One responsibility of running a membership site is to ensure every member's experience is as free from unexpected errors as possible. That being said, there can be times when an issue isn't discovered until you receive a surprise customer support ticket reporting a problem. Finding these types of errors before a member does is ideal. So, how do you see what your members see?

In this article, we'll discuss how to experience your site from a member's perspective.

Creating a Test Member

An effective strategy to troubleshoot your site is to manually add a member with access to the content you want to test. You can also enable a WishList Member Simple Registration URL and register as a test member for free. This has the added benefit of experiencing the registration process from the member perspective. For this example, let's create a test member using the green Add Member icon in the Members > Manage section of WishList Member.

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After creating this test account, you can log in through a private or incognito browser tab. Using a private or incognito tab for testing means you can also stay logged in as an administrator.

While this method is useful for identifying a range of issues, it might not capture specific member-related problems. Which leads to…

When to See What a Specific Member Sees

There can be cases where you need to see exactly what a specific member sees to troubleshoot a unique issue. Viewing what the actual member sees allows you to navigate the site from their exact perspective. So, how do you see what a member sees?

What Not to Do – Changing a Member's Password

As an administrator of a WishList Member site, you're probably aware you can change a member's password through the WordPress profile section. While this approach grants you access to the member's account for troubleshooting or inspection purposes, it is typically not the best course of action due to the reasons below.

• Privacy and Trust Concerns: Changing a member's password without their consent can be a breach of their trust. Members might feel their privacy has been invaded if someone has changed their account without permission.
• Unintended Lockouts: You risk temporarily locking a member out of their account (and a service they may have purchased) if you change their password. The member will be unable to access the site with their original password, leading to potential frustration and possibly impacting their view of your membership site.
• Increased Support Workload: If a member is locked out due to a password change, they may contact you or your support department to regain access.

As a WishList Member administrator, you do not know and cannot view any member passwords due to WordPress encryption and security measures.

Use a Specialized Plugin to Log in as a Member

Plugins offered by third-party developers, like the “User Switching” plugin for WordPress, enable administrators to see what a specific member sees without password access.

Our mention of the “User Switching” plugin for WordPress should not be taken as an endorsement. The information provided below is for general informational purposes only. We recommend everyone exercise caution before implementing any third-party plugins.

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A “Switch User” link will appear in the WordPress user profile for the member if the “User Switching” plugin is installed on the site. You can access this option in the Members > Manage section of WishList Member by clicking the square WordPress Profile icon that appears upon mouse over for the selected member.

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The WordPress Profile section appears. Scroll down until you see the User Switching > Switch To link. Clicking the Switch To link will allow you to see the site as your member sees it.

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You will see something similar to the example screenshot below while viewing the site as the member. Keep in mind, your site will look different due to your theme and existing pages. Most sites will display a “Switch back to…” link on the bottom left. Depending on the name of your WordPress admin account, you may see something else besides “Admin”.

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After browsing as the member, you should have a clear understanding of what your member is experiencing and how to address any potential issues. Click the “Switch back to…” link to return to your administrative account.

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The options touched on within this article provide ways to see what both test members and specific members see in your WishList Member site. This provides you with tools and methods to diagnose potential and reported issues.

There is something important to note if you have configured a Sequential Upgrade for the membership level the members are being imported into. The Sequential Upgrade will be paused during that member import.

Applying the pause on Sequential Upgrade during member import is related to site performance. If you were to import a large number of members and a configured Sequential Upgrade happened right away, it could result in the site slowing down.

So the Sequential Upgrade isn't reflected in the members section of WishList Member during an import of members. But the members will still be sequentially upgraded accordingly. The configured Sequential Upgrade will trigger when the cron naturally occurs on the site or when a member logs into the site.

The Sequential Upgrade would be reflected for all members when the cron naturally occurs on the site or it will be reflected for individual members when they login and trigger it.
 
