[New] Stripe Integration for Apprentice + Architect Updates to Streamline Your Content Processes

This update has been in the works for some time now and we have been really struggling to contain our excitement. But, it’s finally time to share the exciting news!

You can now take course payments in Apprentice without using a paid intermediator payment processor. This is going to add a ton of value to Apprentice for many people - but that’s not all this update has.

We’ve also got some significant time saving improvements in Architect, so read on and find out what’s new in Thrive Themes.

1. Direct Stripe + Apprentice Integration Means No Need for 3rd Party Payment Plugins

Thrive Apprentice holds a special place in our hearts because it’s one of the best ways for solopreneurs and creators to monetize their websites. It puts you in complete control of how you share your knowledge and content and turn it into a great living.

But, we have to admit, there was one slight caveat.

In the past, you had to rely on 3rd party payment plugins or services which added additional complexity to the process and extra costs coming out of your hard-earned profits.

No more!

We’re incredibly excited to announce that Thrive Apprentice now integrates directly with Stripe.

What does this mean for you?

Now you can leverage all the incredible powers of Apprentice with absolutely no need for a paid 3rd party payment solution to manage one-time or subscription based products and memberships.

This is a game changer because our Stripe integration fits seamlessly with your:

• Course drips
• Workflows
• Hidden courses
• Advanced access requirements
• Access restrictions
• Email triggers
• Translations
• And everything else you love about Apprentice…

Complete Control Over How You Monetize Your Site

Our goal is to give you complete control over how you monetize your website, no matter your technical or design skills. You shouldn’t need to rely on third parties to take care of things for you, and thanks to our Stripe integration for Thrive Apprentice, we move a step closer to that goal.

You can now build advanced, user-friendly courses, take payments, and restrict access without having to rely on anyone but yourself. 

• Onetime payments
• Recurring payments
• Limited time access
• Hidden courses

You’re in control!

Imagine this scenario.

You’ve got a great website that sells a course on YouTube Script Writing.

Now, let’s show you how to set this up with Stripe. However, we’re also going to take advantage of the Assessments feature to offer a paid bonus course to students who pass your final exam with flying colors.

With Thrive Apprentice and Stripe, this couldn’t be easier to set up.

1. Create your course content using tried and tested templates + our powerful drag-and-drop builder.

2. Create an Apprentice product containing your chosen course

3. Set access requirement for your product (here’s where Stripe comes in)

First you’ll have to connect Stripe to Thrive Apprentice. Don’t worry, we’ve made a wizard that will walk you through every step. Once your Stripe account is connected, then you’ll be able to create a corresponding product and fill in the product details and pricing.

Then, simply choose your Stripe product in Apprentice, and enter a success/ failure page to redirect users to after their purchase.

4. Set your product restriction rules

With Apprentice, you’re in control of how your prospective customers access your course materials and importantly how they will purchase each of your courses, and you do this through product restriction rules. Use this page to tailor your messages and call to action for students who don’t yet have access to this course. 

That’s it - your new course is ready for purchase, but let’s make this flow a little more complicated by adding a bonus course for the most talented students…

5. Create an assessment as part of your YouTube Script Writing 101 course conditions.

Remember, you can assess students in all kinds of different ways, from quizzes to written assignments, and even video submissions. 

6. Build your additional course content (we’ve gone with Finding a Job as a YouTube Script Writer for this example) and set it as a hidden course. This way, you can set access restrictions for your additional content so that only people who pass the final assessment on your original course can see it.

7. Now, to grant access to the course, we will use Thrive Automator. We will add a new automation with the “Apprentice > Assessment has been marked and passed” trigger along with the “Apprentice > Grant access to product” action and select our assessment and product respectively.

Oh, and of course, we want to let our successful students know a new course has just opened up for them, so we’ve given everyone who passed the assessment a tag that will automatically trigger an email sequence in our email service provider (we’ve used Drip, but Automator connects to a ton of different services)

Now everytime that a member passes the assessment, they will automatically be granted access to the bonus course. Pretty cool right!?

You’ve now created a sophisticated upsell drip - with absolutely no need for a paid 3rd party payment plugin, or anything else. And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg - if you can imagine it, then you can build it. 

The Same Great Experience for Your Students, Greater Control for Course Owners

Absolutely nothing changes for your customers.

The outstanding checkout experience you’ve created, the workflows, and the upsells: you can recreate them all with Stripe, just with one added bonus: you cut out the middleman. 

Even better, you’re putting your payments in the hands of one of the most trusted brands in the world: Stripe. This gives your customers a feeling of confidence at checkout and will ensure potential customers don’t drop out because of reservations about the checkout process.

2. Custom Payment Links for Apprentice Products Open Up New Selling Approaches 

Despite building out our long awaited and amazing Stripe integration we also recognise that there are countries or scenarios that will just not work with Stripe.

To make your life easier we have introduced Custom Payment Links to the Access Requirement of our Apprentice products.

There’s nothing particularly “smart” about this option but it does save you from needing to build custom checkout pages for other third party payment services and configure them for every product (unless you want to do that of course).

To use the feature, open a product in Thrive Apprentice and click on “Access Requirements” and then “Custom Payment Link”. You can then insert your custom payment link from third parties like PayPal or any other service that supports them.

Now, all you need to do is connect your Custom Payment Links to the “buy now” button on your course pages by configuring your “access restriction rules”. This means that a customer can be redirected to make a purchase directly from a course overview or course list without first being redirected to a custom checkout page.

As we know, “less clicks means more sales,” and this will streamline your checkout process.

To close the loop and ensure that paying customers are granted access to your products you will need to configure Thrive Automator to receive webhooks or “immediate payment notifications” (IPN’s) and grant or revoke access accordingly.

Our documentation team has put together a great step-by-step guide for integrating Thrive Apprentice with PayPal and we have updated it to use this new feature, you can check it out here.

3. WordPress Settings Come into the Thrive Architect Visual Builder

We’ve offered up some great news for Thrive Apprentice customers, so what about Thrive Architect?

Well, this release is all about convenience for you.

It’s great building and designing your pages with a visual builder, but it’s a bit annoying when you have to flick back to the WordPress editor to edit minor details like the meta description or update custom fields.

So, we brought the WordPress settings into the visual builder. 

When you’re creating your pages and posts, just click the WordPress icon in the right-hand sidebar and a new Lightbox will open. You’ll be able to edit a whole host of WordPress settings so you can take care of the little things that make a big difference to your website performance. 

• Change your template
• Adjust status and visibility
• Add categories and tags
• Add a feature image
• Access your SEO plugin data
• Edit your meta description
• Edit your custom field data
• Change the slug
• Assign different authors

We’re not adding any new functionality with this feature, but the improved user experience is certainly going to save you time and hassle. 

Your Site, Your Way: It’s What We’re Working Towards

If you can think it, we want you to be able to achieve it.

Whether that’s creating a unique design, trying out a new marketing strategy, or experimenting with sales funnels, we want you to do it on your site with ease.

It’s a long-term mission, and it’s one we’re always going to be working towards, but hopefully, our continued updates bring you a step closer to being able to run your site your way.

We think the Stripe integration for Thrive Apprentice is a big step in the right direction and we’re looking forward to hearing how you all use it to take your businesses to the next level.

Make sure you’ve updated Thrive Apprentice and Thrive Architect to the latest versions and get these new features implemented on your site.

If you’re not a Thrive Themes customer yet, then there’s no better time to join our community of budding entrepreneurs using the best tools to grow their businesses.

I would love to hear what you think of the latest updates and how you plan to make use of the new features. Drop a comment below!

Chris Winfield-Blum
Operations Manager