How to use a Page Builder to create a custom Membership Level Pricing page.

by Travis Lima | FAQ, General, Videos

The landing page for your levels is the primary place your site will attract and sell its membership products. Our plugin includes a few options to design this page, including the default [pmpro_levels] shortcode and the enhanced options when using the Advanced Levels Page Shortcode Add On.

What if you need more control over this page and would like to design a completely custom page for your levels? In this article, I will take you through the process of building a new membership levels page using the Elementor Page Builder, an open source plugin available in the WordPress plugin repository.

Did you know…

You do not need to use the default plugin-generated Membership Level page for your membership site. In step 2 of the plugin setup process, a page named “Membership Levels” is automatically created with the shortcode [pmpro_levels]. You can customize this page depending on your preferences, skill level, and the needs of your membership site.

A few ways you can customize the levels page include:

  1. Use Custom CSS to adjust the default layout.
  2. Create your own custom Page Templates for the levels page layout.
  3. Replace the default shortcode with the options included in the Advanced Levels Page Shortcode Add On which includes column-based or comparison-type options.
  4. Use a Page Builder or your theme’s included “pricing page” layouts to craft a totally custom page.

In this article, I’m focusing on the last option above and will demo how to use the Elementor Page Builder to create a Membership Levels page.

Video Demo

1. Choose the method that works for you.

Your skillset and goals will generally determine the method that you choose to build your membership levels page.

You do not have to use a Page Builder and might find that using your theme’s included layouts or theme’s shortcodes to create your membership level page will be easier. Chances are, you already have an idea of what will work for you. I chose to use Elementor in this article because it is a popular page builder plugin that many of our support customers are using.

Screenshot of the Elementor Plugin Homepage

2. Develop your membership levels page.

Now that you have chosen the tools needed to create your levels page, it is time to start building.

These steps assume you are working on an existing membership site and want to create the new design without affecting the current site’s levels page. If you are setting up a brand new membership site, you can directly edit the generated page for your Membership Levels. Just remove the [pmpro_levels] shortcode from that page and begin your work.
  1. Navigate to your Dashboard > Pages > Add New.
  2. Enter a title for your new membership levels page (mine is “My Level Page”).
  3. Start creating the layout exactly as you need it. Feel free to get creative here. Enhance the page with images, comparison tables, testimonials and more. This is the primary page your potential customers will visit to explore your product and, hopefully, convert to members. It’s important to make the page as compelling, clear and attractive as possible.

Screenshot of admin developing a membership level page using a page builder.

Pro Tip: Keep this page as concise, clear and simple as possible. It can be tempting to add a whole lot of detail to this page, but remember that confusion often leads to “cart abandonment”.

3. Link “buttons” to the level-specific membership checkout page.

As you can see from my screenshots, I created a membership level page that gives a little more information on the two membership levels that I want my users to sign up to. One level is free; the other is a premium membership.

I will now need to link up my membership checkout page to each of my “Sign Up” and “Buy Now” buttons in the layout.

In most cases, the URL for membership checkout will be something like this:
https://SITEDOMAIN.com/membership-account/membership-checkout/?level=1

This URL is primarily the same for each level checkout page—you just need to update the last attribute of the URL with the appropriate level’s ID.

  1. Navigate to the default Membership Levels Page and click the button to membership level that you want to link.

    Screenshot of default Paid Memberships Pro levels page

  2. Copy the URL of the checkout page. Notice that each URL will include the membership level’s ID. In my case, I am linking my “Gold” Membership Level (which has a level ID of “18”). You should see something similar to /membership-account/membership-checkout/?level=18

    Screenshot of admin copying the URL of a Paid Memberships Pro Checkout page

    Pro Tip: You can automatically include a discount code in the URL by adding the attribute &discount_code=CODENAME at the end of the button’s link to checkout.
  3. Add the copied URL to the appropriate button/link that you created on your custom membership levels page. Repeat steps 1-3 for each Membership Level you have added to your custom page.

    Screenshot of Admin pasting in a link to redirect users to the checkout page

4. Last Step: Set your newly created Membership Level page as the default.

This last step will ensure that every generated link to your membership levels page will direct users to your new/custom page instead of the plugin-generated page. If you have inserted a link to the membership levels page within your post content, you will need to manually update those links to this new page.

  1. Navigate to your WP Dashboard > Memberships > Page Settings > Level Page > Select your new membership level page.

    Admin seeting Paid Memberships Pro Default Levels Page

Pro Tip: As a clean up step, you will also want to delete the old (plugin-generated) membership levels page and redirect that deleted page’s slug to this new page. You can alternately update your new page’s slug to match that of your previous page.

That’s it – and that’s alot.

If you have any questions about using this process to create the membership levels page of your dreams, please share a comment below.

Link to a User’s “User Page” in a Navigation Menu

by Kimberly Coleman | Add Ons, Newsletter

The User Pages Add On creates a unique page for each Member after checkout, giving the Admin access to write and share customized content for each specific member. Version .5.3 of the add on now includes the option to add this page as a link in your menus.

Adding the Menu Item

All of the User Pages are created under one “Top Level Page” that is assigned under Memberships > User Pages. This “Top Level Page” is the item you will add to your WordPress Menu.

  1. Navigate to Appearance > Menus.
  2. Select the appropriate menu to edit.
  3. Locate your top level user page in the “Pages” box (you can see which page you have assigned under Memberships > User Pages).
  4. Add the page to your menu.
  5. Save the menu.

The add on will automatically detect the logged in user’s page and redirect them to that location when they attempt to access the “Top Level Page”.

If you navigate to this page as the administrator, however, you will be shown a list of all users with a link to their User Page for view and editing. To test the feature as a member, see this post for some methods to preview your site as a member.

What else can I do with User Pages?

Here’s a post that covers how to pre-populate the page created for the member with default content or a specific page template (determined by your theme or child theme).

View the Tutorial

Other uses for this page may be dashboard-like content, such as showing a member their latest topics on your bbPress forum, their member badge, or maybe a custom form to share data, files, or other information.