Gratis Access

Overview

Gratis Access adds membership-style content restriction to WordPress. You tag a post, page, course, or lesson with an access level — Free, Premium, or VIP — and the plugin automatically replaces the body of that content with a notice for anyone who is logged out or whose account sits below the required level. Levels are ranked (free = 0, premium = 1, vip = 2), so a VIP member can read everything a Premium member can.

Opening the settings screen

1. In the WordPress admin sidebar, hover Settings.
2. Click Gratis Access (URL: /wp-admin/options-general.php?page=gratis-access).
3. Adjust the fields below, then click Save settings.

Assigning access levels to content

The plugin registers an Access Levels taxonomy (access_level) on posts, pages, and — when Gratis Learn is active — gratis_course and gratis_lesson items. Three terms are created on activation:

• Free — the lowest tier; content tagged here is visible to any logged-in user (and is the baseline every account meets).
• Premium — requires an account set to premium or higher.
• VIP — the highest tier; only vip accounts can read it.

To gate a piece of content, open it in the editor and assign one of these terms in the Access Levels panel. Content with no term assigned is never restricted.

Restriction settings

• Default access level — the level given to any logged-in user who has not been assigned one explicitly. Leave it at Free unless every member should start with more.
• Logged-out message — the text shown in place of restricted content when the visitor is not signed in. The notice also includes a “Log in →” link back to the page.
• Upgrade-required message — the text shown to a signed-in user whose level is too low for the content they requested.

Granting access to a user

The Grant access tool on the same screen sets a single user’s level immediately, without editing their profile by hand. It writes the chosen level to the user’s _access_level meta.

• User ID — the numeric ID of the WordPress user to update (visible on the Users screen).
• Access level — the level to assign: Free, Premium, or VIP.

How restriction is applied

On every singular post or page, Gratis Access compares the highest level required by the content’s terms against the visitor’s level. Logged-out visitors always see the Logged-out message; signed-in users below the threshold see the Upgrade-required message; everyone at or above the threshold sees the real content. Restriction runs only on the front end, so administrators editing in wp-admin always see the full text.

Recommended starting point

• Leave Default access level at Free so new members do not get paid content automatically.
• Write a friendly Logged-out message and a clear Upgrade-required message that tells members how to upgrade.
• Tag one test post with Premium and preview it while logged out to confirm gating works.
• Use Grant access to promote individual members, or set the level on their user profile.