Members-only content
Simply CMS can restrict pages, categories, and videos to one or more Membership Plans. Visitors with an Active membership on a selected plan can view that content; everyone else is told the item requires an active membership, and it is left out of their public lists.
Before you start
You need at least one Membership Plan. If you don't have one yet, the Membership Restrictions section shows a Create membership plans link instead of the plan list.
How to set restrictions
- Create your plans under admin Membership Plans and make sure members can join them publicly if needed.
- Open a page, category, or video in Simply CMS.
- Find Membership Restrictions.
- Check the plans that may access this item, then save.
Empty selection = public. Anyone can view unrestricted content. Selecting one or more plans means the viewer needs an Active membership whose plan is in that list (any matching plan is enough).
Restricting a category protects the category page. Restrict individual pages too if they should also be protected when opened on their own.
What visitors see
| Visitor | Result |
|---|---|
| Not signed in | A message that the item requires an active membership |
| Signed in, but on a different plan | The same message |
| Membership suspended, expired or not yet verified | The same message |
| Active member on one of the checked plans | The full page, category or video |
| Member with several active plans | Access if any of their plans is checked |
Restricted items are also left out of public page and video lists for visitors who can't open them.
How each plan can unlock different content
- Put premium articles only on a higher-tier plan’s checkboxes.
- Use a category restriction so an entire section is members-only.
- Restrict individual videos the same way for members-only media.
A member on Plan A sees content tagged for Plan A (or unrestricted content). Content tagged only for Plan B stays hidden from them until they hold Plan B.
Good to know
- Search engines are treated like any visitor who isn't signed in, so restricted pages aren't indexed or listed in your sitemap.
- If you used the older member types restriction, those settings keep working as long as each member type is linked to a Membership Plan. The next time you save the item with plans checked, the older setting is replaced.
Related setup
See the platform article Membership Plans for creating plans and confirming Active members. Restrictions apply on the public API and embedded pages after your site is configured to use Simply CMS.