Single Payment Membership Sites:
The following tutorial is designed to show you how to set up a single payment membership site using DLGuard.

Go back to Common Questions Answered

 

The goal of this tutorial:
Create a membership site where a person pays $50 via ClickBank to have lifetime access to the private area.

Please keep in mind that any payment processor can be used, however for this tutorial we'll be using Clickbank.

 

Project overview:
To set up a one time payment membership we need to create a single item product in DLGuard, create a membership group in DLGuard, and then link them together.

By doing this, anyone who buys our single item product will then have access to the membership area.

We'll split this project into two steps - setting up the single item product, and setting up the member group.

 

Step 1: Setting up Clickbank

Firstly we need to set up ClickBank. Login to your ClickBank account. Click the menu item "Account Settings".

On the account settings page, scroll down and near the bottom of the screen you'll see a box labeled"Secret Key". Take note of what value is in there, or if it's blank, enter a random text into this box (Eg. n83q9h3aakj903) and Save it. Remember what this key is, you'll need it shortly.

Next click "My Products" in the top menu. You need to enter a thankyou page. Use the DLGuard Clickbank thankyou page:

http://www.example.com/dlg/cbreturndefault.php

(where "example.com" is your domain name, and "dlg" is the folder into which you installed DLGuard)

If you're not sure what your URL will be, if you login to DLGuard, go to the Help menu, select Clickbank, and in Step 1, your thankyou page URL will be listed.

Set your price, and make sure the Test Mode tickbox is ticked, and then click Submit.

In the table you'll now see your thankyou page URL with an ID number beside it. Remember this ID number.

You can stay logged in to ClickBank for now, as you'll need your ID number and your Secret Key for the next Step.

 

Step 2: Setting up your single item product

Log in to DLGuard. On the home page of DLGuard (the first one you see when logging in), you'll see a button near the top of the screen that says "Add". Click on this.

You'll be taken to the Add Product screen. Enter the following into the options displayed:

Product Name: We'll call it "My Membership".

Product Logo URL: You can leave this blank, we won't be using it.

URL of Product File: Type in "membership"

Hours to Download: This is how long your customer will be able to see their login details on your download page. Set this to 8 hours (or whatever you like).

Download Attempt Limit: Leave this blank.

Type of Product: Select "ClickBank".

Bonus Product Downloads: Leave this blank.

Auto Responder Email Address: If your auto responder software allows your customers to signup to your mailing list by sending an email to you, type the signup email address in this box. This is optional.

Custom Script URL: Leave this blank.

Extra Text/HTML Code: Leave this blank.

Custom Download Area Template: Type in "members.html"

ClickBank Nickname : Type in your ClickBank nickname. This nickname is the same username you use to login to ClickBank's admin screen. It's the name of your ClickBank account.

ClickBank Item Number: Enter the ID number of the thankyou page we added in the last Step.

ClickBank Validation Key: Enter the Secret Key we put into ClickBank in the last Step.

Click "Save Changes".

With ClickBank products we are required to set up a thankyou page. The next step will cover this.

 

Step 3: Setting up your download page template

Next we will edit your download page template.

This template is the page template that will be displayed after your customer buys your membership product. This template is designed specifically for memberships as it doesn't display any download information, instead it displays your member's login details.

This template is found in your DLGuard folder: dlg/templates/singleproducts/members.html

You will need to edit this template file to list your membership login URL. Open it up in the software you use to edit your web pages.

Near the bottom of the screen you'll see text that says "[Enter your membership URL here]". Delete this text and type in your membership login URL. For this tutorial we'll use "http://www.example.com/members/index.php".

I'd recommend hyper-linking this URL so that your member can just click on it and it opens the membership login page into a new browser window.

Save your template, and upload it onto your website into the DLGuard folder: dlg/templates/singleproducts/

 

Step 4: Setting up your custom email template

Since we are setting up a members area, the standard download email that is sent to your customers won't match. We'll need to create a membership specific one.

In DLGuard, click on the Home link. This will take you to the Overview screen and you'll see "My Membership" listed on this page. Click on the "Edit" link next to it.

On the Edit screen, click the "Customise Email" button near the top of the screen.

On the Customise Email page you'll see three radio buttons. Select the one marked "Send the custom email below".

In the Subject Line box, type "Welcome to [product]". The keyword [product] will be replaced with "My Membership" (the name of your ClickBank product) when the email is sent.

In the Email Body, type the following:

Hi [name],

Welcome to [product].

Your login URL is:
http://www.example.com/members/

Username: [email]
Password: [receipt]

Thank you for your support!
Your Name

Click the "Save Email Settings" button.

Now when someone buys your product they will be sent the email above, which will list all their login details.

 

Step 6: Testing your Single Item Sale

Before we go on it's a good idea to test what we've already done.

To do this we'll need to get the sales link for our ClickBank product. In DLGuard, on the Home page, click the Get Code link next to "My Membership". This is the same page we got the thankyou code from.

