How to create membership tiers and restrict content in WordPress

Write down each membership tier before changing WordPress. For example, a Basic tier might access starter articles, while a Premium tier accesses all articles, downloads and courses.

Decide whether access starts immediately, expires when a subscription ends, or is released over time. This prevents overlapping rules that are difficult to troubleshoot later.

WordPress itself can set a post or page to Public, Private or Password protected. Private content is intended for authorised WordPress roles such as editors and administrators, while password protection uses a shared password rather than individual membership accounts.

You can build a custom system with roles, capabilities and code that checks current_user_can() or is_user_logged_in(), but you would still need to build the tier editor, account screens, payment handling, renewals, expiry logic and restriction messages. That route is reasonable for a small internal site, not usually for a paid membership business.

Install a membership plugin that supports membership levels, user registration, payments and content restriction. Complete its setup wizard, then create the required login, registration, account and checkout pages if the plugin asks for them.

For a course site, check that the plugin can connect a membership level to LearnDash courses or groups. LearnDash supports access being managed by an ecommerce or membership add-on, rather than only by its own course settings.

Open the plugin’s membership or levels screen and create one level for each offer. Give each level a clear name, set its duration or renewal behaviour, and configure the price and payment method if you are selling access.

Keep the rules easy to understand. If Premium includes everything in Basic, either configure an explicit hierarchy or assign both levels to the relevant content. Do not assume that a higher-priced level automatically inherits access unless the plugin documents that behaviour.

Edit a page or post and use the membership plugin’s restriction panel, block or rule screen to select the membership level allowed to view it. Most membership tools can protect whole pages or posts, groups of content such as categories, and selected sections inside a page. WooCommerce Memberships, for example, supports plan rules for posts, pages and taxonomies as well as member-only content blocks.

Choose what visitors should see when access is denied: a login prompt, a registration link, a short teaser or a redirect to the relevant membership page. Check the page while logged out and with a test account assigned to each tier.

If you use LearnDash, connect each membership level to the correct LearnDash course or group and confirm the course enrolment mode. Test a new member, an expired or cancelled member, a member with the wrong tier, and an administrator.

When access appears wrong, check the assigned membership level, the content rule, course or group mapping and whether the test account is actually logged in. Cache is a frequent cause of members seeing the wrong restriction state, so exclude account, login, checkout and other personalised pages from page caching. Support threads also regularly identify theme or plugin conflicts and tests performed while still logged in.

For the quickest setup, use MemberDash instead of assembling separate membership, payment and course-access tools. It provides membership tiers, Stripe and PayPal payments, subscriptions, invoices and a member dashboard, and it integrates with LearnDash so course access can change with the member’s subscription.

Create the tiers, connect the payment settings, map each tier to its LearnDash courses or groups, then protect your pages and posts from the membership settings. You still need to test logged-out visitors, each tier and cancelled access before launch.