WooCommerce Membership Website Development: Couples Fight School

WordPress Membership Development: One Commerce and Learning Platform

The challenge: How do you sell books, courses, coaching and memberships on one website?

When the client first approached us, they already had a clear business model built around relationship education.

They wanted customers to discover their resources, purchase the appropriate product, and access learning or coaching services without navigating multiple disconnected systems.

We developed the website from scratch using WordPress, Astra, Elementor, and WooCommerce.

Rather than forcing every product into the same structure, we selected technologies according to their responsibilities.

How we developed the platform

WooCommerce — Ecommerce and product sales

WooCommerce handled digital workbooks, paperback books, toolkits, course products, bundles, and coaching offers.

For books available in multiple formats, we configured product variations so customers could select the appropriate version.

LearnDash — Online learning

LearnDash provided the learning-management system for courses, lessons, quizzes, and progress tracking.

We also used the Uncanny LearnDash Toolkit to extend learning functionality.

MemberPress — Membership management

MemberPress initially managed membership registration, access restrictions, and protected educational content.

Elementor, JetEngine and Essential Addons — Design and product presentation

We used Elementor and supporting extensions to create the website layouts and product presentation according to the client's design requirements.

JetEngine supported dynamic content and customized product displays.

Thrive Quiz Builder — Visitor engagement

The Conflict Style Quiz helps visitors identify their relationship conflict patterns and discover relevant resources.

This provides a guided starting point for visitors who may not know whether they need a workbook, course, or coaching service.

The result: One website supporting multiple products and services, with WooCommerce managing commerce and LearnDash managing learning.

MemberPress Installment Payments: Three Automatic Charges

The challenge: How can a customer purchase a $2,000 membership without paying $2,000 upfront?

Some membership programs were priced between $1,500 and $2,000.

The client wanted customers to pay in three automatic installments, with payments separated by ten days.

The difficulty was that these memberships were sold through MemberPress checkout, not WooCommerce checkout.

Standard WooCommerce payment extensions could not simply be installed and expected to control MemberPress billing.

Our custom solution

We developed a custom PayPal-based installment payment integration for MemberPress.

The workflow allowed the membership price to be divided into three scheduled payments.

For example, a $1,500 membership could follow this schedule:

The initial payment was collected at registration, followed by two automatically scheduled payments.

This was a custom installment arrangement using PayPal, not a claim that PayPal's standard branded Pay Later product supported this exact schedule.

The implementation required connecting payment status with membership access and testing the scheduled billing workflow.

The result

Customers could spread the cost of higher-priced memberships across three payments instead of paying the full amount immediately.

The business gained an automated payment collection workflow without manually issuing a new payment request for every installment.

What other membership businesses can learn: Before offering installments, define the payment schedule, authorization process, failed-payment rules, and membership access behavior. These requirements are just as important as displaying the installment amount at checkout.

WordPress Member Messaging With CircleKit

The challenge: Members needed messaging, not an entire social network

The platform's learning programs involved personal relationship topics.

Members needed a way to communicate within the website, but a full community platform such as BuddyBoss offered considerably more functionality than the client required.

We wanted to avoid introducing unnecessary complexity simply to provide private messaging.

Our solution: A dedicated communication plugin

We developed a focused member messaging solution that became part of CircleKit's development journey.

The initial requirement was private communication between permitted members and instructors.

The communication system was designed around membership-based access rules, allowing administrators to control who could communicate.

For example, the platform could limit communication to members of the same program or allow members to contact only their instructor or administrator.

CircleKit subsequently evolved into a broader community platform, but this project originally needed its focused messaging capabilities.

The result

The website gained private member communication without requiring a complete social networking system.

What developers can learn: Choose plugins according to the features a business actually needs. A smaller, purpose-built solution can be easier to maintain than installing a much larger system for one feature.

WooCommerce LearnDash Integration and Coaching Bookings

As the website developed, the technology stack expanded to support additional learning activities, lead generation, customer interactions, and appointments.

Interactive quizzes and learning

LearnDash, Uncanny tools, and Thrive Quiz Builder supported different parts of the educational experience.

LearnDash managed structured learning, while the quiz tools supported interactive assessments and visitor engagement.

Coaching appointments with Amelia

The business also offered private coaching and one-on-one sessions.

For this requirement, we introduced Amelia as the appointment-booking system.

Instead of requiring every customer to purchase a course or membership, the website could provide a separate booking journey for coaching appointments.

This was important because a one-time consultation and a long-term membership are different services and should not require identical purchasing workflows.

Forms, analytics and supporting tools

The website's supporting technology included Fluent Forms for forms, Google Tag Manager for tracking, Rank Math for SEO, and performance-related tools such as NitroPack.

These technologies supported different operational requirements as the platform grew.

The result: The website could serve customers looking for self-paced education, membership programs, or individual coaching appointments.

AccessKit Membership Plugin: Custom Membership Renewal Dates and Pricing

By early 2025, the client needed membership billing and access rules that required increasing customization in the original MemberPress setup.

We reviewed the requirements and migrated the membership system to AccessKit, a membership plugin developed by our team at WPKits.

Three requirements drove this decision.

Challenge 1: How can every member renew on the first day of the month?

The client's memberships included scheduled online sessions.

Depending on the membership program, members could receive four or eight sessions during the relevant period.

These sessions were released on specific dates, but customers registered at different times.

For example, a member registering on October 15 still needed access to recordings released on October 1, 7, 10, and 12.

At the same time, the client wanted every member's renewal schedule aligned to the first day of the month.

The AccessKit solution

AccessKit supports configurable membership renewal dates.

We used this functionality to align the membership renewal schedule with the client's program calendar.

We also configured access rules around the learning-content release schedule so eligible members could access previously released recordings.

The result: Members could join on different dates while following a shared renewal schedule and accessing the appropriate learning materials.

Challenge 2: How can the first membership payment be discounted without reducing renewals?

The business wanted to attract new members through introductory offers.

For example, a $2,000 membership might be offered at 50% off for the initial payment, while future renewals returned to the standard price.

The AccessKit solution

AccessKit provides separate controls for initial membership pricing and renewal pricing.

This allowed us to configure introductory offers without depending on a separate coupon workaround for the ongoing billing amount.

The result: The client gained greater control over membership promotions and recurring pricing.

Challenge 3: How can memberships accept additional local payment gateways?

The original MemberPress payment integrations did not cover every gateway the client wanted to support.

Developing and maintaining separate gateway integrations would introduce additional work.

The AccessKit solution

AccessKit integrates with WooCommerce, allowing membership purchases to use compatible WooCommerce payment gateways.

This expanded the available payment integration options without requiring a separate custom gateway implementation for every provider.

For recurring memberships, gateway compatibility still depends on support for payment authorization, stored payment references, and subsequent charges.

The result: A more flexible membership payment architecture capable of supporting additional compatible payment methods.

Why AccessKit was selected

The migration was not simply about replacing one plugin with another.

The client needed three specific capabilities:

• Shared membership renewal dates.
• Separate introductory and renewal prices.
• Broader payment gateway integration.

AccessKit addressed these requirements within one membership-management system, reducing the need for multiple separate customizations.