How can I offer member benefits with SilkStart?

In SilkStart, there are a number of opportunities to provide your members with unique benefits through the platform. This is facilitated through permissions that make it possible to control who can access features around your website. You can not only restrict non-members from accessing member content, but also set access based on a user's specific membership plan. When a user accesses a page that is restricted, they are prompted to login or join. 

The below article will guide you on how to create unique user experiences. 

How does this work?

SilkStart can recognize different types of users:

Not Logged in Guest - Any user that is not logged into SilkStart will be treated as a Not Logged in Guest. 

Logged in User - Any user that does not have an active or expired membership. This type of user is uncommon as it requires an administrator to set up.

Active Member - These users have active memberships. The system can also differentiate between type of active member, whereby you can set up permissions specific to a type of membership. For example, Gold Members can post events while Silver Members are not allowed.

Expired Member - When an active member reaches their expiry date, they are treated as an Expired Member until they renew. As an expired member, the user has the same privileges as a Logged In User.

Build benefits through SilkStart Applications

Events (Go to Settings > Manage Permissions)

• Create member only events, prompting non-members to join if they want to attend
• Provide members with discounted ticket prices to your events. Go a step further and set prices specific to a user's membership plan
• Allow members to post free or external events to your calendar
• Make the entire events calendar private so that only members can view

Articles (Go to Settings > Manage Permissions)

• Set access for who can publish articles
• Also, set access on the entire articles page so that only certain users can view
• Get more granular and set access for viewing the entire article vs. just the preview
• If you plan to host your member only resources using articles, we recommend making the application visible to non-members, while restricting their access so that they cannot read the content of each article. This creates an incentive for users to join.

Jobs (Go to Settings > Manage Permissions)

• Set access for viewing the job board, as well as individual job listings. This means that you could have non-members able to see that there are available jobs, but not have access to their details. A great opportunity to market the value of membership.
• Control who can post jobs and specify pricing by type of user. Charge non-members more. Go a step further and provide pricing specific to a user's plan.
• Ensure your job board remains free of unwanted posts by restricting publishing to admins only

Directory (Go to Settings > Manage Permissions)

• Restrict the directory to members only or make it public for all users to see
• Set access to user profiles. You can make it so that users can see the directory, but not company or user profiles. Your members also have their own privacy options that overwrite directory access settings. Members can select whether they want to be publicly visible, visible to only other logged in members or entirely private
• Select who you want to show in the directory. Options include displaying all contacts and members, members only or a specific member type (Settings > Apps > Directory)
• Allow users to contact one another through the directory or disable this feature for greater privacy (Settings > Apps > Directory)

Blogs  (Go to Settings > Manage Permissions)

• Set access for who can publish blogs
• Also, set access for who can view blogs

Groups (Go to Settings > Manage Permissions)

• Enable members to create their own groups or keep this an administrator function only
• Each group has it's own privacy setting

More on groups here

Build member only resources using Content Pages (Cpages)

Each content page you build has it's own visibility settings. This is a great way to put member resources behind a login and entice non-members to join. Similar to applications, visibility for a cpage can be set to members only OR a specific membership plan.

Separate navigation bars

The navigation bar is a great opportunity to optimize both the non-member and member experience. If you have content specific to joining, keep it on the non-member navigation. Meanwhile, provide members with quick links on the navigation to valuable resources and member features. Interested? More here.