BEGINNER'S GUIDE

How to Create a Subscription Website in WordPress? (Detailed Guide)

Last Updated: 16 mins By: Akriti Pant

Looking to create a subscription website but want to skip the technical hassles? Great news—you can set it up in under an hour, and no coding is required!

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to set up your subscription website, no fluff, no jargon—just what you need to get started immediately.

Let’s make it happen together!

What You’ll Need to Make a Subscription Website?

Before building your subscription website, let’s quickly gather all the essential pieces. Don’t worry, the setup is simpler than you might think! Here’s your starter pack for success:

1. WordPress Website with Proper Theme Installation

Do you already have a WordPress website? – skip ahead. Otherwise, you’ll need:

  • A domain name for your subscription website
  • WordPress hosting (many providers like Bluehost or Hostinger include a free domain for the first year)
  • WordPress installation

Once that’s done, proceed with theme installation. You should choose a WordPress theme that is compatible with most plugins. Also, it would be better if it had a demo site for a subscription website.

For that I recommend the Zakra theme, which provides ready-made demo sites for subscription websites and is optimized for SEO and conversions!

Zakra Theme Official Website

2. Decide on the Type of Subscription Site You’re Trying to Build

Before building your subscription website, clarify the type of site you want—whether it’s for news, entertainment, lifestyle, or e-commerce.

This will help you choose the right plugins and add-ons. If you’re offering free memberships, you can skip the payment setup.

For paid memberships, you’ll need to configure a payment system. A clear vision will streamline the process and ensure your site meets your goals.


3. User Registration plugin with Membership Option

WordPress, by default, allows you to enable user registration, but it’s just for basic registration. To create a subscription website, you must use WordPress membership plugins like User Registration.

The User Registration plugin offers a Membership add-on that enables visitors to subscribe to your plans. It also has other essential add-ons like content restriction, conditional logic, etc.

User Registration Official Website to Make a Subscription Website

In the next section, I’ll show you the step-by-step guide on installing the User Registration plugin.


4. A plugin that supports payment gateway

You’ll need a payment gateway for your membership site, and User Registration has got you covered.

With premium add-ons like PayPal, Stripe, Coupons, and Payment History, you can get everything for the membership site. You don’t need extra payment plugins at all.

Security Tip: Payments are securely processed through PayPal/Stripe, so there is no need to worry about security.

Thus, with User Registration, one plugin is all you need to build your subscription site.


5. Setup Time (40-60 min)

Here’s your setup time breaks down:

  • Basic installation: 5-10 minutes
  • Payment setup: 10-15 minutes
  • Membership plans: 10-15 minutes
  • Content protection: 10-15 minutes
  • Testing: 5 minutes

That’s it! No coding skills needed, no complex technical requirements, and no expensive software to buy. With these basics ready, you can create your subscription website.

Ready to start building? Let’s move on to the installation process!


How do you Make a Subscription Website in WordPress? (Step-by-Step Guide)

In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through building a subscription website using the Zakra theme.

For this demonstration, we’ll use the Yoga 02 demo, a design specifically tailored for subscription-based websites.

Just follow the steps outlined below to get started!

Step 1: Install User Registration Plugin

First, you’ll need the User Registration Pro plugin to access essential features for a subscription website. The plugin offers various plans, so choose one that fits your requirements.

User Registration Pro Pricing

After purchasing the plugin, log in to your account dashboard.

Message Received After Buying User Registration

Under the Downloads section, download the zip file for User Registration Pro.

Download User Registration Pro Zip File

Also, copy your license key from the License Keys tab and keep it safe for later use.

Copy License Key for User Registration

Next, head to your WordPress dashboard to install and activate the plugin:

  • Go to Plugins >> Add New Plugin and upload the downloaded zip file.
  • Click Install Now and then Activate.
Upload and Install User Registration Pro

Once activated, you’ll see the setup wizard. Continue by clicking the Get Started button, or skip to the dashboard.

Now, you’ll be prompted to enter the license key. Paste the key you copied earlier.

