Description
Unlock-To-View is a lightweight WordPress video paywall plugin for restricting access to videos and offering pay-per-view rentals. Viewers simply enter their email address, receive an unlock code, and use the code to access the video for the configured rental period.
Create your first video rental shortcode in minutes, then place it on any WordPress page to start offering time-limited video access.
No registration is required, and viewers can pay afterwards if you choose to use a manual payment process.
Unlock-To-View works with shortcode-based WordPress video players, YouTube, Vimeo, and direct video URLs. No media player selection is required when creating a shortcode.
Demo
Watch on YouTube:
Key Features:
- Lock any video with a simple shortcode.
- Fixed price and duration for all rentals.
- Works with shortcode-based WordPress video players and video URLs without requiring a media player selection.
- Easy-to-use shortcode generator in the admin panel.
- All shortcodes are stored in a log.
- Full rental log with email, slug, media, expiration, unlock code and IP.
- Email reminders for expired video rentals and unpaid manual payments.
- A mark as paid button to show if a rental is paid.
- CSV export of all shortcodes and rentals.
- Customizable unlock button text.
- No third-party integration.
PRO Features:
- Full customization of the unlock/rental button.
- Fixed or individual price and duration for rentals.
- Styling options directly in the admin panel.
How it works:
- Embed a video on any page or post.
- Use the Unlock-To-View shortcode.
- Users unlock the video by adding their email address.
- All rentals are logged using email, slug, expiry date and code.
External services
This plugin may connect to the following external services:
Vimeo (player.vimeo.com)
- Purpose: To display embedded videos using Vimeo’s video player.
- What is sent: When a video is displayed, the visitor’s browser requests the video from Vimeo’s servers. This includes the video ID and standard browser request information (such as IP address and user agent).
- When: Only when a page containing a Vimeo video shortcode is viewed.
- Terms of Service: https://vimeo.com/terms
- Privacy Policy: https://vimeo.com/privacy
theappmill.com
- Purpose: The plugin includes links to the developer’s website for documentation, support, and information about Unlock-To-View PRO. The “Upgrade to Pro” menu item and other upgrade links open the plans and features page at https://theappmill.com/unlocktoview/unlocktoview_plans.html.
- What is sent: No data is sent automatically by Unlock-To-View. If an administrator manually clicks one of these external links, their browser makes a normal web request to theappmill.com. Standard request information such as IP address, browser/user-agent information, and referrer information may be processed by the website or its hosting provider.
- When: Only when an administrator manually clicks a link to theappmill.com in the plugin interface.
- Terms of Service: https://theappmill.com/unlocktoview/terms.html
- Privacy Policy: https://theappmill.com/unlocktoview/privacy.html
License
This plugin is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
Screenshots
Installation
Watch on YouTube:
- Install and activate Unlock-To-View from the WordPress Plugins screen.
- Go to Unlock-To-View Settings and set your rental price, currency, rental duration, button text, and email message.
- Add your payment instructions so viewers know how to pay after receiving an unlock code.
- Go to Unlock-To-View Shortcode Generator.
- Enter a Rental ID and the video URL or shortcode you want to protect.
- Copy the generated shortcode and paste it into the page where the protected video should appear.
- Visit the page as a viewer, enter an email address, request an unlock code, and test the full unlock flow.
- Check the Rental Log to confirm that the email address, Rental ID, unlock code, expiry time, IP address, and payment status are recorded.
FAQ
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Can I use any video player?
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Unlock-To-View works with WordPress video players that provide a shortcode, as well as supported video URLs such as YouTube, Vimeo, and direct video files. You no longer need to select a media player in the shortcode generator.
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How do I set the rental duration?
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Go to Settings General Settings Duration (hours) to set how long a rental lasts. In the free version there is one duration for all rentals. In the PRO version you can set this individually per shortcode.
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How do I set the rental price?
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Go to Settings General Settings Price to set the price for rentals. In the free version there is one price for all rentals. In the PRO version you can set this individually per shortcode.
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Yes. In Settings General Settings Button Label, you can customize the text users see.
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Can I export my rental log?
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Yes. Use the “Export to CSV” button on the admin page.
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Do viewers need an account to unlock a video?
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No. Viewers only need to enter their email address, receive an unlock code, and use that code to access the video.
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Can I use Unlock-To-View for manual payments?
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Yes. Unlock-To-View is designed for manual payment workflows. You can include your payment instructions in the email sent to viewers.
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What happens when a rental expires?
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The viewer’s unlock code stops granting access after the configured rental duration. You can track expired rentals in the rental log.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“Unlock-To-View – Video Paywall & Rentals” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Unlock-To-View – Video Paywall & Rentals” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.3.3
- Updated WordPress.org readme copy, screenshots, tags, FAQ, and installation guidance.
1.3.2
- Completely suppressed notices from other plugins on Unlock-To-View admin screens.
- Added protection against notices injected after page load.
1.3.1
- Prevented notices from other WordPress plugins from appearing inside Unlock-To-View admin headers.
1.3.0
- Now supports all media players.
- Added automatic rendering for shortcode-based WordPress video players and video URLs.
- Simplified new public shortcodes to use the Rental ID only.
- Preserved backwards compatibility with existing saved player-specific shortcodes.
1.2.7
- Corrected and improved readme documentation.
1.2.6
- Refreshed plugin design and styling.
- Added shortcode list management.
- Added HTML5 video player support.
- Added unlock button emoji option.
- Updated compatibility for WordPress 7.0.
1.2.5
- Updated design. Bug fixes.
1.2.4
- Fixed the unlock flow so videos remain hidden until a valid code is entered, while still rendering supported players correctly after unlock.
1.2.3
- Updated compatibility metadata to mark the plugin as tested with WordPress 6.9.
1.2.2
- Updated the admin menu label to “Upgrade to Pro ⭐”.
- Improved top spacing on plugin admin pages.
1.2.1
- Updated the admin button styling so the Export to CSV button matches the green button theme.
1.2
- Updated About page content.
- Added refreshed WordPress.org banner assets.
- Improved readme video formatting for WordPress.org plugin pages.
- Fixed frontend and admin AJAX nonce handling.
- Added missing capability checks and export nonce verification.
1.0.1
- Fixed broken AJAX nonce handling on frontend and admin actions.
- Registered the existing-code AJAX endpoint for guests and logged-in users.
- Added missing capability checks to admin-only AJAX actions.
- Added nonce verification to CSV export.
- Updated the readme video sections with separate Demo and Installation tutorials.
- Switched readme video embeds to the WordPress.org-compatible bare URL format.
1.0.0
- Initial release.
- Added support for multiple video players.
- Shortcode generator added.
- Rental log with email reminders.
- CSV export for rentals.
- Customizable unlock button text.