Members Restricted Access
This plugin create shortcodes to restrict the access to Visitors, Members or specific role. You can create sections in your page/post only visible to members (logged users), visitors or for an specific role.
Consider an alternative
Members Restricted Access shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 10 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.4 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Members Restricted Access stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| members | >100 |
| restric by role | #4 |
| Restrict access | >100 |
| visitor | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews
About Members Restricted Access
From the official readme · v3.0Description
This plugin create shortcodes to restrict the access to Visitors, Members or specific role. You can create sections in your page/post only visible to members (logged users), visitors or for an specific role.
To use you need to create the content and wrap it with these shortcodes: [visitor], [member] or [showifrole].
- You can use the parameters ‘is’ and ‘msg’. If you not specify them, the default value will be use instead.
- The paramater ‘is’ is use it with the shortcode [showifrole] to check for that specific user. The default value is ‘administrator’.
- And ‘msg’ is the message the system is going to show. You can use html code with single apostrophes (‘). The default value is null.
Examples:
‘[visitor]
content only visible to visitors
[/visitor]
[member msg=”You need to Login to see this content.”]
content only visible to members
[/member]
[showifrole is=administrator]
content only visible for administrators
[/showifrole]
[showifrole is=author msg=”You don’t have the required role.”]
content only visible for authors
[showifrole]’
Installation
To install this plugin just follow the standard procedure.
or
- Upload
members-restricted-access.phpto the/wp-content/plugins/directory - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Changelog
3.0
- Now you can use nested shortcodes, so you can use a any shortcode inside our shortcode verification.
2.1
- Add the parameters for message in the members, visitors and showifrole shortcodes.
- Add a default value for ‘is’ and ‘msg’.
2.0
- Added the shortcode to check by role.
1.0
- Just launch the plugin!
For developers
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Best Members Restricted Access alternatives
All members plugins →FAQ
Members Restricted Access: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 9, 2026
Is Members Restricted Access free?
Yes. Members Restricted Access is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Members Restricted Access safe to use in 2026?
Members Restricted Access shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Members Restricted Access?
Members Restricted Access is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 7,343 times since it launched in March 2015. It was downloaded 74 times in the last 30 days.
Does Members Restricted Access work with WordPress 7.1?
Members Restricted Access is officially tested up to WordPress 4.4.34, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Members Restricted Access last updated?
The latest version, 3.0, was released on March 3, 2016 (11 years ago).
Who makes Members Restricted Access?
Members Restricted Access is developed and maintained by Manny Costales.
What are the best alternatives to Members Restricted Access?
The most popular alternatives to Members Restricted Access are BuddyPress (90K+ installs), Simple Membership (40K+ installs) and Simple Membership After Log… (10K+ installs).
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