Content Bank

If you have ever duplicated the same lesson, welcome page, onboarding checklist, or resource block across three different courses, you already know the problem: the fourth edit is where it starts to get annoying. The Content Bank is BricksMembers’ answer to that. It lets you keep one reusable source post, then insert structure-specific copies where you need them without losing normal WordPress posts, normal permalinks, or normal Bricks workflows.

This is not a separate editor and it is not a locked “template only” system. A Content Bank item is still just a real post. The difference is that BricksMembers can treat one post as the source and let other structure items reuse it as proxies.

What the Content Bank Actually Does

• You mark a normal post as a source item.
• You insert that source into a structure with Insert from Bank.
• BRM creates a real proxy post in that structure position.
• The proxy keeps its own path, order, access rules, drip rules, and progress context.
• The shared source still controls reusable content until you intentionally break away on the proxy.

That means you can reuse a lesson in multiple courses without turning everything into a fragile shortcode mess.

Source vs Proxy, in Plain English

Source item: the master post you want to reuse.

Proxy post: the placed version inside a course, module, series, or other structure.

The proxy is still a real post. It is not fake, virtual, or “render only.” That is why it can live inside a structure properly and still behave like a normal lesson or page on the frontend.

When the Content Bank Helps Most

• The same onboarding lesson appears in multiple courses.
• You have standard download/resource pages used in several member areas.
• You run several course variants that share a few core lessons.
• You want a central library of reusable pages before inserting them into structures.

If a piece of content is truly one-off, just create a normal post and move on. The Content Bank is most useful when duplication would otherwise create maintenance work later.

Step 1: Enable the Module

1. Go to BricksMembers → Settings → Modules.
2. Enable Content Bank.
3. Save settings.
4. Confirm that BricksMembers → Content Bank appears in the admin menu.

Step 2: Mark a Post as a Source Item

1. Edit the lesson, page, or other supported post you want to reuse.
2. Open the Content Bank meta box.
3. Enable Use this post as a Content Bank source.
4. Optionally assign it to one or more Collections.
5. Update the post.

Once you do that, the post appears in the Content Bank library.

Step 3: Organize the Library with Collections

Collections are just folders in spirit, not folders in a filesystem sense. Use them when your library starts to grow.

• Create collections like Shared Lessons, Onboarding, Resources, or Sales Pages.
• Use the library filters to find reusable source items quickly.
• Keep the naming boring and obvious. Future-you will thank you.

Step 4: Insert the Source into a Structure

1. Open the structure where you want to place the content.
2. Enable Edit Mode.
3. Click Insert from Bank on the parent level where the new item should live.
4. Search the library and choose the source item.
5. Save your staged edits.

BRM creates a proxy post at that structure location. The important part is that the proxy belongs to the structure properly. It is not just rendering the source somewhere in the UI. It has its own place in the path and sequence.

How Editing Works Once the Proxy Exists

This is the part people usually want clarified first, so here is the short version:

• Edit the source when you want the shared version updated everywhere.
• Edit the proxy directly only when that one placement should become different.

Core fields like title, content, and excerpt are copied to the proxy and stay synced from the source until you customize the proxy. Meta fields are shared live unless the proxy stores its own local value or you explicitly block a field from inheriting.

What about Bricks Builder?

Bricks follows a source-first workflow too:

• Opening Edit with Bricks on a proxy sends you to the source by default.
• If you intentionally open the proxy directly in Bricks and save there, that proxy gets its own localized Bricks layout.
• From that point on, that proxy no longer inherits the shared Bricks layout from the source.

So the safest mental model is: shared edits happen on the source, one-off layout changes happen on the proxy.

Detach a Proxy When It Needs to Go Fully Independent

If a reused item starts drifting too far from the original, detach it. That removes the bank relationship and keeps the proxy as a standalone post.

Use detach when:

• the lesson is now course-specific
• the layout needs to diverge permanently
• you do not want future source changes flowing into that placement

Import and Export

The Content Bank can export and import the reusable library itself.

• Export includes collections, source posts, and exportable post meta.
• Import creates or updates source items in another site.
• Proxy posts are not exported because they are tied to a specific structure location.

That last point matters. If you move a library to another site, you reinsert the reusable items into the destination structures after import.

Content Bank Dynamic Tags

When the module is enabled, BricksMembers also registers Content Bank tags you can use in Bricks:

• {brm_bank_is_proxy}
• {brm_bank_source_title}
• {brm_bank_source_id}
• {brm_bank_usage_count}
• {brm_bank_collections}

They are handy when you want to label shared content, show where something came from, or build small admin-facing status hints in Bricks templates.

A Good First Use Case

If you are not sure where to start, start small. Pick one lesson that appears in multiple places, or one shared resource page that keeps getting duplicated. Move just that into the Content Bank first. Once that feels good, expand from there.

You do not need to “bank everything.” You just need to bank the content that is annoying to maintain more than once.