Enter License Key for User Registration

For a detailed guide, here’s our step-by-step tutorial on setting up User Registration Plugin.

It’s time to set up your subscription website by enabling the membership feature and other necessary add-ons.


Step 2: Set up Membership and Payment Addons

As you’ve installed the User Registration Pro plugin, you can access its powerful features and add-ons.

To start, go to User Registration >> Extensions and open the Add-ons tab. Scroll through the list and enable the Membership add-on. You can also use the search bar to locate it quickly.

Enable Membership Addon

For a paid subscription plan, you’ll need to define how your subscribers will make payments:

  • If you only plan to provide bank details, no additional add-ons are required.
  • To offer payment options like PayPal or Stripe, enable their respective add-ons from the All Modules tab.
Enable User Registration Payment Addon

Next, configure your payment settings:

  1. Navigate to User Registration >> Settings >> Payments and select your preferred currency.
  2. Enter your Stripe details (if you want to take payment through it) and enable Test Mode to test payments if needed. For PayPal, you’ll need to set up the details while creating the membership plan.
  3. Click Save Changes to apply the settings.
Set Payment Details

Also, make sure you have enabled registration on your WordPress site. To confirm, navigate to Settings to see if you’ve enabled Anyone can register.

Enable Anyone Can Register

If you haven’t, enable it and hit Save Changes.


Step 3: Install Payment History Addon

The Payment History add-on provides a detailed, searchable list of all orders received through your membership forms. It allows you to:

  • View and manage transactions, including pending and approved payments.
  • Approve transactions directly as an admin.

To enable this feature, click User Registration >> All Modules in your WordPress dashboard. Locate the Payment History add-on and toggle it on.

Payment History Addon

Step 4: Start Creating Membership Plans

With the add-ons and payment settings ready, you can now create your membership plans! Navigate to User Registration >> Memberships and click Create New Membership.

Create New Membership Button

Next, add a name, description, and toggle the button to enable the membership.

Now, use the dropdown to select the role for your subscribers. Choose the appropriate membership type and set the price.

Create Membership and Add Details

For this tutorial, I’ll create a subscription-based membership for a yoga website with three subscription plans: Beginner, Advanced, and Core.

So, let me first create a membership for beginners.

Membership Type & Price

The User Registration plugin offers three membership types to suit different needs:

Membership Type and Price
  1. Free:
    Allows users to register for free on your site. If you select the Free plan, you can directly create a membership without additional payment settings.
  2. Paid:
    Members pay once for lifetime access. Set the payment amount and details when selecting this option.
  3. Subscription Based:
    Members pay regularly through recurring payments. Set the payment amount and renewal duration. Optionally enable a trial period with its duration.

Pro Tip: Many successful membership sites combine these options to create a tiered system. For example:

  • Free tier: Basic content and community access
  • Paid tier: Premium content with one-time payment
  • Subscription tier: VIP content with regular updates

Select the type based on your content and preference. Next, enable the desired payment gateways (e.g., PayPal, Stripe, or Bank Transfer).

Set Membership Plans and Payments

For each payment gateway, enter the necessary details by clicking the drop-down button. In this tutorial, I am using PayPal payment, so let’s add the details.

PayPal

  • PayPal Email: Add the associated email of your PayPal account
  • Mode: Sandbox for testing and Production for going live
  • Cancel URL: URL of the page where you want to return users if they cancel the payment
  • Return URL: URL of the page where you want to return users after they make the payment.
  • Client ID: ID provided by PayPal
  • Client Secret: Secret key provided by PayPal
Enable Paypal Payment and Enter Details

Bank

For Bank transfers, you can write a message in the text box and enter the bank details where you want members to send the amount.

Similarly, enable Stripe if you want users to make payments through it. And enter the details.

Next, click on Create Membership once everything is set.

Click on Create Membership

You can also edit the Membership after creating it, but don’t forget to hit Save once you have made the changes.

Similarly, you can create a membership for other plans, as I have created in the picture below. To see all the membership plans you’ve created, click on the Memberships tab.

