Visitors hit a login wall and leave.
Your best content is locked, so nobody can tell it’s your best content.
Danica LouweUpdated 5 min readShow part of the content and keep the rest protected. For articles, add a read more tag and restrict the post with WP Fusion. For courses, make one lesson a LearnDash sample lesson. For whole pages, redirect people without access to an offer. Then write the message where the preview stops, and test logged out, without access and with access.
A login page doesn’t sell anything.
Protection is usually all or nothing by default. A visitor gets an “oops” message or a login form, with no idea what’s behind it. The fix is to decide how much to show, and what to say at the point where it stops.
Nothing to judge it by
Someone arriving from a search or a shared link can’t tell whether it’s worth joining.
A dead-end message
The default restricted message rarely says what’s behind it, what it costs or where to go next.
One message for everyone
A visitor needs a reason to join. A logged-in member on a lower plan needs an upgrade link. Both may see the same wall.
Access lags behind the sale
If a tag doesn’t reach the site quickly, a new buyer can still see the preview after paying.
Look at one page as three different people.
Open a private window for the logged-out view, and use test accounts for the others.
- Logged out: how much can you read, and does the place it stops make you want more?
- Logged in without access: does it tell you how to get it?
- Logged in with access: is the full content there, with no message in the way?
- After a purchase: how long until access changes, and do you have to log back in?
- View the page source while logged out: is the protected text in there?
- Check your RSS feed, and any search or listing pages that show excerpts.
Pick how much to show, then design where it stops.
Which option you use depends on what you’re protecting. These are the ones we use, and you can use more than one on a site.
- 1
For articles: cut it with a read more tag
Add WordPress’s More block where the free part ends. With WP Fusion connected to your CRM and restricting the post, visitors read up to there and then see your message.
- 2
For courses: use a sample lesson
In LearnDash, turn on Sample Lesson for one good lesson. Anyone can view it, even if they aren’t enrolled. They just can’t mark it complete.
- 3
For a whole page: send them somewhere useful
Redirect people without access to a landing or opt-in page. A specific page can have its own redirect, so a resource can lead to the offer that includes it.
- 4
For mixed pages: show content by tag
A conditional shortcode can show one message to people with a tag and another to those without, on the same page.
- 5
Write the message like an offer
Say what’s behind it and what to do next, with one clear button. You can build it as a template, so it looks like part of your site.
The technical version, for your developer
We used WP Fusion in these builds in 2023 and 2024, and checked the current docs. The docs don’t always separate Lite from paid features, so confirm each option on your licence.
- The message. WP Fusion > General Settings holds the default restricted content message, which can output an Elementor template through a shortcode. Per Post Messages adds one per piece of content.
- Excerpts. A more tag or block shows the content above it, and overrides the [the_excerpt] shortcode. Otherwise add [the_excerpt length="90"] to the message to cut by characters.
- Course pages. The message replaces the content area, so it works less well on course or product pages and custom templates. WP Fusion’s docs suggest a redirect there.
- Feeds. WP Fusion doesn’t protect excerpts in RSS by default. Its docs give a the_excerpt_rss filter to fix that.
- Sample lessons. The course’s access mode must be anything but Open. Topics and quizzes under a sample lesson are also visible, so check what they expose.
- Sync. With ActiveCampaign or Keap, run a webhook or HTTP post when tags change. For CRMs without webhooks, look for a bi-directional sync setting, as with Jetpack CRM.
- Search. If paid text should be indexed, add isAccessibleForFree: false with a hasPart selector for the paid section, and let Googlebot access it. Don’t show it Googlebot without that markup.
Watch it done
A client wanted logged-out visitors to read only part of an article. This short video shows the read more tag, the restricted content message and the shortcode.
Questions owners ask
Will Google still see the preview?
It sees whatever you show to visitors. If you want the full paid content indexed, Google asks you to mark it as paywalled with structured data and let Googlebot in, so it isn’t mistaken for cloaking. Otherwise, treat the preview as the part that can rank.
Is hiding the rest with CSS enough?
No. If the full text is in the page and only hidden visually, anyone can read it in the page source. The rest should never be sent to someone without access, which is how WP Fusion’s restriction works.
Can I do this for free?
To a point. WP Fusion Lite is free and restricts content by CRM tags and lists, but it needs a CRM connected. We tested it with Jetpack CRM. Lite won’t apply tags from purchases or course activity, so check that before you rely on it. If you already pay for LearnDash, sample lessons are included.
Why does a member still see the locked version after buying?
Often the site hasn’t heard about the new tag yet. In our test with Jetpack CRM, they had to log out and back in until we turned on bi-directional sync. With ActiveCampaign or Keap, a webhook updates it.
Should I preview a video the same way?
A short clip works better than a cut-off. Host a separate trailer, and keep the full video protected. Hiding the player doesn’t protect the file if the link is public.
