How to Build a Membership Site With MemberPress

Turning your WordPress site into a membership business is one of the best ways to create predictable recurring revenue. MemberPress is a powerful plugin that lets you sell access to content, communities, and digital products without needing to write custom code.

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll install and configure MemberPress, set up payment gateways, create membership levels, protect your content, and test the full signup flow. Along the way, you’ll learn best practices that separate a messy membership from a professional, scalable setup.

If you’re still comparing tools, you can see how MemberPress stacks up against other options in this overview of the best WordPress membership plugins. Once you’ve chosen MemberPress, follow this tutorial to build your site the right way from day one.

Prerequisites

Before you install MemberPress, make sure you have the essentials in place. These will prevent common setup issues and performance bottlenecks later.

• Self-hosted WordPress site: WordPress installed on a reliable host with HTTPS (SSL) enabled.
• Admin access: A WordPress administrator account so you can install plugins and change settings.
• MemberPress license & plugin ZIP: Purchase a MemberPress plan and download the plugin ZIP from your MemberPress account.
• Payment gateway account(s): Stripe, PayPal, or other supported gateways you plan to accept payments with.
• Decent hosting plan: Membership sites are logged-in heavy, so avoid underpowered shared hosting. See this guide on choosing the right WordPress hosting if you’re unsure.

Step 1: Install and Activate MemberPress

First you’ll add the MemberPress plugin to your WordPress site and connect your license key. This unlocks all the membership, payment, and automation features.

1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Go to Plugins » Add New, then click Upload Plugin.
3. Click Choose File, select the memberpress.zip file you downloaded from your MemberPress account, then click Install Now.
4. After installation, click Activate Plugin.
5. In the left menu, you should now see a new MemberPress section. Click MemberPress » Activate License (or MemberPress » Settings > License tab, depending on your version).
6. Paste in your license key from your MemberPress account dashboard, then click Activate License Key.

Step 2: Configure MemberPress Core Settings

Next, you’ll configure the global settings that affect checkout, account pages, and email behavior. Getting these right early saves you from fixing broken flows later.

1. Go to MemberPress » Settings.
2. On the General tab:
   • Set your Business Name and Business Address (used on invoices/receipts).
   • Choose your Currency, Currency Symbol, and Position (e.g., USD, $ before amount).
   • Confirm your Timezone matches your WordPress settings so expiration dates and payment schedules are accurate.
3. Go to the Pages tab:
   • Click the Generate Pages button if MemberPress hasn’t already created your Account, Thank You, and Login pages.
   • Verify each page is correctly assigned in the dropdowns.
4. Open the Emails tab:
   • Customize admin notifications so you receive alerts for new signups, failed payments, and cancellations.
   • Click the email titles to adjust subject lines and content that members receive (e.g., “Welcome” or “Your subscription has renewed”).

Step 3: Set Up Payment Gateways

Payment gateways process your customers’ subscriptions and one-time payments. MemberPress supports popular providers like Stripe and PayPal so you can accept credit cards securely.

1. In WordPress, go to MemberPress » Settings » Payments.
2. Click + Add Payment Method.
3. Enter a descriptive Name such as “Credit Card (Stripe)” or “PayPal”.
4. Choose the Gateway type from the dropdown (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, Offline).
5. Fill in the required API keys or credentials. MemberPress provides helpful links or “Connect” buttons to authorize Stripe and PayPal securely.
6. Click Update Options at the bottom to save.

Repeat these steps for each payment method you want to offer. Many sites start with Stripe for cards and PayPal as an additional option.

Step 4: Create Your MemberPress Membership Site Levels

Membership levels define what customers pay and what they receive in return. You might have a single “All Access” level or multiple tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold) with different benefits.

1. Go to MemberPress » Memberships.
2. Click Add New to create your first membership.
3. Enter a clear Membership Title, like “Pro Course Library” or “Monthly Coaching Membership”.
4. In the Membership Terms box, set:
   • Price (e.g., 29).
   • Billing Type (One-Time, Recurring, or Lifetime).
   • Interval (e.g., monthly, yearly) for recurring memberships.
5. Use the main content editor area to describe what’s included, who it’s for, and how members benefit.
6. Scroll down to the Membership Options meta box:
   • Under Registration, you can enable or disable coupons, customize the signup button text, and control whether to show fields like username or name.
   • Under Permissions, decide whether this MemberPress Membership Site is publicly available or only accessible via direct links.
7. Click Publish to save the membership.

