There are times when a page will automatically be set as unprotected by WishList Member. This is related to how the WishList Member Error pages and Redirect pages function.

If a page is set as an Error page or Redirect page, it needs to be accessible by Non-Members so it cannot be protected.

Any page that has been set as an Error page or Redirect page will appear in the Content Protection section in WishList Member, but a message will be displayed stating it cannot be protected. The same message will also be displayed in the WishList Member section when editing a page that has been set as an Error page or Redirect page. This is because a page set as a WishList Member Error page or Redirect page is unprotected by default.

We will provide some examples of these types of pages and where they can be found in the WishList Member.

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Content Protection > Pages > Content Section in WishList Member

Below is a screenshot showing the Content Protection > Pages > Content section and you can bulk edit content using the options provided. In this example, none of the pages are set as an Error page or Redirect page in WishList Member so all the listed pages and have the option to be set as protected.

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In this next screenshot example, the page named “Member Welcome” is displaying the following message:

This page can not be protected as it is currently set as a WishList Member Error/Redirect Page.

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This is because the “Member Welcome” page is set as the After Registration page in the Content Protection > Global Defaults > Redirects section of WishList Member.

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This means the “Member Welcome” page cannot be protected because it is set as the After Registration page.

Error Pages or Redirect Pages in the WishList Member > System Pages section when editing a Page

The WishList Member Error pages and Redirect pages appear under the content section when editing a WordPress page. The screenshot example below shows a page named “Sample Page” that is not set as an Error page or Redirect page so the WishList Member protection settings appear and the option to protect the page is available.

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But, if a page is set as an Error page or Redirect page, the WishList Member protection settings will not appear below the content area while editing that page. In the example below, the page named “Member Welcome” is set as the After Registration page.

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This means the WishList Member protection settings will not appear on that page and a message stating the page can not be protected as it is currently set as a WishList Member Error/Redirect Page will be displayed.

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This means the “Member Welcome” page cannot be protected because it is set as the After Registration page.

Pages and Set as Unprotected by Default

You will notice the “This page can not be protected as it is currently set as a WishList Member Error/Redirect Page” message will appear in the WordPress admin sections mentioned above when you set Error pages and Redirect pages on your site. There are also some instances to keep in mind regarding these pages and we will detail those below.

Advanced Options > Global Defaults > Error Pages

Any page set as an Error page can not be protected and will be set as unprotected by default.

– Non-Members
– Wrong Membership Level
– Membership Cancelled
– Membership Expired

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Advanced Options > Global Defaults > Redirects

Any page set as a Redirect page can not be protected and will be set as unprotected by default.

– After Registration (more details are available below if you want to protect an After Registration page)
– Membership Requires Approval
– Membership Requires Confirmation
– After Logout
– Unsubscribe Confirmation
– Resubscribe Confirmation

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An After Registration Page CAN be Protected if it is Set for a Specific Level

There is an instance when a page can be set as an After Registration page and it CAN be protected. This can be done if it is configured appropriately in the Setup > Levels section in WishList Member.

If you set a page as the After Registration redirect for a Level in the Setup > Levels > *Click to edit Level* > Additional Settings section of WishList Member… 

…and the “Hide after login page and after registration page of each level” option is ENABLED in the Advanced Options > Global Defaults > Protection section of WishList Member the page will NOT be protected.

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But if you set a page as the After Registration redirect for a Level in the Setup > Levels > *Click to edit Level* > Additional Settings section of WishList Member… 

…and the “Hide after login page and after registration page of each level” option is DISABLED in the Advanced Options > Global Defaults > Protection section of WishList Member the page WILL be protected.

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Page Used as WordPress Posts Page

Another instance to keep in mind is related to the WordPress Posts page. If you set the Posts page as your Homepage display in the Settings > Reading section of WordPress, it will appear in the Content Protection > Pages section of WishList Member but it can not be protected.

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The information above should help to explain why not all pages and can be protected and why some pages are unprotected by default.

What is the difference between access and protection when it comes to Members Only content? This question can be answered as we dig into the WishList Member access and protection options. The spotlight will also be applied to how you can set access and protection for the content in your site.

