Can I automatically unlock a protected category for logged in users?
Our WooCommerce Protected Categories and Password Protected Categories plugins let you hide specific categories on your WordPress website so that only authorized people can access them.
How to unlock categories for logged in users
Both plugins add options on the 'Add/Edit Category' screen in WordPress which allow you to restrict the category to logged in users - either based on their user account or role.
If you are using password protected categories and also want to unlock the category for logged in users, then you should use the 'Password protected' and 'User roles' options together. That way, logged in users with the correct role will automatically have access to the category; whereas everyone else must enter a password first.
Can users unlock hidden categories by clicking on a link or URL?
Some people would like their users to be able to log into their account automatically, simply by clicking on a login link. This saves them having to enter a separate username and password.
If you're using user or role protected categories in WooCommerce Protected Categories, or private categories in Password Protected Categories, then you can do this by adding any WordPress URL-based login plugin.
We have a separate tutorial about how to do this with WooCommerce Protected Categories. The instructions in this tutorial will work equally for Password Protected Categories.