A membership site lets you sell access to content only members can see, like an online course. In Ontraport, you build it with Ontraport Pages, then add membership to the site. In this lesson, you'll turn membership on, choose your domain, add your branding, set where members land when they log in, and review the emails Ontraport sends them. Membership is available on some account levels. The pricing page shows which ones.
To find your membership sites, hover over Pages in the top navigation and click Membership Sites. To add membership to a site, open the site, go to its Membership tab, and click Enable. That opens your membership settings. Keep the Membership site toggle on. If you turn it off, members can't log in.
Every site lives on a domain, and any page you publish to that domain becomes part of the site. Later, you'll choose which of those pages only members can see. In the site's settings, choose its domain. Pick one you've already published to, or add a new one. Turn on "Include all subdomains in this site" if pages on your subdomains should belong to this site too.
You can publish on an Ontraport domain or your own. If your main website runs somewhere else, a subdomain like members.yourdomain.com works well. Only paid accounts can add a custom domain.
Next, brand your site. Upload your logo, choose where the logo links, like your home page, and pick a brand color with the color picker or a hex code. Ontraport uses your logo and color on the login, registration and password pages it creates for you, and in your membership emails. The logo link gives members a quick way back to your site from those pages and emails.
Login redirects decide where members land after they log in. Click Add and choose a page, like your course overview. To send different members to different pages, add a condition to each rule. For example, choose Field is this value, pick your membership level field, and choose a level. Rules are checked from top to bottom, and each member goes to the first one they match. And if someone opens a protected page before logging in, they go straight back to that page once they log in.
The Suspended redirect is the page suspended members see when they log in, usually because a subscription payment failed. Point it to a page with the Update CC button, so they can update their card. You can build that page now or later.
Automatic logout sets how long a member can be inactive before they're logged out. Choose from 5 minutes up to 30 days, or Never. If your content is sensitive, pick a shorter time.
Turn on Open registration if you want visitors to sign up on their own from your login page. Then choose the status new members get. Ontraport recommends Suspended, with an automation that updates it. Under Social accounts, you can let members sign up and log in with Google, Facebook or Microsoft. First, you create a login app with each provider. The "Social login for membership sites" article walks you through it. Single sign-on with OpenID Connect, like Okta or Google Workspace, is available through Support.
When you're done, click Save. Ontraport creates your login, registration and forgotten password pages, plus your registration and forgot password emails, all in your branding. You don't need to build any of them. What Ontraport doesn't create is the automation that gives people access. You'll build that with the Update Membership Access action, which comes up later in this course.
Finally, review your membership emails. On the site's Membership tab, scroll to Messages, check the box next to a message, and click Edit. Make your changes and click Save. You can change the registration email's content and the forgot password email's send-from details. Both already include your logo and colors and work as they are, so editing them is optional.
So: turn on membership for your site, choose its domain, add your branding, set your redirects and logout time, decide how people sign up, and review your emails. Next up: adding pages to your membership site and protecting them.