Your members area is a set of ordinary EverWeb pages. Each page that runs the membership (sign up, log in, pay, change a password) holds one Membership widget, and the Membership Site Settings window tells EverWeb which page is which. Then you choose which of your other pages members can see: see Choose which pages members can see: protect pages and directories by membership level.
Before you start
- Buy a plan and fill in Setup in your EverWeb account page (the Client Area), with your domain and, for paid levels, Stripe. Then create your levels. See Set up Membership Sites step by step: buy a plan, fill in Setup and connect Stripe and Plan your membership levels: free, one-time, monthly or yearly, trials, setup fees and coupons.
- Sign in to your EverWeb account in the app: EverWeb > Settings > Account on a Mac, or Edit > Options > Account on Windows. The membership settings only open while you're signed in.
- Your website must be published on the domain in Setup, on EverWeb + Hosting or another host with PHP (we recommend PHP 8.2 or later) and cURL (a standard PHP feature most hosts include).
Install the Membership widgets
- In the email "Thank You For Signing Up to EverWeb Memberships", click Download Membership Widgets, and unzip the download.
- In EverWeb, click the Widgets tab in the Inspector.
- Double-click the Install file in the download, or drag the widgets folder onto the list of widgets.
- Sign out and back in at Settings > Account (Windows: Options > Account), so EverWeb sees your Membership Sites license.
The seven widgets need EverWeb 4.3 or later. Can't find the email? Open a support ticket. More on widgets: Install and use third-party widgets in EverWeb.
The pages you need
Keep them together in a directory (a page that holds other pages, like a folder), such as Members. The names are up to you.
| Page | What goes on it | Needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Sign Up | Membership Sign Up Form | Yes |
| Login | Membership Login Form | Yes |
| Payment | Membership Payment Form | For paid levels |
| Email Validation | Membership Email Verification, under a "check your email" message | For free levels (free levels need Plus or Deluxe). Recommended for every site |
| Change Password | Membership Change Password | Yes, so "Forgot your password?" works |
| Profile | Membership Profile Form | Recommended |
| Members' home | Your welcome text and the Membership Sign Out Button | Recommended: members land here after logging in. Protect it with every level ticked |
| Payment complete | A thank-you message and a link to the members' home | Optional |
| Access Denied, Account Suspended, Account Cancelled | Your own message, and how to contact you | Optional, but recommended |
| Your members-only pages | Your content and the Membership Sign Out Button | As many as you like |
A page can hold only one of the Sign Up, Login, Payment, Change Password and Email Verification widgets. Otherwise EverWeb says "You cannot add this widget to this page since it is already used another Membership Management Widget".
Set up each widget
Select the widget and open Inspector > Widget Settings. On every widget except the Sign Out Button, check that Membership Site shows your membership site (with one site, it's chosen for you). You can change every label and font.
Membership Sign Up Form
- Successful Signup: choose your Payment page, so paid members go straight on to pay. Free members are sent to Login and then to the members' home.
- Require first name and Require last name: keep them ticked.
- Coupons: No Coupon Field, Click to Enter Coupon or Always Show Coupon Field.
- Require CAPTCHA vertification adds a security code. Require terms of service and Terms of Service Page add a tick box linked to your terms.
The form lists your active levels with prices.
Membership Login Form: set Login Success to your members' home. Include sign up link and Include forgot password link use the pages chosen in Membership Site Settings. A member who's still logged in goes straight to the Login Success page.
Membership Payment Form
- Test payment mode: ticked when you add the widget. See the warning below.
- Success Page: your payment complete page.
- Keep Enable automatic payments ticked so renewals are charged automatically. We recommend unticking Show automatic payment option, so members aren't shown a choice here.
Members type their card on your page, and Apple Pay or Google Pay appears where the browser supports it.
Membership Profile Form: members update their name, email and card, and see their level, status and next payment. Set Success Page to your members' home. Members can't change their level or cancel here: they ask you, and you do it on the Members screen (see Manage your members: add, import, export, suspend, cancel and email them).
Membership Change Password: set Success Page to your Login page. It works for logged-in members and from the "Password recovery" email, whose link lasts 60 minutes.
Membership Email Verification: a Re-send Verification Email button. Put it under a message such as "We've sent you an email. Click the link in it to activate your account." The emailed link lasts 2 hours.
Membership Sign Out Button: set Sign Out Link, such as your home page. Put it on every members-only page. A Master Page is quickest: see Put the same header, menu and footer on every page with a Master Page.
Membership Site Settings: which page is which
- Select any Membership widget and click Membership Site Settings... in Inspector > Widget Settings.
- Check that Membership Account shows your membership site.
- Choose your Login Page, Sign Up Page, Payment Page, Change Password and Email Validation pages.
- Under "Select your customized pages below", choose your Account Suspended, Access Denied and Account Cancelled pages.
- Click OK.
You do this once per website. The window's text mentions a profile page, but you don't choose one here. In EverWeb 4.6 and later, you can search the page lists.
Pages chosen here must open for everyone, so they can't be protected: EverWeb says "This page is used as a membership management page so it cannot be password protected."
If you leave a page out:
| Page | What happens |
|---|---|
| Login Page | Visitors who aren't logged in are sent to your home page |
| Sign Up Page | The Login form's sign-up link doesn't work |
| Payment Page | Paid members see "You must pay for this subscription but the webmaster did not set up a payment page." |
| Change Password | "Forgot your password?" can't be finished |
| Email Validation | EverWeb makes a plain page whose "click here" link to resend the email doesn't work |
| Access Denied, Account Suspended, Account Cancelled | EverWeb makes a plain page with one line, such as "You cannot access this page. Please sign up for a subscription." |
Untick Test payment mode before you take real payments
While Test payment mode is ticked, your Payment page uses Stripe's test system: real cards are refused and no money is taken. Use it for a trial run with a Stripe test card, such as 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future date and any three-digit code. To go live:
- Select the Payment Form and untick Test payment mode.
- Publish your website.
- Delete your test members on the Members screen in the Client Area.
Check that it works
The widgets don't work in Preview ("Please publish your website to test the sign up process"). Choose File > Publish Entire Site and sign up as a test member in a private browser window. "Domain is not whitelisted" means your website is at a different address from the domain in Setup. Full checklist: Test your membership site before you launch, and fix common problems.
Related articles
- Members-only pages, logins and paid subscriptions: EverWeb Membership Sites
- Choose which pages members can see: protect pages and directories by membership level
- Set up Membership Sites step by step: buy a plan, fill in Setup and connect Stripe
- Test your membership site before you launch, and fix common problems
- Install and use third-party widgets in EverWeb