Membership Plans

List Membership Plans

You can now show all available subscription options on your site using the shortcode.

Paste the shortcode [user_registration_membership_listing] on your preferred page or the post. It’ll list all your membership plans, making it easy for visitors to choose.

Membership Listing

You can find the shortcodes in User Registration >> Help >> Shortcodes. Let’s move on to configuring the page settings!


Step 5: Add Membership Form to a Page/Post

After listing the membership plans, you’ve to link the membership form so visitors can subscribe to your plan.

You can create a membership page, add the form to it, and later link the membership page to buttons like Sign Up or anything else.

Create the Membership Form Page

Go to Pages >> Add New in your WordPress dashboard. Give your page a clear title (e.g., “Membership Form).

Next, copy the shortcode [user_registration_membership_member_registration_form] and paste it into the page content area. Once you’re happy with the setup, click Publish.

Here’s the page with the membership form; you can check in incognito mode:

Membership Form Page

Create a Thank You Page

The thank you page is for displaying after the visitor subscribes to your plan. Hence, add and title another new page (e.g., “Thank You”).

Copy and paste the shortcode: [user_registration_membership_thank_you]. Publish the page to save your changes.


Configure Membership Page Settings

In the previous steps, I created the membership plans and a membership form page. Now, let’s link the membership form page to the membership plans.

This way, when visitors click the Sign Up button in the membership plan listing, they’ll be redirected to the membership form page.

Navigate to User Registration >> Membership >> Settings.

Navigate to Membership Settings

Under Member Registration Form Page, select the Membership Form page you created earlier.

Select Membership Page

Next, choose the Thank You Page to display after users subscribe.

Hit on Save Changes once you have completed the page settings. That’s it; now you have created a subscription website.

Save the Changes

Step 6: Set Up My Account Page for Subscriber Login

When you install the User Registration plugin, a default My Account page is automatically created for you. This page includes a login form and serves as the main access point for subscribers to log in and view their dashboard.

Once admin approves the subscription, subscribers can log in through the My Account page using their username and password.

To make the login page easily accessible, you can link it to your site’s header menu. For instance, I added a “My Account” tab to the header, which links to the login page.

To do this, simply:

  1. Copy the shortcode [user_registration_my_account].
  2. Paste it into the My Account page.
My Account Page for Members

Using a flexible theme like Zakra, you can customize the header to match your site’s design seamlessly.

Once the subscriber logs in, their dashboard provides access to features such as:

  • Viewing membership details
  • Managing their account, such as changing profile pictures or passwords
  • Canceling their membership
Subscriber Dashboard

They can also perform additional settings like changing user profile pictures, changing passwords, and so on through the dashboard.


Step 7: Restrict Content with Content Restriction Addon

To control who can access specific content based on their membership plan, you need to restrict and give access to the members.

For example, you might want to prevent beginner members from viewing content meant for advanced users. You can easily set this up using the Content Restriction Add-on.

1. Assign Tags to Your Content

To manage content access, add tags to your content so it’ll be easy to restrict and give access later. For instance:

  • Tag beginner content as “Beginner.”
  • Tag advanced content as “Advanced.”
  • Tag core membership content as “Core.”
Add Tag to Content

Tags help define which content belongs to which membership plan.


2. Enable Content Restriction Addon and Set Up Content Rules

Next, enable the Content Restriction Add-on from User Registration >> Extensions >> All Modules.

Enable Content Restriction Addon

Now, go to User Registration >> Content Rules and click on Add Rule to start creating restrictions for your content. You can refresh the dashboard and check if you don’t see Content Rules.

Add Content Rules

Give a name to the rule, select the access control, and hit Continue. For example, let’s restrict core members’ content to beginner members. So, I will set it up accordingly:

Access Control Name
Set Membership Access Rules

Under the Add Field section, select Membership.

Access Control Settings

Choose the membership plan for which you’re setting the rule (e.g., Beginner).

Choose Membership Plan for Access Control

In the Target Contents section, click Add Field and select how you want to restrict content. You can restrict content as per post types, taxonomy, pick posts, pick pages, or the whole site.

