Common Issues & Solutions

Running into issues with BricksMembers? This guide covers the most common problems and how to fix them quickly.

Installation & Setup Issues

Issue: License Key Won’t Activate

Symptoms:

• Error message when activating license
• Features are blocked
• Can’t access plugin settings

Solutions:

1. Check license key
   • Make sure you copied the entire key (no extra spaces)
   • Check that the license is valid and not expired
   • Verify you’re using the correct license for this domain
2. Check site activations
   • You may have reached your site limit
   • Deactivate the license on an old site to free up a slot
   • Check your account dashboard to view all activations
3. Check internet connection
   • License activation requires internet connection
   • Check that your server can make outbound HTTPS requests
   • Contact your host if firewall is blocking requests

For detailed license troubleshooting, see the License Management guide.

Issue: Plugin Won’t Activate

Symptoms:

• Error message when activating
• Plugin activates but doesn’t appear in menu
• White screen after activation

Solutions:

1. Check WordPress version
   • Requires WordPress 6.2 or higher
   • Update WordPress if needed
2. Check Bricks Builder
   • Requires Bricks Builder 2.0 or higher
   • BricksMembers won’t work without Bricks
3. Check PHP version
   • Requires PHP 8.0 or higher
   • Contact your host to upgrade PHP
4. Check for conflicts
   • Deactivate all other plugins
   • Activate BricksMembers
   • Reactivate other plugins one by one to find the conflict
5. Check file permissions
   • Plugin folder should be writable
   • Database user should have CREATE TABLE permissions

Issue: Database Tables Not Created

Symptoms:

• Plugin activates but features don’t work
• Error messages about missing tables

Solutions:

1. Check which tables should exist
   • Core tables (created on activation):
     • wp_brm_user_data
     • wp_brm_post_data
     • wp_brm_levels
     • wp_brm_logs
   • Module tables (created when modules enabled):
     • wp_brm_user_progress (Progress Tracking module)
     • wp_brm_user_unlocks (Drip Content module)
2. Deactivate and reactivate
   • Go to Plugins → Deactivate BricksMembers
   • Activate it again
   • Core tables are created on activation
3. Enable modules to create module tables
   • Go to BricksMembers → Settings
   • Enable Progress Tracking (creates brm_user_progress)
   • Enable Drip Content (creates brm_user_unlocks)
4. Check database permissions
   • Your database user needs CREATE TABLE permission
   • Contact your host if you don’t have this permission
5. Check table prefix
   • BricksMembers uses your WordPress table prefix
   • If you changed the prefix after installation, reinstall the plugin

Access Control Issues

Issue: Users Can Access Protected Content

Symptoms:

• Users without the required level can view protected posts
• Protection seems to not be working

Solutions:

1. Check if user is admin
   • Admins bypass all protection by default
   • Test with a regular user account, not admin
2. Clear cache
   • Clear your site cache (if using a caching plugin)
   • Clear your browser cache
   • Clear Bricks cache (Bricks → Settings → Clear Cache)
3. Check required levels
   • Edit the post
   • Verify required levels are actually set in the BricksMembers meta box
   • Save the post again
4. Check user’s levels
   • Go to Users → Edit User
   • Verify the user actually has the level assigned
   • Check the BricksMembers section
5. Check if using conditional logic
   • If you’re using Bricks conditional logic instead of redirects, the post won’t redirect
   • Check if the post has conditions on elements
   • This is the recommended approach (not a bug!)

Issue: Conditional Logic Not Working

Symptoms:

• Elements show to wrong users
• Conditions don’t seem to apply
• Content visible to everyone

Solutions:

1. Check condition is on correct element
   • Select the Section or Container, not individual elements inside
   • Conditions apply to the selected element and all children
   • If you want to hide a video, add condition to the video element itself
2. Check condition type
   • User Level Match – Checks if user has access to current post based on the posts required level and users user level. At least one has to match.
   • Has Access To – Checks if user has specific level(s)
   • Make sure you’re using the right one
3. Check “Does NOT match” toggle
   • For showing content to users WITHOUT access, toggle to “Does NOT match”
   • Make sure the toggle is in the correct position
4. Clear cache
   • Clear Bricks cache (Bricks → Settings → Clear Cache)
   • Clear your site cache
   • Clear your browser cache
5. Test with correct user
   • Test with a regular user account with correct user level(s) applied

Issue: Redirects Not Working (If Using Redirects)

Note: Redirects are optional. The recommended approach is Bricks conditional logic.

