To start a members area, you buy a Membership Sites plan in your EverWeb account page (the Client Area), download the Membership widgets from the email you get, fill in the Setup screen and connect your Stripe account so members can pay. This article covers those steps, the emails your members get, and how to change plan. Building the pages in EverWeb is in Build your members area in EverWeb: the Membership widgets, the pages you need and Membership Site Settings.
Before you start
- EverWeb: an EverWeb license (Standalone or EverWeb + Hosting) and the current version of EverWeb, on Mac or Windows. The widgets need EverWeb 4.3 or later.
- Hosting: EverWeb + Hosting, or another host with PHP (we recommend PHP 8.2 or later) and cURL.
- Your domain: the members area only works on the domain you enter in Setup. Your website should have the padlock (HTTPS) and open both with and without www: see My site says 'Not Secure': how to get HTTPS (SSL) on your website.
- Stripe: a Stripe account, if any level is paid.
- Your plan: free levels, free trials and emailing all your members need Plus or Deluxe. Prices are in Members-only pages, logins and paid subscriptions: EverWeb Membership Sites.
1. Buy a plan
- Sign in to your EverWeb account page (the Client Area).
- Go to Services > View Available Add-ons and choose Membership Sites in the left menu, or open the Membership Sites order page.
- Choose Membership Starter, Membership Plus or Membership Deluxe. For Plus and Deluxe, choose monthly or yearly.
- Fill in the order form (below) and check out. Starter is free, but you still need to finish checkout to turn it on.
| Order form field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Membership Site Name | A name for your members area. You can change it later. |
| Domain Name | Your domain, such as yourdomain.com, without https:// or www. If the members area will be on a subdomain, such as members.yourdomain.com, enter that. You can change it later. |
| Currency | The currency your members will pay in. This can't be changed later, so choose the currency your Stripe account pays out in. If you pick the wrong one, contact us. |
| Language | The language of the membership messages your members see. You can change it later. |
You need one license for each website with a members area. For different kinds of members on one website, use levels, not a second license.
2. Get the Membership widgets
After you buy, you get an email called "Thank You For Signing Up to EverWeb Memberships". Click Download Membership Widgets, unzip the download, and drag the Membership Site folder onto the Widgets tab in EverWeb. No email? Check your spam folder, then contact us.
3. Sign out of EverWeb and back in
This lets EverWeb see your new license.
- On a Mac, go to EverWeb > Settings > Account. On Windows, go to Edit > Options > Account.
- Click Sign Out, then sign in again.
Quitting EverWeb and opening it again also works. You'll know it worked when your license appears in the Membership Site list of a Membership widget.
4. Find Membership Sites in the Client Area
- Sign in to the Client Area and look in the left-hand column for Membership Sites.
- If you have one membership site, its links are listed there: Setup, Membership Levels, Members, E-Mail Templates, Coupons, Mail Configuration, Cancelations, Logs and Mailing history.
- If you have more than one, click Manage All, choose the site in the Membership Sites list and click Edit Membership Page. If you're sent back to this list later, choose your site again.
5. Fill in Setup
Click Setup. The top shows how many members and free members you have, out of your plan's limit.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| First name, Last name | Your name. |
| Site Name | The name of your membership site. |
| Domain | Your domain, such as yourdomain.com, without https:// or www. "Your membership site will only work on the domain entered above." |
| Currency | Shown greyed out: it was set when you ordered. |
| Time Zone, Date Format, Time Format | How dates and times appear, for example in your members' emails. |
| Language | The language of the membership messages. |
| Email two-factor attempts | After this many wrong logins, a member must also type a code sent to their email. Leave it at 10 unless you have a reason to change it. |
| Ban attempts | After this many wrong logins, the member's account is blocked. Leave it at 50. |
| CC system emails here | Another address to receive the notifications below. |
| Receive signup notification, Receive payment failed notification, Receive payment success notification, Receive cancelled membership notification | Tick the emails you want when a member signs up, a payment fails or goes through, or a membership is cancelled. |
Click Save (it stays grey until you change something). If you see "Domain is not in the correct format. It must be in the format mydomain.com.", remove any https://, slash or page name from Domain.
