Content Restriction Overview

The Content Restriction feature lets you control who can access specific content on your site based on memberships, user data, and flexible rule conditions.

How you manage content access depends on your plan:

Free version – Content restriction only through membership Access settings

PRO version – Dedicated Content Rules interface with Membership Rules and Custom Rules

Content Restriction in the Free Version

In the free version, there is no Content Rules dashboard. All content access is managed per membership plan.

Configure Membership Access

Go to User Registration & Membership → Memberships

Click Edit on the membership plan you want to configure

Click the Access tab at the top

This is the only place where free users can define which content a membership can access.

Membership Access Section

The Access section inside a membership defines what content members of that plan can view. From here, you can control access to:

Basic Content Restriction: Provide access to individual pages, posts, or the whole site.

The entire site

Selected pages

Specific posts

Advanced Content Restriction (PRO Only)

Custom post types

Menu items

Supported taxonomies (such as categories and tags)

Custom URI

File Downloads (available when the File Downloads add-on is enabled)

Content Drip (available when the Content Drip Addon add-on is enabled)

These access settings are automatically applied when a user has an active membership for that plan.

How This Works Internally

Although free users configure access from the Membership Access screen, these rules are internally treated as membership content rules.

In the PRO version, these same rules become visible under the Content Rules > Membership Rules tab.

Content Rules in User Registration & Membership PRO

The PRO version introduces a dedicated Content Rules interface for centralized content management.

With Content Rules, you can:

View and manage membership-based access rules in one place

Create custom content restriction rules using advanced conditions

Apply access control to pages, posts, files, taxonomies, and more

However, the Content Rules menu is not enabled by default.

Content Rules are available only in the PRO version and must be enabled manually.

Enable Content Restriction Addon (Required)

The Content Rules menu is not enabled by default, even in PRO.

Go to User Registration & Membership > Addons

Locate Content Restriction

Toggle the addon to activate.

Content Rules Overview (PRO)

Once activated, a new submenu appears at: User Registration & Membership > Content Rules

The Content Rules screen includes two tabs:

Membership Rule: Rules that come from membership Access settings.

Custom Rules: Additional, flexible rules you create manually (PRO-only).

Membership Rules Tab (PRO)

The Membership Rules tab shows all content access rules created from memberships.

This is a centralized view of membership access.

Each rule corresponds to a Membership Access rule.

Editing a Membership Rule updates that membership’s access configuration.

Each Membership Rule in the Membership Rules tab is divided into two main parts:

Rule

Restriction Message

These sections work together to define who gets access, what they can access, and what non-members see when access is restricted.

Membership Access and Membership Rules represent the same rules, viewed from different entry points.

Rule

The Rule section controls the actual access logic and is further divided into:

Condition

The Condition defines which membership plan the rule applies to.

Membership Rules always use Membership-based conditions

The condition is automatically set based on the membership plan

Non-membership conditions (roles, dates, fields, etc.) are not available here

You cannot create new rules directly from this tab. Only one Membership Rule is permitted per membership plan.

Access

The Access section defines what content is accessible when the membership condition is met.

From here, you can grant access to:

Whole site

Selected pages

Specific posts

Custom post types

Menu items

Taxonomies

Files

Custom URI

These access settings are identical to what you configure from Memberships > Individual Plan > Access.

Any change made here is reflected in the membership’s Access settings, and vice versa.

Restriction Message

The Restriction Message section controls what non-members see when they try to access protected content.

This message is shown when:

A user does not have the required membership to access the page or resource.

How it works:

Each membership rule can have its own custom restriction message

If left empty, the Global Restriction Message is used

If both are empty, a fallback message is displayed automatically

The Custom Message editor supports:

Smart tags for Login and Sign Up buttons

Formatting and links

Images and branding via Add Media

This allows you to tailor messaging per membership while still keeping a consistent site-wide default.

Custom Rules (PRO Only)

The Custom Rules tab lets you create standalone content restriction rules that are not tied to a specific membership. It allows you to restrict content using flexible conditions, actions, and logic.

Each rule has two main areas:

Rules tab (default):

Settings tab:

Create a Custom Rule

Go to Content Rules > Custom Rules

Click Add Rule

Enter a rule name and click Continue.

When you open or create any rule (especially in Custom Rules), the Rules tab is selected by default.

This tab has two key sections:

Condition

Access

Conditions in Custom Rules

Conditions define who the rule applies to. You can add one or more conditions and, for Custom Rules, later refine how they interact via Advanced Logic.

Custom Rules support conditions such as:

Logged-In State

This condition applies the rule based on whether the user is authenticated.

Options:

Logged In

Logged Out

Use this when:

You want to block content from visitors who are not logged in

You want to show different behavior for guests and registered users

You want to redirect logged-out users to a login or sign-up page

This condition is evaluated before membership or role checks.

User Role

This condition applies the rule based on the user’s WordPress role.

Examples:

Subscriber

Contributor

Author

Editor

Administrator

Any custom role added by plugins or themes

Use this when:

Access should depend on WordPress roles rather than memberships

You want to exclude administrators or editors from restrictions

You are managing internal or editorial access

This condition checks the user’s current role, not their membership.

User Registration Date

This condition applies the rule based on when the user registered.

You can target:

A specific date

A date range

Use this when:

Access should be limited to users who joined during a specific period

You want to run time-bound campaigns or early-access programs

You need different rules for old vs new users

This condition is evaluated using the user’s original registration timestamp.

Period After Registration

This condition applies the rule based on the number of days before or after a user registered.

