Content Time Lock — User Guide
Back to Blog April 21, 2026 4:02 pm Content Time Lock — User Guide Version: 1.1.0 | Plugin: Content Time Lock | Audience: Site administrators and course creators Table of Contents 1. Introduction Content Time Lock is a WordPress plugin that hides the content of any post or page until a date and time you choose. When that moment arrives, the content becomes visible automatically — no action is required from you or your students. The plugin is designed for course creators who want to release lessons on a fixed weekly schedule. Rather than giving students access to the entire course at once, you can set each lesson to unlock on a specific date, ensuring students progress through the material at the intended pace. What the plugin does: What the plugin does not do: Content Time Lock does not process payments, manage user registration, send emails, or handle membership tiers. It controls only when content becomes visible. Any access control beyond date-based unlocking — such as restricting content to users who have purchased a specific product — requires a separate plugin to manage those roles. 2. Requirements Before installing the plugin, confirm that your WordPress environment meets the following minimum requirements. Requirement Minimum Version WordPress 5.5 PHP 7.4 The plugin has been tested up to WordPress 6.5. It is compatible with the Classic Editor and the Block Editor (Gutenberg). It also includes specific compatibility handling for Elementor, Beaver Builder, and SiteOrigin Page Builder. 3. Installation Option A — Install via the WordPress dashboard (recommended) Option B — Install by uploading a ZIP file After activation, the plugin is ready to use. No database setup or additional configuration steps are required before you begin. 4. Quick Start The following steps will get your first locked lesson live in under five minutes. The lesson content is now hidden from students until the date and time you specified. The unlock happens automatically — you do not need to return and make any further changes. 5. Configuring Global Settings The Global Settings page controls the default behaviour of the plugin across your entire site. Any settings you configure here apply to every locked post or page unless you override them on a per-post basis (see Section 7). To access Global Settings, navigate to Time Lock → Settings in your WordPress admin menu. 5.1 Lock Behaviour Time Lock Message This is the message displayed to students when they visit a locked post or page. The default message is: “This content is not available yet. Check back soon.” You may replace this with any text of your choosing. Basic HTML formatting is supported, which means you can include bold text, links, or simple layout elements if you are comfortable writing HTML. Plain text is sufficient for most use cases. Administrator Access This setting is read-only and cannot be changed. It indicates that users with the Administrator role on your WordPress site will always see the full content of every post and page, regardless of any lock settings. This ensures that you can preview and review your content at any time without needing to remove the lock first. 5.2 Countdown Timer Show Countdown Timer on Locked Content When this toggle is enabled, students visiting a locked post or page will see a live countdown timer in addition to your lock message. The timer displays the remaining time until the content unlocks in days, hours, minutes, and seconds. This setting is enabled by default. If you prefer to show only the lock message without a timer, disable this toggle. Countdown Template This setting controls the visual style of the countdown timer. Three options are available: Template Description Default A simple text-based countdown. Clean and minimal, compatible with all themes. Classic A flip-card style countdown with animated number tiles, similar to a traditional departure board. Modern A circular progress display using animated rings for each time unit. Select the template that best suits your site’s visual style. A preview image is displayed alongside each option to assist with your selection. 5.3 Appearance Custom CSS Class for Locked Placeholder This field allows you to assign a custom CSS class to the container element that is displayed when content is locked. The default value is tcl-locked-content. This setting is intended for users who are comfortable editing CSS stylesheets and wish to apply custom styling to the locked content placeholder. If you are not familiar with CSS, you do not need to change this field. The default value will not cause any visible issues on your site. 6. Locking a Post or Page Each post and page has its own individual lock settings, configured through the Time Lock Content panel in the post editor. This panel appears in the right-hand sidebar when you are editing a post or page. 6.1 Enabling the Time Lock Enabling the time lock will reveal additional fields for configuring the restriction. Until you set an unlock date and save the post, the lock is not yet active. 6.2 Choosing Who Is Restricted The Restrict Access To dropdown controls which visitors will be blocked from viewing the content until the unlock date. The following options are available: All Logged In UsersAll users who are currently logged in to your WordPress site will be restricted. Guest visitors who are not logged in will also be restricted. This is the most common setting for a course with paid or registered students. Choose Specific RolesOnly users assigned to specific WordPress roles will be restricted. After selecting this option, a second field labelled Restrict to Roles will appear. Use this field to select one or more roles from the list of all roles registered on your site. This option is useful when you have multiple user types — for example, free members and paid members — and you want the lock to apply only to one group. Guest UsersOnly visitors who are not logged in will be restricted. Logged-in users of any role will be able to
