Show pop-up messages on your club site

A pop-up is a message that greets visitors on your club site: a heading, a short message, an optional image and up to two buttons, shown on the conditions you set. Use one to invite newcomers to join, remind members about dues, or promote an event. For a permanent spot on a page, use a section on the page itself instead (see Customize your club website).

Before you begin

• You need to be a full club owner or admin. Delegated roles, including Site Manager, can't open Pop-ups. See Access the Control Panel.
• Have your wording ready: a heading, a short message, and the label and link for the main button.
• Optional: an image file (PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, AVIF or HEIC, up to 25 MB).
• To target a custom page, create it first. See Custom pages.

Step-by-step

Create a pop-up

1. Open your club site and open the Control Panel.
2. Click the Features tab, find the Marketing group, and click the pencil on the Pop-ups row (Edit Pop-ups). The editor opens.
3. Make sure Show pop-ups on your site is on.
4. Click New pop-up. A blank pop-up opens with the preview on the right.
5. Enter a Name. Only you see it.
6. Enter a Heading, then an optional Subheading and Body.
7. Enter Main button text and Main button link, such as /join.
8. Under Who sees it, pick an audience.
9. Under When it appears and How often they see it, pick your timing.
10. Click See it on your site to check it as a visitor would. Close the preview when you are done.
11. Click Save. You see Pop-ups saved.

Choose pages and dates

1. In the edit view, find Where it runs.
2. Click Chosen pages, then tick each page where the pop-up should appear.
3. Under Start and stop dates, set Starts and Ends if you want a schedule.
4. Click Save.

Set the order, copy or delete

1. Click All pop-ups to return to the list.
2. Use the up and down arrows to change priority. A visitor sees only the top pop-up that applies.
3. To copy, open a pop-up and click Make a copy. The copy starts switched off, at the end of the list.
4. To remove one, open it and click Delete this pop-up, then Delete pop-up.
5. Click Save. Reordering, switches, copies and deletions only take effect after you save.

Field reference

A close (×) always appears. Anyone who closes a pop-up twice never sees it again, and you cannot change that.

What happens next

• The editor stays open after you save, and the changes go live for all visitors at once.
• Each row in the list shows a status tag: Off, Scheduled, Ended or Live. A Needs info tag means a required field is missing.
• A visitor sees at most one pop-up per page view. The first pop-up in your list that matches wins.
• Pop-ups never appear on Terms of Use or Privacy Policy, or while an editor is open.
• A button link on your site loads the page fresh. Links to other sites open in a new tab.

Fixing problems

"Give this pop-up a name so you can find it later." — The Name is blank. Type a name.

"Visitors need a heading to read." — The Heading is blank. Type a heading.

"Add the words for the button." — The Main button text is blank. Type a label.

"Add where the button goes." — The Main button link is blank. Enter a path such as /join or a full web address.

"Pick at least one page." — Chosen pages is set with nothing ticked. Tick a page or switch to Every page.

"The end date is before the start date." — Ends is earlier than Starts. Change one of them.

Save stays disabled while any pop-up has one of these errors. The list shows Needs info on the pop-up to open.

"Couldn't load your pop-ups." — The editor could not fetch your settings. Click Try again.

"Save failed" — The server refused the save. The message under it names the problem, or reads "We couldn’t save your pop-ups. Please try again." or "Please try again." Fix the field it names or retry. Your edits are kept.

"Image not added" — The file was refused for one of three reasons. "That file isn't an image we can use. Try a JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or HEIC." means choose another format. "That image is too large." means use a file under 25 MB. "Only one image can be added." means remove the current image first.

"Couldn't upload the image" — The upload failed, with the server's reason or "We couldn’t upload that image. Please try again." Try again; the image is cleared.

Warnings (you can still save)

• "“Every page they open” is a testing setting — change it before you leave this pop-up on." Pick a different frequency.
• "Appearing in under two seconds reads as an interruption. Three to five seconds gets dismissed less." Raise the wait.
• "Members rarely open the Join page, so this may almost never appear." Choose other pages.
• "Long pop-ups get skimmed. Two short sentences and a button works better." Shorten the Body.
• "The end date (Oct 31, 2026) has passed, so this is on but never appears. Change the date or turn it off." Your date will differ. Change Ends or switch the pop-up off.
• "The image has no description, so visitors using a screen reader are told nothing about it." Fill in Describe the image.

"Pop-ups are switched off for your whole site, so this won't appear until you turn them back on (All pop-ups)." — An amber note in the edit view. Show pop-ups on your site is off. Click All pop-ups and turn it on, then save.

Nothing shows on the site. Check the master switch, the pop-up switch, the dates, the audience and the page. A visitor who closed it twice, or already saw it under a once-only rule, will not see it again.

Frequently asked

Can visitors see more than one pop-up at once? No. A visitor sees one pop-up per page view, chosen by list order, and none after it is closed.

Does deleting a pop-up take effect immediately? No. It is removed when you click Save. To stop it showing while keeping the wording, switch it off.

Does a copy appear on my site right away? No. A copy starts switched off at the end of the list, and nothing goes live until you turn it on and save.

Do pop-ups show while I am editing? No. They are hidden while any editor is open. They return once you close the editor.

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