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Sell Memberships with Joomla!

Offer exclusive content, communities, or perks behind a secure, flexible paywall.
Project Objectives
Project Kit

Project Objective

Build a fully functional membership site that offers gated content, automates recurring payments, and creates a seamless experience for subscribers. This blueprint will walk you through selecting the right platform, installing essential tools, and setting up the core features you need to sell and manage memberships with confidence.

Recurring Revenue Stream

Memberships provide predictable, ongoing income. Unlike one-time purchases, recurring payments help stabilize cash flow and support long-term growth by ensuring you’re not starting from zero each month.

Build a Loyal Community

Members are more likely to stay engaged and invested. A membership fosters a sense of belonging, encouraging repeat interaction, user-generated content, and stronger relationships over time.

Segment and Personalize

With membership data, you can better understand your audience and deliver personalized experiences. This allows for more targeted content, promotions, and offers that increase satisfaction.

Build a Loyal Community

Members are more likely to stay engaged and invested. A membership fosters a sense of belonging, encouraging repeat interaction, user-generated content, and stronger relationships over time.

Encourage Deeper Engagement

Members tend to interact more often and more meaningfully. They’re more likely to comment, attend events, and use your content, boosting the vitality and reach of your website.

What You’ll Build

  1. Launch Your Core Platform on a Reliable Hosting Service
  2. Install and Configure Your Subscription System
  3. Set Up an Email Marketing Tool
  4. Implement a Reliable Backup Solution
  5. Use AI to Help Structure and Write Your Content
  6. Add a Support Forum or Ticket System

Project Kit

The Project Kit gives you a complete list of the open-source apps, essential plugins, and helpful services required to build your chosen project. No guesswork—just the tools you need, curated and ready to go.

Setup

To use this membership site blueprint, you’ll need a web platform and hosting. We recommend ScalaHosting as it meets our high quality standard, has been verified to work seamlessly with Joomla! and is the official hosting sponsor of the Joomla! open source project.

Core

Once Joomla is set up on your hosting, install the YooTheme template. It’s a premium option for both Joomla and WordPress and integrates smoothly with the PayPlans extension. PayPlans will provide the core subscription system functionality your membership site needs.

Utilities

ACYMailing integrates seamlessly with PayPlans and is a powerful email marketing tool for engaging prospects and upselling current subscribers. Akeeba Backup is essential for every Joomla! site, providing reliable, secure backups to protect your site and ensure fast recovery in case of disaster.

Add-Ons

Some helpful add-ons to consider include a Perplexity AI Pro account, which can streamline structuring and writing your site content. You might also want to add EasyDiscuss to handle support requests—it's a great option for creating a subscriber-only support forum.