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What Should You Do with a Membership Plugin? -

Apr 4, 2022

When you create an online course with WordPress it is likely that you'll discover there are often several paths to the desired destination.

WordPress is the perfect instrument for selling and creating online courses since it's adaptable and you control the platform. Yet there numerous plugins to choose from which can get a little overwhelming.

Perhaps you are currently facing this dilemma in relation to your online course and you aren't sure of what to do. If you decide to host your own WordPress website, you'll ultimately face the following decision regarding your course:

  1. Only use for the courses you have chosen.
  2. Only use a membership plugin
  3. Make use of both

The answer to this question really depends on the specifics of your particular project. Therefore, I can't provide a definitive guidelines on when you should use every. But let's look at some common situations.

1. Use only

If you're looking into then the truth is that you do not need a plugin for membership to protect your content. Our LMS can protect your content, without the use of a membership plugin using our Access Settings.

For example, let's say that you want to sell three different course. Content of the course (lessons, quizzes, etc.) are not accessible to those who are not yet enrolled. Only registered users for the course can view the course's content. If someone purchases one course, they don't get access to other courses. They only have access to only the course they purchased.

If the course you are taking isn't cost-free, you might be wondering how to add a pay-gate to your courses. integrates with the following popular shopping carts:

  • Simple Digital Downloads
  • SamCart
  • ThriveCart (beta)

It is important to note that the WordPress shopping carts (1 and 2 above) integrate with many payment processing services. It comes with three payment options if you want to use no shopping cart:

  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • 2Checkout

You can very easily use any of these options for accepting payments. It will secure your course's contents without having to use the use of a membership plugin. People who choose this approach appreciate the streamlined process for making their own course offerings since it reduces the need for having to learn another solution.

2. Using a Membership Plugin (Only)

It's important to remember that there may be instances where using an LMS plugin like isn't necessary.

If the project you are working on only demands the protection of just a few posts, pages or even assets that are on your WordPress site, then a membership plugin is what you'll require. Using a learning management plugin is in this instance too much.

One example would be if you have a site that includes a community forum and possibly some beneficial downloads available to your members. In this case it is not necessary to install application like this since it doesn't require enrolling students in courses, scheduling quizzes, certificates, badges or points and reporting.

3. Using Both as well as a Membership Plugin

Although a membership-based plugin isn't essential but there could be benefits to using with a membership plugin depending upon your needs.

If, for instance, you're interested in having extra metrics for the members of your organization, then the member plugin will be an excellent value-added feature. Many membership platforms come with their own reporting capabilities. Used in conjunction with this will give you more information about your members.

Another common scenario for using both is if you have a membership site already and just want to add the course features in a more formal, well-organized manner. The addition of a plugin makes it simple to add value to your membership website through the creation of classes for members to learn. It is not necessary to alter how you manage the members, as the case is that you're still by using the membership plugin.

has direct integration with the following membership solutions:

For a note of caution Avoid locking in vendors!

The learning programs you choose to enroll in can differ with regard to demands and at times, these needs alter. Start your learning program using one option above, and switch to another program as you need.

One thing I know after more than a decade of working in the field of e-learning is that learning courses and online classes are not the same for everyone. The way we learn changes and with it the demands.

If you do or don't, I highly encourage you to avoid any method that focuses on using a single e-commerce platform or way to protect content. In the same vein Be wary of solutions that are advertised as "all-in-one". It's rare to find this claim true however if it's true, the case, then you're bound too. You don't want to take on this kind of risk. This has caused people major headaches in the past.

Still confused? Watch this webinar!

In this webinar we discuss common use-cases where the use of a membership plugin combined with a membership plugin could be beneficial.