Members: free and paid readers

A member is a reader who has signed up with their email address. There are no passwords: members sign in with a link we email them. Being a member lets a reader:

• get your posts by email, from the newsletters they choose;
• read posts you’ve made members-only or paid;
• comment on posts, if you’ve turned comments on;
• manage their own email preferences and account.

Your member list

Select Members in the sidebar, under Audience. The tabs along the top split members by status, with a count on each.

The paid tabs appear once you take payments. On Starter, every member is free.

Where members come from

• They sign up on your site, through the sign-up pop-up or a subscribe form in your theme. See The signup and account pop-up.
• You import them from a CSV, for example when moving from another platform. See Import members from a CSV.
• You add them by hand with New member.

Add a member by hand

1. 1In Members, select New member.
2. 2Enter their Name and Email. Add Labels and a private Note if you like.
3. 3Under Newsletters, choose which newsletters they get.
4. 4Select Save.

Member limits on each plan

Every member counts, free or paid, subscribed to a newsletter or not. Nobody is turned away if you go over: people can still sign up and you can still import. But while you’re over the limit you can’t publish posts or send newsletters. Admin tells you “This action would exceed the members limit on your current plan.” Move to a bigger plan from your dashboard, or delete members you no longer need, and you can publish again straight away. See Plans and what each includes.

Good to know

• Who can sign up at all (everyone, paid only, invite only or nobody) is set in Settings → Access. See The signup and account pop-up.
• Members aren’t staff. Staff sign in to your site’s admin to write and manage; members only have an account on your site.
• You can export your full member list at any time. See Find, filter, label and export members.