# Badges, rules & paid access

> Gate channels, posting, commenting and content by CRM tags or member level, show members badges for what they hold, and sell access with your products.

Source: https://support.estage.com/community-access-rules
Part of the ESTAGE Support help center (https://support.estage.com). Full knowledge base: https://support.estage.com/llms-full.txt

---

Access in a community is decided by two things a member carries: the **CRM tags** on their contact
(which a purchase adds) and their **level** (earned with points). Three tools turn those into
access:

- **Private Group Badges** — show who holds which tags, and mark restricted content.
- **Rules** — gate posting, commenting and channels by tags or level.
- **Access settings on content** — courses, days, videos and single posts can each require tags or
  a rule.

Badges and rules are both in your community's **Settings → Community Settings**.

## Before you start

- Badges need the **Access groups & privacy** permission; rules need **Restrictions**. The
  community owner has both — see [Community roles & permissions](https://support.estage.com/community-roles).
- The CRM tags you want to gate by must already exist in your [CRM](https://support.estage.com/crm).
- To sell access, create the product in your ESTAGE account first — see
  [How selling access works](#how-selling-access-works).

## How selling access works

Products aren't created inside the community. You make them in your ESTAGE account, with their
price and payment method, and buying one adds its CRM tags to the buyer. In the community you then
**link** a product wherever access is gated:

1. Choose the tags that grant access.
2. For people without them, choose **Show product purchase modal** and **Link Product** — they're
   offered the product right there. Or choose **Redirect to page** to send them to a sales page.

You can do this for the whole community (**Visibility → Paid** in
[General Settings](https://support.estage.com/community-general-settings)), for a [course](https://support.estage.com/community-courses) or a
[challenge day](https://support.estage.com/community-challenges), or with a rule.

## Private Group Badges

**Settings → Community Settings → Private Group Badges** opens **Badges**: "Badges attach to members
whose CRM tags match, and gate restricted content."

1. Click **New Badge**.
2. Enter a **Name** and pick the CRM **Tags** — anyone holding one of them gets this badge.
3. Optionally, under **If user has this badge, then hide the following badges**, pick badges this
   one replaces — so a member who upgraded shows "VIP" instead of both "Member" and "VIP".
4. Add a **Badge Image** and click **Create**.

Badges appear on members automatically as their tags change. **Delete** on the edit screen removes
a badge.

## Rules

**Settings → Community Settings → Rules** opens **Community Rules**: "Gate posting, commenting or
channel access by member level and/or CRM tags."

### Creating a rule

1. Click **New Rule**.
2. Under **IF... (Select Trigger)**, choose **Level** or **Tags**, then the level or tags required.
3. For tags, choose **What should happen if user does not have access**: **Nothing**, **Redirect to
   page**, or **Show product purchase modal** (and the product).
4. Optionally click **Add** for a second condition, joined with **AND** (both must hold) or **OR**
   (either is enough).
5. Under **Then**, choose what the rule allows:
   - **Able to post in group**
   - **Able to comment on posts**
   - **Access to … | channel** — one entry per channel
   - **Create Custom Segment / Reusable Rule** — a named rule with no action of its own, to attach to
     videos, events and single posts later. Give it a **Rule Name (Segment)**.
6. Click **Create Rule** (or **Create Segment**).

> **Note**
>
> Each standard action can have only one rule — one for posting, one for commenting, one per
> channel. To change who gets in, edit the existing rule rather than adding another. A rule needs a
> level or at least one tag.

### What a member without access sees

A **Restricted Access!** notice — "Reach *level* to unlock it. You're just N points away!" for a
level rule — with a button to get access, which opens the product or the page you chose.

### Using a rule on one item

Custom rules show up in the **Access Rule** field of [videos](https://support.estage.com/community-library) and
[events](https://support.estage.com/community-live-events), and as **Select Rule** in the post composer, where an admin can
lock a single post.

## Things worth knowing

- **A tag-based channel rule also puts the channel on approval**, letting in members who hold the
  tags automatically. See [Channels](https://support.estage.com/community-channels).
- **Rules apply to everyone**, not to one person. To stop one member from taking part, ban them —
  see [Moderating posts and members](https://support.estage.com/community-moderation).
- **Tags come from your CRM.** Adding or removing a tag on a contact there changes what they can
  open here. See [CRM](https://support.estage.com/crm).