Related documentation

Members

Roe CMS includes a complete membership system that allows you to:

• Build an email list with free member (and/or paid) signups
• Accept one-time payments for lifetime access to premium content
• Gate content behind a paywall with preview snippets
• Manage members and their access levels from the admin
• Accept donations from anyone visiting the site
• See Payment Models

The system is designed to be flexible: you can use it for free newsletters only, paid memberships only, or a combination of both. You can even use payments purely for donations/support without gating any content.

Note: Static-site generation does not support Members at this time. This is something we would love to add in the future but requires some work. For now, leave static-site-generation disabled if you want to have Members.

Enabling the Members System

1. Go to Admin → Settings
2. Click ENABLE MEBMBERS (if you haven’t already)
3. Enable/disable Paid Memberships
   • Add your paid membership price
4. Choose how you’d like paid content to be presented on the site
5. Finish setup with: ENABLE MEMBERS

This creates:

• Your members configuration (members.yml)
• Member pages: signup, signin, upgrade, check-email and more…

Member Pages

When you enable members, Roe generates several pages that you can customize. These are regular Markdown pages — you can edit the copy, add images, and customize them however you want.

Page	URL Name	Purpose
Sign Up	sign-up	Where people create free accounts
Sign In	sign-in	Where members sign in with their email
Upgrade	upgrade	Where you pitch your paid membership
Check Your Email	check-email	Confirmation page after requesting a magic link
Support this site	donate	Donation page for one-time contributions (no account required)
Checkout - Success	checkout-success	Shown after successful paid membership purchase
Checkout - Cancel	checkout-cancel	Shown if member cancels during checkout
Donation - Success	donation-success	Shown after successful one-time donation
Donation - Cancel	donation-cancel	Shown if donor cancels during donation
Unsubscribe from Newsletter	unsubscribe	Confirmation page before unsubscribing
You’ve Been Unsubscribed	unsubscribed	Confirmation page after successfully unsubscribing

Notes:

• All pages use audience: everyone so they’re accessible to visitors and members alike
• Pages contain special form code blocks that Roe renders as working forms (signup, signin, checkout, etc.)
• The Account page (/account) is built into Roe and not customizable as a Markdown file but you can style it with CSS.
• Store checkout flows (STORE is enabled) have their own success/cancel pages separate from these

How Members Sign In (Magic Links)

Roe uses passwordless authentication for members. When someone signs in:

1. They enter their email address
2. They receive an email with a “magic link”
3. They click the link and are automatically signed in
4. The link expires after 24 hours

Paid members can optionally use passwords (generated automatically after payment), but magic links still work for them too.

Signup Options: Free vs Paid

Your signup page can offer two buttons:

```form
for: signup
button-text: Sign up free
upgrade-button-text: Sign up and become a paid member
```

How it works: - “Sign up free” → Creates free account, sends magic link - “Sign up and become a paid member” → Creates account AND redirects to Stripe for payment

The upgrade button only appears if payments are enabled in your config.

Email Templates

Member emails are customizable Markdown files: Admin → Emails

Template	Purpose	Available Variables
magic_link	Sent when someone requests to sign in	@member_name, @member_email, @magic_link, @site_name
welcome	Sent when someone creates a free account	@member_name, @member_email, @site_name
upgrade_success	Sent after successful paid membership purchase	@member_name, @member_email, @password, @site_name, @account_url
email_changed	Sent when a member changes their email address	@member_name, @new_email, @old_email, @site_name
email_confirmation	Sent to confirm a new email address (link must be clicked)	@member_name, @confirmation_link, @site_name
payment_failed	Sent when a recurring payment fails	@member_name, @member_email, @update_payment_url, @site_name
membership_cancelled	Sent when a member cancels their paid membership	@member_name, @member_email, @site_name
account_deletion	Sent when a member deletes their account	@member_name, @member_email, @site_name

Notes:

• Available Variables are at the top of The Editor when editing email templates
• Variables use the @variable_name format in your templates
• All templates include @member_name and @site_name for personalization
• The upgrade_success email includes a generated @password — paid members need this password to sign in (free members use magic links only)
• @magic_link and @confirmation_link are full URLs that members click to complete actions
• Templates support full Markdown formatting including links, headings, and emphasis

Static Site Generation

If you’re using static site generation, SSG + MEMBERS is an advanced feature still in development.

Next Steps

1. Customize your member pages - Edit the copy in signup.md, upgrade.md, etc.
2. Enable newsletters - To test emails (Settings → Members)
3. Enable payments - When you’re ready to monetize, see Payments

The members system is designed to grow with you - start with free signups, add payments when you’re ready, and customize everything to match your membership/publishing model.