A Private Custom Page lets you add new, exclusive-access pages to your website. Fill in any gaps or focus on content specific to your courses, membership programs, or communities!
In this article:
How to Link to Your Private Page
About Private Pages
The Private Pages feature allows you to limit access to Custom Pages on your Thinkific site. You can limit access to include only users signed in to your school, or only users enrolled in a specific course, community or bundle. This is great if you want to provide additional information or resources for your students that you don't want to include as a lesson in the Course Player, like a supplemental reading list or course-specific glossary. It can also be used to create member-only pages to host content for a membership site or to supplement a Community.
Unsure about the difference between signed in and enrolled users? Check out our article: Understanding User Sign Ups Versus Enrollments.
How to Create a Private Page
- From your Admin Dashboard, select Design Your Site
- In Site Pages, click Add custom page
- Enter the name for your new custom page in the New page title field, and click Add
- This will create a new Custom Page. You can then click the pencil icon to open the page for editing.
By default, a new Custom Page will be set to be visible for Everyone. To set your Custom Pages as a Private Page within Site Builder, choose one of the following options from the gear icon menu.
Private Pages for Logged-in Students
Available on all plans, this option makes the page visible only to signed-in users. If a site visitor tries to access your Private Page while they are not signed in, they'll be redirected to your Sign-in page with a banner message asking them to sign up or sign in.
Private Pages for Enrolled Students
Available on the Start plan and higher, this option makes the page visible only to students with an active enrollment in a course, community or bundle that you select. If a visitor tries to access this page without an active enrollment in the product you've selected, or they are not signed in, they will not be able to access the page. Instead, they'll see the banner message You are not authorized to see this page or they'll be redirected to your Sign-in page with a banner message asking them to sign up or sign in, respectively.
How to Link to Your Private Page
If you've created a Private Page, you'll want to consider how to share the page link with your students. For added exclusivity, send students a link to the Private Page in an email notification, through the mass user email feature, or include it in the first lesson of the associated course. Click here for instructions on how to find the URL for a Private Page on your Thinkific site.
Alternatively, you can add a link to your Private Page on your site. All users will be able to see and click on this link; however, only students with access will be able to see the page content. These links can be added to your Site Header, in your Site Footer, or with a Site Builder Button.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I give access to a Private Page for students enrolled in several different courses?
Currently, it is only possible to limit access to a Private Page by enrollment in one specific course or bundle. For example, if you had Courses A and B, you could only set an active enrollment in Course A as the criteria to access a Private Page. A workaround for this is to create a Course Bundle and use enrollment in the bundle to limit access to a Private Page.
Is it possible to require a password when a student clicks on a Private Page?
At this time, the only way to limit access to a Private Page is to require a user to be signed in or enrolled in a course on your site. For both of these options, users will have to create an account (with a username and password). A student will be required to sign in with their username and password when attempting to access a Private Page. If the student is already signed in, they will not be prompted to re-enter their password.
Can I use a Private Page to offer an exclusive webinar to my students?
Yes, this is possible by either linking out to your webinar or embedding a webinar from a Site Builder Section on your Private Page. Learn how to embed Zoom on a Thinkific site page.
Can I link my Private Page in my Site Header?
Yes, it is possible to link your Private Page in your Thinkific Site Header. Learn how to customize your Site Header. Note: students will still be able to see and click on this header link even if they don't have access to the Private Page, and/or if they're not signed in. If a student does not have permission to access the Private Page they will see the banner message You are not authorized to see this page or they'll be redirected to your Sign-in page with a banner message asking them to sign up or sign in.