With inCMS you can create a website with pages that are accessible for members only.
You can use this for example for sharing courses or other content for which customers have to pay; or for confidential information you'd like to protect with a password. It's also possible to give access to a new page in a certain time-period (e.g. each week access to a new class of the course).
This article explains how to set up such a Member Page. It explains how to set up restricted pages, how to add members and define their authorisations. You will find more information on linking this with a payment system in this article: Create and link products with Digistore24.
Create a Member Page
First, login to inCMS and go to Member Pages. Create a new website (the way you usually do) or login to an existing website.
Activate Member Functionalities
When logged into a website (in our Member Pages section), go to Settings in the menu on the left. Go to General Settings. Scroll down till the section "Expert mode". Activate the checkbox for "Member - Digistore24". Click "save and close" (at the top of the page).
Even when you don't plan to use the Digistore24 payment platform, you will need to activate this checkbox to activate the Member Page functionalities.
For a video (in the old inCMS design), see: Activate member Digistore24 in the expert mode.
Set up the Member Website
A typical Member Website will contain at least the following:
- A homepage with general info and, for example, the option to register as a member
- A login page
- Restricted pages with content for members only
- A page with an overview of all content (which helps member to navigate through the website)
It's best to first sketch the structure of your member website, for example by doing this by hand with pencil and paper. Make sure to include pages as described above, to define what pages or content should be restricted (and what should be public) and to ensure easy navigation for a website visitor.
Restricted pages
A restricted page is a webpage that is only visible to members. You can later define whether all members can access this page or only certain members.
Create and edit the webpage and its content as per usual. To make it restricted, click on "edit page settings" (top right). A new tab appears. Here, you can define the restriction settings. You have 3 options:
- No settings (everyone can see this page)
- Restricted = yes (only members can see this page)
- If authenticated, hide (only non-members or members that are not logged in yet can see this page; this can be used for a subscribe page for example)
Once you've set the page to "restricted = yes" the subpage icon (in the website tree on the left) will be shown with a lock icon. This way you have an overview of which pages are restricted and which not.
Login page
The login page is a subpage which will show login fields. Here members can login to the website. Create a page and add explaining text. As everyone should be able to access this page, this page should NOT be restricted.
Note: Member Page Templates will already have such a page.
Insert the login fields by clicking on the plus symbol. A popup menu appears. Go to the section "Access" and click on "Member Auth". Next, click on Login. The login-module will be added to the page. A menu appears to add the login settings. Here you can select, for example, the login button design, and (most important) where a logged in member should be redirected to. This could be, for example, a welcome page or a page with an overview of all content.
Your Member website has now a login page and a restricted page. It should also have a (restricted) page where members are redirected to after login.
For a video (in the old inCMS Design), see: Create a restricted page and login page.
See also: Redirect members after login or logout.
Add Tags (so you can later add Members)
Before you can add members, you need to create a member tag structure. Tags are like labels that you can link to customers or other people (-> your members). A tag defines to which restricted page(s) someone with that tag will have access to. These tags make it easier to give a member access to several subpages or logical groups of subpages.
To create a tag click on "Members" in the menu on the left. Click on the folder symbol with the plus. A tab appears. Here you can name the tag and set to which page(s) the tag gives access to. This can be one page or multiple pages. If you click on the tick box of a "parent page", all "sub pages" will be automatically added too. In this example: if a tag would give access to "overview courses" it would automatically also check the checkboxes for course 1, course 2 and course 3.
Click "save and close" when you've made your settings.
If you'd like to open and change a tag later on, click on the icon with the folder and the pencil. If you'd like to delete the tag, click on the icon of the folder with the stop sign.
Add Members
This article describes how to add members manually.
To import members, click here: Import members. For giving access to members after paying with Digistore24, click here: Create and link products with Digistore24.
In the same section as the tags, click on "show all members". A new tab appears, giving an overview of all members. This will be empty off course, when you're setting up the website.
To add a member (a customer or a test-member, so you can test the website), click on "+ Add". A new tab appears. Here you can add personal information of this member (like address), create a login username and password, and define which tags this member should have. Click on "save and close".
Note: the username should be an email address.
Now you can test your Member Website. Try to login with this member username and password and see if you can get access to the restricted subpages this member should have access to.
To edit member details (for example to add a tag), go to the overview that shows all members. Double click on a member to edit his or her settings. In the member overview you can also deactivate or delete members by selecting them and clicking on the buttons top right.
For a video (in the old inCMS design), see: Create members and tags.
The Member Auth Container
With restricted pages you define for an entire page whether someone can see it or not. However, sometimes you would like to show just a certain text, button or image to someone, depending on whether they're a member or not. For this purpose you can use the Member Auth Container.
To add the Member Auth Container, click on the plus symbol. Go to the Access Section and click on "Member Auth". Then, select "Container". A popup menu appears. Here you can define to whom the content of this container should be shown: members with a certain tag, or website visitors who haven't logged in yet or are not a member (unauthenticated visitors). You can also define to hide this content for a specific group of members. Make your settings and click "save".
Once you've created the container, you can insert other elements in it: text, images, etc. You can, for example, make a page with an overview of your courses. For members with tag course 1 you can then create a Member Auth Container with a button to go directly to this page of your website. For visitors without this tag you can add another Member Auth Container and insert a button to sign up for this course.
For a video (in the old inCMS design), click here: Member auth container.
Finally
This article described the main functionalities you need to set up a Member Website. We recommend you to create a simple test website first, when making a Member Site for the first time (and before creating a bigger and more complicated site). Creating a test site will help you to understand the different functionalities and how they're related. It will also help you to understand how to create the most efficient and easy to navigate website in the long term.
If you have any questions, please contact our support at support@swissmademarketing.com.