Paid content is released according to membership groups, how should the permissions be layered

Paid content is released according to the membership group, how should the permission level be divided? Determine the group first and then determine the content: Use user groups and VIP groups to clarify 'who is who', and then set the accessible content range for each group, entrusting the payment relationship to the order and financial management. The most common mistake is to hide permissions in the link, or use draft status as 'not public' - neither of these is permission, the former is equivalent to being released once the address is shared, and the latter is easy to leak in bulk when the status is switched.

Determine the group first or determine the content?

First define the group. The basis for grouping is 'visitor identity' rather than content type: visitors, registered users, annual members, corporate customers, these four types of identity can cover the needs of most paid sites. After the group is defined, discuss the scope of content, which type of content is visible to which group, and a table can be written. Conversely, if you categorize content first, it is easy to appear that the same price tier corresponds to multiple identities, or that certain types of content are not visible to anyone.

Correspondence between grouping and permissions

The writing of rules should be as simple as possible: one content range corresponds to one or two groups, not to set permissions for each article separately. With too many exceptions at the article level, subsequent adjustments cannot be verified. When implementing, express the 'scope' as categories or tags - report content is placed in a certain category, and this category is open to groups above the annual membership. New content that falls into this category will automatically inherit the rules.

It should be reminded that 'preview' and 'release' are two different things. The draft link with the preview parameter is used to show the layout effect to the editor, it is not access control; the four states of formal documents, drafts, pending release, and recycling station manage the content lifecycle, not who can see. Mixing the two often leads to the situation where new content scheduled for a specific date is seen prematurely. After setting the access permissions by member group, you still need to confirm that the list page, search, and site map will not spit out the addresses of restricted content.

Order and member status synchronization

The other half of the paid tier is money. Order management records what was purchased and the expiration date, financial management takes over accounting and invoicing, the entry and exit of user groups should follow the order status: automatically upgrade to the corresponding VIP group after payment is completed, and automatically drop down if not renewed upon expiration. This step is bound to be missed during the peak renewal period if it relies on manual verification.

When selling through cross-border or external channels, the distribution management is responsible for the hierarchy and commission rules. It is necessary to determine the hierarchy before opening distribution: who develops who, whether the commission is calculated at one level or multi-level, and how refunds are handled; fewer rules make it easier to verify. The public WeChat account is used for message delivery, such as expiration reminders and new content notifications, and reminders are made in the system, which is more stable than having operation colleagues manually send messages.

How to self-check before going online

The most practical three checks: Access restricted content with an unregistered identity to see if only an abstract is given; Use an account of a lower tier to access a higher-tier address to confirm that it is blocked; Move an article from a restricted category to a public category, and then move it back to confirm that the rules follow the category rather than the article itself. When opening membership in bulk, first use a small number of accounts to verify the linkage between groups and orders, and then release in full.

Common questions

Can it only be hidden in the menu without tourists seeing?No. The hidden menu only affects the display of the entrance, and the address can still be accessed directly. Permissions should be set on the correlation between the scope of content and the user group.

Is it better to have more groups?Not at all. From three to five levels are enough to cover most sites. When the level is so high that it needs a document to explain the rules, it often means that the price and identity should be merged.

Can content belong to two paid levels at the same time?Yes, but it must be clear which level to prioritize. Otherwise, lower-level accounts may see content from higher-level accounts. It is recommended to categorize according to categories and not make exceptions for individual articles.

How to implement a trial?Use a temporary group with an expiration date: after activation, enter the trial group, automatically fall back after expiration, more reliable than manually deleting permissions, and also needs to record the start time of the trial on the order side.