Adding a content gate or email capture to your website

Content gating and email capture popups help you convert website visitors into subscribers when they read the web version of your newsletter posts.

For popups on your posts, you can choose between:

• Content Gate: Requires visitors to subscribe or sign in before they can read your post.
• Email Capture popup: Keeps your post readable, but shows a popup encouraging visitors to subscribe or sign in.

Both options are configured from the Post page in the Website Builder. In this article, you’ll learn how to set either option as the default for your web posts, explore ways to customize the design, and enable or disable them for individual posts and content sections when needed. You’ll also find answers to common questions at the end of the guide.

There are 3 possible settings for how visitors access your web posts: Content Gate, Email Popup, or None. 

Visitors must subscribe or sign in to your publication site to read the post content. This option is best when growing your subscriber list is the highest priority.

Your post remains accessible to everyone, but a popup encourages visitors to subscribe or sign in. This option is best when you want to keep content available while still collecting new subscribers.

No gating or popup is applied. Your posts remain fully accessible to anyone with the link. This option works best when you want your content to be available to all without any restrictions. 

Content gating and email capture are managed from the Post page of your website.

1. From the Website Builder, click the Pages icon in the left toolbar, then select Post.
   
   

   
   Reminder: The pages available in your Website Builder depend on the options you selected during onboarding. If you don’t see the Post page and want to include it, click + Add page to add it to your site.
   
   

   
2. While on the Post page, click the Layers icon in the left toolbar.
   
   
   
3. In the Layers menu, locate the Popups section. Open the 3 dots menu next to the popup you want to configure, choose from Content Gate or Email Capture, then click Edit.
   
   
   
4. To update the text, click the text box on the canvas and edit the copy.
   
   
   

5. To update the design, use the design panel on the right. You can customize options such as layout, style, click actions, and more.
   
   

   
   Pro Tip: Use the search bar at the top of the design panel to quickly find specific settings.
   
   

   
6. (Optional) When editing an Email Capture popup, you can also adjust visibility settings including:

• Percentage scrolled to show the popup after a visitor has scrolled through a set percentage of the post.
• Show every to choose how often returning visitors see the popup. 
  
  
  

7. When finished editing, click ← Back to main editor to return to the Post page.
   
   
   
8. Now it’s time to enable it. Open the 3 dots menu next to the same popup again, then select Show on posts.
   
   
   
9. Once enabled, a green circle appears next to the popup name, indicating it is currently active on your posts. Only one popup option can be enabled at a time.
   
   
   

10. If you wish to disable your popup, simply return to the 3 dots menu, then select Unset from posts. 
    
    

    
    Reminder: You’ll need to publish your site changes in order to see them live.

After you set a default popup in the Website Builder, it will apply automatically to new posts. However, you can choose to override it for individual posts as needed from the Web page of the post creation flow.

1. Open the post in the Post Builder.
    
2. Go to the Web tab. 
    
3. Under Advanced email capture, choose the experience you want for that specific post:
   • None
   • Gated (they must sign in first)
   • Popup (email capture popup)

In addition to using a content gate or email capture popup on your website, you can also control who sees specific sections of a post using block-level Visibility settings in the Post Builder.

This lets you show or hide certain blocks based on subscriber type, including:

• Free subscribers.
• Paid subscribers.
• Subscribers who have reached a referral milestone.
• Anonymous web visitors.

To update block visibility:

1. While editing a post, hover over the block you want to control.
2. Click the 6 dots menu, then select Visibility.
3. Toggle on or off the subscriber types you want that block to display for.

This is useful when you want to publish one post, but tailor parts of the content — such as hiding premium sections from free readers or removing promotional blocks for paid subscribers.

What’s the difference between a content gate and an email capture popup?
A content gate restricts access to your post until a visitor subscribes or signs in to your website. An email capture popup keeps the post readable, but prompts visitors to subscribe while they browse.
Can I use both at the same time?
No. You can only enable one default popup option at a time for your web posts or web pages: Content Gate, Email Capture, or None.
Do I need to publish changes for them to go live?
Yes. Any updates made to the Post page settings (including enabling, disabling, or editing popups) require publishing for the changes to be seen on your live site.
Can I turn these settings on or off for a single post?
Yes. You can override the default behavior for individual posts from the post creation flow under the Web tab.
Is this the same as the legacy Website Builder content gate?
The behavior is similar, but the setup process is different in the new Website Builder. If you’re using the legacy builder, refer to: How to gate content or set up a popup signup form for a legacy website.
Why don’t I see the Post page in my Website Builder?
Your available pages depend on what you selected during onboarding. If you don’t see the Post page, click + Add page to view available page options and add it to your site.
When gating individual content sections for a post, can I preview it to see how it appears for each subscriber type?
Yes. You can preview how gated sections appear for different subscriber types using the Post Builder preview tools. In the preview panel, use the Search tiers and conditions option to select the subscriber tier (like Free or Paid) and any visibility conditions you’ve applied to content blocks. This shows how the post layout — including gated or hidden sections — will appear to subscribers in those categories.

If you’ve added dynamic behaviors (like visibility rules), and they’re tied to specific conditions or tiers, you can also use Search for a specific subscriber to preview exactly how the post would look for one of your real subscribers. This helps ensure gated or restricted sections behave as expected before publishing.
Why are some individual content gating options available or not available at different times?
Visibility options in beehiiv posts adjust automatically based on the selections you make. This helps prevent conflicting combinations and keeps the available choices relevant to where the content will appear.

For example, if a block is set to not show on the web, the anonymous web visitor option won’t appear. Or, if a block is set to only show to anonymous web visitors, referral-based options won’t appear, since referral milestones only apply to subscribers.