Tools and buttons
The buttons at the bottom of the settings page.
Refresh plan catalog
WordPress keeps a copy of your plans and prices so the pricing page loads fast and still works if FMS is briefly unreachable. Press this after changing plans or prices in FMS, otherwise the public page shows yesterday's prices.
If FMS cannot be reached the page keeps serving the last known-good prices and says so, rather than showing nothing.
Email address sync
Since FMS Member Gate 0.53.0, WordPress checks FMS every five minutes for address changes made in FMS. These are changes made by staff in the FMS console, by the member in Stripe, or by an import. It updates the member's WordPress account, even if they never sign in.
The Email address sync row shows when it runs next, and what the last run did. Last error appears only when the last run stopped early, because FMS could not be reached. Left for the next run shows why WordPress could not save a change. That never holds up the others. Press Sync email changes now to run it at once.
| Count | Means |
|---|---|
| applied | The WordPress account now has the new address. |
| refused because another account uses the address | Two WordPress accounts would share one address. Staff sort it out from the member's page in FMS. |
| rejected as an invalid address | WordPress says the address is not valid. Staff correct it on the member's page in FMS. |
| with no WordPress account | No WordPress account was found for that member. |
| left for the next run | WordPress could not save the change. The next run tries again. |
Each change is listed on the member's page in FMS, under Email history. See Email history.
Migration buttons
Download member export produces a JSON file of the site's members for importing into FMS. There is a second button that includes free Community members. Members billed through Stripe are always in the file, as link-only rows that attach their WordPress login to the member the Stripe import created.
Sync restrictions from PMPro copies the old plugin's content rules across so FMS gates the same articles. The tick box also removes rules that no longer match anything.
The old plugin could lock a whole category. FMS locks article by article, so the sync gives every article in a locked category its own rule. When an article has several, the cheapest tier that could read it wins, as in the old plugin.
When the old plugin has category rules, a grey line under the text previews them. It changes nothing. It gives these numbers:
| Number | Means |
|---|---|
| rule(s) | Category locks in the old plugin |
| categories | Locked categories with at least one article |
| post(s) | Articles in those categories |
| no per-post rule | Articles locked only by their category |
| no row in the gate table | Articles that would go public today if the old plugin stopped |
After the sync, the green box adds a line such as 6 PMPro category rule(s) on 2 categories flattened onto 140 post(s), 35 of which had no per-post rule (0 members-only, now paid-only).
New articles in a locked category
The sync covers the articles in those categories on the day it runs. Run it again just before the old plugin is switched off. After that, set the access level on each new article.
Which articles count
Only the categories an article is filed in directly, never their parent categories. Scheduled and draft articles count too, so they are locked the day they publish. Tags locked in the old plugin count the same way. A category free Community members could read becomes paid members only, like any other Community rule. To open such an article to Community members again, set its Required membership level to Every member in the editor.
These are cutover jobs. The migration assistant runs the same work as a guided checklist, which is easier to follow.
The switches for moving members
Members move from PMPro to FMS all at once, on one morning, on the admin portal's Migration page. Two switches in the Activation section decide what the website does before, during and after. Tick FMS gating just before the hand-over, and New members join through FMS just after it.
FMS gating (the box Enable FMS gating on this site) is the master switch. The text at the top of the section says which of three states the site is in:
| Banner | Means |
|---|---|
| FMS gating is OFF — this plugin is inert. | PMPro serves everyone, including members already handed over. |
| FMS is serving handed-over members. | The switch is on and PMPro is still active. FMS serves the members handed over on the Migration page. PMPro serves visitors and everyone else. |
| FMS is serving everyone. | PMPro is switched off. |
New members join through FMS (the box Send people who join to FMS’s signup and checkout) decides where people who join go while PMPro is still active.
| Setting | A visitor who joins |
|---|---|
| Off | Goes through PMPro's checkout, and is PMPro's member. |
| On | Goes through FMS's sign-up and checkout, and is FMS's member from the start. |
A signed-in member PMPro still serves always gets PMPro's checkout. A handed-over member always gets FMS's. The switch needs Enable FMS gating on. Once PMPro is off it no longer matters.
Set in wp-config.php
If the box is greyed out, the setting comes from FMS_MG_NEW_SIGNUPS in wp-config.php. Change it there.
PMPro changes to handed-over members
Also in the Activation section. While PMPro is still active it keeps running its own nightly checks. When it changes the level of a member FMS already serves, the change is listed here. A line says PMPro changed N handed-over members since …, with the newest ten below it.
FMS stays in charge of those members. They keep reading, and FMS puts their newsletter labels back when it next updates them. Check any line that looks like a real cancellation on the member's page in the admin portal.
Clear this list starts the count again. It changes nothing in PMPro or FMS.
Deactivate PMPro
Further down there is a readiness panel and a one-click deactivate for the old plugin. It refuses while any blocking check fails. It never deletes data. See step 3 of the cutover.
Two of its checks are about moving members:
| Check | Fails while |
|---|---|
| Every member handed over | FMS says someone is still on PMPro, or FMS cannot be asked |
| New members join through FMS | That switch is off |