There is a key difference between access and protection when it comes to content.

Protection

Protection basically works as an On / Off switch. WordPress pages, posts, categories, etc. can be set as protected. Each piece of content can either be set as protected or unprotected using WishList Member.

Access

Access is used to control who can view content that has been set as protected. You can select which membership level(s) have access to the protected WordPress pages, posts, categories, etc.

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As an example, a page can be set as protected and that page can be set to allow members in the Gold level to access it. In that case, only Gold members can view that protected page.

To summarize, you are able to select which membership level(s) can access the protected content.

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Individual Content Protection and Access Settings

You can set protection and access for a specific page or specific post in the edit section of an individual page or post. This is useful when you want to quickly adjust protection or access for a specific page or post.

You will see the protection and access settings for an individual page or post when editing it using WordPress. Those settings appear below the content area in the WishList Member section.

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The screenshot example below shows a page set as protected and it can only be accessed by members with the Platinum or Gold membership level.

The protection toggle is set to “Protected” and the Access field has the Platinum and Gold membership levels selected. Clicking the green Apply Settings button sets the protection and access for this specific page.

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This means anyone in the Gold or Platinum membership level can access that specific piece of protected content. You could just as easily set the protection toggle to “unprotected” and that piece of content would no longer be protected.

Perhaps you want to set protection and access for multiple pieces of content as once. WishList Member has you covered. This can be done using bulk protection and access settings in the Content Protection section. More details on that option are included below.

Content Bulk Protection and Access Settings

You can apply settings for protection and access to multiple pieces of content at once in the Content Protection > Content section of WishList Member.

This allows you to quickly set who can access a selection of content.

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The screenshot below includes numbered call outs that show how to select the type of content, select specific pieces of content and apply an action to the selected pieces of content.

1. Select the type of content you want to edit from the left column. The most popular options are typically pages or posts.
2. Select the specific piece (or pieces) of content you want to apply the action to from the list using the corresponding check boxes.
3. Select the content protection action to apply from the Select an Action dropdown.

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The Select an Action dropdown includes six options.

• Edit Content Protection Status.
• Add Level(s) to Content
• Remove Level(s) from Content
• Edit Per Member Access
• Add Pay Per Post Members
• Remove Pay Per Post Members

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Edit Content Protection. The protection status of the selected content can be set. The available options are unprotected, protected or inherited.

Add Level(s) to Content. Select the membership level(s) to be added to the selected content. The selected membership level(s) will be able to access the selected content.

Remove Level(s) from Content. Select the membership level(s) to be removed from the selected content. The selected membership level(s) will not be able to access the selected content.

Edit Per Member Access. Select if the content is Pay Per Post content. The available options are free, paid or disabled.

Add Pay Per Post Members. Select individual members who can access the selected content as a Pay Per Post. The selected member(s) will be able to access the selected content.

Remove Pay Per Post Members. Select individual members who cannot access the selected content as a Pay Per Post. The selected member(s) will not be able to access the selected content.

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This allows you to quickly apply actions like protecting multiple pages at once or granting the a particular membership level access to a selection of posts.

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More info on bulk Content Protection can be found in the following Knowledge Base articles/videos:

Bulk-Manage Protection and Access Settings For Posts, Pages and Custom Post Types

Bulk-Manage Protection and Access Settings For Categories and Custom Taxonomies

WishList Member includes the ability to protect files you upload to your WordPress site. Files you add to the media section of your WordPress site can be set as protected or unprotected and you can select which membership levels can access any files you've marked as protected. This allows you to specify which members can access different protected files within your site.

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The first step is enabling the Files option in the Content Protection > Files section in WishList Member. Once enabled, the files that have been uploaded using the WordPress media uploader will be displayed.

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Access to these files can be set as protected or unprotected (or inherited) similar to any post or page you might protect using WishList Member.

File protection can be used to prevent users who don't have the assigned membership level(s) from accessing the protected file. It is possible for a member with the correct membership level to download the file once they have logged into the site.

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File Protection General Settings

You will find general settings for File Protection by clicking the blue Settings button on the top right.

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The Settings popup will appear with two sections.

