Set up the registration form
The Ultimate Membership Pro registration form is where visitors create their account and sign up for a Membership. The plugin puts it on your Register page with the shortcode [ihc-register], and one settings screen controls how it looks and what happens when someone signs up.
This guide walks through that screen using one example: the Coaching Club site gives every new member the Free Community Membership, while visitors who pick Pro Monthly on the Subscription Plan page sign up for that plan instead.
Before you start
- Your Register page is set. Check Ultimate Membership Pro›Settings›Pages Setup, Register Page. See Set up the membership pages.
- You have at least one Membership. See Create your first Membership.
- A private (incognito) browser window to test the form. Logged in as an administrator, you see a notice instead of the form.
Open the Registration Form screen
- Go to Ultimate Membership Pro›Showcases and open Registration Form. You can also use the Registration Form item in the plugin’s menu.
- Stay on the Register Form Showcase tab. Custom Messages and Custom Fields are covered in their own guides.
The plugin created your Register page with the [ihc-register] shortcode in it. To put the form on another page, click Copy and paste the shortcode there. Each tab has its own Save Changes button, so save before you switch tabs.
Pick a template
In Register Form Display — Register Form Template, click a thumbnail. The Preview card next to the settings (below them on smaller screens) updates, so you can compare templates before you save.
Templates change the layout and style of the fields and the button: rounded or square inputs, labels inside or above the fields, one or two columns. They don’t change which fields the form has.
Choose the Membership new members get
The first settings in Additional Settings decide which Membership a sign-up gets and which WordPress role the new account has. The numbers match the screenshot.
How the form knows which Membership the visitor is signing up for.
- Predifined Subscription (spelled this way in the plugin): the form opens directly. New members get the Membership set below, or the one in the link they came from.
- Subscription Plan: visitors must pick a plan first. Anyone who opens the Register page without a plan is sent to your Subscription Plan page.
Default: Predifined Subscription
The Membership given to people who register without choosing a plan. Memberships are listed by their slug. With None, they get an account with no Membership.
Default: None
The WordPress role of new accounts. Every role except Administrator is listed, including Pending, which holds new accounts for your approval (see the next step).
Default: Subscriber
Switches the member to the role in Choose New WordPress Role once their first Membership is activated, for example after the first payment.
Default: Off
Why the Register page sends visitors to the Subscription Plan page
When a visitor picks a plan on the Subscription Plan page, they arrive on the Register page with the plan in the link, for example yoursite.com/register/?lid=2 for the Membership with ID 2. The form then signs them up for that plan. The Register page sends visitors to the Subscription Plan page when:
and the link has no plan, or a plan that doesn’t exist.
and the link has a plan that doesn’t exist or that this visitor isn’t allowed to buy.
Want people to register without choosing a plan? Set Choose Subscription Type to Predifined Subscription. This only happens when a page is set as Subscription Plan Page in Ultimate Membership Pro›Settings›Pages Setup.
When the Membership is paid, the payment part (payment method, price summary and coupon box) appears under the fields, and the member pays when they register:
Approve new members yourself
Set WordPress User Role to Pending when you want to check every new account before it can be used. A Pending member can’t log in until you approve them. They see the login message “Your account has not been approved. Please retry later”.
- Go to Ultimate Membership Pro›Members.
- Open the row menu of the member and click Approve Member.
Approving gives the member the WordPress default role from Settings›General, New User Default Role, not the role you picked in this form. More about the member list in Manage your members.
A Membership’s own role replaces the register role
A Membership can set its own role in Additional Access Settings, Custom Member WordPress Role. When that Membership is activated (at once for a free plan, after payment for a paid one), the member gets that role. This also takes them out of Pending. The After Payment Completed switch works the same way. For approval to work, keep Custom Member WordPress Role on …Default Register option for the Memberships people register with, and leave After Payment Completed off.
Set the password rules and sign-up options
The rest of the card sets password rules, notifications and what happens after sign-up.
The shortest password allowed. The lowest value you can enter is 4.
Default: 6
Extra rules. A strength bar under the field shows members how they’re doing.
- Standard: only the length is checked.
- Characters and digits: needs letters and at least one number.
- Characters, digits, minimum one uppercase letter: also needs a capital letter.
Default: Standard
Admin emails about new sign-ups are set up in Ultimate Membership Pro›Email Notifications, and the admin address in Ultimate Membership Pro›Settings›Notifications Settings. See Set up email notifications.
Default: On
Sends the new member’s email address to your mailing list service, chosen in Choose Opt-In Service.
Default: Off
New members must click a link in an email before they can log in. See Verify members’ email addresses.
Default: Off
Logs new members in as soon as they register. Keep it off when you use Double Email Verification, as the hint says.
Default: Off
The text on the submit button.
Default: Empty (the button says Register)
Where members go after registering
To send new members to a welcome page, pick it in Ultimate Membership Pro›Settings›Pages Setup, After Registration (default Do Not Redirect). Sign-ups for a free Membership, or for a paid one by Bank Transfer, go to the Thank You Page instead when one is set (the plugin creates it), and members who pay online return from the payment gateway. For per-Membership rules, see Redirect members after registration.
Set the terms label and custom CSS
The text next to the terms checkbox. It links to the page set as TOS Page in Pages Setup. The checkbox itself is the Accept field in Custom Fields.
Default: Accept our Terms&Conditions
CSS added to pages with the registration form. The Preview updates when you click outside the editor.
Example: a brand-colored button
.ihc-form-create-edit input[type=submit] {
background: #4f47eb;
}Click Save Changes. Then open the Register page in a private window to check the result.
Change the fields and messages
Custom Fields
- What
- Which fields the form shows, their order, and which are required
- Guide
- Add custom fields to the registration form
Custom Messages
- What
- Error and success texts, such as Email Address is taken (“Email address has already been taken”)
- Guide
- Change plugin texts and messages
Example: Coaching Club registration
- Template
- (#9) Radius
- Choose Subscription Type
- Predifined Subscription
- Subscription assigned to new Member
- Free Community
- WordPress User Role
- Subscriber
- Minimum Length
- 8
- Password Strength Options
- Characters and digits
- Automatic Login after Registration
- Off
- Sign-Up Button Label
- Join Coaching Club
- Pro Monthly sign-up link
yoursite.com/register/?lid=2
Troubleshooting
Why do I see “Administrator Info: Register Form is not showing up once you’re logged.” instead of the registration form?
Ultimate Membership Pro shows this notice because you’re logged in as an administrator. Open the Register page in a private window to see the form. Logged-in members don’t see the form at all.
Why does the Register page keep opening the Subscription Plan page?
The Register page sends visitors to the Subscription Plan page when Choose Subscription Type is set to Subscription Plan, or when the link has a plan that doesn’t exist or isn’t available to the visitor. Use Predifined Subscription, or link to the Register page with a valid ?lid=.
Why aren’t new members set to Pending?
New members don’t stay Pending when a Membership they signed up for has a Custom Member WordPress Role, or when After Payment Completed is on. Either one replaces Pending when the Membership is activated. Set the Membership role back to …Default Register option and switch After Payment Completed off.
Why does a member see “Your account has not been approved. Please retry later”?
Ultimate Membership Pro shows this message to members who have the Pending role. Approve them in Members, row menu, Approve Member.
Why does the registration form say “Password must include minimum {X} characters”?
The registration form shows this message when the password is shorter than Minimum Length. The member sees the number in place of {X}.
Why don’t new members get the Membership?
With Predifined Subscription, new members get no Membership when Subscription assigned to new Member is set to None. For paid plans, the Membership is activated after payment. See Login and registration problems.