6. Connect Stripe
Members pay by card through Stripe, and Stripe sends the money to your bank. Stripe charges its own fees as well as your plan's transaction fee.
- At the bottom of Setup, next to "Connect your Stripe account to receive payments from your members.", click the Stripe Connect button.
- Stripe's website opens. Sign in to your Stripe account, or create one, and follow Stripe's steps to connect it.
- Stripe sends you back to Setup. The Connect button is replaced by a green CONNECTED.
If you still see the Connect button, the connection didn't go through. Try again, then contact us if it still fails. Contact us too if you need to connect a different Stripe account later.
Until Stripe is connected, nobody can sign up to a paid level. Also, the Membership Payment Form widget has Test payment mode ticked when you add it, and real cards don't work until you untick it: see Test your membership site before you launch, and fix common problems.
7. Check the emails your members get
Click E-Mail Templates to see the emails the system sends your members. You can change each one's wording, but you can't add or delete emails.
| When it's sent | |
|---|---|
| VALIDATION | A new free member is asked to confirm their email address. The link works for 2 hours. |
| WELCOME | After a free member confirms their email, or after a paid member's first payment. |
| PAYMENT_APPROVED | A payment went through. |
| PAYMENT_FAILED | A payment was declined. |
| RENEWAL_REMINDER | Before a renewal, if the level's Send Renewal Email setting is more than 0. |
| ACCOUNT_SUSPENDED | The account was suspended after a missed payment. |
| CANCEL_CONFIRMATION | The membership was cancelled. |
| FORGOT_PASSWORD | A link to set a new password. It works for 60 minutes. |
| AUTH_CONFIRMATION | A login code, when a member logs in from a different country than last time. |
To change one, click EDIT, change the Subject and Content, and click Save. Click a tag in the Tags table to add a member's details, such as |member_firstname| for their first name. Keep the link and code tags in place, such as |link_activation|, |link_password| and |auth_code|. Without them, members can't confirm their email, reset their password or finish logging in.
To send your own email to many members at once (Plus or Deluxe), use Mailing on the Members screen: see Manage your members: add, import, export, suspend, cancel and email them.
8. Choose who the emails come from
Click Mail Configuration and choose a Mail driver:
- API (the default): emails are sent from an EverWeb no-reply address. Nothing to set up.
- Amazon (aws): emails come from your own address. Use this for Gmail, Google Workspace and Office 365 addresses. Enter Mail from name and Mail from and click Save & Validate. Then click the link in the email "Confirm your sending address for EverWeb Membership", and the link in the Amazon Web Services email "Email Address Verification Request" if one comes. AWS mailing status changes to Approved.
- SMTP: sends through your own mail server. Enter Mail host, Mail port (465 or 587), Mail username (your email address) and Mail password, then click Save & Validate and wait for "Success! Your SMTP details are working!". For an EverWeb + Hosting email address, use mail.yourdomain.com and port 465: see Email settings for Apple Mail, Outlook, Gmail and other apps (IMAP, POP, SMTP).
Change your plan
- In the Client Area, go to Services > My Services and click your Membership Sites service.
- Under Actions on the left, click Upgrade/Downgrade.
- Choose the new plan and check out.
Starter doesn't include free levels, free trials or emailing all your members. If you have free members or trials, contact us before you move to Starter.
Don't cancel your Membership Sites service to change plan. Cancelling it deletes the site's members and levels.
Related articles
- Members-only pages, logins and paid subscriptions: EverWeb Membership Sites
- Plan your membership levels: free, one-time, monthly or yearly, trials, setup fees and coupons
- Build your members area in EverWeb: the Membership widgets, the pages you need and Membership Site Settings
- Test your membership site before you launch, and fix common problems
- My site says 'Not Secure': how to get HTTPS (SSL) on your website