• File Protection Ignore List. This is a list of file extensions WishList Member will ignore in regards to file protection. You can add file extensions or remove file extensions from this list. By default a list of image, CSS and JavaScript file extensions are ignored as these are typically necessary for WordPress themes, etc.
• Nginx Information. The instructions that can be followed to ensure File Protection will work with Nginx servers.

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Set Protection and Access for Files

There are three status options that can be assigned to a file.

• Protected. The file is protected and can only be accessed by logged in members with the assigned membership level(s).
• Unprotected. The file is unprotected and can be accessed by any users.
• Inherited. The file takes on the protection status of the page or post it appears on. As an example, if the page or post the file has been added to is protected, the file will inherit that protection status.

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You can use the Select an Action dropdown to manage the protection and access settings of your files.

The following three options are available in the Select an Action dropdown:

• Edit Content Protection Status. You can select between protected, unprotected and inherited.
• Add Level(s) to Content. Add the membership levels that have access to the selected posts, pages or custom post types.
• Remove Level(s) from Content. Remove the membership levels that do not have access to the selected posts, pages or custom post types.

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Select the checkbox to the left of the file(s) you want to configure and select the corresponding action you want to apply to the file(s) from the Select an Action dropdown. A popup will appear for the selected action. Adjust the setting within the popup and click the provided button to apply the action. An example is provided below for each of the three options available in the Select an Action dropdown.

Edit Content Protection Status

In this example, the checkbox to the left of the “member-level-status” file is checked and Edit Content Protection Status has been selected from the Select an Action dropdown.

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The Edit Protection Status popup appears and the protection status dropdown can he used to set the desired protection status.

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In this case, the Unprotected status option is selected and the Update Protection button is clicked.

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The status of the “member-level-status” file has now been updated and shows as Unprotected.

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Add Level(s) to Content

In this example, the checkbox to the left of the “member-level-history-01” file is checked and Add Level(s) to Content has been selected from the Select an Action dropdown.

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The Add Level(s) to Content popup appears and the membership levels dropdown can he used to add levels to the file. This will result in members with the applied membership level(s) being able to access the protected file.

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In this case, the Platinum and Gold levels are selected and the Add Level button is clicked.

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The Platinum and Gold levels are now added to the “member-level-history-01” file.

The “member-level-history-01” file already had the Silver and Bronze levels applied so those levels were retained when the new Platinum and Gold levels were added.

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Remove Level(s) from Content

In this example, the checkbox to the left of the “member-level-history-01” file is checked and Remove Level(s) from Content has been selected from the Select an Action dropdown.

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The Remove Level(s) from Content popup appears and the membership levels dropdown can he used to remove levels from the file. This will result in members with the removed membership level(s) not being able to access the protected file.

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In this case, the Silver and Bronze levels are selected and the Remove Level button is clicked.

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The Silver and Bronze levels are now removed from the “member-level-history-01” file.

The “member-level-history-01” file had the Platinum and Gold levels applied previously so those levels were retained when the Silver and Bronze levels were removed.

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Toggle File Status Using the Icons

You can quickly change the file protection status for a specific file by clicking the icon that appears to the left of that file. One click will toggle to the next status and so on.

• Click the Unprotected icon and the status will be changed to Protected.
• Click the Protected icon and the status will be changed to Inherited.
• Click the Inherited icon and the status will be changed to Unprotected.

The three statuses will cycle through each option in the order mentioned above when clicked.

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WP Engine – Cache Exclude and Redirect Rule

If your site is hosted with WP Engine and you find the files are not being protected as expected, there are some adjustments WP Engine can make on their side.

You will just need to ask WP Engine to Not cache files with the following prefix in the file name:

protected-

Example: Caching should not be applied to a file named like the following (it includes the protected- prefix)

protected-integration-instructions.pdf

Please also ask WP Engine to cache exclude ^/wp-content/uploads/? and for the redirects, put in:

source: ^/wp-content/uploads/(.*)/(.*)/protected-(.*)

This should resolve potential issues with files protected on a site hosted with WP Engine.

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File Protection Video Tutorial

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WishList Member also includes a Folder Protection option. More details can be found in the Folder Protection Knowledge Base entry.

