WordPress

WordPress allows you to create websites, blogs, and share content, services, and products with users on the web. With content being generated daily, such as research reports, courses, and online tutorials, you can monetize your content by setting up a paywall on your website.

A paywall gates your site's premium content on a subscription basis.

With Chargebee's plugin for WordPress, you can implement a paywall on your site and charge users on a subscription basis. It allows you to restrict content based on the subscription your customers have signed up for.

Prerequisites

Ensure you use these tools and their respective versions to set up the plugin:

• WordPress version 4.5.0 or later
• PHP version 5.5.9 or later
• MySQL version 5.6 or later, or MariaDB version 10.0 or later

Plugin Overview

Chargebee's plugin creates the following in WordPress. These are required to set up content restriction on your site:

Products:

• Chargebee creates "Product" as a custom object in WordPress.
• Plans in Chargebee are created as Products.

Levels:

• "Level" is a custom object in WordPress.
• You can map a Product to a Level to restrict content.
• You can also map multiple Products to a Level.

Set up the WordPress plugin

1. Go to WordPress dashboard > Plugins > Add New, and select Upload Plugin.
2. Upload the Chargebee plugin and select Activate Plugin.
3. Go to Chargebee tab > Settings > Integration settings, and enter your Chargebee site name and API key. If your Chargebee site URL is https://acme.chargebee.com, enter "acme" as the site name.
4. Select Save API Key and Synchronize. Plans from Chargebee will now appear under WordPress dashboard > Chargebee tab > Products.
5. Copy the Webhook URL, Username, and Password from your WordPress site.
6. In your Chargebee User Interface, go to Settings > Configure Chargebee > API Keys and Webhooks, and switch to the Webhooks tab. Select Add Webhook.
7. Enable the Protect webhook URL with basic authentication option, and paste the Webhook URL, Username, and Password in the respective fields. Select Create.
8. In your Chargebee User Interface, go to Settings > Configure Chargebee > Checkout & Self-Serve Portal > Configuration > Portal, and from the Self-serve portal access drop-down, choose via Single Sign-On API.

Set up levels in WordPress

Once the plugin is installed, Chargebee will create Levels in WordPress. You can create restrictions as follows:

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Chargebee tab > Levels. Enter the Level name and description.
2. Select the Chargebee plan to associate with each Level. You can associate more than one plan with a Level.

Set up content restrictions

Chargebee's plugin allows you to set up a content restriction mechanism. You can set restrictions for your pages/posts as follows:

Everyone: All viewers can access the content.

Select Level: Only viewers on a specific Level can access the content. Once this option is selected, you can choose a Level.

As restricted at Category level: Set a Level at the Category level, which applies to all posts/pages in the Category.

As per content shortcodes: Restrict content based on the shortcode used on the page or post. Supported shortcodes are listed below:

Shortcode Usage

Use these shortcodes in your posts/pages to set up restrictions or guide users to sign up:

• Replace "Product ID" in the Product Subscribe shortcode with the Product ID of the plan to represent. The Product ID of a plan is similar to the Plan ID in your Chargebee site.

• Replace the "level_id" placeholder with an actual Level ID when using shortcodes. If "level_id" is not specified for the [cb_content_show] shortcode, the content will be shown to all users. Similarly, if "level_id" is not specified for the [cb_content_hide] shortcode, the content will be hidden from all users.

Limitations

1. Addons are not synced from Chargebee to WordPress.
2. Single-page checkout is not supported. In-app checkout will load when a customer makes a purchase.
3. Pricing tables are not supported. To display multiple plans on a single page, use the Subscribe shortcode for each plan. Customers can check out directly from one page.
4. Multisite in WordPress is not supported.

FAQ

1. How do I migrate to the new version of the WordPress plugin by Chargebee?

Uninstall the plugin and install the new version. Contact Support to get the latest file for installation. Refer to the new set of shortcodes.

2. How do I assign a default plan for new sign-ups?

To assign a free plan as the default subscription for all new sign-ups, go to WordPress site > Chargebee > Settings > General and choose an option from the Default Membership Product dropdown. Only "free plans" (zero-dollar plans) can be assigned as a default plan for new sign-ups.

3. How do I change the Content Restriction Message?

Set a custom message for guests or free plan users accessing gated content. Go to WordPress site > Chargebee > Settings > General and enter a custom restriction message in the text box provided.

4. What are the deprecated shortcodes?

The following shortcodes are deprecated:

• cb_login_form
• cb_registration_form
• cb_account_link
• cb_update_payment_method_form
• cb_product_subscribe

5. Plans from Chargebee are not imported. What should I do?

If plans from Chargebee are not imported, try updating the Plan ID in your Chargebee site and sync again.

6. If a customer's subscription changes in my Chargebee site, will it reflect on the WordPress site?

Yes, it will reflect on your WordPress site. The customer will now see content according to their new plan.