Building a Membership Site with Visibility Controls in Webflow

If you're looking to create a membership site, Webflow now offers a more powerful tool to enhance the user experience. In this tutorial, we will cover how to use the new member login status visibility controls to manage element visibility based on a member's login status. Whether you want to show specific content, such as navigation buttons, access-denied messages, or call-to-action sections, based on whether a user is logged in or not, Webflow’s new feature will allow you to do just that.

Updating Navigation for Member Accounts

To start, let's update the site's navigation to ensure that specific elements only appear for logged-in members. We'll begin by adding an "Account" or "Profile" button that is only visible to logged-in users.

1. Edit Navigation Symbol: Navigate to the navigation symbol in Webflow. Then, add a link block for the account page and an image for the profile icon.

2. Set Visibility: Next, you'll want to ensure that only logged-in users can see this button. Click on the visibility of the account button, and set the condition to "Only visible when a user is logged in." This ensures that the button will only appear for users who are logged into their accounts.

3. Preview and Publish: After setting the visibility condition, you can preview the changes to ensure that the button only appears when a user is logged in. Once confirmed, publish the updated navigation to ensure the changes are live.

Customizing Access Denied Page

Similarly, you can customize the access denied page to display specific messages based on a user's login status and membership status. Let's take a look at how to do this.

1. Update Denied Page: Access the access denied page in Webflow and segment the page to display different messages for users who are logged in versus those who are not.

2. Set Conditional Messages: Copy and paste the existing message and adjust the text for the different login statuses. For example, display a message for "logged out" users and a different one for "logged in" users without a membership.

3. Customize Action Links: Update the call-to-action links based on the user's status. For example, display "Sign Up" and "Get Memberships" for users who are logged out, and customize the link destinations accordingly.

By customizing the access denied page in this way, users will receive tailored messages based on their login status, enhancing the overall user experience of your membership site.

Extending Customization to Other Site Sections

You can extend this visibility control functionality to other parts of your website, such as the library page or specific call-to-action sections. For instance, you can customize the call-to-action section to display different messages and links based on a user's login status.

1. Duplicate Call-to-Action: If you have a call-to-action section on your site, you can duplicate it and update the content based on the login status of the user.

2. Set Conditional Content: Customize the duplicated call-to-action section to display different options depending on whether a user is logged in or not. For example, show "Sign Up" for logged-out users and "View Memberships" for logged-in users.

By applying this approach across various sections of your website, you can create a more personalized and optimized user experience for your members.

Future Wishlist for Webflow Memberships

While Webflow’s new visibility controls have enhanced the membership site building experience, there are still areas where further improvements could be made. One example is the ability to toggle content based on a user's membership status.

1. Enhancing User Experience: Currently, there isn't an option to remove a "Join Now" button if a user is logged in but not subscribed. In the future, it would be beneficial to have the feature to control content based on membership access groups.

2. Future Development: This enhancement could potentially improve the overall user journey, ensuring that only relevant content and calls to action are presented to users based on their subscription status.

In conclusion, with the introduction of visibility controls based on member login status in Webflow, creating a powerful and personalized membership site has become more achievable. By utilizing these controls across different sections of the site, you can tailor the user experience to different user groups, making the overall site interactions more intuitive and engaging.

While there are still areas for potential development, the current visibility controls already offer significant improvements to membership site creation. As Webflow continues to evolve, we can look forward to further enhancements and features that will continue to elevate the membership site building experience.

Thank you for following along with this tutorial, and we hope this new functionality enriches your future membership site projects! If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team. Stay tuned for more exciting updates and tutorials from Webflow!