That being said, you could run a Cron Job so you can see the Sequential Upgrade reflected for all imported members in the members section of WishList Member.

The Sequential Upgrade option can be turned on/turned off at any time for a member. This can be done in the Members > Manage section of WishList Member.

Turning off a sequential upgrade will essentially pause the progress of a member through the scheduled sequential upgrade.

You can select the member by clicking the checkbox beside their name and then selecting Turn On Sequential Upgrade or Turn Off Sequential Upgrade from the Select an Action dropdown.

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As an example, if you want to pause the sequential upgrade, you can select Turn Off Sequential Upgrade.

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A popup with a message stating “Are you sure you want to Turn Off Sequential Upgrade for the selected members?” will appear.

You can click “Yes” and the sequential upgrade will be turned off for that member.

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This will stop the member from being sequentially upgraded to the set next level(s) in the sequence.

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As a note, if you turn sequential upgrade back on, it would resume where it left off and not start over at the beginning of the scheduled sequential upgrade.

It might encode a different type than what is expected in WishList Member. UTF-8 is expected. A file saved in UTF-8 format with BOM will fail to upload.

Example Screenshot showing UTF-8

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Example Screenshot showing UTF-8 BOM

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There are a couple options to avoid this issue:

1. Use Notepad

Try using the Notepad program/app when editing the file so it would not change the encoding system type when you save the file.

2. Continue Using Excel (or similar program/app)

You can continue using Excel (or other program/app) to edit the data. Then open it in Notepad to see if it is saved as UTF-8 like in the screenshot noted above. If not, you can use Notepad++ to update it. Just open the file in Notepad++ then go to Encoding > *select UTF-8* > Save.

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Check out the Import Members Knowledge Base article for more details on importing members.

Check out the Export Members Knowledge Base article for more details on exporting members.

WishList Member includes an option to disable the IP address tracking that occurs when members register or login. This feature can be used to prevent the tracking of member IP addresses. You can also purge the IP addresses if you decide to disable this functionality. This can all be done as a global default (for all members) or for individual members.

IP Address Tracking

The global default (for all members) IP Address Tracking setting is located in the Members > Data Privacy > Settings section of WishList Member.

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The setting can be enabled to prevent the IP Address Tracking of members. You will also see a Purge Data button that can be used to purge (remove) collected IP addresses.

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The Purge Login IP Address Data popup appears and you can click the Purge button to remove all member IP addresses.

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View / Manage Member IP Addresses

You can view the Registration IP Address and Last Login IP Address for members in the Members > Manage > *Click to Edit a Member* > Advanced section of WishList Member.

Click on the username of a member…

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…and the Edit Member popup appears. You will see the Registration IP and Last Login IP for the member in the corresponding fields when IP Tracking is enabled.

You can enable/disable IP Address Tracking on a per member basis. If you enable/disable IP Address Tracking for a specific member, it will override the global default IP Address Tracking setting configured in the Members > Data Privacy > Settings section of WishList Member.

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You can track and view IP addresses for all members (or select members) or you can disable the IP tracking all together. WishList Member provides you with the ability to quickly view the IP data or selectively decide to remove it.

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This allows members within a Level to be Added or Moved to another Level on a specific calendar date at a set time.

There is a feeling of excitement when you see someone new has joined your membership site. That member has chosen to trust in your offer and become a part of your online community. Now is the time to welcome this new addition to your site and provide them with access to their exclusive content.

But wait… what if something seems a bit “off” with your most recent sign up? The email address might appear to be a little shady or some unusual user info may have been included in their profile. Could this be a spam registration?

There are a few different reasons spam registrations might occur. There are also steps that can be taken to reduce and prevent spam registrations. Filtering out spam registrations will help preserve that genuine pleasant feeling when a legitimate new member registers.

WordPress “Anyone Can Register” Setting

Spam user accounts can sometimes be added to a site through a WordPress registration option named “Anyone can register”. These registrations may be evident by user accounts that appear in the Manage > Members section of WishList Member, but do not have a level assigned to them.

