Troubleshooting the WordPress connection

When a block stays empty or sign-in stops working, you rarely have to guess. The settings screen in WordPress, under Settings, then MemberArea, ends with a Status section that says what the plugin last saw.

Reading the status panel

The Connection row reads Not set up yet, Set up, not checked yet, Set up and answering or Set up, last call failed. The last one means the error below it is still open. Member login has its own section further up the page.

On a host with a persistent object cache, Cached responses reads Kept in the object cache, because the plugin cannot count the answers there.

Above the table, the plugin names the problem it found, with the fix. There is no error code to look up: each state has its own sentence.

Checking the connection

Saving a new key or a new domain clears the old error, but saving does not test anything. Press Check connection afterwards. It sends one request to your memberarea and reports which business answered, with the name of the key in use.

• A yellow notice means the key works but belongs to a business whose address is not the domain you entered. Use a key from the right business, or enter the address the notice names.
• A red notice repeats the error, for example that the API key was rejected and may have been replaced or removed.
• If it says the connection worked but the memberarea did not say which business it belongs to, try again in a moment.

The problems it names

• Not connected yet: no domain or no key saved.
• Pausing after too many requests: the memberarea answered that this site sends too many requests of one kind, such as membership checks or the course catalogue. That kind pauses for as long as the memberarea asks, five minutes at most, and resumes on its own. Answers already cached keep showing.
• The API key is not accepted any more: it was replaced or removed in your memberarea. Create a new one, paste it in and press Check connection. Members who are already signed in stay signed in, because sign-in uses a separate secret.
• The API key is missing a permission: the memberarea refused a request for lack of a permission. Open the key in your memberarea and tick View under WordPress, plus Manage for sign-in.
• The MemberArea plan does not include the API: the API is part of every paid plan. This also happens when a memberarea is switched off or its subscription lapsed. Everything on the site stays in place and starts working again as soon as the plan does.
• The MemberArea could not be reached: a network or DNS problem between your host and your memberarea, or a mistyped domain. Check the domain first. Signed-in members keep their session while this lasts.
• This server clock is wrong: a warning, shown once this server is more than two minutes off the memberarea's time. Member sign-in does not depend on it, but times this site writes, such as when scheduled posts go live, are off by the same amount. Ask your host to enable time synchronization.
• Member sign-in cannot work with plain permalinks: open Settings, then Permalinks, and pick any structure other than Plain.
• The site address changed after sign-in was set up: members who click Sign in get an access error. Press Set up member login again. The new setup replaces the old connection.
• The MemberArea no longer knows this website: its sign-in connection is not accepted any more. This happens when member login was switched off on a copy of this site, such as a staging site cloned from it, or set up again for this address from another installation. Nobody can sign in, and signed-in members were signed out; their memberships are untouched. Set member login up again.
• The last call to the MemberArea failed: any other error, such as a server error on the memberarea side. The message under the title says which.
• Protected content was withheld because the MemberArea could not be asked: the plugin kept locked content closed rather than risk opening it, and told signed-in members why. It resolves by itself as soon as the memberarea answers again.
• Membership checks are paused: the memberarea did not answer the regular check of a signed-in member, so the site waits five minutes before asking again instead of hammering it. Signed-in members are unaffected.

Two of these sound alike but have different causes: Pausing after too many requests means the memberarea asked this site to slow down, Membership checks are paused means it did not answer at all.

When everything is fine, the panel says so: Everything is working, member sign-in included. If member login is not set up, it reads Everything is working and adds that member sign-in is switched off.

Clearing cached responses

The plugin keeps answers for a short time so every page view does not become an API call: access decisions for two minutes, members' course lists for one minute, the course catalogue for five, and the product, course, group and badge lists in the editor for one minute.

If you changed a course, group or product in your memberarea and WordPress still shows the old state, press Clear cached responses under the status table. It only drops stored answers. It does not touch your settings, your connection or anyone's session, and it keeps the pauses and findings above, so the panel does not turn green before the problem is gone. The next page view fetches fresh data. When nothing is stored, the button is replaced by Nothing is cached right now.

On a host with a persistent object cache the button is always there, but the answers cannot be removed one by one: they expire by themselves within five minutes.

When a block stays empty

• In the editor, a block shows a warning instead of a list. The warning names the problem, for example a missing connection or a missing permission on the key. Press Check connection.
• In the editor, the list is empty. There is nothing to pick yet: create the product or course in your memberarea first.
• On the page, a block shows nothing. It has no product or course selected, or the site is not connected. The short hints appear only in the editor.
• The login block shows nothing at all. Member login is not set up. It is a separate step from saving the API key.
• A signed-in member reads that their membership could not be checked. The memberarea did not answer. The plugin fails closed on purpose; the status panel shows the same problem.