WishList Member includes the ability to protect folders and select which membership levels can access the content of those folders. This means you can upload content to those folders and only members with the corresponding membership level(s) can access what you've placed in those folders. Folder Protection is enabled by default in WishList Member so whenever you create a new membership level, WishList Member will also create a new folder for that membership level and protect it automatically. If you are interested in setting protection and access for individual files, you can check out the File Protection Knowledge Base entry.

The folder will be named based on the name of the membership level. As an example, a level named Bonus Plan would have a folder named bonus-plan.

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Folder Location

The folders are located within your file system at: <path to WordPress install>/files

If your WordPress install is located at: /public_html/ then your folders will be located at: /public_html/files/

If you have a membership level named Gold then the folder would be located at: /public_html/files/gold/

You can then navigate to this location using an FTP program and upload your files to the appropriate folder for the membership level that should be able to access those files.

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Folder Protection

The first step is enabling the Folder Protection option in the Content Protection > Folders section in WishList Member. Once enabled, you will see a list of all the folders WishList Member has created for each of your membership levels.

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There is a Force Download option for each folder. The Check mark/X icon can be toggled to set the Force Download status for the corresponding folder. Browsers will sometimes display the content of PDF files instead of downloading the actual file. If the Force Download option is enabled for a folder, the browser will not display the content of the PDF and will download it instead.

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Access to the folders can be set as protected or unprotected similar to any post or page you might protect using WishList Member.

Folder protection can be used to prevent users who don't have the assigned membership level(s) from accessing the files within the protected folder. It is possible for a member with the correct membership level to download the files once they have logged into the site.

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Folder Protection General Settings

You will find general settings for Folder Protection by clicking the blue Settings button on the top right.

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The Settings popup will appear with a selection of options

• The path to the parent folder. By default, WishList Member will create a folder named “files” in the root directory of your site. If you would like to modify the name of this primary folder, you can change it. This will be the folder all individual level folders are placed inside.
• Using Nginx? The instructions that can be followed to ensure Folder Protection will work with Nginx servers.

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The Settings popup includes three tabs with corresponding options in each tab.

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Enable Auto-Configure

If enabled, the Auto-Configure option will automatically create a new folder every time you create a new membership level in WishList Member. The membership level will also automatically be assigned access to the created folder.

The folder name is based on the membership level name and the folder name will not be changed if the membership level name is changed.

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Remove Protection

You have the option to remove protection (and access) for all folders. The Remove Protection button can be used to unprotect all folders currently being protected by WishList Member. This will also remove any membership levels that had access to the folder.

Folders will not be deleted if protection is removed and no membership levels will be able to access the folders when protection is removed.

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Reset Protection

You have the option to reset protection for all folders. The Reset Protection button can be used to reset the Folder Protection back to it's original settings. This will also create a new folder if it does not already exist and a sub-folder for each membership level will also be created (and protected).

The Reset Protection button acts as a “reset” to original Folder Protection settings.

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Set Protection and Access for Folders

You can use the Select an Action dropdown to manage the protection and access settings of your folders.

The following three options are available in the Select an Action dropdown.

• Edit Protection Status. The folder can be set as protected or unprotected.
• Add Levels. You can add the level(s) that can access the selected folder(s).
• Remove Levels. You can remove the level(s) that cannot access the selected folder(s).

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Select the checkbox to the left of the folders(s) you want to configure and select the corresponding action you want to apply to the folders(s) from the Select an Action dropdown. A popup will appear for the selected action. Adjust the setting within the popup and click the provided button to apply the action. An example is provided below for each of the three options available in the Select an Action dropdown.

Edit Protection Status

In this example, the checkbox to the left of the “diamond” folder is checked and Edit Protection Status has been selected from the Select an Action dropdown.

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The Edit Protection Status popup appears and the protection status dropdown can he used to set the desired protection status.

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In this case, the Unprotected status option is selected and the Update Protection button is clicked.

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The status of the “diamond” folder has now been updated and shows as Unprotected.

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Add Levels

In this example, the checkbox to the left of the “extra-bonus” folder is checked and Add Levels has been selected from the Select an Action dropdown.