Examples:

More than 7 days after registration

Less than 3 days after registration

Use this when:

You want to delay access for new users

You want to create trial-like or onboarding restrictions

Access should unlock gradually based on account age

This condition is dynamic and updates automatically as time passes.

Email Domain

This condition applies the rule based on the email domain used during registration.

Examples:

gmail.com

company.com

edu

Use this when:

Access should be limited to users from specific organizations

You want internal or partner-only content

You want to restrict access based on business email domains

Only the domain portion of the email address is evaluated.

Payment Status

This condition applies the rule based on the user’s payment state.

Examples:

Completed

Pending

Failed

Refunded

Use this when:

Access should depend on successful payment

You want to block users with failed or refunded payments

Content should unlock only after payment completion

This allows you to restrict content based on payment state without tying it directly to a membership plan.

Capabilities

This condition applies the rule based on WordPress capabilities assigned to the user.

Examples:

edit_posts

publish_posts

manage_options

Use this when:

You need fine-grained control beyond roles

You are working with custom roles and permissions

Access should depend on specific permissions

Capabilities provide more precision than roles but require familiarity with WordPress permissions.

Registration Source

This condition applies the rule based on how the user registered.

Examples include:

Specific User Registration forms

Social login methods (via Social Connect add-ons)

Use this when:

Different registration forms serve different user types

Social users should have different access rules

You want form-specific access logic

This condition helps segment users based on signup intent.

URM Field

This condition applies the rule based on values submitted in custom registration form fields.

Examples:

Country

Company name

Account type

Custom dropdown or checkbox values

Use this when:

Access should depend on user-provided data

You want location-based or preference-based access

Memberships are not granular enough for your logic

The rule evaluates the stored field value, not the field label.

Minimum Public Posts

This condition applies the rule based on how many public posts a user has published.

Examples:

At least 5 posts

At least 10 posts

Use this when:

Access should reward participation or activity

You want contributor-based unlocks

Content should be available only to active users

Only public posts are counted.

Access in Custom Rules

Access defines what content is affected when the conditions match. Custom Rules use the same Access selector as Membership Rules, ensuring consistency

Once you define Conditions and Access, switch to the Settings tab to control what happens when the rule matches.

Actions

The Action determines what happens when a user attempts to access protected content but does not meet the rule conditions.

By default, Show Message is selected. But you can change the action depending on how you want to guide users.

Show Message (Default)

This action displays a restriction message directly on the page where access is blocked. It is the most commonly used option and works well when you want to:

Explain membership or access requirements

Inform users why the content is restricted

Encourage them to log in or sign up

The actual message shown to users is configured under Restriction Message.

Restriction Message

The Restriction Message section decides what text is shown when the Action is set to Show Message.

You have two modes:

Global Message

Custom Message

Global Message

The Global restriction message is a shared message used by multiple rules.

It is configured from:

User Registration & Membership > Settings > Membership > Content Rules

You might use this to show a generic message like:

“This content is for members only. Please log in or upgrade your membership to access it.”

Choose Global Message in a rule when:

You want consistent messaging across your site

You don’t need rule-specific wording

If a rule is set to use the Global Message, it will always pull from that central setting.

Custom Message

A Custom Message lets you override the global message for this specific rule.

Use Custom Message when:

The rule’s context is unique (for example, “This course is only for Gold members.”)

You want a more targeted call to action

Different content segments require different explanations

Behavior:

If the Custom Message is selected and filled, it overrides the Global Message.

If the Custom Message is selected but left empty, the plugin falls back to the Global Message.

If both Global and Custom are empty, a built-in fallback message is shown so users are never left confused.

The message editor supports:

Smart tags (for example, Login button, Sign Up button)

Formatting (headings, lists, links)

Images and logos via the Add Media button

This lets you create branded, on-point restriction experiences.

Frontend Display

Our message appears on the frontend as shown below:

Redirect to Local Page

Instead of showing a message, you can redirect users to a specific page on your site when access is restricted.

Select a page from the dropdown

Common use cases:

Redirect non-members to a Pricing / Plans page

Redirect logged-out users to a Login page

Redirect to Custom URL

Redirects the user to a fully custom URL, internal or external. Enter the full URL (including https://) under the Restriction URL.

Use this when:

Your funnel/checkout lives on a separate domain

You’re running a special landing or campaign page

You need a URL that isn’t listed as a normal page

Advanced Logic (Custom Rules Only)

Advanced Logic controls how multiple conditions are evaluated inside a rule.

Available for Custom Rules

Not available for basic Membership Rules

By default, Advanced Logic is disabled. In that case, all conditions use a simple AND logic:

The user must meet all conditions for the rule to apply.

Enabling Advanced Logic

Go to Custom Rule > Settings and enable the Advanced logic toggle.

Using Advanced Logic

When you enable Advanced Logic in the Settings tab, you can:

Group conditions

Choose different logic gates for each group

Supported logic gates:

AND – All conditions in the group must be true

OR – At least one condition in the group must be true

NOT – Used to exclude users that match certain conditions

Example scenarios

Logged in OR registered between specific dates

Grant access to a category but NOT to users with a certain role

Target users from a specific email domain AND with a completed payment

Notes & Best Practices

Use multiple, smaller rules instead of one huge, complex rule whenever possible.

Before turning Advanced Logic off, flatten your groups back to a simple AND structure to avoid confusion.

Remember: Membership Rules always use simple AND logic; Advanced Logic is only for Custom Rules.

Best Practices for Content Restriction

Use Membership Access for standard membership-based protection

Use Custom Rules when access should not depend on memberships

Create multiple focused rules instead of overcrowding one

Disable unused rules instead of deleting them

Keep logic readable to avoid conflicts

Content Restriction: Free vs PRO Summary