HD Membership sells digital and print subscriptions on your own WordPress site: seven ways to ask readers to pay, members-first stories, delivery by zone, gifts, and accounts readers manage themselves. This site runs it for a made-up Juneau paper, The Gastineau Gazette.
Each paywall in the window is a real Gazette story. Pick a style to load it. Nothing on this site charges a card.
The opening, then the story fades into your offer. Open the whole page
Set a default for the paper, then change it for a section or a single story. Locked paragraphs never leave the server, so they can’t be uncovered in a browser’s developer tools, and pages still cache for speed. Search engines can be let in to index locked stories, the way Google expects.
Best for news and features
Readers get the first paragraphs, enough to know the story is worth it, and the text fades into your subscribe card. The classic newspaper paywall, and the one most readers already understand.
See it on an article →Best for growing an audience
Visitors read a set number of articles free each month and see a counter as they go (“2 of 3 free articles”). When they run out, the lead-in fade appears. Readers who arrive from a shared link get the full story, which keeps your reporting in the conversation.
See it on an article →Best for building a list
Before asking for money, ask for an email. A free account unlocks a few more articles a month (or articles marked for free accounts) and gives you someone to send your newsletter to.
See it on an article →Best for long reads
The opening reads normally; below it the length of the story shows through frosted glass with your offer on top, so readers can see how much is waiting. (What shows through is a placeholder: the real text never leaves your server until they subscribe.)
See it on an article →Best for phone readers
The opening reads uninterrupted. As readers reach the end of it, a panel glides up from the bottom of the screen with your plans, and the page behind it dims. It feels like an invitation more than a wall, especially on phones.
See it on an article →Best for premium content
Nothing of the article itself shows: the headline, the photo and your summary, then your plans. Best for premium analysis, members-only columns and e-editions.
See it on an article →Best for scoops and big stories
Pair with “free for everyone after N days” on a rule. Members get the story the day it publishes; visitors see a countdown to when it opens for everyone, and the offer to skip the wait.
See it on an article →A bar at the bottom of every Gazette page switches who you are. Free reader and Subscriber sign you in to a temporary account of your own, deleted within the hour.
You get two free stories a month on metered articles, then the wall. Every other style shows its wall on your first visit.
A free account opens stories that only ask for one, and gets more free reads on metered stories.
Everything opens, members-first stories included. Your account shows your membership card, the next issues, and buttons to switch plans, pause or cancel. Start reading
Hold a story for members for a few days, then open it to everyone on its own. Visitors see the clock instead of a wall, which is often what turns them into subscribers.
Members first
0 days0 hours0 minutes0 seconds
Subscribers read it today. Everyone else can read it when the clock runs out, opens to everyone on Saturday, October 10.
Next issue
Wednesday, October 14
21 copies
16 mailed
5 picked up in town
1 on vacation hold
| Juneau and Douglas · Local mail | 11 |
|---|---|
| Juneau and Douglas · Pick up in town | 5 |
| Elsewhere in Alaska · First-class mail, Alaska | 2 |
| Rest of the U.S. · First-class mail, Lower 48 | 2 |
| Canada · Mail to Canada | 1 |
Since the October 7 issue: 2 new, 1 stopped, 0 moved.
For papers that still print, HD Membership keeps each issue’s list: who gets a copy, where, and how. These are the Gazette’s real numbers for its next issue.
Plans can be monthly, yearly or anything between, with free trials, print options by zone and gift versions. Checkout runs through HD Pay with Stripe, on your own site.
4242 4242 4242 4242, any future date and any CVC.Code GAZETTE20 takes 20% off.4000 0000 0000 0002 shows a declined card.Test accounts and purchases are cleared every night.Fewer calls to the office: the reader’s account handles what used to be a phone call or an email to circulation.
Upgrades start now and are charged only the difference for the rest of the term. Downgrades wait for the renewal.
Digital readers can pause for a month or a few, as often as you allow. Billing and access pick up again on their own.
Readers say why they’re leaving, then see your offer (a discount, a pause or a cheaper plan) before they confirm.
Print readers stop the paper for a few weeks without stopping their subscription.
A new address from a date, priced for its zone, and on the right issue’s list automatically.
Discount codes for a first payment, a few payments or for good, and gifts that arrive on the day the giver chose.
Recurring revenue, paying readers, churn and trial conversion, worked out from the paper’s own records every day. These are the Gazette’s, from a year of sample readers.
$308
monthly recurring revenue
After discount codes; trials and complimentary readers left out.
48
paying subscribers
68 reading in all, counting trials, gifts and comps.
1.7%
monthly churn
Readers who left this month, of those reading at its start.
46%
of trials became paying readers
5 of 11 finished trials.
| Month | Recurring revenue | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | $42 | 9 |
| Dec 2025 | $54 | 12 |
| Jan 2026 | $75 | 17 |
| Feb 2026 | $105 | 23 |
| Mar 2026 | $131 | 30 |
| Apr 2026 | $154 | 34 |
| May 2026 | $174 | 39 |
| Jun 2026 | $221 | 46 |
| Jul 2026 | $248 | 53 |
| Aug 2026 | $267 | 58 |
| Sep 2026 | $300 | 67 |
| Oct 2026 | $308 | 68 |
Why readers left, last 12 months
Each one can be switched off, retimed or reworded, and sent to yourself as a test first.
A trial ending, a renewal coming up, a card about to expire, so readers are never surprised by a charge.
Automatic retries with a link to update the card, before access ends.
A short win-back series that stops the moment they come back.
The recipient hears when their gift starts and before it ends; the giver gets their own note.
New print readers, moves, holds and print cancellations, sent to whoever handles the mailing list.
A welcome with a link to set a password, so new readers never need to remember one to subscribe.
HD Membership was built to replace MemberPress for a paper we host. The move keeps every reader, their paid-through date and their mailing address.
A report shows who’s paid up, who has lapsed, who never paid, and subscriptions that look active but haven’t been billed.
Each MemberPress membership becomes a plan, imported hidden so nothing goes on sale by surprise.
Readers renew by invoice when their paid-through date arrives, end on that date, or stay open for complimentary readers.
MemberPress’s own records are never changed, so you can run the import again until it’s right.
HD Membership is part of the software we build and host for clients, so the pieces already know each other.
We set it up on your site, bring your subscribers over from MemberPress or a spreadsheet, design the paywall to match your paper, and train your staff.