Posts only members can read
Make a post for members, or for one membership tier and up, choose where the free part ends, and see what readers, search and emails get.
- blog
- members
- tiers
- access
Any post can be for members only, or for members on one of your membership tiers and up. Everyone still sees the post's title, cover and excerpt, and everything above a line you place in the post, so it can be found and shared. The rest is for members.
Making a post members only has no plan limit of its own. Limiting a post to a tier needs the Growth plan, because membership tiers are part of Growth.
Open the post's settings
In the editor, press Settings in the top bar. On the Post tab, find Who can read it.
Pick who can read it
Choose Everyone, Members, or a tier, which is listed as the tier's name followed by members and up. The choice saves the moment you make it, on a live post too, with no need to press Update. A message says Now for members or Now for everyone.
Place the members-only line
Press / on an empty line and add a Members-only line where the free part should end. Everything above it is free for anyone to read. Everything below it is for members. A post holds one line, and readers never see the line itself.
Check it in the preview
The preview bar says what people who are not members will see.
Without a members-only line, none of the post itself is free: readers see the title, cover and excerpt, and then a panel saying who the rest is for. On a post that is for everyone the line does nothing.
What readers see
On your blog, a members-only post's card carries a lock. On the Posts list in Blog it is marked Members only. The post's page shows the free part, then a panel saying who the rest is for. A signed-in reader who can read it sees the rest open in place, at the same address, a moment after the page loads. Anyone else is told why and what to do:
Not signed in: join, or sign in if already a member.
Signed in but not a member yet: join to read the rest.
Membership not active: see your membership and renew it.
Below the tier the post asks for: their membership does not include that tier, so they can move up.
If the check could not run, the panel says so and offers Load it again. Your owner, admins and editors can always read every post.
Search, sharing and feeds
Search engines, link previews and your RSS feed get the free part only. Your blog's own search finds a members-only post by its title, subtitle and excerpt, never by words below the line. The blog's search can take a few minutes to catch up after you lock a post.
Emails
An email made from a members-only post carries only its free part and a Continue reading button, whoever it goes to, and Drry tells you when it does this. That covers the email to your subscribers when a post first goes live, Email this post, and the email you can attach to a scheduled post. A member reads the rest on the post.
If you move a post between members and public while an email for it is waiting, such as a scheduled post's launch email or a live post's held email, Drry makes that email again from the post as it now is, to the same people. Changes you made to the old email's words are not kept. If it cannot be made again, you are told, and the earlier copy is left in Emails, off the post, for you to delete rather than send. An email you already made by hand keeps its words, so check it before you send it.
Who can change it
Any seat on your team can make a post members only, or make it public again. Limiting a post to a tier, or taking a tier off, is for the owner and admins, and adding one needs the Growth plan. Taking one off never needs a plan, so you can always open a post back up. A tier you cannot pick still shows in the list, with the reason. A tier cannot be archived while a post asks for it.
Common questions
Do I need membership tiers?
No. Members only works without tiers. Tiers matter only if you want to limit a post to one tier and up.
Who counts as a member?
Anyone your community lets into its members area. On a free community that is any member, and on a paid one it is a member whose membership is active. Your owner, admins and editors always read.
Can I hide a members-only post from people who cannot read it?
No. Everyone can see that it exists, with its title, cover and excerpt. A post nobody should see stays a draft.
Does the change need Update on a live post?
No. Who can read it applies at once. The members-only line is part of the words, though, so moving it waits for Update like any other edit. See Edit a published post.