Memberpress AWS Addon

The expiring link keeps running while the video plays

You upload a long lesson to Amazon S3, protect it and publish it for your members. Someone watches it calmly, stops to take notes and wants to go back. If playback runs longer than the link is valid, they may have trouble moving forward or back in the video.

A short expiry annoys the people who pay, and a long one gives more room to anyone who wants to keep the file. That trade-off is the central decision with this add-on, and it is worth making by type of content.

MemberPress AWS lets you host private files on S3, give your members expiring links and embed audio and video in posts and pages with the open source Media Element player, hidden from non-members.

Four shortcodes to get a file out of your bucket

• [mepr-s3-url] prints the expiring address, useful if you want to place it inside your own button.
• [mepr-s3-link] turns a text into a link to that address.
• [mepr-s3-audio] embeds protected audio.
• [mepr-s3-video] embeds protected video.

The last two behave like the WordPress audio and video shortcodes, with their attributes and fallback files.

Attributes that decide who sees it and for how long

• src: the bucket and path, such as mycoolzips/funny.zip.
• rule: the ID of the MemberPress rule that controls display.
• expires: the validity in PHP time format, such as +30 seconds. The default is +5 minutes.
• download: with force, the browser downloads the file. It works with the URL and link shortcodes.
• target: with new, it opens another tab. It only works with the link shortcode.

The shortcode hides the content from anyone without permission and shows nothing in its place. If you prefer a message, wrap it in [mepr-active].

For video, try an expiry longer than its duration and see whether you can move through it to the end. The link is calculated when it is displayed, so also test a download with the page left open for a good while, using a test member's session.

Protection falls apart if the bucket goes public

The add-on signs links, and that only helps if the file cannot be opened any other way. Buckets and their files must stay without public access.

Uploading to S3 is up to you, and you can use tools such as Cyberduck or FTP2Cloud. Names need care: a bucket allows only lowercase letters, numbers and dashes, and must start and end with a lowercase letter. Also avoid spaces and special characters in folders and files, because they can interfere with the add-on.

Its features do not include download statistics or per-user limits. It does not replace MemberPress either, which is what defines the access rules.

Connecting AWS with a read-only user

You need MemberPress with the add-on installed from its Add-Ons page, plus an AWS account. Then:

1. In AWS, open Security Credentials and create a user under Users.
2. Choose Attach Policies Directly and assign it AmazonS3ReadOnlyAccess.
3. Open the user, click Create access key and choose Third-party service.
4. Save the Access Key and the Secret Key. Download the CSV, because you cannot retrieve them later.
5. In MemberPress » Settings, AWS tab, paste both keys and click Update Options.
6. Place a shortcode with rule on a page and test it as a member and logged out.

When your files or your store go another way

MemberPress Downloads creates a library inside the site, with download limits and statistics, if your files can live in WordPress. Next3 Offload moves media to S3-compatible services and offers signed, expiring addresses.

If you sell downloads in a store, Amazon S3 Storage for WooCommerce delivers them from S3 or Cloudflare R2.

Practical cases with buckets and shortcodes

What happens if my bucket is in a new AWS region?

Some new regions only accept V4 signatures. The add-on supports them, and in that case you must also give it your region.

Can I protect a file without wrapping it in another shortcode?

Yes. With rule, anyone without permission sees nothing. [mepr-active] is there to show them a message.

Can I force the download of an embedded video?

The download attribute works with the URL and link shortcodes. The audio and video ones do not use it.

How long does a link last if I set nothing?

Five minutes, the default value of expires.

Does the player work on mobile?

Media Element works on desktop and mobile browsers.