WordPress Membership

Easy to use WordPress Membership plugin

How to Use Google reCAPTCHA on Member Registration Form

If you offer free membership registration on your site then it can be affected by spam signups (bots completing the registration form).

You can enable Google reCAPTCHA on your member’s registration form if your site gets a lot of spam signups. Google reCAPTCHA will cut down all the spam signup attempts on your membership registration page.

Enabling Google reCAPTCHA

Go to the Google reCAPCHA settings tab from the main eMember settings menu. Then fill in the API keys to enable this option.

Disable the ‘Anyone Can Register’ Option of WordPress

WordPress has an option that allows anyone to go to WordPress’s registration page and create a WP user account. This WordPress feature can open your site up for spam user registration. If you had previously enabled this option, you should disable it.

If you are getting a lot of spam WP user registration and you are not sure where it is coming from then this option is likely the cause for it.

You can find this settings option in the General WordPress settings menu of your site.

Settings -> General -> Membership

Our WP eMember plugin Does NOT need that option to be enabled.

So you should keep the “Anyone can register” checkbox unchecked.

Spam Registration Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing spam registrations despite enabling a CAPTCHA option, follow these steps to identify and resolve the issue:

  1. Enable Debug Logging
    Turn on the debug logging feature within the plugin. This can help you analyze registration attempts, identify patterns, and determine if bots are bypassing the CAPTCHA.
  2. Check WordPress Registration Settings
    Go to WordPress Admin Dashboard → Settings → General and ensure that the “Anyone can register” option is disabled. Leaving this option enabled can allow bots to bypass membership registration restrictions.
  3. Review API Access Settings
    If you have enabled the “Create members via API“ option, double-check if it is necessary. Some users unknowingly enable this feature when working with freelancers, who might then share the API secret, making the site vulnerable to spam registrations. If you do not require API-based registrations, disable this option.
  4. Verify CAPTCHA Integration
    • Test the CAPTCHA functionality by attempting a registration yourself.
    • If the CAPTCHA is not showing up, check for JavaScript errors in the browser console, as theme or plugin conflicts can prevent it from working properly.
    • Ensure that you have correctly configured the CAPTCHA keys in the settings.
  5. Check for Hidden Registration Forms
    Some themes and plugins create additional registration forms that might not be protected by CAPTCHA.
    • Search for hidden or alternative registration pages on your site.
    • Ensure that CAPTCHA protection is enabled for all relevant forms.

Printable Membership Card Addon

This addon plugin allows you to show a printable membership card for your members. Your members will be able to visit a page on your site and print their membership card.

printable-membership-card-sample

Installing the Printable Membership Card Add-On

  • Upload the “emember-membership-card-addon” file via the WordPress’s plugin uploader interface (Plugins -> Add New -> Upload)
  • Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress.

Printable Membership Card Add-On Usage

Create a new WordPress post or page. Then enter the following shortcode in this page (your members can go to this page to see a printable membership card):

[eMember_membership_card]

This shortcode will produce the following output. That print link will popup the option to print this card.

printable-membership-card-basic-shortcode-output

Adding a Featured Image in the Membership Card

You can add an image in the card (example: your company logo) by using the “image_url” parameter in the shortcode. Here is an example shortcode usage using the featured image:

[eMember_membership_card image_url="http://www.example.com/wp-content/uploads/my-logo.jpg"]

Using Member’s Profile Photo in the Membership Card

You can show the member’s profile photo (if you are using profile picture option in the membership plugin) by adding the “show_profile_photo” parameter in the shortcode.

Example shortcode usage below:

[eMember_membership_card show_profile_photo="1"]

Printed Membership Card Example

When your members go to the page you just created and print the membership card, it will look like the following example:

membership-card-example-with-member-profile-photo

printed-membership-card-example

Get the Printable Membership Card Add-On

The price of this addon is $29.95

WP eMember WPML Addon

The WPML addon loads the correct language file based on what your visitor selects in the WPML language selection widget.

Installing the WPML AddOn

  • Upload the “emember-wpml.zip” file via the WordPress’s plugin uploader interface (Plugins -> Add New -> Upload)
  • Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress.

