WordPress is easy.
Like, stupid easy. Anyone can get a website launched in minutes. Which is why it powers over 43% of all websites on the internet as the most popular website building platform.
And, an endless sea of plugins let you achieve some pretty awesome stuff – like monetize and paywall content with the MemberPress plugin.
And, just like WordPress, it’s built to be super simple.
MemberPress empowers even the most non-techie of folks to set up memberships, autobill for subscriptions, create online courses, and a whole lot more…
WordPress Devs CRANK IT UP A NOTCH
…but then, there are people who really want to soup up their site to do all kinds of crazy custom things beyond the plugin’s defaults.
For that, most people need to bring in a heavy hitter – a pro web developer.
As a developer yourself, when you pop the hood and look beyond shiny features like MemberPress Courses, the ReadyLaunch™ auto-pagemaker, and advanced reporting, a world of customization opens up.
With the MemberPress Developer Tools Add-on, you get a full REST API, webhooks, POST requests, and event documentation galore.
Developer Brandon Dove has been using MemberPress since he first co-founded his leading web development company Pixel Jar.
So we sat down with him to see how it's been powering up Pixel Jar's WordPress and membership site development.
Meet Pixel Jar
Pixel Jar is an Orange County, California-based Web Development company with a passion for all things WordPress. And, they've been in the game since 2004!
Whether they’re developing entire sites, custom themes, plugins, or third party API integrations, almost everything they do relates to WordPress in some way.
If you type “WordPress aficionados” into Midjourney, here’s what you get:
Pixel Jar’s clients range from solopreneurs and organizations to large corporations and even pro sports teams.
And, a large number of their clients come a-knockin', wanting to build custom membership sites. I'll give you one guess as to what membership solution they use…
Pixel Jar + MemberPress, Sittin' in a Tree
It started with a conversation at WordCamp 2010. Brandon and now-MemberPress CEO Blair Williams were sitting around spilling the tea on how most of the membership solutions at the time, well, sucked.
After swapping horror stories, Blair ran back to his lab and concocted the perfect membership site solution for WordPress: MemberPress.
And, three short years later in 2013, Blair released it to the WordPress community as the membership answer to developers’ prayers.
Soon after its release, MemberPress quickly swooped into Pixel Jar’s rescue.
“MemberPress was way better than what we were dealing with at the time. I started using it immediately.”
Ever since, it’s been the company’s go-to for all of their membership site clients.
“We’ve been using MemberPress for a very long time. It’s our #1 recommendation for clients. It handles all of our needs for every membership site.”
Pixel Jar's Fav MemberPress Features
Whether they’re utilizing an out of the box setting, or really gettin’ into the nitty gritty with its advanced options, Pixel Jar has no shortage of favorite MemberPress features.
Advanced Customization
No two clients are the same, so Pixel Jar needs a powerful plugin that can match customer needs.
From changing up the UI to receiving notifications of events, Pixel Jar uses MemberPress to fit even the most custom client requests.
They did just that with Pilatesology, an online learning platform for students of classical pilates. It's a behemoth of custom form and function.
Pixel Jar utilized MemberPress' ability to customize its UI to really dial in the design.
“Pilatesology is a super customized build of MemberPress. Being able to override MemberPress’ defaults allows us to provide a more customized experience for our clients.”
“Whether it’s changing a sign up form, or handling actions when a payment’s processed. The ability to track that payment and apply new rules is huge.”
They’ve even integrated custom features that allow members to create watchlists and share playlists of MemberPress protected videos.
Webhooks and Event Documentation
MemberPress Developer Tools allow you to send POST requests to any URL you want for a huge number of events in MemberPress.
It can be when a member is added, logs in, cancels, completes a course, and much more. And, you can configure as many webhooks URLs as you need.
As long as a service has an API, you're ready to rock.
“You’re able to adapt to standard WordPress functionality like hooks, and modify how the actual product works.”
MemberPress Courses
When it was released, the courses add-on was a huge development milestone for MemberPress. Anyone can create and sell online courses, right inside the plugin without any additional setup.
It’s been a huge game changer for WordPress as a platform, too. As global growth in online learning continues to grow, so does demand for teaching platforms.
“We find that most people are trying to teach with MemberPress.”
“Prior to MemberPress Courses being released, we were creating custom post types to structure content with custom taxonomies and things like that. Now, Courses handles all of that out of the box, and more. It’s been really powerful for our clients.”
Home is Where the Plugin is: The WordPress Community + MemberPress
WordPress as a platform owes a lot of its success to the community of developers, designers, bloggers, and individuals that helped grow it to what it is today.
And, with such a strong community behind it, you never have to look far for support.
If you’re trying to do something with WordPress, chances are there’s already a plugin for it. Or, someone champing at the bit to share their sweet workaround.
The same is true for MemberPress!
“Just like the WordPress community, there's a huge number of people building custom add-ons for specific features outside of MemberPress’ core team. So, you’re building into a community that loves membership sites and really want to make them succeed.”
Get MemberPress Today!
Start getting paid for the content you create.
Conclusion
Your clients have needs. Really specific ones. You don't want to promise them the site of their dreams, only to find out you can't deliver.
MemberPress give you the confidence needed to let them know you can get the job done, and actually mean it too.
With our Developer Tools add-on, you have all the hooks and customization features you could ever ask for.
Check out our Developer Resources Support Docs page for more information on how MemberPress can facilitate your clients' membership and monetization needs on WordPress.
Or, if you're a MemberPress customer in search of a developer to make your membership site dreams come true, check out this guide on how to find and hire one.
Have any questions on how MemberPress can land you more clients? Ask away in the comments section!
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