What's My Role: Membership Sites in WordPress

Roles & Capabilities are one of the more complicated (and powerful) features of WordPress. We'll be talking a logical organizational framework for setting up a Membership/Protected Content website:

• Members Plugin, for understanding the Roles & Capabilities and a non-code way to protect WordPress Content

• Defining additional roles without modifying existing ones for access

• Other plugins that help in simplifying the Admin Area and that work with Roles & Capabilities

• Resource List of Reviewed or Recommended Premium Membership/Protected Content Plugins.

You should have plenty of experience with adding users in WordPress and working with Plugins to benefit the most from this talk. This will be a technical discussion and we'll be discussing why you'd want to protect some content or protect the ability of certain users to post content.

Transcript

1. What’s My Role?
   Membership Sites in WordPress
   and Using Roles & Capabilities to Manage Workflow
   

   View Slide

2. Jim True
   Support Lead & Community Manager

   Pods Framework
   http://pods.io | @podsframework
   http://jimtrue.com | @jimtrue
   

   View Slide

3. – William Shakespeare

   “As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
   “All the World’s a Stage, and all the
   Men and Women merely players.”
   

   View Slide

4. It’s No Different with
   WordPress…
   WordPress comes with 5 built-in “Actors”
   SUBSCRIBER
   CONTRIBUTOR
   AUTHOR
   EDITOR
   ADMIN
   SUPER

   ADMIN
   In Multisite:
   GUEST
   Not Logged

   Into WP:
   

   View Slide

5. WordPress is at it’s heart a
   Publishing Platform
   So its roles come from Publishing & Editing
   Workflows & are designed to provide that type of
   control over what users can do
   SUBSCRI
   CONTRIB
   AUTHOR
   EDITOR
   ADMIN
   

   View Slide

6. Managed in WordPress with

   Roles & Capabilities
   • Users are given ROLES
   • Roles are given CAPABILITIES that define
   what they can do, see, edit or interact with.
   • Plugins can use these capabilities or add their
   own
   • Wordpress Codex Page: Roles and Capabilities
   

   View Slide

7. Post & Page Handling
   SUBSCRI
   CONTRIB
   AUTHOR
   EDITOR
   ADMIN
   EDIT PUBLISH READ DELETE
   all posts &
   pages
   all posts &
   pages
   all posts &
   pages
   all posts &
   pages
   all posts &
   pages
   all posts &
   pages
   all posts &
   pages
   all posts &
   pages
   only their

   own
   only their

   own
   all, except
   private
   only their

   own
   only their

   own
   all, except
   private
   only their

   own
   all, except
   private
   

   View Slide

8. Example of Capabilities
   ADMIN
   edit_posts
   edit_others_posts
   publish_posts
   read_private_posts
   read
   delete_posts
   delete_private_posts
   delete_published_posts
   delete_others_posts
   edit_private_posts
   edit_published_posts
   edit_pages
   edit_other_pages
   publish_pages
   read_private_pages
   read
   delete_pages
   delete_private_pages
   delete_published_pages
   delete_others_pages
   edit_private_pages
   edit_published_pages
   Post Capabilities Page Capabilities
   

   View Slide

9. Wouldn’t it be great if there
   was a tool to manage this?
   This is all REALLY
   Confusing, isn’t it?
   

   View Slide

10. Members Plugin
    https://wordpress.org/plugins/members/

    http://themehybrid.com/plugins/members
    

    View Slide

11. Members Plugin
    • Provides Role & Capability Manager
    • Enables Content Permissions
    • Allows users to be assigned multiple roles
    • Enables Login Widget
    • Make a Private ONLY Site
    • All of the above, managed under

    Settings, Members
    

    View Slide

12. ADMIN
    Members: Role Manager
    Edit Roles and all of their capabilities from a simple
    to use interface. Reads capabilities from ALL plugins!
    

