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Once you integrate the Memberful WordPress plugin, you can restrict access to posts by category or tag (this also works for custom taxonomies). This lets you define who can access all posts in a category or tag — eliminating the need to specify the restrictions on a post-by-post basis. In this help article, we’ll show you how to restrict by category or tag, add marketing content, and how our feature interacts with other settings.
Restricting by category/tag is different from the Bulk Restrict Access tool. Bulk restrict applies restrictions once to all current posts in a category, while category/tag restriction applies automatically to both current and future posts.

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Restrict content by category or tag

  1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Posts → Categories or Tags (custom taxonomies are also supported).
    Choose a category
  2. Select the category or tag you want to restrict. Do not restrict multiple categories or tags in one post.
    Choose a category
  3. Scroll down to the Memberful: Restrict Access box.
    Select your audience
  4. Choose who can access posts in this category/tag by checking the appropriate option:
  • All members—active, inactive, or free (useful for a “freemium” tier)
  • Members with an active subscription to any plan
  • Members with an active subscription to a specific plan
  • Anybody who owns a specific download
Select your audience

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Review your options for adding marketing content

When content is restricted, you can display marketing content or teaser text to non-members (or logged-out members). This helps convert visitors by previewing content and linking to sign-up or sign-in pages. Examples for inspiration: You can add marketing content in several ways:

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Option A: Add to a category or tag

  1. Edit the category or tag.
  2. Enter your marketing content in the Memberful: Restrict Access box.
  3. Save changes. This content will display across all posts in that category/tag, including future posts.

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Option B: Add to a single page or post

  1. Open the post or page.
  2. Enter your marketing content in the Memberful: Restrict Access box.
  3. Update the post.

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Option C: Create global marketing content

To create default marketing content, go to Settings → Memberful, then click Global Paywall. You can also choose how many opening paragraphs to display before the paywall. If a post contains a Memberful Paywall Divider block, all content above the divider appears instead of the excerpt. NEW IMAGE NEEDED To learn more, see Create a paywall with a clear call to action.

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Categorize or tag a new post

Moving forward, whenever you categorize or tag a post, the associated Memberful restrict access and marketing settings will be applied automatically.
  • If a member has the correct access → they’ll see the protected content.
  • If not → they’ll see the marketing content.
Select a category or tag

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How this feature interacts with other settings

Here’s how category/tag restrictions interact with other Memberful features:
  • Category/tag marketing content → applies to all relevant posts (current + future).
  • Individual post-level content → overrides category/tag marketing content.
  • Bulk Restrict Access tool → overrides existing restrictions + content for posts.
  • Global marketing content (override option) → replaces all other marketing content.
If a post was previously restricted individually:
  • The post-level restrictions and marketing content take priority over category/tag settings.
If multiple restricted categories/tags are applied to one post:
  • The marketing content shown to non-eligible members will be randomly chosen from one of the categories/tags.
  • Members gain access if they meet the requirements of any restricted category/tag.
  • For consistency, we advise against using multiple restricted categories/tags on a single post.