MemberArea Connector is a free WordPress plugin. It adds blocks that sell your products, a sign-in button for your members, and access rules that lock pages to a course, group or product. This article covers what your site needs and how to get the plugin installed.
Before you start
Your WordPress site needs:
- WordPress 6.3 or newer. The blocks use version 3 of the block API, which arrived in 6.3.
- PHP 7.4 or newer.
- HTTPS. Member sign-in will not switch on over plain HTTP, because the session cookie has to be sent securely.
- Permalinks set to anything other than "Plain". Sign-in needs a real return address. You will find the setting under Settings, then Permalinks.
Your memberarea needs a paid plan: the API is part of Starter and every plan above it. Everything the plugin does runs through an API key. A new memberarea starts on a 14-day trial of Professional and asks for no credit card, so you can build the whole WordPress side before you decide anything.
Install from the WordPress plugin directory
- In WordPress, open Plugins, then Add Plugin (Add New on older WordPress versions).
- Search for MemberArea Connector.
- Press Install Now, then Activate.
The plugin's own page in the directory shows the current version, the changelog and the support forum: MemberArea Connector on WordPress.org.
Install from a ZIP file
If you received the plugin as a file, or your site cannot reach the plugin directory:
- Open Plugins, then Add Plugin, then Upload Plugin.
- Choose the ZIP file and press Install Now.
- Press Activate Plugin.
Either way, the plugin adds one screen, under Settings, then MemberArea, and a block category called MemberArea in the editor. In the plugin list it also adds a Settings link to the plugin's row.
What happens on activation
Nothing is sent anywhere yet. Until you enter a domain and an API key, the plugin holds no connection and makes no outside requests. The blocks are registered right away. In the editor they show a short hint until the site is connected; on the page they show nothing.
Administrators see a notice at the top of the admin screens: MemberArea Connector is active. Connect now opens the settings screen, Not now hides the notice. It also goes away by itself once the site is connected.
On the settings screen, the card Three steps to connect this site walks you through the rest: a memberarea on a paid plan, an API key, and the domain and key in the form below the card. On a fresh install it also offers Start a MemberArea if you do not have one yet. The card disappears once the connection is saved.
If the server runs an older PHP or WordPress version than the plugin needs, WordPress does not activate it. Instead it shows a page titled "MemberArea Connector could not be activated" that names the version the plugin needs and the version the site runs, with a link back. If the versions drop below the requirement later, for example after a PHP change on your host, the same message appears as a notice on the admin screens.
On a multisite network
Each site in the network connects on its own, with its own domain and its own key. There is no network-wide connection, and nothing is shared between sites.
Deleting the plugin on a network revokes the connection in your memberarea only for the site the deletion runs from. Before you delete it, switch member login off on every other site of the network with Switch member login off. Otherwise those connections stay valid on the memberarea side, and your memberarea has no screen to remove them later.
Updating and removing
Updates arrive through the normal WordPress update screen once the plugin is installed from the directory. A plugin installed from a ZIP file is updated by uploading the newer ZIP.
Deleting the plugin removes everything it stored: its settings, member sessions, cached answers and its connection. It also tries once to revoke that connection in your memberarea. That only works while the stored key is still valid and has the Manage permission under WordPress. If you are not sure it does, press Switch member login off before you delete the plugin.
Two things stay behind on purpose. Access rules on pages are kept, so that reinstalling brings protected pages back protected instead of leaving them open. And shortcodes stay in your posts as plain bracket text, the same way they do with every WordPress plugin; remove them from the post content if you are leaving for good.
Next
Once the plugin is active, connect it to your memberarea.