Step 5: Protect Content With MemberPress Rules

Rules determine which content is restricted and which membership levels can access it. This is where you connect your memberships to actual posts, pages, or custom post types like courses.

1. In the WordPress dashboard, go to MemberPress » Rules.
2. Click Add New.
3. In the Protected Content dropdown, choose what you want to protect:
   • All content with a specific category or tag (e.g., all posts in the “Members” category).
   • Specific posts, pages, or custom post types.
   • Children of a particular page (great for course modules under a parent course page).
4. In the Access Conditions area, set which membership(s) can access that content. For example:
   • Membership is “Pro Course Library”.
   • Or use “Membership is Gold OR Silver” for multi-tier access.

5. Scroll down and review any Drip / Expiration options if you want content to unlock gradually or expire after a set time.
6. Click Save Rule.

Repeat this process to cover all of your members-only areas. A good pattern is to assign a WordPress category (e.g., “Members Only”) to anything that should be hidden, then create a single rule to protect that category.

Step 6: Build Your Membership Pages and Navigation

Members need an easy way to sign up, log in, and manage their accounts. MemberPress creates some of these pages automatically, but you should customize them and make them easy to find.

1. Go to MemberPress » Settings » Pages and confirm that:
   • Thank You Page
   • Account Page
   • Login Page

   are all properly assigned and published.

2. Create a dedicated “Pricing” or “Join” page:
   • Go to Pages » Add New.
   • Give it a title like “Join the Community” or “Pricing”.
   • Insert your membership pricing table. You can either:
     • Manually list each Memberpress membership site with a signup button using the MemberPress pricing table shortcode; or
     • Use the automatic pricing page option from the Memberships screen if available.
3. Add your login and account links to the main navigation:
   • Go to Appearance » Menus.
   • Select your main menu and click the Pages box.
   • Add the Login and Account pages to the menu and click Save Menu.

Step 7: Test the Complete Membership Flow

Before you launch, thoroughly test the full experience as if you were a new customer. This is where you catch broken links, misconfigured rules, and payment issues.

1. Open an incognito or private browsing window so you’re not logged in as an admin.
2. Visit your new Pricing/Join page and click a membership signup button.
3. Complete the checkout using your payment gateway’s test card or sandbox account.
4. Confirm that:
   • You’re redirected to the correct Thank You page.
   • You receive the expected welcome email.
   • You can log into the Account page and see your subscription details.
5. Try accessing a restricted post or course:
   • Without being logged in: you should see the non-member message or be redirected to login/signup.
   • When logged in as a member: you should see the full content.

Step 8: Optimize Emails, Coupons, and Reporting

Once the basics work, you can turn your MemberPress Membership Site into a polished, conversion-focused membership with better communication and offers.

1. Configure automated emails:
   • Go to MemberPress » Options » Emails (or the Emails tab in Settings).
   • Customize the wording and branding for welcome emails, renewal reminders, and failed payment notices.
2. Set up coupons for promotions:
   • Go to MemberPress » Coupons and click Add New.
   • Create launch discounts, annual-plan promos, or loyalty rewards for existing members.
3. Review MemberPress reports:
   • Use MemberPress » Reports to monitor signups, churn, and revenue.
   • Identify which membership levels and campaigns perform best so you can double down on what’s working.

Launch Your MemberPress Membership Site With Confidence

By now, you’ve installed MemberPress, configured the core settings, connected payment gateways, created membership levels, protected your content with rules, and tested the full signup flow. You have the core of a professional membership business running on WordPress.

From here, your main job is to keep improving your offer, content, and onboarding experience. Start simple with one or two membership tiers, listen to member feedback, and refine over time. With MemberPress handling access and billing behind the scenes, you can focus on delivering value and growing recurring revenue.

Further Reading

• How to Use Email Marketing With WordPress
• Beginner Guide to Analytics Setup for WordPress
• WordPress Maintenance and Backup Plan for Site Owners
• Best WordPress E-Commerce Plugins Compared

Frequently Asked Questions