Using The WPML Addon

You just have to keep the WP eMember WPML addon active and it will automatically load the correct emember language file for the selected WPML language.

Download the Addon

You can download this adddon from the addon download area.

API – Updating A Member Account Using HTTP GET or POST

This documentation is only for developers. If you are not a developer with good PHP coding skills then you have no need to read this.

If you want to update a member account using a HTTP GET or POST request then use this documentation.

Enabling the API

WP eMember plugin has an API that allows you to update a member account using a standard HTTP GET or POST request. If you want to use this API then you need to enable it from the settings menu of the plugin first. The following is a screenshot of this section in the settings menu:


It is very important that you do not reveal the Secret Word/API key to anyone else.

Using the API

Once you enable it, you can start to send HTTP request to the following URL to update member accounts remotely or from another software/application:

http://www.example.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-eMember/api/update.php

You need a minimum of 2 pieces of information to send an update request. These are:

  • Secret Word/API Key (you specified it in the settings menu of the plugin)
  • Member ID (the user whose details you want to update)

Optionally, you can pass the following fields with the request to update the values of those fields for the member’s account in question.

  • title
  • first_name
  • last_name
  • email
  • password
  • phone
  • address_street
  • address_city
  • address_state
  • address_zipcode
  • country
  • gender
  • company_name
  • membership_level_id
  • account_state
  • subscription_starts

1. Updating Member Account Using  HTTP GET request

In order to update a member account via HTTP GET request, use the following format:

http://www.example.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-eMember/api/update.php?secret_key=XX&member_id=XX&first_name=XX&last_name=XX

Replace the “example.com” and “XX” with the appropriate values.

PHP Code Example:The following is an example of how to construct this URL using PHP:

$secret_key = "6bd39ewe43a7bb";
$member_id= "1";
$first_name= "Jon";
$last_name= "Doe";

$prepared_data = "?secret_key=".$secret_key."&member_id=".$member_id."&first_name=".$first_name."&last_name=". $last_name;
$get_url = "http://www.example.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-eMember/api/update.php".$prepared_data;
// Execute this GET Request
file_get_contents($get_url);

2. Updating Member Account Using  HTTP POST request

To update a member account via HTTP POST use the following format:

<form method="post" action="http://www.example.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-eMmeber/api/update.php">
<input type="hidden" name="secret_key" value="XX">
<input type="hidden" name="member_id" value="XX">
<input type="hidden" name="first_name" value="XX">
<input type="hidden" name="last_name" value="XX">
<input type=submit value="Submit Post">
</form>

Replace the “example.com” and “XX” with the appropriate value.

How to Re-Create the Mandatory eMember Pages

When you first install the WP eMember plugin, it will create all the mandatory pages for you so you never need to use the following tutorial.

However, if you need to re-create those pages (for whatever reason) then just watch the following video and it will show you what to do:

Pages Created on Installation

When you install the WP eMember plugin for the very first time, the following pages are automatically created:

  • Login Page – The page where visitors are able to login to your site.
  • Registration Page – Where customers will sign up to your website. A form where they will enter in their details.
  • Join Us Page – A page that has the different memberships that you offer.
  • Edit Profile Page – Where your members can go to edit their profile.
  • Password Reset Page – Where your members can go and reset their account password.

Recreating the Mandatory eMember Pages

If you happen to accidentally delete any of the required pages (the four pages listed above), you can complete the steps below to recreate the page(s).

Login Page

Creating the Page:

  1. Create a new WordPress page and title it ‘Member Login’.
  2. In the page editor enter in the following shortcode and then publish the page:

[wp_eMember_login]

Correcting the URL:

  1. Copy the URL of the new ‘Member Login’ page.
  2. Click on the ‘WP eMember’, ‘Settings’ menu.
  3. Click on the ‘Pages/Forms Settings’ tab.
  4. Delete the previous ‘Login Page’ URL and paste in the new URL.
  5. Ensure you ‘Update Options’.

Registration Page

Creating the Page:

  1. Create a new WordPress page and title it ‘Registration’.
  2. In the page editor enter in the following shortcode and then publish the page:

[wp_eMember_registration]

Correcting the URL:

  1. Copy the URL of the new ‘Registration’ page.
  2. Click on the ‘WP eMember’, ‘Settings’ menu.
  3. Click on the ‘Pages/Forms Settings’ tab.
  4. Delete the previous ‘Registration Page’ URL and paste in the new URL.
  5. Ensure you ‘Update Options’.

