How to test your member experience and Member Plans

Once you've protected your pages, created your plans, and added login and signup links to your website, it's generally a good idea to test your member experience to ensure a seamless flow.

Sign up for your Member Plan

The simplest way to test your Member Plans and overall member experience are working properly is to simply go to your website and sign up as if you were a new member.

Below are 3 options from which you can choose.

Option 1 - Create a 100% off coupon

If the Member Plan you want to test is NOT free, we recommend you first create a coupon discount for yourself so you aren't charged after signing up.

1. To do that, go to your MemberSpace account > click Member Plans in the left navigation > click Manage Coupons > click Create Coupon > for the dropdown What type of Member Plan is this coupon for, choose based on the type of Member Plan you're testing > fill in the form and make sure you set the discount to Percentage Discount and enter '100' > click Create Coupon at the bottom.
2. Open a private window in your browser: click File in the top left of your screen > then select New Incognito Window or New Private Window depending on your browser.
3. Then in this new window > go to your website > click on the plan sign up link you want to test.
4. Use the 100% off coupon you just created when entering your credit card details for the paid plan.
5. After you're done testing, make sure you cancel yourself from the plan by going to your MemberSpace account > clicking Members in your left navigation > find your test member and click View member details > then click Cancel next to the plan you just joined.
6. If you prefer to sign up and actually pay (not recommended), you can refund yourself afterward (Stripe will charge you a refund fee).

Option 2 - Join a plan with a free trial period

If the Member Plan you want to test has a trial, you can simply sign up for it, and you won't be charged since there is a trial period. After you're done testing, make sure you cancel the plan from your account so you don't get charged!

Option 3 - Set up a free test plan

Start a free trial of our Professional Plan to use this option.

If you prefer to create a free test plan instead, choose one of your existing Member Plans you want to mirror for the test.

1. Go to your MemberSpace account > click Member Plans in your left navigation > click Create Member Plans > select Free (no payment).
2. For the title of the plan, just call it something simple like 'Test Plan' and make sure you set up the same Member Page and Content Link access (if applicable) as the Member Plan you're mirroring.
   Also, make sure the After Log In and After Sign Up fields are the same as the Member Plan you're mirroring.
   At the bottom, make sure you toggle off Make Plan Public > then click Create this plan. 
3. Next, click Get Sign-up link next to the free plan you just created. Then click the Copy button:
   
4. Open a private window in your browser: click File in the top left of your screen > then select New Incognito Window or New Private Window depending on your browser.
5. Then in this new window > go to your website > paste in the sign up link you just copied and sign up as a new member.

Popular MemberSpace customizations

Check out our list of the most popular MemberSpace customizations people usually make to improve their member experience. 👍