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Category-Specific Content Gate Overrides

It is now possible to adjust the registration wall and paywall settings on a per-category basis, if desired. In practice, these category-specific settings will change a user’s experience of the paywall or registration wall for posts within the configured category, replacing the default paywall and/or registration wall behavior.

Please note that it is not possible to configure the content gate on a per-article basis. 

Configuration

To configure these settings, open the Publisher App and go to Settings > Registration Wall or Settings > Paywall — each has its own category-specific overrides.

  1. Click “Add Category-Specific Content Gate Settings”
  2. Select the Category from the dropdown. 
    • Note that all of your categories are available, including both parents and children if your categories are structured hierarchically.
    • If you select a parent category, the configured wall settings will apply to all posts within the selected category as well as all posts within that category’s children.
    • If one or more of the child categories has separate wall override settings, these settings will apply in place of those of the parent category.
  3. Note that all of your categories are available, including both parents and children if your categories are structured hierarchically.
  4. If you select a parent category, the configured wall settings will apply to all posts within the selected category as well as all posts within that category’s children.
  5. If one or more of the child categories has separate wall override settings, these settings will apply in place of those of the parent category.
  6. You can set overrides for the Registration Wall, the Paywall, or both. Click the Enable boxes based on what wall(s) you want to override.
  7. For the wall settings selected, adjust all fields as needed. The settings available are the same as for the default wall configuration. 
    • Wall settings, if enabled, will entirely replace the default settings for that wall. As mentioned in point #3, you can use a combination of the default paywall and custom registration wall or vice versa. However, you cannot merge default and custom settings within a single wall’s configuration.
    • The previous point applies to article view allotments as well. For example, configuring a 5 article free content allotment will mean users get 5 free views of any article within the configured category. For any article outside that category, the free view limit will remain the default value you configure in the global settings, which can result in a user getting more than just the number of articles established by the default settings.
  8. Wall settings, if enabled, will entirely replace the default settings for that wall. As mentioned in point #3, you can use a combination of the default paywall and custom registration wall or vice versa. However, you cannot merge default and custom settings within a single wall’s configuration.
  9. The previous point applies to article view allotments as well. For example, configuring a 5 article free content allotment will mean users get 5 free views of any article within the configured category. For any article outside that category, the free view limit will remain the default value you configure in the global settings, which can result in a user getting more than just the number of articles established by the default settings.
  10. Once you’ve finished configuring the override wall(s) as desired, click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page.
If you have a post with multiple overrides that might apply to it, the overrides will be applied with the following priority: - A post's primary category, if it has configured overrides. - Any category explicitly assigned to the post. This only applies in cases where a post has overrides configured for both one of its own categories and a parent category.- Overrides for the first category in the list, ordered alphabetically.

Override Admin

  • Overrides display in the order they are added.
  • Overrides display on a collapsible tab with the name of the Category in the format, “Override Content Gate Settings for Category: Name”
  • When the category name tab is collapsed, click the down arrow to expand and review/adjust the override settings as needed for the selected category. Be sure to click “Save Changes” when done making any changes.
  • To remove a category’s override settings, mouse over the category’s name tab and click the “x” icon which appears. Click “OK” on the prompt which pops up to confirm the deletion. Click “Save Changes”.

Examples

Here are some potential use cases for these overrides and how you would configure them to achieve each goal:

Use Case 1: An “always free” category

  • Goal: Allow all users, including anonymous users, unlimited access to all articles within a designated category.
  • Reason: The information might be widely important and critical to your users, such as breaking news or urgent local weather reports, and you don’t want a registration wall or paywall to prevent a user from accessing the information.
  • Configuration:
    • Select the designated category
    • Enable Registration Wall Overrides and leave all remaining settings blank/unchecked
    • Enable Paywall Overrides and leave all remaining settings blank/unchecked
    • Click Save Changes
  • Select the designated category
  • Enable Registration Wall Overrides and leave all remaining settings blank/unchecked
  • Enable Paywall Overrides and leave all remaining settings blank/unchecked
  • Click Save Changes

Use Case 2: A “you must be a subscriber” category

  • Goal: Prevent all users, including registered but not paying users, from accessing articles within a designated category.
  • Reason: The content is of a premium nature and you only want it to be available to paying subscribers.
  • Configuration:
    • Select the designated category
      • Enable Registration Wall Overrides
        • Enable Registration Wall for this category
        • Set the Free Article Allotment to 0
        • Optional: Set the Blocks to Preview to 0
        • Adjust the text as desired
      • Enable Paywall Overrides
        • Enable Paywall for this category
        • Set the Logged-In Article Allotment to 0
        • Optional: Set the Blocks to Preview to 0
        • Adjust the text as desired
    • Click Save Changes
  • Select the designated category
    • Enable Registration Wall Overrides
      • Enable Registration Wall for this category
      • Set the Free Article Allotment to 0
      • Optional: Set the Blocks to Preview to 0
      • Adjust the text as desired
    • Enable Paywall Overrides
      • Enable Paywall for this category
      • Set the Logged-In Article Allotment to 0
      • Optional: Set the Blocks to Preview to 0
      • Adjust the text as desired
  • Enable Registration Wall Overrides
    • Enable Registration Wall for this category
    • Set the Free Article Allotment to 0
    • Optional: Set the Blocks to Preview to 0
    • Adjust the text as desired
  • Enable Registration Wall for this category
  • Set the Free Article Allotment to 0
  • Optional: Set the Blocks to Preview to 0
  • Adjust the text as desired
  • Enable Paywall Overrides
    • Enable Paywall for this category
    • Set the Logged-In Article Allotment to 0
    • Optional: Set the Blocks to Preview to 0
    • Adjust the text as desired
  • Enable Paywall for this category
  • Set the Logged-In Article Allotment to 0
  • Optional: Set the Blocks to Preview to 0
  • Adjust the text as desired
  • Click Save Changes

Use Case 3: A “popular topic to drive user growth” category

  • Goal: Drive email acquisition and subscriber growth by appealing to users who are interested in content in a designated category.
  • Reason: You have content that appeals to a niche of your users who you want to directly message about becoming a registered user and/or subscriber.
  • Configuration:
    • Select the designated category (consider reviewing your analytics to find potential category options to target)
    • Set overrides on the Registration Wall, the Paywall, or both. Add custom messaging for the Title Text, Subtitle Text, and CTA Link Text fields a user will see on articles in this category.
    • Click Save Changes
  • Select the designated category (consider reviewing your analytics to find potential category options to target)
  • Set overrides on the Registration Wall, the Paywall, or both. Add custom messaging for the Title Text, Subtitle Text, and CTA Link Text fields a user will see on articles in this category.
  • Click Save Changes

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