Lock WordPress posts until a scheduled date or until N days after each user registers. Drip course lessons automatically — no membership plugin needed …

wpmakedev

Students who can access your entire course on day one will binge it. By week three they are stuck, overwhelmed, or gone — and asking for refunds. You built the course as a week-by-week journey, but your delivery system does not enforce that pace.
Content Time Lock fixes this without a $179-per-year membership plugin. Choose between two unlock modes: set a fixed calendar date that applies to everyone, or set a number of days after each user registers so every student gets their own personal drip schedule. Until the content unlocks, students see a message you write. When the time arrives, the content unlocks automatically — no manual steps, no developer help required.
What you can do with it:
<ul>
<li>Lock any post, page, or custom post type until a date and time you pick. Set the unlock date right inside the post editor, one field, one click. Works with standard posts, pages, and any custom post type.</li>
<li>Drip content relative to each user’s registration date. Instead of a fixed date, set a number of days after signup — Lesson 2 unlocks 7 days after each student registers, Lesson 3 unlocks 14 days after, and so on. Every student gets their own personal schedule automatically.</li>
<li>Show students a live countdown timer. While the content is locked, students see a ticking timer — “Unlocks in 3 days, 4 hours, 12 minutes.” Three display styles to choose from: simple text, flip-card, or circular. When the countdown hits zero, the page tells them the content just unlocked and prompts a refresh.</li>
<li>Restrict by user role. Choose whether to lock content for all logged-in users, specific roles only, or guest visitors. Administrators always see everything regardless of lock settings.</li>
<li>Write your own locked-state message. Replace the default placeholder text with whatever you want students to see — HTML supported. Set a global default and override it per post when you need different messages for different lessons.</li>
<li>Add a call-to-action button on the locked screen. Point students somewhere useful while they wait — a prerequisite lesson, a community forum, or a welcome page. Custom label and URL, toggled per post.</li>
</ul>
What this plugin does not do: Content Time Lock has no payment processing, no email opt-in gates, and no membership tiers — it locks and unlocks content by date or registration offset and user role, nothing else.

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