Using the Tier Mapping Board
The Tier Mapping screen is where you connect your membership plugin’s levels to Benecaster’s feed tiers. This tutorial covers the drag-and-drop board, the list view, what the warning banners mean, and how to keep your mapping accurate as your membership levels evolve.
The Mapping Board
Go to Benecaster → Settings → Subscription → Tier Mapping to open the board.
The screen shows your membership plugin’s levels on the left and your Benecaster tiers as drop zones on the right. Drag a level card from the left column into the tier lane it should map to.
What the colors mean:
- Grey — level is not yet assigned to any tier (unmapped)
- Blue chip — level is assigned to the tier shown on its card
- Gold “NEW” badge — level was detected in your membership plugin but has never been mapped; appeared since the last time you saved the board
Saving: click Save mapping after making changes. Unsaved changes are indicated by the Save button turning active. Benecaster does not auto-save — you confirm the board state explicitly.
The NEW Badge
When your membership plugin has a level that Benecaster has never seen mapped before, that level card shows a NEW badge. This happens when:
- You add a new membership level in your plugin after your initial setup
- You install a new bridge (Benecaster detects levels it hasn’t cataloged before)
The NEW badge doesn’t mean feed access is broken — it means the level isn’t mapped yet, so subscribers at that level get empty feeds until you assign it. If the level shouldn’t grant podcast access (e.g. a newsletter-only tier), drag it to No access to make that explicit.
When you save the board, the NEW badge clears.
The Unmapped Warning Banner
If any levels are left in the unmapped column when you save, a persistent amber warning banner appears at the top of the Tier Mapping screen. The banner lists the unmapped levels by name.
This banner is a reminder, not a blocker — subscribers at unmapped levels simply get empty feeds, which is the safest default. The banner clears when all levels are assigned to a tier or explicitly set to No access.
Grid View Vs. List View
A toggle in the top-right of the screen switches between the drag-and-drop grid view and a compact list view.
Grid view (default) — drag-and-drop lanes, good for visual rearrangement when you have many tiers
List view — a table with one row per level and a tier dropdown in each row; faster for editing specific assignments when you know exactly which level you’re looking for
Both views show the same data and save the same way. Your preferred view is remembered across sessions.
The Level-Edit Metabox
For MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, and Restrict Content Pro, a Benecaster tier metabox appears on each membership level’s edit screen in the plugin’s admin. You can set the tier mapping directly there without opening the full Tier Mapping board.
| Plugin | Where |
|---|---|
| MemberPress | MemberPress → Memberships → (edit a membership) → Benecaster panel in the sidebar |
| Paid Memberships Pro | Memberships → (edit a level) → Benecaster Tier field |
| Restrict Content Pro | RCP → Subscription Levels → (edit a level) → Benecaster Tier field |
Changes saved via the metabox immediately update the board in Benecaster → Settings. The metabox is a convenience shortcut — the data is the same as editing on the board.
Refreshing Levels
If you add a new membership level in your plugin and it doesn’t appear on the board, click Refresh Levels (top of the board). Some plugins cache their level list and Benecaster needs to re-query it to pick up additions.
Benecaster also runs a background check at regular intervals and fires a notification when it detects levels that haven’t been seen before. This check triggers the NEW badge on the next board load.
Common Mapping Patterns
Single tier (all paid subscribers see the same content)
Drag all paid membership levels into one tier lane. The simplest setup — most podcasters starting out use this.
Monthly and annual variants
Map “Gold Monthly” and “Gold Annual” both to the same gold tier. They get identical feed access; the billing distinction is your membership plugin’s concern.
Early access
Map a premium level to gold and a standard level to silver. Set episode availability dates so Gold subscribers get access two weeks before Silver.
Non-podcast levels
Any membership level that isn’t related to podcast subscriptions — newsletter-only plans, event access, donations — should be set to No access explicitly. This makes your intent clear and prevents accidental feed access.
What Happens When You Change a Mapping
Changes take effect on each subscriber’s next podcast app poll — typically within a few hours, or instantly when the subscriber opens their app. No token regeneration is needed.
If you move a level to a higher tier, those subscribers immediately gain access to the additional episodes at their next poll. If you move them to a lower tier or No access, they lose access to the restricted episodes at the next poll.
See Mapping Your Membership Tiers for the full reference on tier mapping, and Switching Your Subscription Plugin for the wizard that handles full plugin transitions.