    View Slide

13. Members: Content Permissions Editor
    Allow easy selection of who’s
    allowed to see the content on
    the Page or the Post.
    Also works with Custom Post
    Types!
    Can also access with shortcodes
    in the content:

    [members_access
    role=“editor”]

    [/members_access]
    role or capability
    

    View Slide

14. Members DEMO
    

    View Slide

15. • eCommerce Member Site
    • Drip Content
    • Member access to Content
    • ALL Front-end
    Restricting Content

    by User Role
    vs
    • Works with Roles &
    Capabilities
    • Use Back-end Admin to
    Manage Workflow &
    Access
    • ALL Back-End
    Managing Users
    & Workflow
    How is this useful?
    

    View Slide

16. Membership eCommerce Sites
    • Video Rental & Virtual Training Websites
    • Club Membership Sites or Private Communities
    • Online Courses or Coaching Sites (lynda.com)
    • Pay to Read /Use Websites, Law or Medical
    Libraries
    • Premium Support Sites
    

    View Slide

17. Membership Site: Requirements
    • eCommerce Gateway/Process
    • User Profile Editor and Account Management
    • “Drip Content Delivery”
    • Email Marketing tie-in for Drip Sales, Expiring Notices,
    Invoices, etc.
    • Easy to Manage Content Permissions
    • Good Hosting & SSL Certificate (for secure eCommerce)
    

    View Slide

18. MemberPress
    https://www.memberpress.com/
    $119/year or $239/year Developer
    Easy to use and manage, automatically sets up pricing, login, signup
    and thank you pages. Built-in Content Access control and Content
    ‘Dripping’ as well as eMail Marketing & payment gateways.
    

    View Slide

19. Restrict Content Pro
    https://restrictcontentpro.com/
    $99 - $249/year or $499/one-time Developer
    By the makers of Easy Digital Downloads, good integration with that
    system and solid set of add-ons, that provide much of the functionality
    from MemberPress. Excellent Support.
    

    View Slide

20. LearnDash
    https://www.learndash.com/
    $129/year single site - $299/year unlimited
    LMS (Learning Management Suite), designed specifically for
    course management and delivery of online learning materials.
    

    View Slide

21. How do you choose?
    • Only providing content restriction? MemberPress
    • Also selling Digital Goods for download? Restrict Content
    Pro
    • Setting up an entire Online Course curriculum including
    enrollment, scheduled courses, certificates of completion,
    etc? LearnDash
    • More Pros & Cons and reviews listed at:

    WPBeginner 5 Best WordPress Membership Plugins
    Compared (2017)
    

    View Slide

22. Using WordPress to Manage
    Workflow
    • Use the Back-end Admin to build an application
    around what the Client needs to streamline or
    simplify their business processes.
    • Use Roles/Capabilities, Dashboard Views, Admin
    Menus and Custom Post Types to build a
    PROCESS.
    

    View Slide

23. Workflow Management Sites
    • Project Management or Job Queue Process
    • Support Ticket System or Help Desk
    • Lead Generation or CRM
    • Appointment Management
    • Property Management
    • Limitless possibilities (honestly)
    

    View Slide

24. Planning a Solution
    Dispatch
    Design
    Manager
    Job comes in
    from Client
    Assigns Priority,
    Enters into System
    Attaches
    Design to Job
    Routes to
    Design
    Updates Date
    Completed
    and Notes
    Routes for

    Approval
    Approves or

    Rejects Design
    Adds Notes

    & Comments
    Back to
    Dispatch
    

    View Slide

25. Tools Used to Manage Workflow
    • Members Plugin for Job Roles
    • Pods for Clients & Job Queues
    • Admin Columns Pro with Pods Add-on for Inline Editing and
    Management through the Table List
    • OPTIONAL: ClientDash for Dashboard and Menu Customization
    • WP Help for in site Documentation
    • Tabify Edit Screen for Metabox Management
    • Widget Builder for Custom Dashboard Widgets (not compatible
    with ClientDash)
    

    View Slide

26. Workflow Demos
    As many as we have time for…
    

    View Slide

27. Questions?
    

    View Slide

28. Jim True
    Support Lead & Community Manager

    Pods Framework
    http://pods.io | @podsframework
    http://jimtrue.com | @jimtrue
    

    View Slide

29. Tampa Bay WordPress
    Meetups Monthly in St Pete @ Iron Yard

    1st Thursdays every Month
    http://tampabaywp.org | @tampabaywp
    Slack Chat | Facebook Group | Meetup
    

    View Slide