Paid Memberships Pro – Membership Card Add On

Paid Memberships Pro – Membership Card Add On turns membership and WordPress user data into printable cards for clubs, associations, gyms, communities and other member-led sites. It is designed as an extension of Paid Memberships Pro, drawing on existing membership records rather than asking administrators to maintain a second set of card details.

What it adds

The add-on gives members a practical way to display their status and gives site owners control over the information shown. A card can include the member name, membership level, start date, expiration date, email address, username and payment-related dates. Custom user profile fields are also available, which is useful for organisations that need to show an affiliation, identification detail or other information already held in the member profile.

Card content is not limited to a fixed field set. Administrators choose which elements appear, change their labels and control their order. That makes the feature suitable for a simple name-and-level card as well as a more detailed membership credential.

Useful card details

• Member names, membership levels and membership dates
• Email addresses, usernames and payment-related dates
• Values from custom WordPress user profile fields
• Site logos, featured images and other branding
• Gravatars or uploaded profile images
• QR codes containing a member ID, email, membership level or custom data

The QR code option adds a machine-readable element to the card, with the data selected by the site owner. An avatar and branded header can also make the result more recognisable when cards are viewed or printed outside the website.

Blocks and shortcodes

There are two main ways to place a card on a site. The dedicated Membership Card block provides an editor-based route for adding and configuring cards in the WordPress block editor. The [pmpro_membership_card] shortcode covers pages, page builders and custom templates where a block is not the right fit.

This combination suits sites with different editing workflows. A content manager can place a card through the editor, while a developer can add the shortcode to a custom page structure. The card is intended to display cleanly on screens and provide a print-ready layout in the available print sizes, so it serves both an online member area and a physical credential.

Where it falls short

The first limitation is its dependency on Paid Memberships Pro. This is not a general-purpose card generator for sites using another membership system, and it has little value without membership data supplied by the parent plugin.

The second trade-off is that detailed visual control brings additional configuration work. Basic field selection is available in the add-on, but advanced layouts rely on custom CSS, design settings, custom templates, or developer hooks. Sites that need a tightly branded card should allow time for that work rather than expecting every layout decision to be handled by a visual interface. QR codes also require a deliberate choice of the information placed inside them, particularly when cards are printed or shared away from the member account.

Who it suits

This add-on fits organisations that already manage members through Paid Memberships Pro and need a visible, portable membership credential. It is especially relevant to gyms, clubs and associations where a member might show a card at an entrance, event or service desk. The block and shortcode options cover ordinary editor pages as well as custom layouts, while profile fields, avatars, logos and QR codes provide enough ingredients for different types of membership card.

It is a focused extension rather than a complete membership management system. For an existing Paid Memberships Pro site, its value lies in turning the membership record into a controlled card format without manually rebuilding each member’s details.