Symptoms:

• Redirects go to wrong page
• Redirect loops

Solutions:

1. Check redirect URLs
   • Go to BricksMembers → Settings → Access Control
   • Verify URLs are correct and pages exist
   • Use full URLs (https://example.com/login/) not relative (/login/)
2. Clear cache
   • Caching plugins can cache redirects
   • Clear all caches
3. Check for redirect loops
   • Make sure your login page isn’t protected
   • Make sure your redirect pages aren’t protected
   • BricksMembers auto-excludes login/registration pages
4. Check .htaccess
   • Other redirect rules in .htaccess might conflict
   • Temporarily rename .htaccess to test
5. Disable other redirect plugins
   • Some SEO plugins add redirects
   • Deactivate them and other plugins temporarily to test

Progress Tracking Issues

Issue: Progress Checkbox Doesn’t Appear

Symptoms:

• Can’t find Progress Checkbox element in Bricks
• Element is grayed out or shows error message

Solutions:

1. Enable Progress Tracking module
   • Go to BricksMembers → Settings
   • Turn ON Progress Tracking
   • Save settings
2. Check Bricks version
   • Requires Bricks 2.0 or higher
   • Update Bricks if needed
3. Check if the checkbox post is on a progress tracking level
   • Set the progress tracking level on the content structures page (usually set for lesson)
   • Ensure the checkbox is added to a Bricks post template for the tracking levels post type

Issue: Progress Not Saving

Symptoms:

• User clicks checkbox but it doesn’t stay checked
• Progress resets after page refresh

Solutions:

1. Check if user is logged in
   • Progress tracking requires logged-in users
   • Test with a logged-in account
2. Check database
   • Make sure brm_user_data table exists
   • Check database user has INSERT/UPDATE permissions
3. Clear cache
   • Object cache might be stale
   • Clear all caches

Issue: Progress Percentage Wrong

Symptoms:

• Progress shows 0% even though user completed lessons
• Progress shows wrong percentage

Solutions:

1. Trigger recomputation
   • Go to BricksMembers → Settings → Maintenance → Rebuild Progress System → Run
   • Edit your structure
   • Save it (this triggers a full recomputation for all users)
2. Check totals version
   • Progress uses a versioning system
   • Recomputation syncs versions automatically
3. Check scope
   • Make sure you’re using the right scope (top level, parent level, etc.)
   • {brm_progress:percent:structure} is different from {brm_progress:percent}

Drip Content Issues

Issue: Content Not Unlocking

Symptoms:

• Time has passed but content is still locked
• User completed prerequisites but content is still locked

Solutions:

1. Check drip rules
   • Go to BricksMembers → Drip Content
   • Verify rules are set correctly
   • Check scope (does the rule apply to this post?)
2. Check unlock computation
   • Time-based unlocks are computed in the background via WP-Cron
   • Make sure WP-Cron is running (some hosts disable it)
   • Trigger manual recomputation with Maintenance Tools on the BricksMembers Settings page
3. Check user’s level assignment date if time is based on assignment date
   • Go to Users → Edit User
   • Check when the level was assigned
4. Check prerequisites
   • If using prerequisite-based drip, verify the user actually completed all prerequisites
   • Check completion status in user’s progress
5. Check AND/OR logic
   • If combining time + prerequisites, check the logic setting
   • AND means BOTH must be met, OR means EITHER can be met

Issue: Drip Dynamic Tags Show Empty

Symptoms:

• {brm_drip:unlock_date} shows nothing
• {brm_drip:unlocked} shows nothing

Solutions:

