If you found MemberArea Connect in the Shopify App Store, the app sits in your Shopify admin before your MemberArea knows about your shop. The first screen of the app offers two ways forward: connect a MemberArea you already have with a short code, or create a new MemberArea on the spot. Either way, the shop ends up connected to exactly one workspace.
| Your situation | What you do |
|---|---|
| You already have a MemberArea | Create a connection code there and enter it in the app. |
| You have no MemberArea yet | Fill in the form under "Create a new MemberArea" in the app. |
If you have not installed the app yet and already work in your MemberArea, you can also connect the shop from there. See Connecting your Shopify shop.
The app inside your Shopify admin is only available in English. Your MemberArea itself, including its Shopify page, follows your own language.
Connect an existing MemberArea with a code
The code links the shop to the workspace in which you created it. Creating it needs a role with Update Platform Settings and Manage Integrations.
Step 1: create the code in your MemberArea
- Open Settings, then Integrations.
- Press Add Integration and choose Shopify. The Shopify page opens at
/admin/settings/integrations/shopify. - On the card "Installed the app from the Shopify App Store?", press Create a connection code.
- The code appears on the card. Press Copy.
The card explains the two limits: "Create a code here and enter it in the app inside your Shopify admin. It is valid for 15 minutes and works once." The card is only there while no shop is connected to this workspace.
Step 2: enter the code in the app
The first screen of the app repeats where the code is made in your MemberArea. Its links "Step by step guide" and "Setup guide" open this article.
- In your Shopify admin, open the app MemberArea Connect.
- Under "I already have a MemberArea", paste the code into "Connection code". Upper or lower case and the hyphens do not matter.
- Press "Connect".
The app answers "Connected to" followed by the name of your workspace, then reloads and shows its connected screen. Your MemberArea does not change how you pay for it: a workspace connected with a code keeps its plan and its billing.
When the code does not work
| Message in the app | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Enter the code from your MemberArea first." | The field is empty. Paste the code and press "Connect" again. |
| "That code is not valid any more. Generate a new one in your MemberArea." | The code is older than 15 minutes, was already used, or was mistyped. Create a new one in your MemberArea. |
| "This shop is already connected to a workspace." | A shop belongs to one workspace only. Disconnect it in the workspace that has it first. |
| "The shop could not be connected. Please try again." | Shopify did not complete the connection. The code stays valid, so press "Connect" again with the same code. Once its 15 minutes are over, create a new one. |
Create a new MemberArea from the app
The section "Create a new MemberArea" starts with "No account yet? Set one up here." Your courses, groups and members then live in the new MemberArea, and the shop is connected to it from the first minute.
- Enter "Your name".
- Enter your "Email". This becomes the login of the new workspace owner.
- Check "Workspace name". The app suggests one based on your shop.
- Check "Address". The line below shows where your MemberArea will be reachable: "Your MemberArea will live at" followed by the address and the MemberArea domain. Use lower case letters, digits and hyphens, at least three characters.
- Press "Create workspace and choose a plan".
When it works, the app says "Your workspace is ready at" with the link to your new MemberArea and "We sent a link to set your password to" with your email address. Open that email and set your password to sign in. You are the owner of the new workspace. It starts in the language of your Shopify admin, or in English if MemberArea does not offer that language.
| Message in the app | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Fill in your name, email, workspace name and address first." | One of the four fields is empty. |
| "An account with that email already exists. Use a connection code from that MemberArea instead." | You already have a MemberArea with this email. Connect it with a code as described above. |
| "That address is already taken." | Someone uses this address. The app puts a free one into "Address" for you; press the button again. |
Paying for a MemberArea created in the app
A MemberArea created in the app is billed through Shopify: you pay your MemberArea plan with your Shopify invoice. Right after the workspace is created, the app takes you to the plans in Shopify. If that does not happen, use the link "Choose your plan in Shopify".
After you approve a plan, the app shows "Confirming your plan with MemberArea." and then "Your plan is active:" with the name of the plan. If Shopify has not confirmed the plan yet, the app shows "Shopify has not confirmed this plan yet. It is applied as soon as the subscription is active." instead, and your workspace takes the plan over by itself. How to change the plan, where your invoices are and how to switch to billing by MemberArea is explained in Paying for MemberArea through Shopify.
What the app shows once the shop is connected
The connected app has three areas: "Mappings", "Sync" and "Webhook log". It is an overview. Access, rules, the customer import and automations are set up in your MemberArea, on the Shopify page.
- "Mappings" lists what a buyer of this shop gets: every mapped product, whether the mapping covers "All variants" or a single variant, and how many items it unlocks, or "No access target" when it unlocks nothing yet.
- "Sync" lists the MemberArea products you pushed into this shop, with their state and the time of the last push. See Pushing MemberArea products into Shopify.
- "Webhook log" lists what the shop sent to your MemberArea and how each delivery was handled. See Reading the Shopify webhook log.
Under "Map another product" in "Mappings", you can pick a "Shopify product" and press "Map product". This maps the whole product with all its variants. The app confirms "Mapped. Choose the access in your MemberArea.", because the mapping unlocks nothing until you choose what a buyer gets.
Next steps in your MemberArea
Open the Shopify page in your MemberArea again. The card at the top now names your shop and says Connected, and the page shows the tabs of a connected shop.
- With no mapping yet, press Create the first mapping. The wizard walks you through the product, the access and the rules.
- For a product you mapped in the app, open the Mappings tab and press Edit access on its row. You see this button with View Payments and Manage Catalog (Products, Prices, Coupons) in your role.
Details are in Linking a Shopify product to a course.
Reinstalling the app
If you uninstalled the app and install it again within 48 hours, opening it reconnects the shop to the same workspace without a code, and your mappings come back. After 48 hours, Shopify asks for the shop data to be deleted, and you start again with a connection code. What is deleted and what stays is explained in Disconnecting Shopify and deleting shop data.