Related products in no-access messages

A blocked student needs to know what to buy. The no-access message is where you tell them, and a merge tag can list the products for you.

The merge tag

{related_product_links} prints links to the products associated with the course, each labelled with the product name and pointing at its product page.

It works in the fields a blocked student reads:

• the course's Content if no access;
• the "Lesson not available" texts, at course and lesson level.

The course field's own description says so: the variable displays links to associated products, and shortcodes are allowed.

Write the message so it survives an empty tag

If no product is associated with the course, the tag renders nothing. A sentence built entirely around it then reads oddly.

Write it defensively:

This course is included with our plans. {related_product_links}
You can also see [all plans](/plans/) or [sign in](/my-account/) if you already have one.

That works with or without the tag producing output — and it makes the message safe to reuse across courses.

Always include a written link

The tag is a convenience, not a guarantee. A hand-written link:

• works regardless of what is associated with the course;
• lets you control the call to action's wording;
• survives a product being replaced.

Use both.

What a good paid-course message contains

1. What this is. This course is for enrolled students.
2. What is required. A purchase, a plan.
3. The route. The merge tag, plus a written link.
4. The fallback. Already enrolled? Sign in with the account you used to buy.

Point four is the one that saves the most support time. A student who paid and cannot get in has usually signed in with a second account.

Shortcodes work too

The same fields run shortcodes, so the message can include a button, a pricing block or a page-builder element.

Two cautions:

• Keep it light. The reader is one click from leaving; link to the landing page rather than rebuilding it here.
• Test it as a student, because a shortcode that renders differently for signed-out visitors is easy to miss.

Do not rely on the course description

A blocked student reads the no-access message instead of the course description. Whatever persuades people to buy has to be in the message, or on a public page linked from it.

That is the most commonly missed consequence of gating a course.

Verify

1. Write the message with the tag and a written link.
2. Sign in as a student without access and read it.
3. Confirm the product links render and open the right products.
4. Confirm the sentence reads correctly.
5. Confirm the already-purchased fallback is present.
6. Read it signed out, and on a phone.