At the top of the screen you'll see a raw sales link. We'll use this one for now. Select it and press Ctrl-C (Cmd-C for Mac users) to copy it.

Open a new browser window, click in the address bar, and then press Ctrl-V (Cmd-V for Mac users) to paste the sales link. Press Enter to load this link.

You should be presented with a ClickBank sales screen. Enter your name and credit card details. Since this is a test purchase, nothing will be billed off your credit card, and so if you like you can use "0000000000000000" for your credit card number, and just choose an expiry date in the future.

After you purchase you should be redirected to your download page template, the one we edited with the membership details displayed on it.

Your membership link won't yet work because we haven't set that part up yet, but if this page is displayed correctly, then the first part is complete.

Also, check your email account for the custom email we set above.

If there seems to be something wrong with this process, re-read the tutorial section that deals with that particular step of the process that you're having problems with.

If there is a sales error, then double check your Secret Key in ClickBank matches the one you put into DLGuard.

Once it's all working, we'll move on to setting up a membership area.

 

Step 7: Setting up a membership group

It is now time to create the membership group that we'll link to the ClickBank product.

In DLGuard, on the Home screen, take note of the Product Number of "My Membership". You'll need this in a minute.

Click on the Memberships tab near the top of the page. You will be taken to the Memberships Overview page.

To create a new membership group we'll click on the "Add Group" button near the top of the page.

On the Add Group page, fill out the following details:

Group Name: We'll call it "My Group".

Products Members Have Access To: Leave this blank.

Download Attempt Limit: Leave this blank.

Membership Type: Select "Link members area to a DLGuard single item product".

Folder Where Extra Download Files Are Kept: Leave this blank.

File Extensions Allowed For Extra Download Files: Leave this blank.

Products That Allow Access To This Group: Type in the product number of "My Membership" Clickbank product. This is found on the Home page in DLGuard, next to your product name.

Save the group, and you'll be taken back to the Memberships Overview page.

 

Step 8: Creating your membership area

Membership areas are simply your own web pages that you've made, but with a small snippet of code that DLGuard will give you pasted at the very top of them. This code enabled the protection and turns your pages into a membership area.

You can create your member pages from scratch, but for this tutorial we will use the example ones included with DLGuard, and customise them.

Firstly, create a folder called "members" in the main folder of your website folder on your computer. This is all to be edited on your computer - we'll upload it to your actual website soon.

Next, on your computer, navigate to the "dlg/members/example/" folder. Select all the files in this folder and copy them into the "members" folder you just created in the last paragraph.

Go back to DLGuard, you should still be on the Memberships Overview page. If not, click on the Memberships tab at the top of the page. You'll see "My Group" listed on the Memberships Overview page.

Click on the Get Code link next to My Group.

On the Get Code page, scroll to the bottom of the screen, to the Membership Page Code box.

The first text box will ask for the full URL of your membership area. Type in the full URL, including "index.php" at the end of the URL. For example, http://www.example.com/members/index.php

Leave the Extra Groups box blank, and click the Generate button.

A code snippet will be displayed in the box below your Generate button. Select this code and press Ctrl-C to copy it (Cmd-C for Mac users).

Go back to the "members" folder you just created on your computer. Open up the "index.php" file, that you copied there, with your website editing software.

You will need to view this file in the View Source mode where you can see all the HTML code. Scroll to the top of the page and you'll see some code that looks similar to the code you just created. This is an example of where to paste the code.

Delete the existing code, and then paste the code you just generated in the same spot, at the very top of the page. Make sure there is no text and no spaces before the code you paste.

Save this file, and repeat the process for the rest of the files in your members folder.

On your website, create a "members" folder. Upload the files from the "members" folder on your computer into the "members" folder on your website.

 

Step 9: Testing your members area

The next step is to test your members area to make sure it's all working. To do this, you'll need your email address and receipt number from the test Clickbank sale you made earlier. If you can't remember what it is, check your email account as you should have an email listing your details.

Go to your membership page in your browser window.
Eg. http://www.example.com/members

You should be shown a members login page. Enter your login details and you'll be taken into the members area.Try out the links!

 

Step 10: Testing everything

Lastly, we need to test the whole process. Go to the Home page in DLGuard, click the Get Code link next to "My Membership", and copy the Raw Sales Link displayed there.

You can paste this link onto your website's sales page - use it to link your Buy Now image or text with.

Purchase your product again for $0, and then run a test through the whole process, including logging in to your membership area.

If there is an issue with the system, check back in this tutorial and re-read the instructions for that particular stage of the process.

Once everything is tested and working, set your product price to $50 (or whichever price you prefer) in your Clickbank account.

By following this tutorial correctly, you'll now have a complete and working Membership area with a one time joining fee.

 

A few last thoughts:

Keep in mind that you can use any of the payment processors that DLGuard supports to create a members area, similar to the way you have just done with the Clickbank one.

Free memberships can be set up by selecting the product type as "Free Product" instead of "ClickBank".

There are more advanced features that can be used in the membership areas that can be found in DLGuard under the Help menu then select Memberships.

-- Sam Stephens