How to Add Content Lockers to WordPress (Quickly and for Free)

Trying to figure out how to add content lockers to WordPress? By that, I mean locking your content behind a notification that requires your visitors to complete an action before they view your content.As youve probably figured out, WordPress doesnt include this functionality in its core. But you can get it with plenty of handy plugins. And in this post, Ill give you some of the best plugins, as well as quick tutorials on how to use them to add content lockers to WordPress in various ways. Content locker is actually a fairly broad term. See, there are a variety of ways in which you can add content lockers to WordPress. So before you run off to start locking up your content, think about what you want to accomplish with your content locker.Generally, your options are requiring users to:Share or like your post on social mediaSign up for your email listRegister as a user at your sitePay a small feeWhile some plugins let you add multiple methods, most are focused on one specific action.So, quite obviously, if you want to boost your social media presence, youll want a social locker plugin. Whereas if you want to grow your email list, youll want something that offers email opt-in locker functionality.Ill cover plugins for each different use below.How to add a social locker to WordPressIf youre just concerned with adding a social locker to WordPress, OnePress Social Locker is a popular, free, and well-rated plugin for the job. OnePress Social Locker Author(s): OnePressCurrent Version: 5.3.0Last Updated: December 18, 2018social-locker.zip 88%Ratings 387,768Downloads WP 3.2+Requires You can use it to require users to either share or subscribe to three different networks:FacebookTwitterGoogle +You can also get more features in the Pro version.To use OnePress Social Locker, all you need to do is install and activate the free plugin from your WordPress dashboard.Once its activated, head to Social Locker → All Lockers and edit the locker youre interested in:Sig n-In Locker requires users to follow you to gain accessSocial Locker requires users to share or like on a social network for accessThen, you can configure the message and styling for your social locker. Below the configuration interface, youll see a live preview:Once youre happy with how your locker looks, save your changes.Now, to lock part of the content in your posts, you just need to use the new Social Locker button in the WordPress Editor:And your social locker is good to go!A more lightweight social locker pluginIf you want something a little more lightweight (but less flexible), Social Locker Content Locker – Locker Cat is a good option from a quality developer. Social Locker Content Locker Locker Cat Author(s): Fatcat AppsCurrent Version: 1.0.1Last Updated: July 19, 2018locker-cat.1.0.1.zip 80%Ratings 6,954Downloads WP 4.0+Requires To use it, all you need to do is install and activate the free plugin. You can configure some basics about the social locker by going to the Social Locker tab:Then, simply wrap the content you want to lock in the [lockercat] shortcode to require users to Tweet or share it on Facebook:How to add an opt-in locker to WordPressIf you want to add an opt-in locker to your WordPress site, OnePress, the same developer behind the social locker plugin above, also has an opt-in locker plugin called OnePress Opt-In Panda. OnePress Opt-In Panda Author(s): OnePressCurrent Version: 2.3.0Last Updated: December 18, 2018opt-in-panda.zip 88%Ratings 40,152Downloads WP 3.2+Requires It syncs up with all the major email marketing service providers to require users to sign up for your mailing list before they can view the content.The interface is pretty much identical to OnePress Social Locker (in fact if you install both, theyll actually work together).Just install and activate it, then head to Opt-in Panda → All Lockers to configure your opt-in locker:Then, you can add the shortcode to your posts using the Opt- in Panda button:And the plugin will lock up your content on the front-end:How to add a paywall and sign-up lockers to WordPressUnlike the first two uses, there arent any popular lightweight solutions for easily adding a paywall or signup locker to your content. They do exist, but none are popular enough that I feel comfortable recommending them.But while that may be the case, theres actually already a massive WordPress industry covering this use:Membership plugins.If you want to require users to pay or sign up in order to access certain pieces of content, youre probably best off just using a dedicated membership site plugin.And, as luck would have it, we actually have an incredibly detailed guide on how to create a membership site with WordPress.If you really dont want to deal with setting up a membership site, you can consider a plugin like Content Locker to require users to sign up to view your content. And if you want a paywall, you can find some plugins like Leaky Paywall.But ag ain I think that, at least most of the time, a membership site is your best option for these two applications.Wrapping things upThere you go a few different ways to add content lockers to WordPress.If you want the flexibility to stack social content lockers and email opt-in content lockers together, then using the two options from OnePress is a great solution. They integrate together, so you can manage all of your content lockers from one place.And if you just want a lightweight option for social lockers, I think the plugin from Fatcat Apps is a great solution that gets rid of some of the unnecessary features from OnePass.Just remember when you add content lockers to WordPress, you always want to make sure youre not tanking your sites user friendliness. That is, use content lockers judiciously. If you have any questions related to how to enable content lockers in your WordPress site, feel free to submit them in the comments section below.Free guide5 Essential Tips to Speed Up You r WordPress SiteReduce your loading time by even 50-80% just by following simple tips. * This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and then purchase the product, well receive a small fee. No worries though, youll still pay the standard amount so theres no cost on your part.