How to Set Up a Private Payment Form in WordPress [4 Steps]

Need to collect a payment from a specific customer, client, member, or group using a private payment form? A private payment form in WordPress lets you restrict who can view and submit the form while still giving authorized users a convenient way to pay online.

This setup works well for client payments, event registrations, membership fees, donations, outstanding balances, and other situations where only a specific audience should access the payment page.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create a WordPress payment form, protect the page with Password Protected, and test it before sharing it with customers.

What Is a Private Payment Form in WordPress?

A private payment form in WordPress allows you to collect payments through a form that is accessible only to authorized visitors. Instead of making the form publicly available, you can restrict access with a password or other access controls. This makes it a practical option when you need to collect payments from a limited audience while keeping the form out of reach of unauthorized visitors.

Users must meet your chosen access requirements, such as entering a password, before they can view or submit the form and make a payment.

A private payment form can help you:

• Restrict access: Allow only authorized customers, clients, members, or participants to access the payment form.
• Limit payment-page access: Keep the payment form off your publicly accessible pages when only specific customers, members, or participants should use it.
• Collect payment details: Add fields for information such as names, email addresses, order details, or custom payment amounts.
• Accept online payments: Connect the form to Square to process secure online payments through your configured payment integration.

Why Use a Private Payment Form?

If you’re collecting a payment from a specific customer or a limited group of people, restricting access can give you greater control over who can submit the form.

You might use a private payment form to:

• Collect client payments: Give individual clients access to a payment form for invoices, services, or outstanding balances.
• Accept member-only payments: Restrict payments for memberships, dues, or other member-related fees such as gym memberships.
• Take private event payments: Allow guests or registered participants to pay event fees without exposing the form to everyone.
• Request custom payments: Create a payment form for specific customers when the amount or payment details vary.
• Reduce unauthorized submissions: Prevent people without permission from accessing or submitting the payment form.

Prerequisites For Setting Up a Private Payment Form in WordPress

Before setting up your private payment form, make sure you have the following tools and access ready. We’ll use these throughout the setup process, and we’ll explain how each one fits into the workflow as we go.

• A WordPress website: You’ll need access to your WordPress dashboard and permission to install and configure plugins. If you’re setting up the form for a client, make sure you have the appropriate administrator permissions.
• WP Easy Pay: A WordPress payment and donation form plugin that we’ll use to accept payments. It also includes features for customizing and managing payment forms beyond basic payment collection. You can explore its full range of features.
• A Square account: You’ll need a Square account to connect your WordPress payment form to Square and process payments. Depending on your setup, you may also need access to the Square Developer Dashboard to configure the integration.
• Content Protection Plugin: We’ll use Password Protected to restrict access to the WordPress page or post containing your payment form. This allows you to require a password before visitors can access the form.

4 Steps to Set Up a Private Payment Form in WordPress

Now that you have everything you need, it’s time to create your private payment form. The process involves building your payment form, connecting it to Square, placing it on a WordPress page, and restricting access to that page. Follow the four steps below to set up your form without any coding.

Step 1: Install and Activate WP Easy Pay

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins → Add Plugin.

2. In the search bar, type “WP Easy Pay.”

3. Click Install Now on the correct plugin and then click Activate.

You have successfully installed and activated the WP Easy Pay (Free) plugin.

Step 2: Connect Your Square Account to WordPress

1. In the WP Easy Pay dashboard, you can see a notification with a link to Connect Square.

2. Click “Connect Square,” or go to WP Easy Pay → Square Connect.
3. Click “Connect Square” to connect your WordPress site to Square for payment processing. You can choose Sandbox for testing or Production for live transactions.

4. After Square opens, enter your Square account credentials, click Sign In, and then click Allow.
5. After authenticating with Square, click “That’s My Site – Redirect Me” to return to your WordPress dashboard.

Your Square account is connected to your WordPress site.

Step 3: Create Your First Square Payment Form

1. Go to WP Easy Pay → Create Payment Form.

2. Enter a form title and description based on your requirements, then select a payment type.

There are 4 different payment types to choose from:

• Simple Payment: A one-time payment option for products or services.
• Donation Payment: A one-time, flexible payment where users can contribute any amount.
• Donation Recurring: A recurring donation setup where users contribute automatically on a scheduled basis.
• Subscription Payment: A recurring payment model for ongoing access to products or services.

