Lapsed Members

Every club has members who let their membership slip. Clubistry handles this gently, and nothing about it is hard to undo. This guide walks you through what changes when a member becomes lapsed and how to help them get their access back once they renew.

What lapsed means

A member becomes Lapsed after their grace period ends without renewal. A few things are worth knowing about that moment.

Access restrictions begin when the status is Lapsed.
Late status is still part of the grace period, so access is not reduced yet.
The grace period timing comes from the member's Membership Type settings.
Lapsed rules affect website access and Club Management Portal access differently, which we cover below.

Membership status and timing

For most renewal workflows, these statuses matter most:

Paid - membership is current
Unpaid - renewal is open, but payment has not been made yet
Late - the due date has passed, but the grace period has not ended yet
Lapsed - the grace period has ended and access restrictions begin

If you are trying to explain access changes to members, the key point is simple: restrictions start at Lapsed, not at Late.

How lapsed status affects access

Website pages

Lapsed members can still open:

public pages
non-public pages where Hide from lapsed members is not checked

Lapsed members cannot open:

non-public pages where Hide from lapsed members is checked

Documents

Lapsed members can still open:

public documents

Lapsed members cannot open:

non-public documents

Documents do not have a page-style override for lapsed members. If you want a lapsed member to be able to open a document, that document needs to be public.

Club Management Portal

Lapsed member accounts are blocked from the Club Management Portal. This is worth keeping in mind, because it can catch people off guard.

It can affect someone even if they also help run the club. A lapsed membership blocks portal access regardless of any other roles they hold.
If a person unexpectedly loses portal access, check their membership status first. That is usually the cause.
A blocked member sees a friendly message explaining that their membership has lapsed and that they need to renew.

What stays in place when a member lapses

When a member becomes lapsed, Clubistry changes their status but leaves their roles alone. Here is what that means in practice.

Membership-related roles can stay assigned.
Board or custom roles can stay assigned.
Management roles can stay assigned.
Access still changes, because lapsed rules are checked the moment the person tries to open content or the Club Management Portal.

This is by design, and it is good news for you. When a member renews, you usually do not have to rebuild any of their role assignments.

Updating a member to Lapsed in the Club Management Portal

To manually mark a member as lapsed:

Go to Members.
Open the member account.
Change Membership Status to Lapsed.
Review any warning that appears.
Save the member account.

Clubistry adds a few safeguards here so you can make this change with confidence. A "task role" simply means a helper role like content manager or application manager, which lets someone do specific jobs in the portal without being a full administrator.

If the member also has an admin or task role and is still a member, Clubistry shows a warning before you save, because marking them lapsed will revoke their portal access. You can confirm and continue if that is what you intend.
You cannot set your own membership status to Lapsed. If your account needs that change, ask another administrator to make it for you.
An admin or task-role account that is not also a member cannot be marked Lapsed, since lapsed status applies to memberships.

Restoring access

Good news here: access comes right back once a member's status moves out of Lapsed, whether they renew or you correct the status by hand. You do not need to rebuild anything.

Page access updates again based on each page's permissions and its Hide from lapsed members setting.
Document access updates again based on each document's permissions.
Club Management Portal access returns if the person still has a portal-access role and is no longer lapsed.
Because roles usually stay assigned through a lapse, you rarely need to reassign anything after renewal.

Practical planning ideas

Create a renewal or contact page that lapsed members can still open by leaving Hide from lapsed members unchecked.
Keep especially important renewal instructions public when possible.
Review lapsed members regularly so your club can follow up promptly.
Explain your grace period clearly in renewal reminders so members know when access will actually change.