| 4 Minute Read
How to Add a Members Area on a WordPress Website
What is a members area and why do I want one on my website?
A branded members area is a core feature that is has become more prominent and in some cases required for any serious business that wants to conduct business online with a low cost of delivery and maximum impact for their clients. Members areas, or client portals, are a website or web application that can be used for delivering content and information, accepting online payments, billing and invoicing your clients, scheduling appointments, and more.
Adding a members area to your website will instantly deliver value to both your clients and your business. For your clients, they will have a seamless experience accessing their invoices, projects, and documents giving them the power and flexibility to interact with your business when it makes the most sense. For your business, offering a members area immediately conveys a sense of prestige to your customers. You can effectively offer a one-of-a-kind experience to your clients that was previously only available to the biggest spenders in your industry, all while your business benefits from the time and cost savings of the time-consuming tasks that are required.
How do I add a Members Area to my WordPress website?
If your business or website currently does not offer a members area by default, PaidToday offers an easy-to-configure micro tool where you can add a members area to any website in 60 seconds, including a website hosted on WordPress.
- Inside your PaidToday account, navigate to the Funnel Anywhere from the Mega Menu by typing in “funnel” in the Mega Menu search bar.
- Configure your Funnel Anywhere button. Select Full Page for the Type and Members as the Resource Type. Save the details of your new Funnel Anywhere button. (These are standard settings for a members area, you can customize if you wish.)
- After configuration, click the Copy Code button to copy the embed code to your clipboard.
- Log into your WordPress account and edit a page or post where you'd like to place the button.
- In the text editor of your page or post, click on the Text tab in the upper right corner of the editor window.
- Locate the place on the page you want your embed to appear, and paste your embed code. As you can see, it is quite a bit of code, so it is important not to do anything to modify it or it may not work.
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Publish or Preview your changes to view the new embedded button.
Tip: Once you have entered your HTML embed code, it is not recommended that you then switch back to the Visual editor mode. Because of the way the visual editor works, switching back and forth can render the code inoperable. A best practice when working with HTML embeds is to add them last, after you have added all your normal text, images, and other content.
Your members area is now set up and ready to rock! You can test it out by navigating to your webpage and clicking the new button. It will launch your members portal sign in and registration page without taking them away from your actual website. A fully branded client portal where your clients can engage with your business and interact with orders, invoices, and appointments. Your clients will also be able to purchase any products and courses that you have made available to them. For more on this, see How to Configure My PaidToday Portal Options.
How do my clients sign up with my members area?
To access your business members area or client portal, your prospects and current customers will register with your portal just like any other web service, providing their email and a password of their choice. After that, it will register their contact with your members area and they will be able to sign in and access the features that you have turned on and configured via your Portal Options. If it's a new contact for your business, the contact will automatically be added to your PaidToday Contacts and you will receive an email and in-app notification that you have a new PaidToday Portal registrant. If it's a returning contact that hasn't registered with your members area before, you'll receive an email and in-app notification that you have a new PaidToday Portal registrant.
Note: Emails and in-app Notifications for each team member are based on their User Preferences, which can be set to Email, Notification, both, or neither.
What can my clients do when inside my members area?
Your clients will be able to interact and engage with your business through your members area / client portal. They will be able to use the in-portal cart checkout to purchase products, buy and enroll into your courses, view any upcoming events with your business, collaborate on projects and tasks, and view or make payments on any orders or invoices that they may have.
Benefits of a members area
Adding a members area or client portal to your existing WordPress site is a snap with PaidToday and can be done in less than 60 seconds, reducing the amount of data entry and disconnected data that your business has to manage.
From your customer's point of view, it will improve their experience by giving them any relevant information pertaining to their account standing or project with your business at their fingertips without having to call or contact you.
