages at Once
Instead of manually protecting individual posts, the Simple Membership plugin allows you to apply content protection to all existing posts or pages based on membership level.
This is useful when you want to lock down your entire blog or site content with just a few clicks.
In your WordPress dashboard, go to WP Membership > Membership Levels.
Click on Post and Page Protection
First of all, globally protect posts and pages on your site by selecting “General Protection” from the drop-down box below and then select posts and pages that should be protected from non-logged in users.
Click on Update button to save your changes.
Next, select an existing membership level from the drop-down box below and then select posts and pages you want to grant access to (for that particular membership level).
Click on Update button to save your changes.
All posts/pages are now protected.
Only users who are logged in and belong to the Registered User membership level will be able to view them.
Step #5:Use Auto-Created Login and Registration Pages
After installing the Simple Membership plugin, the following pages are automatically created and set up:
| Page Name | Shortcode Inside | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Membership Join | [swpm_registration_form] | Member registration form |
| Login | [swpm_login_form] | Allows users to log in |
| Edit Profile | [swpm_profile_form] | Members can update their details |
You can verify or customize these pages by:
Going to Pages > All Pages in your WordPress dashboard.
Step #6:Test the Protected Blog/Post Access (No Public Registration)
In this setup, you’re not allowing public registration — only admin-created users (members) can access blog posts.
Here’s how to test the functionality:
Try Accessing a Blog Post (While Logged Out)
- Go to your WordPress site in a private/incognito window or log out of your current session.
- Click on any blog post.
- You should see a message like: You need to be logged in to view this content. Please Log In. Not a Member? Join Us
This confirms that posts are successfully protected using the membership level rules you configured earlier.
Add a Member Manually (From Admin Panel)
Go to WP Membership > Members in your dashboard.
Click Add Member.
Fill in the required details:
- Username
- Password
- Membership Level (e.g., Registered User)
- Set the account status to Active.
Click Add New Member.
The user is now created and can log in from the Login page.
Log In and Access Protected Content
- Go to your site’s any post and click on Login
- Enter the member credentials you just created.
- After logging in:
- Try opening any previously protected blog post.
- The content should now be fully visible.
Conclusion:
In this article, we walked through the complete process of setting up the Simple Membership plugin in WordPress to create a private blog where only manually added members can access content. We installed and configured the plugin, created membership levels, applied global content protection, and tested the user flow — all without enabling public registration. With the right configuration, Simple Membership offers a lightweight yet powerful solution to protect your content and manage access with ease.
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