1. Enable Drip Content module
   • Go to BricksMembers → Settings → Modules
   • Turn ON Drip Content System
   • Save settings
2. Check if post is affected by a drip rule
   • Tags only work for posts affected by drip rules (BricksMembers → Drip Content → Target Tab)
   • Create a drip rule if needed
3. Clear cache
   • Clear all caches
   • Refresh the page

Dynamic Tags Issues

Issue: Dynamic Tags Show Empty

Symptoms:

• Tags show as {brm_progress:percent} instead of actual data
• Tags show nothing at all

Solutions:

1. Check tag syntax
   • Make sure there are no typos
   • Use exact syntax: {brm_progress:percent}
2. Check module is enabled
   • Progress tags require Progress Tracking module
   • Drip tags require Drip Content module
   • Download tags require Protected Downloads module
3. Check user is logged in
   • Some tags require a logged-in user
   • Test with a logged-in account
4. Check context
   • Structure tags require the post to be in a structure
   • Progress tags require trackable content
   • Make sure you’re using tags in the right context

Issue: Dynamic Tags Show Wrong Data

Symptoms:

• Progress shows 0% but user has completed lessons
• Structure tags show wrong next/previous post

Solutions:

1. Check scope
   • Make sure you’re using the right scope modifier
   • :structure vs. :toplevel etc. vs. no modifier (global)
2. Trigger recomputation (BricksMembers → Settings → Maintenance Tools)
   • Save your structure or drip rule
   • This recomputes all data
   • It could be that recomputations haven’t been triggered when you did changes (ex. No Recompute Button in Structure Ui) – this fixes it
3. Clear cache
   • Clear all caches
   • Especially object cache
   • Evtl. deactivate page caching and only leave object caching on

Bricks Integration Issues

Issue: BricksMembers Elements Not Showing

Symptoms:

• Can’t find BricksMembers elements in Bricks element panel
• Elements are grayed out

Solutions:

1. Check module is enabled
   • Progress Checkbox and Progress Bar require Progress Tracking module
   • Enable it in BricksMembers → Settings → Modules
2. Check Bricks version
   • Requires Bricks 1.5 or higher
   • Update Bricks if needed

Issue: Conditions Not Working

Symptoms:

• BricksMembers conditions don’t appear in Bricks
• Conditions don’t hide/show elements correctly

Solutions:

1. Check condition logic
   • Verify you’re using the right condition type
   • Check AND/OR logic if using multiple conditions
2. Test with different users
   • Conditions are user-specific
   • Test with accounts that have different levels
3. Check for caching
   • Page caching can cache the wrong version – membership sites generally don’t do well with page caching… better to turn it off
   • Or disable caching for all logged-in users

Getting Help

If you’ve tried everything and still have issues:

1. Check Documentation

• Read the full documentation
• Look for your specific issue

2. Enable Debug Mode

1. Add to wp-config.php:
   

   define('WP_DEBUG', true);
   define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true)
   define('BRM_DEV_LOG, true);

2. Reproduce the issue
3. Check wp-content/debug.log for errors

3. Contact Support

When contacting support, include:

• WordPress version
• Bricks version
• BricksMembers version
• PHP version
• Or select “Attach Website Information” checkbox in BricksMembers → Support
• Description of the issue
• Steps to reproduce
• Screenshots or error messages
• Debug log (if available)

4. Facebook Community

• Join the BricksMembers community
• Search for similar issues
• Ask questions
• Share solutions

Preventing Issues

Best Practices

Do:

• Keep WordPress, Bricks, and BricksMembers updated
• Use object caching (Redis or Memcached) & test page caching very carefully before going live
• Test changes on a staging site first
• Make database backups before major changes
• Clear cache after changing settings

Don’t:

• Edit database tables directly
• Deactivate modules while users are active
• Delete levels that are in use
• Change table prefixes after installation
• Use outdated PHP versions

Regular Maintenance

Monthly:

• Check for plugin updates

Before Major Changes:

• Make a full backup
• Test on staging site
• Clear all caches after changes