The example screenshot below shows a user named tester101 with no level assigned to the account.

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The WordPress “Anyone can register” option can be found in the Settings > General section of WordPress and is often enabled on many WordPress sites. That option can be disabled to help prevent these types of sign ups. WishList Member registration will continue to function when that option is disabled in WordPress.

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reCAPTCHA Option for Registrations Through WishList Member

Spam users may also appear in the Manage > Members section of WishList Member that do have a level assigned to the member account. There are additional methods that can be used to reduce and prevent these types of spam registrations.

Adding a reCAPTCHA to a registration form can help prevent spam registrations as it can weed out some non-human sign ups. As an example, if you enable the Require reCAPTCHA option for a level, the reCAPTCHA will be a requirement for anyone trying to register for that level.

The Require reCAPTCHA option can be enabled in the Setup > Levels > *Click on Level Name* > Requirements section of WishList Member.

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You will also need a reCAPTCHA Site Key and a reCAPTCHA Secret Key if you want to require reCAPTCHA on your registration form. Details on these two pieces of information are provided below.

Click the blue Configure button in the Setup > Levels > *Click on Level Name* > Requirements section of WishList Member.

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The reCAPTCHA Settings popup will appear and you can enter the reCAPTCHA Site Key and reCAPTCHA Secret Key into the corresponding fields and click the Save button. If you don't already have a reCAPTCHA Site Key and reCAPTCHA Secret Key, you will see the provided link within the reCAPTCHA Settings popup to “Click here to get one for free“.

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More details on reCAPTCHA can be viewed in the reCAPTCHA Knowledge Base entry.

Additional Spam Identification and Prevention Options

We have not developed the plugins or services mentioned below. These are 3rd party solutions related to spam identification and prevention.

If automated bots are responsible for the spam registrations, checking out the available security plugin options that include features intended to block out bots can be tried. A plugin like Wordfence is a popular option to consider.

There are also various anti-spam plugins available. The Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall is another plugin that could be helpful.

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Prevention is very beneficial when it comes to spam member registration. The more spam registrations you can prevent from actually occurring, the less you will need to view or deal with any spam member accounts in your site.

WishList Member will automatically send an email to users if they haven't completed their registration. But there may be times a user hasn't finished the registration and you want to send another reminder email.

There is also an automatic email sent to users when the level they have joined requires they confirm their registration through that email they receive. But that email might be missed by the member or end up in a spam or junk folder. This would be another time when you might want to resend an email to a member.

Manually Resend an Email to a Member

You have the option to resend both of these emails when using WishList Member. The following actions are available in the Select an Action dropdown in the Members > Manage section of WishList Member. These actions can be used to manually resend either type of email to members.

• Resend Email Confirmation Request
• Resend Incomplete Registration Email

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Default Emails Initially Sent to Members

You will find the default emails and settings for Require Member to Confirm Email and Incomplete Registration in the Advanced Options > Global Defaults > Email section of WishList Member.

The initial email for these two scenarios are automatically sent when needed. The resend options are available in the Select an Action dropdown in the Members > Manage section of WishList Member if you want to manually resend these emails to select members.

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You can click the checkbox that appears to the left of a member…

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…and then select the option to resend the desired email from the Select an Action dropdown.

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A corresponding confirmation popup will appear and you can click the Yes button to resend the email. The screenshot examples below show the Resend Email Confirmation Request popup and the Resend Incomplete Registration Email popup.

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The emails that are resent are the same emails that are originally sent to members and can be found in the Advanced Options > Global Defaults > Email > Global Email Notification Defaults section of WishList Member.

With that being said, you may want to import a list of members from a site running different membership software. In that case, you will just want to ensure you include the correct data in the correct format. We can certainly help with this.

This is where the Sample Import CSV File comes in to help make this a smooth process for you.

