Welcome to our Membership Sites 101 course – your gateway to building and managing successful membership sites that engage, educate, and empower your audience. Whether you’re a seasoned content creator or a passionate novice, this course is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to create a thriving online community through strategically crafted membership sites.
In today’s digital landscape, offering exclusive content and fostering a sense of belonging is key to attracting and retaining loyal audiences. Our Membership Sites 101 course takes you on a transformative journey, starting with understanding the fundamentals of membership sites and their benefits.
Dive into the intricacies of content protection, subscription plans, and plugins to unravel the puzzle of how to effectively monetize your expertise. Learn how to choose the right membership site set up for your unique needs, harnessing its power to effortlessly manage access, enhance user experience, and customize member offerings.
Whether you envision simple password protection, multi-tiered subscriptions, or a specialized topic-based membership, this course equips you with adaptable strategies, expert insights, and practical tips to ensure your membership site captivates and serves your community’s needs while achieving your business goals. Embark on this enriching journey, and let Membership Sites 101 be your guiding light toward building a thriving online ecosystem.
In this course, you’ll discover:
Three methods for setting up a membership site:
Privacy and Password Protection
Paid Content blocks
Membership plugins
Suggestions for different types of membership sites
Guidance on choosing and setting up different membership levels
Ideas for a range of different types of content to include
This course is brimming with insights that will assist you in making critical decisions about setting up a membership site. It’s important to recognize that creating a membership site can be an advanced endeavor, often involving a cost factor of time or money – and in some cases, both.
We won’t sugarcoat the truth: building a membership site isn’t a walk in the park. It demands effort, careful planning, and a certain level of skill. And cultivating a thriving membership site? That’s a journey that requires time and patience.
However, here’s our pledge to you: this course will provide you with a sturdy foundation for success. We’ll equip you with the necessary knowledge and guidance to effectively achieve your goals. With this course, you’ll learn not just the ‘how’, but also the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of creating a successful membership site.
To maximize the benefits of this course, we suggest a two-pass approach. On your first pass, absorb all the information presented. This will help you answer initial questions and identify options that best suit your needs. Then, take a second pass, this time concentrating specifically on the sections that align most closely with your objectives. This approach ensures a comprehensive understanding while focusing your attention on the most relevant aspects to achieve your goals.
The tools you’ll need:
For maximum success with this course, you’ll need:
A computer with internet access
A commitment to completing the assignments, all at your own pace
A basic understanding of the WordPress software, dashboard and features (or a willing, learn as you go, mindset)
Before diving into our courses be sure to review the information covered within our Resources Hub to set yourself up for the most success with achieving your goals! The Resources Hub includes the pages listed below, plus a glossary, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and more!
Important:
Most links will open in the same tab you’re on, unless they are for something external (such as YouTube or Zoom). You can choose to open any link in a new tab by right clicking on it, or press “command+click” on Mac and “control+click” on Windows.
Images are not clickable. To open a larger version of an image, right click and open it in a new tab.
Before you start
On this page you’ll find guidance on tips on using the site, obtaining help, setting up a new account or site, and establishing realistic expectations.
Three primary branches define WordPress: WordPress VIP↗︎, the official managed host tailored for enterprise businesses; WordPress.org↗︎, the resource center for open-source software used for self-hosted sites (though it offers the software for free, it doesn’t provide hosting); and WordPress.com, the official managed host for WordPress sites.
This little corner of the WordPress.com Learn site is where you can find information and documentation on using the Education Community Forum. This is our community, and we hope to see folks asking questions and sharing ideas.
The biggest thing we ask is that all visitors treat each other and our staff with respect. Pretend you are sitting across from another user or staff member. Be polite! Rude or insensitive behavior will not be tolerated. For more information, please see our Code of Conduct section.
Updates
WordPress is a dynamic, open source software that loves to keep us all on our toes with updates. These updates can bring changes to how things look and work, and from time to time there might be some differences you come across in our lessons. But fear not! We’re fully committed to keeping you updated.
In the page linked below we include information of anything you might encounter in our courses that differs from what you’ll see in your current site. Once we have updated the course materials, the information will be removed.
In case you spot any discrepancies or have questions, as our students and valued partners, we encourage you to reach out to us in our Education Community Forum. Your feedback is essential in helping us stay in sync with the latest developments. We’ll do our best to address any concerns promptly, providing guidance or updates as needed. Together, we’re on a mission to ensure your learning experience is smooth and enjoyable! Thank you for understanding and collaborating with us on this exciting journey.
We offer a survey at the beginning and end of each course. By completing this survey at the start of the course, you help us to understand what your expectations are of the courses we’re providing. By completing the survey at the end of the course, you help us to understand if we have met those expectations and what areas we can improve on.
Please complete the optional survey below or share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions with us in the Education Community Forum.
Find your next course
Learn at your own pace with our step-by-step courses.
Self-guided content 
No registration required 
Around 1h 30m plus activities 
Intermediate 
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