How Memberside works
Memberside builds a native iPhone and Android app from a WordPress site you already run. Read this page and you will know where your data lives, what the app talks to, and which pieces you are responsible for.
Nothing moves
Section titled “Nothing moves”Your site stays where it is. Memberside does not copy your members, posts or uploads anywhere, and there is no sync to fall behind. The app reads your site directly over a REST API every time it needs something.
That has consequences worth knowing up front:
- A post published on the web is in the app as soon as someone opens the screen.
- A member who registers in the app is a WordPress user on your site, with the same role and the same profile fields.
- If your site goes down, so does the app. There is no offline copy.
- Your plugins decide what the app can do. Memberside builds screens from what you have installed, and cannot invent a feature your site does not have.
The three pieces
Section titled “The three pieces”WordPress, plus the Memberside plugin. The plugin adds a REST API under the
memberside/v1 namespace and an admin section that controls what that API is
allowed to expose. Everything the app reads passes through it.
memberside.app. A drag-and-drop canvas where you place features onto navigation bars, set colours and typography, and preview the result on a phone frame. It stores a configuration — not content. The builder never holds a copy of your members or posts.
A Flutter project, compiled per build. When you press Build, Memberside generates Dart source from your configuration, compiles it, and hands you an installable file. The app that results contains your branding and your navigation, and points at your site’s API.
What Memberside does not do
Section titled “What Memberside does not do”It does not submit to the app stores for you. You upload the build to Google Play and the App Store under your own developer accounts. Apple’s guideline 4.2.6 rejects apps submitted on a client’s behalf by an app-generation service, so this is a rule rather than a preference.
It does not host your site. Bring your own WordPress hosting.
It does not run your payments. Purchases go through the gateway your site already uses. WooCommerce checkout opens in a webview against your own store.
What you need before you start
Section titled “What you need before you start”| A WordPress site | Reachable over HTTPS from the public internet. A local site on localhost cannot be connected. |
| Ultimate Member or BuddyPress | The community plugin the profile and member screens are built from. |
| An administrator account | To install the plugin and create an application password. |
| A Memberside account | Currently by invitation — see Beta access. |
Beta access and invitations covers getting an account. If you already have one, go straight to the Quickstart.