Before customers start buying your products, you need a way to know who they are so you can fulfill and manage their orders. You do that by installing a plugin that allows you to collect information from people visiting your site, confirm their identity when they place an order, and provide a way for customers to view and manage their information, including name, contact information, and past order history.

We recommend using a free plugin, WP-Members, for this purpose.

1. Go to your site’s Dashboard and click on Plugins -> Add New.
2. Type “wp-members” into the Keyword field near the top right corner of the screen.
3. After search results are displayed, find WP-Members: Membership Framework, and click the “Install Now” button, then click the “Activate” button. WP-Members will now show up in your list of installed plugins.
4. Click on the “Settings” link in the WP-Members entry on your plugins page.
5. Make sure Content Blocking is set to “Do Not Block” for both posts and pages.
6. Under “Other Settings,” click the “Notify admin” option and make sure the right email address is displayed so you are notified when a new customer signs up on your site. We also recommend you check the attribution option so WP-Members is acknowledged on your registration screen.
7. Under “Pages,” skip Login Page and go to Register Page. Pull down the “Select a Page” menu and choose “My Account.” Do the same for the User Profile Page.
8. Click the “Update Settings” button.
9. Click on the Fields tab at the top of the screen. Review to make sure you want customers to fill out the fields displayed and to decide which should be required. If the default options meet your needs, you do not need to make any changes.