Join Us Page

Creating the Page:

  1. Create a new WordPress page and title it ‘Join Us’.
  2. This page can be customized how you would like. Use the ‘Join Us’ page to inform your customers of the different memberships that you offer. Once you have added content to the page, ensure that you ‘Publish’

Correcting the URL:

  1. Copy the URL of the new ‘Join Us’ page.
  2. Click on the ‘WP eMember’, ‘Settings’ menu.
  3. Click on the ‘Pages/Forms Settings’ tab.
  4. Delete the previous ‘Membership Payment/Join Page’ URL and paste in the new URL.
  5. Ensure you ‘Update Options’.

Edit Profile Page

Creating the Page:

  1. Create a new WordPress page and title it ‘Edit Profile’.
  2. In the page editor enter in the following shortcode and then publish the page:

[wp_eMember_edit_profile]

Correcting the URL:

  1. Copy the URL of the new ‘Edit Profile’ page.
  2. Click on the ‘WP eMember’, ‘Settings’ menu.
  3. Click on the ‘Pages/Forms Settings’ tab.
  4. Delete the previous ‘Member Profile Edit Page’ URL and paste in the new URL.
  5. Ensure you ‘Update Options’.

Password Reset Page

Creating the Page:

  1. Create a new WordPress page and title it ‘Password Reset’.
  2. In the page editor enter in the following shortcode and then publish the page:

[wp_eMember_password_reset]

Correcting the URL:

  1. Copy the URL of the new ‘Password Reset’ page.
  2. Click on the ‘WP eMember’, ‘Settings’ menu.
  3. Click on the ‘Pages/Forms Settings’ tab.
  4. Delete the previous ‘Password Reset Page’ URL and paste in the new URL value.
  5. Ensure you ‘Update Options’.

 

Membership Site with Facebook Connect Plugin

Looks like the Facebook Connect plugin no longer exists. So this integration is not possible anymore.

In this tutorial I will explain how to use the Facebook Connect Plugin in conjunction with WP eMember to add facebook registration and login to your membership site.

eMember Does Not Create WordPress User Accounts by Default

When someone logs into a WordPress site using Facebook Connect they must have an existing WordPress user account. By default, when a new user is created in eMember, the user is not also created in WordPress. The account profiles for eMember are kept separate.

It makes no sense (in most cases) for someone to login to WordPress on a membership site without getting access to the content they are meant to have access to.

Therefore mirrored accounts need to be created, and mirrored logins need to happen to keep things simple for the users.

Optionally Import WordPress User Accounts Into eMember

If you have WordPress user accounts that need to be brought into eMember, you can do that very quickly. You have the option to import all accounts or just a selection of them.

Here are the steps:

  1. Go to WP eMember >> Members >> Import WP Users
  2. Choose which accounts you want to copy over, the membership level to use, etc.
  3. Click the Submit button.

Use Automation For Future Account Creation And Logins

Now that you have matching accounts between eMember and WordPress for all of the accounts that you want to, you can now set it up so that this happens automatically from here on out. At the same time we can turn on the auto background login features.

If you intend to turn on the ability to allow users to register to WordPress with Facebook Connect, we will need to make sure that a corresponding eMember account is created as well.

To enable that feature:

  1. Go to WP eMember >> Admin Functions.
  2. Look for the section labeled Automatically Create eMember Account When a WordPress User Account is Created.
  3. Enable it and click the Save Settings button.

Now, let’s set it up so that when an eMember account is created, a WordPress account is created in the background at the same time. While we are at it, we’ll turn on the auto login features at the same time.

Follow the steps below:

  1. Go to WP eMember >> Settings.
  2. Scroll down and look for the section labeled WordPress User Integration Settings.
  3. Turn on the top 3 options labeled “Automatically Create WordPress User,” “Automatically log into WordPress,” and “Automatically log into eMember.”
  4. Scroll to the bottom and click the Update Options button.

When everything is complete, test logins and registration using all scenarios to be certain all works as expected.