The metered content countdown banner lets you show readers how many free articles they have remaining before they hit your content gate. Instead of readers unexpectedly running into a wall, the banner gives them a heads-up (and a prompt to subscribe) while they still have access.

This is useful for:

  • Nudging readers toward conversion before they’re blocked
  • Targeting promotional messaging to readers who are close to their limit
  • Improving the reader experience by setting clear expectations

Prerequisites

The countdown banner requires metered access to be enabled on a content gate. If you haven’t set up a metered content gate yet, start there before configuring the banner.

How to Enable the Countdown Banner

  1. Go to Newspack > Audience > Content Gating.
  2. Scroll to the Countdown Banner section.
  3. Toggle the banner on.
  4. Configure the subscribe button (see below).
  5. Save your settings.

The banner is a global setting. Once enabled, it applies to all content gates that have metering turned on.

Configuring the Subscribe Button

The countdown banner includes a subscribe button to encourage readers to convert. You can send readers to either a landing page or directly to a checkout flow.

Option 1 — Landing page: Enter a URL. Readers who click the subscribe button will be taken to that page. Use this if you want to direct readers to a subscription overview or marketing page before checkout.

Option 2 — Product: Select a specific subscription product from your store. Readers who click the subscribe button will go directly to a checkout modal for that product. If you have a primary product configured, it will be selected by default.

What Readers See

When the countdown banner is active, a banner appears at the top of gated articles for readers who are still within their free article limit. The banner displays how many articles they have remaining and includes your subscribe button.

Readers who have already hit their limit will see the content gate as usual — the countdown banner only appears while they still have access.

Notes

  • Changes to the banner apply site-wide. There is no per-gate banner configuration.
  • The subscribe button style inherits your site’s theme styles.
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