If you want to scale recurring revenue, take a look at how to grow your business using WordPress subscription payments.

3. Choose an amount type, select the layout you want, and enter the prices. You can add multiple prices at once.
4. You can enable redirection on success and enter your own success message.

You have successfully created your Square payment form. Now embed the form on a page or post.

Also take a look at the detailed step-by-step documentation: 

👉 Create Your First Square Payment Form with WP Easy Pay

Step 4. Embed and Password Protect the Form

For this step, you need the Password Protected Pro plugin. If you haven’t installed it yet, follow the instructions below. Otherwise, skip to the section where we embed and password-protect the payment page.

Note: Password Protected Pro extends the functionality of the free Password Protected plugin. Make sure the free plugin is installed and activated before installing and activating the Pro plugin.

1. Log in to your WordPress admin. Go to Plugins → Add Plugin.

2. In the search bar, type Password Protected.

3. Click Install Now. In a few seconds, click Activate.

You have successfully installed and activated Password Protected (FREE).

To activate Password Protected Pro, first go to the pricing page and purchase a plan of your choice. You can also choose a Lifetime Purchase.

You will receive an email containing:

• Password Protected Pro ZIP file
• License key

Follow the steps below to activate Password Protected Pro.

1. Go to Plugins → Add Plugin and click Upload Plugin.

2. Click Choose File and select the ZIP file you received in the email.
3. Now click on Install Now.

4. Once installed, you will be redirected to the activation page.

5. Enter your license key and click Activate License.

Congratulations on activating Password Protected Pro!

Embed the Payment Form 

1. Go to Pages → Add Page.
2. Name the page and design it according to your needs. Then, add the WP Easy Pay block to the page.
3. Select the appropriate form from the dropdown:

4. After selecting the form, publish the page.

Password-Protect the Payment Page

1. Head to Password Protected → Content Protection.
2. Enable Page individual password protection, and click on Save Changes.

3. Go to Pages → All Pages and edit the page where you embedded your form.
4. Scroll down to the Password Protection section and enable the option.

5. Enter a password, set the required criteria, and enable bypass links based on your private payment form requirements.

6. Click Save Password, then click the Update button.

When you open the protected page, the Password Protected password prompt will appear, and you must enter the correct password to access the page.

You have successfully set up a private payment form in WordPress!

Test Your Private Payment Form Before Sharing It

Before sharing your private payment form with customers or members, test the complete process. This helps you catch access, payment, or form configuration issues before real users encounter them.

Here are a few things to check:

• Test the password protection: Open the page in a private or incognito browser window and make sure visitors must enter the correct password to access the form.
• Test the payment form: Confirm that all fields, payment amounts, and form settings work as expected.
• Test the Square connection: If you’re using Square’s Sandbox environment, submit a test transaction using the supported Sandbox test values to verify that the payment workflow works correctly.
• Check the confirmation message: Make sure users receive the appropriate success message or are redirected to the correct page after submitting the form.
• Test the complete user experience: Access the page as a customer would, rather than while logged in as a WordPress administrator.

Once you’ve confirmed everything works correctly, you can safely share the protected page or password with the people who need access.

How to Share Your Private Payment Form

Once you’ve tested the payment form, share the protected page only with the customers, members, or participants who need access.

Keep these points in mind when sharing the form:

• Share the page URL: Send the URL of the WordPress page that contains your payment form.
• Share the password separately: Avoid putting the page URL and password in the same public message when possible. Share the password only with the intended recipients.
• Use a strong password: Choose a password that people cannot easily guess, especially if the page contains sensitive payment or customer information.
• Limit access when needed: If multiple customers need to make different payments, consider using separate protected pages or forms with different access credentials.
• Update the password when necessary: Change the password if you believe someone has shared it with an unauthorized person.

Remember that password protection controls access to the page; it does not replace WordPress security or payment-security best practices.

Start Accepting Private Payments on WordPress

Setting up a private payment form doesn’t have to be complicated. With WP Easy Pay and a WordPress content protection plugin, you can create a payment form, connect it to Square, and restrict access to the page where the form is published.

Whether you’re collecting a private client payment, membership fee, event registration, or custom payment, a private payment form gives you more control over who can access your payment page.

Ready to create your own private payment form? 

Set up WP Easy Pay, connect your Square account, and follow the four steps above to start accepting payments from authorized users.

Frequently Asked Questions