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The Add Levels popup appears and the membership levels dropdown can he used to add levels to the folder. This will result in members with the applied membership level(s) being able to access the protected folder.

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In this case, the Bronze and Silver levels are selected and the Add Level button is clicked.

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The Bronze and Silver levels are now added to the “extra-bonus” folder.

The “extra-bonus” folder already had the Platinum level applied so that level was retained when the new Silver and Bronze levels were added.

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Remove Levels

In this example, the checkbox to the left of the “extra-bonus” folder is checked and Remove Levels has been selected from the Select an Action dropdown.

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The Remove Levels popup appears and the membership levels dropdown can he used to remove levels from the folder. This will result in members with the removed membership level(s) not being able to access the protected folder.

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In this case, the Platinum level is selected and the Remove Level button is clicked.

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The Platinum level is now removed from the “extra-bonus” folder.

The “extra-bonus” folder had the Silver and Bronze levels applied previously so those levels were retained when the Platinum level was removed.

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Toggle Folder Status Using the Icons

You can quickly change the folder protection status for a specific folder by clicking the icon that appears to the left of that folder. One click will toggle between the current status and the next status.

• Click the Unprotected icon and the status will be changed to Protected.
• Click the Protected icon and the status will be changed to Unprotected.

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Folder Protection Video Tutorial

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WishList Member also includes a File Protection option. More details can be found in the File Protection Knowledge Base entry.

Navigate to the Content Protection menu in WishList Member. In the sub-menu, you will see a sub-menu for Categories. Here you can manage your categories and any custom taxonomies that exist within your site.

The “Select an Action” dropdown box contains the following options:

• Edit Protection Status. Select between protected or unprotected.
• Add Levels. Add to the levels that have access to this category.
• Remove Levels. Remove from the levels that have access to this category.

To manage categories and/or custom taxonomies in bulk, click the checkbox next to the ones you would like to manage and select the appropriate action from the “Select an Action” dropdown box.

For each action, a pop-up will appear with the appropriate settings for that action. Once you've set those settings accordingly, click the button to execute the action.

You can also edit the protection status of a category or custom taxonomy “inline” by simply clicking the “lock” icon next to its name. This will toggle the protection status between protected, unprotected and inherited (from parent).

Navigate to the Content Protection menu in WishList Member. In the sub-menu, you will see sub-menus for posts, pages and any custom post types that have been registered for your site (and are set to display in the admin User Interface).

Select the sub-menu item you would like to manage (Example: post, page, custom post type). Each of these screens work exactly the same. So, we will use the post sub-menu screen as an example, but the sub-menu screens for pages and any custom post types will operate exactly the same way.

The purpose of this screen is to manage the protection, access and pay per post settings of your posts, pages and custom post types in bulk.

In the “Select an Action” dropdown box, you will see these options:

• Edit Protection Status. You can select between protected, unprotected and inherited.
• Add Levels. Add to the membership levels that have access to the selected posts, pages or custom post types.
• Remove Levels. Remove from the membership levels that have access to the selected posts, pages or custom post types.
• Edit Pay Per Post Status. Turn/off the pay per post feature for the selected posts, pages or custom post types. You can select between Disabled, Free and Paid.
• Manage Pay Per Post Users. Add or remove users who have access to the selected posts, pages or custom post types via the Pay Per Post feature.

To manage a set of posts in bulk, simply check the box next to the posts you want to manage and select the action you'd like to perform from the “Select an Action” dropdown box. For each action, a pop-up will appear to let you manage that action's settings. Select the settings you would like, then click the button to execute the action.

You can also edit a post, page or custom post type individually. Hover over the post, page or custom post type you would like to edit. A pencil icon will appear next to the “Date” column.

Click the icon and a pop-up will appear. Inside of this pop-up, you will be able to manage all the protection, access and pay per post settings for this individual post, page or custom post type.

Further, you can quickly manage the protection status of a post, page or custom post type simply by clicking on the “lock” icon next to its name.

Finally, you can search for posts, pages or custom post types using the search box at the top of the screen. You can search by keyword, membership level and/or post status.