Restrict Past Content

When a new member joins, they usually get your whole archive on day one. If you sell a steady stream of new content, such as a weekly lesson, that archive is worth far more than one new Membership. Restrict Past Content lets you hide old content from new members: a restricted post opens only if it was published after the member registered.

You can still open part of the past to everyone, with a window of days or a short list of posts that always stay open.

Hide old content from new members, your way

• Dated by registration. A member can open a restricted post only if it was published after their account was created on your site.
• A window into the past. Set an exception in days, and members can also open restricted posts from that many days before they joined.
• Always-open posts. Add post IDs to a whitelist, such as a welcome lesson, and every member can open them whatever their date.
• Clean post lists. Blog pages, archives and search results show each member the posts from their own time, plus your whitelist.
• A clear next step. When a post is too old for a member, they land on your Default Redirect Page, or on the home page.
• Works with your rules. It checks restrictions set in the Locker box and in Access Rules for a URL, a post type or a category.

How Restrict Past Content works

1. Restrict your posts to your Memberships as usual.
2. Switch on Restrict Past Content in Ultimate Membership Pro.
3. If you like, set an exception in days and a whitelist of posts.
4. When a member opens a restricted post, its publish date is compared with the member’s registration date.

Step-by-step setup is in the Restrict Past Content guide.

Who may open a post is still decided by your content restriction rules. The add-on adds the date check on top, so a member without the right Membership is turned away as before.

When closing the back catalog pays off

• Weekly lessons or issues. New members follow along from the day they join, and the full archive stays with the members who were there.
• A taste of the archive. With an exception of 30 days, newcomers can catch up on the last month without getting years of content.
• A welcome that always works. Whitelist your starter posts so every new member has something to open on day one.

For example, a coaching club publishes weekly lessons for its Pro Monthly and Annual Pass members. With an exception of 30 days and the Welcome lesson on the whitelist, a member who joins on November 10 opens the Welcome lesson, every lesson from October 11 on, and all new lessons.

Works well with

• Drip Content, to open lessons to each member a set time after they sign up.
• Restriction Hold, to keep a post public until a date and restrict it from then on.
• Restriction Release, to make a restricted post free for everyone on a date.

Questions about Restrict Past Content

Which plans include Restrict Past Content?

Restrict Past Content comes with the Full Package and Agency plans, together with all 46 Pro add-ons. The Pro plan doesn’t include Pro add-ons.

Which date counts, sign-up or purchase?

The member’s registration date: the day their account was created on your site, not the day they bought a Membership.

Can new members still see some older posts?

Yes. Turn on the exception and enter a number of days, or add post IDs to the whitelist. You can use one or both.

What happens when a member opens a post that is too old?

They go to your Default Redirect Page, or to the home page if you haven’t set one.

Can I keep older post titles in my blog lists?

Yes. Lists leave out posts published before the member registered, except whitelisted ones. To keep those titles listed, switch on the option to show hidden page and post titles in listings in the Ultimate Membership Pro settings.