You can download the sample file in the Members > Import section of WishList Member.

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Three main points will be addressed in this article.

• Site Back Up
• Sample Import CSV File
• Transaction ID – Connecting Subscriptions with Members (Keeping Subscriptions Active)

Site Back Up

Importing data from one system to another can sometime lead to unexpected results depending on the type of data being transferred. It is always recommended to create a full and complete back up of the WordPress site / database before any export and import.

All WishList Member settings, members, etc. are stored in the WordPress database, so if you create a full back up of your WordPress site, it will include WishList Member.

Once you have your backup, you're all set.

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Sample Import CSV File

WishList Member provides the Sample Import CSV File that can be downloaded from the Members > Import section.

This sample file contains standard member information like name, email address, etc. but it also contains fields for username and password. So those fields can be filled in accordingly if the different membership software will export that information.

Basically, you will want to export the member data from the current system and ensure it matches with the format of the sample import csv file.

More in depth details on all the available settings when importing members (including a video tutorial) can be found in the Import Members article.

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Note: The default length of passwords set in WishList Member is at least 8 characters. If the existing membership software does not include passwords at least 8 characters long, you would need to adjust those passwords.

Alternatively, the minimum length of passwords can be edited in the Advanced Options > Passwords section of WishList Member.

You can adjust this setting in order to accept shorter passwords.

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Transaction ID – Connecting Subscriptions with Members (Keeping Subscription Active)

If you are importing a list of members from another membership site and they have existing subscriptions, you may want to keep those subscriptions active and connected to the member in WishList Member.

A connection can be set in WishList Member between a member and their subscription in a payment provider. This is done using the Transaction ID.

In this example, we are importing a group of members from a site that was using Stripe to process payments. Of course, other payment providers could be used and each has its own Transaction ID format. This ID is important as it handles the connection between WishList Member and the payment provider.

WishList Member uses the Stripe Customer ID and a Stripe Transaction ID to share data with Stripe.

A sample import cvs file is available in WishList Member. It includes the needed format for data when importing into WishList Member. So when you export members who have a subscription in Stripe from a current membership software, you might need to do some reformatting of the export data to match the format in the WishList Member sample file. This will ensure all the data is imported successfully. 

The two main pieces of data used to connect existing subscriptions in this case are the Stripe Customer ID and the Stripe Transaction ID. These are likely included in an export from the membership software, but you may need to check with the particular membership software team to confirm. Or you can contact our support team.

Note: The payment provider itself may also allow you to export the customer / payment data and you could get the Transaction ID that way.

As noted, the important point is the formatting of the Transaction ID when you import it into WishList Member. 

Using the Stripe example, the format used in WishList Member is StripeCustomerID-TransactionID.

Example: cus_XXXXXXXXXXXXXX-plan_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A selection of other payment provider Transaction ID examples are included below.

1ShoppingCart Format Example: 1SC-Order ID
1SC-xxxxxxxx

Infusionsoft by Keap Format Example: Invoice ID
IFS:xxxxxx

WooCommerce Example: Order ID-Subscription ID
WooCommerce#xxxxx-xxxxx

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As long as the formatting matches with the Transaction ID type for the payment provider for each member, you should be able to import them into WishList Member successfully.

As a quick summary, in order to connect existing subscriptions to the members, you will need the payment provider Transaction ID included in the sample import file csv when you import members into WishList Member.

There are time when a user will stop part way through the purchase/registration process. This could be due to a technical issue on their side or they simply don't fill out the registration form completely. If a user fails to fully complete that form during the purchase/registration process, they will appear as an “Incomplete Registration” within the Manage > Members section in WishList Member. An Incomplete Registration means the user cannot access the protected content as their member account hasn't been totally created yet.

Once that incomplete registration has been completed, that user will be granted all the appropriate membership benefits. But until then, that registration will remain incomplete.

