Memberium · Onboarding Funnel
The funnel that catches
your half-configured members
A new member arrives, usually created by a CRM webhook or an admin, with a password they never chose and a magic link that expires in fifteen minutes. The Onboarding Funnel intercepts them at first contact, guides them through the setup they need, and releases them into the site only when they are properly configured. No more members locked out of accounts they cannot log back into.
- 15min
- The magic-link window that stops mattering
- 1
- Required gate shipping today
- 0
- Lockout loops the config can create
- 0
- Existing members intercepted
Every member leaves the funnel properly configured.
The problem
A door that only opens once
Every membership site that removes passwords from the front door, which is the right thing to do, creates a half-configured member unless it also builds something to catch them on the way in. The pain shows up as four concrete costs every operator recognizes.
The “I can’t log in” ticket
A member rode a magic link in, let it expire, and now has no way back. Support resets something, generates another link, and the cycle restarts, because the next link expires too.
The missing second factor
A member who never set up an authenticator app or a passkey, because nothing ever asked them to. The most secure login options the platform offers sit unused, and the account is weaker than it needed to be.
The half-finished account
A member who did get in, but whose profile is empty, whose preferences are unset, and whose membership has not been fully activated, technically logged-in and practically incomplete.
No concept of “done”
There has been no first-class notion of this member has finished setting themselves up. So nothing in the system can confidently hand them off to the rest of the experience.
The shift
Catch the member at the moment of creation
Most platforms try to fix half-configured accounts after the fact: a help-desk reset, a nag on the dashboard, a second-factor prompt buried three clicks in. The funnel instead catches the member at the moment of creation and routes them through a guided setup before releasing them into the site at large.
The member never touches the general site until they are properly set up, and the setup they complete makes their account usable for good rather than just for the next fifteen minutes.
- Handled at the moment of creation, not rescued after the fact
- Routed through a guided setup before the site at large
- Existing members, admins, and WooCommerce buyers are never intercepted
- The account they finish is usable for good, not for the next link
How the funnel works · 1
Caught at the source
Onboarding is triggered the moment a new member is created, from any path that produces a member who needs setup. The paths that should not trigger it are left alone.
- CRM webhook creation: contact added, user created, flag set
- Passwordless registration: native form, no password chosen, flagged immediately
- Manual admin creation: a checkbox (checked by default) enrolls them
- WooCommerce self-purchasers are excluded; their flow already handled it
How the funnel works · 2
Sandboxed until ready
A member who still needs setup is held inside a sandbox of allowed pages until they finish. Anything outside redirects them back to the funnel; the only way out is forward.
- The funnel page itself, where the setup steps live
- Login, logout, and the core endpoints they need to authenticate
- Any additional pages you choose, audited for accessibility before they are allowed
- Anything outside redirects back, then the door simply opens and stays open
How the funnel works · 3
A clean handoff from magic links
When a magic link is generated for a member who still needs onboarding, it routes them into the funnel rather than the homepage. They click, authenticate, and land on the setup page.
- Magic links route into the funnel, not to the homepage
- The member lands on the setup page ready to finish
- Works even for links generated before the member was flagged
- Re-routing happens again at click time, so no member slips through
A guarantee, not a setting
Administrators are never caught
Anyone with administrator capabilities is exempt from the sandbox, regardless of flag state. An admin cannot be locked out by their own configuration.
- Admin capabilities exempt a member from the sandbox
- No setting to forget, no role to misconfigure
- Enforced in the redirect logic itself, not in a separate rule
The gates system
Setup that grows with you
“Set a password” is the first gate, but it is not the whole architecture. The funnel is built around a gates system: a pluggable list of required steps that determines when onboarding is complete. Each gate is a single, self-contained requirement with its own completion check and its own rendering on the funnel page. The gates that ship next do not require rebuilding the flow. They are added to the list, and the funnel absorbs them.
Set a password
Until this moment, the account existed on a credential the system invented and nobody remembers. After it, the member has a durable way back in, independent of any magic link, any support ticket, any fifteen-minute window.
Agreement click-through
The member accepts terms or a code of conduct before proceeding. The gate completes when they confirm.
Authenticator-app setup (TOTP)
The member registers a rotating six-digit code from an app like Google Authenticator or 1Password. The gate completes when the device is enrolled.
Passkey enrollment
The member registers a phishing-resistant passkey: Touch ID, Face ID, a security key. The gate completes when at least one passkey is on file.
Built to absorb more
Each gate is a single, self-contained requirement
Each gate has its own completion check and its own rendering on the funnel page, and the page can show a checklist of what is done and what remains, so the member always knows where they stand.
- Today the list is one gate; tomorrow it may be more
- A developer can add a custom gate without touching the core flow
- The setup your members need today is “set a password”
Because the gate list is filter-driven, a developer can add a custom gate, specific to your business, without touching the core flow. The setup your members need today is “set a password.” The setup they need tomorrow may be more. The funnel is ready for both.
Configuration that cannot lock you out
The sandbox refuses to engage on a bad config
Every operator who has ever configured a redirect knows the fear: what if I lock out my own members? The funnel treats that fear as a design constraint. The sandbox cannot activate unless every configuration check passes. The classic lockout failure (a member redirected to a page they cannot reach, forever) is structurally impossible here, because the configuration that would cause it cannot take effect.
- Rendered as a live status grid: green when met, red when not, with a specific message
- A single red check disables the sandbox until the problem is fixed
- Re-checked when settings are saved and when any allowed page is edited or removed
- The sandbox does not “best effort” its way into a misconfiguration; it refuses to engage
Why it matters
The connective tissue that makes every access feature safe
Onboarding is what turns a front door that opens once into a front door that opens for good. Without it, the platform’s other access features are fragile. With it, each of them inverts.
Members always have a way back in
The first gate ensures every member leaves the funnel with credentials they chose and control, not a password the system invented and nobody remembers.
Security improves without friction rising
Future gates turn two-factor enrollment from a hope into a step, completed during the moment the member is most engaged, their first run.
Support load falls
The “I can’t log in” ticket for a recently synced user stops arriving, because the user was never in a state where they could not.
Every member is properly set up
The site never has to tolerate a half-configured account again. The concept of “done” is first-class, and the site enforces it.
Finish the job
A front door that opens once becomes a front door that opens for good
The Onboarding Funnel catches members at the source, guides them through the setup they need, verifies the configuration is safe, and releases them only when they are ready. License Memberium and the rest of the platform’s access features rest on that foundation.