Here, I am restricting the target content based on the tag I gave.

Select Target Contents

For example, to restrict beginner members from accessing core member’s content, I will select the tag – core.

Define Actions

Go to the Action Tab to define what happens when members try to access restricted content. You can redirect them to a specific page, display a custom message, or use other options.

Select Action for Content Rules

Once everything is ready, click Create Rule to save your settings.

Access Content Action

If the beginner member tries to access the core member’s content, they’ll get the error as shown in the image below:

Content Restriction Example

Now, similarly, you can create other content rules for each membership plan to ensure proper access control:

  • Beginner Members: Restrict access to Advanced and Core content and grant access to Beginner members.
  • Advanced Members: Restrict access to Core and Beginner and grant access to Advanced content.
  • Core Members: Restrict access to beginner and advanced content and grant access to core content.

And that’s it! With content restriction, you can offer tailored content for each membership level, creating a better experience for your subscribers.

You can also restrict access to non-registered members or define user roles to restrict pages and posts.

That’s how you make a subscription website. Let’s test it.


Step 7: Test Your Membership Site

Before launching your membership site, it’s important to test it thoroughly from both the user’s perspective and as an admin. Here’s how you can do it:

Testing as a Subscriber

To experience your membership site as a user, visit your site or membership page in a private/incognito browser window. This ensures you view the site as a new user without logged-in privileges affecting your experience.

Next, subscribe to one of your membership plans by clicking the signup button. The membership form will appear exactly as your users will see it.

Fill out the form and submit your details to complete the signup process. If you choose the Bank Transfer option, you’ll see the bank details provided for users to send their payment.

Test Subscription Site

Alternatively, if you’ve enabled PayPal or other payment gateways, test them by completing a payment using your account to ensure everything functions smoothly.

Once the signup process is complete, you’ll be redirected to the Thank You Page, confirming your subscription.

Now, you try to log in through the My Account page, you’ll see the error below:

Error While Logging In

That’s because the admin hasn’t approved it yet.


Testing as an Admin

As an admin, you can view and manage the members who subscribe to your plans. Here’s how :

View and Manage Members

Go to your WordPress dashboard and visit User Registration >> Membership >> Members. Here, you’ll find a list of all members, including approved and pending ones.

Pending Members: These are users who’ve signed up but haven’t completed their payment yet or the admin hasn’t approved the subscription.

Next, you can select any member to view or update their details right from the dashboard.

View Members
Check Payment Details and Approve Users

Head to User Registration >> Payment History to review all payment transactions. This includes information about the payment status, method, and more.

Click on View next to a member to open their transaction details in a pop-up window.

Payment History Tab

If a member has used the Bank Transfer option, you’ll need to manually approve their membership after confirming the payment.

Approve Member

Simply click Approve in the transaction details.

Instant Approvals for PayPal

Payments made via PayPal or other instant payment gateways will automatically approve the user once the transaction is complete.

By monitoring your members and payment history, you ensure smooth management of your subscription site. Keep things organized, and you’re all set to grow your community!

Now, the subscriber can log in and access their content. And the subscription site is fully ready.


Step 8: Add other Essential Addons

You can enhance your subscription site by adding other useful add-ons to improve functionality and user experience.

  • Coupons: Create and manage coupon codes to offer discounts to your members
  • File Upload: Allow members to upload files as part of their membership forms.
  • Conditional Logic: Personalize forms by showing or hiding fields based on user inputs.
  • Two-Factor Authentication: Add an extra layer of security for your subscribers.

Ready to Launch Your Subscription Site?

Remember, every successful subscription website started exactly where you are now. The key is to take action and start building.

With the User Registration plugin and the steps above, you’re well-equipped to create a thriving subscription business.

If you need help, User Registration’s documentation and support team are always there to help you maximize your membership site’s potential.

For more of such insightful articles, visit our blog page.

Happy reading!

How to Create a Subscription Website in WordPress? (Detailed Guide)
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