There are a few ways you can prevent or resolve Incomplete Registrations within your site. This will ensure your members have a smooth user experience when they register.

Prevent Incomplete Registrations – Enable Auto-Created Accounts for Integrations

If you have integrated a membership level with a payment provider, you have the option to automatically create the account for the user once they have paid. This will remove the step of the user needing to create their own username and password as this part of the process will be automated. Removing the need for the user to actually enter their own info into a registration form means the potential for the user not filling in that info fully or correctly is also removed.

By default, the payment provider integrations within WishList Member will create an incomplete registration as a placeholder until the member completes the registration process. If the user doesn't complete that process, the registration remains incomplete. When the “Enable Auto-Created Accounts for Integrations” option is enabled, the account will be automatically created for the user once they pay.

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More details on enabling the Auto-Created Account for Payment Integrations can be found in this Knowledge Base entry.

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Incomplete Registrations

If you want to allow users to set their own username and password, they can enter that information in the registration form when they sign up. A user will typically fill in the fields as they register and will complete the form. This results in the user being added to the site and granted their corresponding access.

But, if the user doesn't fully complete that purchase/registration process, they will appear in the Members > Manage section of WishList Member as an Incomplete Registration. The site admin can send the Incomplete Registration link to the user or complete the registration for them. WishList Member will also send an Incomplete Registration email to the user instructing them how to finish the registration.

The screenshot example below shows a user who didn't complete the registration for the level named “testlevel”.

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The Incomplete Registration email includes a link the user can use to finish the registration. Once that link is used to complete the registration, the user gains full access to the protected content.

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Incomplete Registration Notifications – Global Defaults

You can view/edit the Incomplete Registration email in the Advanced Options > Global Defaults > Email section of WishList Member.

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Clicking the Edit Notifications button allows for the editing of the email.

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If you see an Incomplete Registration in the Manage > Members section in WishList Member, you can wait to see if the user finishes the registration themselves. 12 or 24 hours is typically enough time to determine if the user is going to finish the registration themselves.

The user would have been sent the Incomplete Registration email instructing them to finish the registration process during this time as well. You also have the option to resend that Incomplete Registration email to users.

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Or you can consider a couple options to expedite the process of completing the registration for the user:

1. Manually send the Incomplete Registration link to the user and inform them the payment has been processed and they just need to finish the registration process by filling in the registration form.
   
2. You can use the Incomplete Registration link yourself to manually finish the registration for the user and send the user information on how to change their password and login to the site.

If you send the Incomplete Registration link to the user or if you use the link yourself, you must right-click the link within the Manage > Members section in WishList Member to copy it correctly.

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Incomplete Registration Notifications – Per Level

There is also an option to send different Incomplete Registration emails to different membership levels. (If you want to have different emails for different levels)

When creating or editing a membership level, you can configure the notifications settings for the specific level in the Setup > Levels > *Click to edit Level* > Email Notifications section in WishList Member.

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Click the blue Edit Notification button and the Incomplete Registration popup appears.

You can first choose whether or not to enable this notification. If enabled, you can set the notification schedule according to the options shows in the screenshot below.

• First Sent After. The number of hours after the incomplete registration occurs to send the first notification to the member. A minimum of one hour is recommended.
• Send Every. The interval (in hours) that subsequent notifications should be sent. For example, if set to “24 hours”, any notifications after the first notification will be sent 24 hours apart until the number of notifications sent reaches the value set for “Total Sent”.
• Total Sent. The maximum number of notifications that should be sent.

You can also edit notifications that gets sent according to the following options:

• Sender Name. The name you would like the email to be sent from.
• Sender Email. The email address you would like the email to be sent from.
• Subject. The subject line for the email.
• Message. The email message.

Resend the Incomplete Registration Email

You have the option to resend the Incomplete Registration email that is sent to users if they don't finish the registration process.

More details on resending that email can be found in the Resend Incomplete Registration Email Knowledge base entry.