Whilst drafting this Wishlist Member review, I realised I'd been using it for six years! It seems hard to believe but it has been 6 years great years using Wishlist Member for WordPress. I was only just starting to work with WordPress professionally and I created a few great sites with it that are still running today. However as time moves on, the internet has definitely evolved and of course software grows up and changes with it so I thought it worth revisiting my original reviews of Wishlist to make sure everything is still accurate.
The Wishlist Member Review
When I first found out about Wishlist Member I was in the process of researching how I could make a membership site based on WordPress. I was happy using WordPress as both a blog and a CMS (content management system) and knew that if I could find a way to create private paid areas using WordPress it would be a lot easier than using an external system. After a lot of research, reading various sites, checking out reviews and forums I finally decided to give Wishlist Member a go. It turned out there were already a lot of membership plugins available but Wishlist came out on top from my research. As a sidenote; I've since tried many other membership systems at the request of clients and most of them are severely lacking or overcomplicated in comparison.
I decided to take a punt and go for the Multi-Site License that allows for an unlimited number of sites to be run with it. Again that turned out to be a great decision as I've used it on over 20 of my own websites and many more client sites over the years.
What's so Good About the Wishlist Member Plugin then?
I'm glad you asked ;) The first thing that stands out about this plugin is that even somebody that doesn't know how a thing about code can use it. Everything can be managed through the plugin with no need to tweak ‘this and that' bit of coding on your WordPress installation.
Installing the membership plugin was easy, so easy in fact I was at actually shocked at how quick and simple it was. If you've ever installed a plugin on WordPress before then you are good to go. Even if you had never installed a plugin you could probably do it I'd say. But in that case perhaps you should be spending a little time getting used to using WordPress first.
Once it's installed onto your WordPress the next thing to focus on is configuring everything. Every step of the way is documented in free videos that you can access on the Wishlist Member website and you are also provided with reference manuals when you purchase. Both the videos and the guides can come in useful at this point as you get used to the way the plugin handles things like different membership levels and protecting specific pages.
From start to finish you are able to set up a complete WordPress membership site in less than an hour and with practice, using only the basic options probably a lot less. As if they could make it any easier the team even throw in a couple of themes which you can use for your website if you haven't had a chance to source one of your own yet.
Some of My Favourite Features
There are so many things possible with the Wishlist Member plugin that it would be silly to list them all for you after they have done such a great job at their website. What I've decided to do is share just a few of my favorite features that this membership site plugin offers.
Click Here to see Everything that is possible with Wishlist Member
- Unlimited Membership Levels – Multiple Levels Possible on the same blog!
- Sequential Content Delivery – Schedule content based on the length of a user's membership.
- Create Teasers – Benefit from higher rankings by choosing to share teasers.
- Integration with PayPal, 1ShoppingCart, ClickBank & More – Enough Said.
- Secure RSS Feeds – Stop RSS thieves from accessing your content.
- Simple User Management – Everything handled in your dashboard, no need to touch the database!
Wondering What a WordPress Wishlist Membership Site Looks Like?
One of the beauties of WordPress is that you can use any number of themes to customise the look of your website and the overwhelming majority will work with modern plugins. I understand though that it can be hard to imagine how some of the features would work when applied to a real website, so I will share with you a couple of real world examples.
Mixergy is a popular membership site for entrepreneurs, offering interviews and courses from successful entrepreneurs. The entire membership system has been built with Wishlist Member and they have been going strong for years.
Another great example of Wishlist Member is on the official site for the membership site plugin. They distribute all of their plugins and bonus material using Wishlist Member so you will get to experience everything from the perspective of a customer as well from the very start. It's always satisfying to see a company that actually uses the product they sell!
In Conclusion…
If you haven't guessed already I highly rate this plugin and have absolutely no regrets for purchasing the Multi Site License. The only thing that I could possibly complain about is that if you plan on developing membership websites for other people then they will need to purchase their own licence. Slightly clutching at straws for a drawback there but I really haven't had any other problems with the software.
UPDATE: Wishlist Member are now offering commercial licenses on request. They've also told me about a ton of new features that are soon to be released so I would definitely sign up now before they decide to change the pricing structure.
You can purchase a Single Site License for only $97 and if you decide to opt for the Multi-Site License like I did, it's still only going to set you back by $297. Both packages come with full documentation, three months support & free updates. I give this plugin four and a half stars out of five.
Disclaimer: I am a long term user of Wishlist Member and an affiliate, but the big reason for this Wishlist Member review is that they are still delivering the goods after 6 years. In that time I've seen many great products come and go, but Wishlist has stayed strong and evolved over time so I'm still happy both using it and recommending it to WordPress users old and new.