When Just Rijna first launched StringKick, his goal was simple: help guitarists develop real musicality through ear training, music theory, and interactive practice.
What started as a blog quickly grew into a full membership site with courses and a global student base.
But building and running a membership site comes with its challenges. Managing access, syncing data between WordPress and his CRM, and keeping everything stable required more than just a handful of plugins.
Early on, Just struggled with tools that slowed him down and frustrated both him and his members. That all changed when he discovered WP Fusion!
With its intuitive setup, reliable support, and ability to connect all the moving parts of StringKick, WP Fusion became the backbone of his membership.
“Switching from ActiveMember360 to WP Fusion made a world of difference,” Just Rijna from StringKick
This is the story of how StringKick scaled from a handful of courses into a thriving membership and how WP Fusion continues to power the seamless learning experience his students enjoy today.
#🎸 What is StringKick
StringKick is an online music training platform founded by Just Rijna in 2016, right after he graduated from music school in the Netherlands. What began as a simple blog quickly turned into something much bigger.
Just started out by writing about the topics he felt weren’t getting enough attention in traditional music education, like developing your ear, understanding music more deeply, and building real musicality. One early article on learning songs by ear struck a chord with readers and showed him there was real demand for this kind of teaching.
From there, he developed full online courses built around his 90-10 Practice Rule: 10 percent explanation, 90 percent practice. Rather than just learning information about music, students apply it right away through interactive tools, exercises, and guided practice to build real skills.
By late 2019, Just had built multiple courses and decided to combine them into a single membership. This way, students wouldn’t have to choose between individual programs but could access everything under one membership.
As he describes it, “StringKick is a membership for guitarists that builds skills and musicality through interactive courses on ear training, music theory, and fretboard mastery.”
Today, StringKick serves guitarists worldwide with structured, interactive training. From ear training games to in-depth theory lessons, the platform helps players bridge the gap between knowledge and real musicianship.
#😣 Growing Pains of a WordPress Membership Site
When Just first turned StringKick into a membership site, he relied on ActiveMember360 to manage access and connect WordPress with his CRM. But soon enough, what seemed like a solid solution quickly became a source of frustration.
There were constant technical issues, ranging from small quirks to major functionality problems. The biggest challenge came at checkout.
“With my previous plugin, even payments would freeze if ActiveCampaign’s API went down. That’s obviously a huge problem.” – Just Rijna from StringKick
On top of that, support often left Just feeling stuck. Instead of solving problems, responses tended to shift the blame, which only added to his frustration. “It just didn’t work the way you’d expect it to,” he recalls.
These recurring issues pulled his attention away from teaching and building courses. Instead of focusing on students, he found himself spending valuable time troubleshooting. It became clear he needed a more stable, intuitive, and reliable solution to keep StringKick running smoothly.
#🧡 The Turning Point: Discovering WP Fusion
After months of struggling with ActiveMember360, Just began searching for a better solution. He came across WP Fusion while researching online and immediately noticed something different.
The plugin looked intuitive, well-integrated with WordPress, and designed to do exactly what he needed.
But what really made the difference was his very first interaction with WP Fusion’s support. When Just reached out with questions, Jack Arturo, WP Fusion’s founder, replied personally.
“Instead of focusing on where a problem came from and if it was their ‘fault’, they were interested in solving it with me. The way the plugin is integrated into WordPress was also impressive. Everything was just where I expected it to be. That sounds very simple, but it’s so hard to do.” – Just Rijna from StringKick
Menus, settings, and features were all integrated naturally inside WordPress, so he didn’t have to relearn his workflows. The combination of intuitive setup and expert guidance gave him the confidence to fully switch his membership to WP Fusion.
It was a world of difference, not just in how the site functioned, but in the peace of mind that came from knowing he finally had a reliable foundation to build on.
#⚒️ Inside StringKick’s Setup With WP Fusion
Today, WP Fusion is the backbone of StringKick’s membership site.
“I don’t have a separate membership plugin. WP Fusion takes care of that.” – Just Rijna from StringKick
With WP Fusion, tags from his CRM control exactly what members can see on StringKick. Instead of relying on a separate membership plugin, Just uses WP Fusion’s content protection features to decide who can access lessons, pages, or even entire menus. This lets him deliver a personalized experience showing premium content only to paying members, while tailoring navigation and page elements based on each user’s tags.
WP Fusion also ties together all the key tools StringKick runs on:
- LearnDash for online courses
- WooCommerce and WooCommerce Subscriptions for payments
- Gravity Forms for lead capture
- GamiPress for gamification
- ActiveCampaign is the CRM
These integrations work smoothly without requiring multiple extra plugins or messy workarounds. Over time, Just has been able to add more automations and customizations as his membership grew, all without needing to rebuild his setup.
This setup powers StringKick’s flagship courses, including:
- Make Your Ears Awesome – a series of ear training courses that help guitarists figure out real songs by ear with instant feedback.
- Music Theory From Scratch – a course that replaces dry chord diagrams with interactive exercises using real songs, so theory connects directly to guitar playing.
What Just values most is reliability. “The fact that I don’t have to think about it is a good sign. Most of the time, things just work the way you’d expect.” That stability allows him to spend less time fixing problems and more time creating new interactive learning experiences for StringKick’s students.
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Get WP Fusion#✨ How WP Fusion Transformed StringKick’s Membership Site
Switching to WP Fusion gave Just the stability and peace of mind he needed to focus on teaching rather than troubleshooting. The technical issues he faced with his old setup disappeared, and StringKick began running more smoothly than ever.
One of the biggest results was time saved. With fewer plugin conflicts and reliable integrations, Just no longer had to spend hours chasing down problems or worrying about whether his checkout would break. Updates, which once felt risky, became routine thanks to WP Fusion’s solid development and dependable release cycle.
WP Fusion also allowed him to reduce plugin clutter. Instead of stacking multiple tools to handle memberships, forms, and access control, he could consolidate much of that functionality into a single system. This not only improved site performance but also made managing StringKick’s tech stack far simpler.
Most importantly, members experienced a smoother, more personalized journey. Tag-based access ensures they see the right content at the right time, while integrations across courses, payments, and gamification work together without friction.
The result is a platform that feels professional and reliable, and a business owner who can spend more time creating the interactive courses that make StringKick unique.
#💁♂️ Just’s Advice for Running a Successful Membership Site
Looking back on his journey, Just has clear advice for others building or scaling membership sites.
- Keep your tech stack lean. In the early days, he used too many plugins, which slowed the site down and introduced unnecessary complexity. “Every plugin really needs to earn its spot,” he explains.
- Choose popular, well-supported tools. While niche plugins might look appealing, widely used options like Gravity Forms or WooCommerce tend to integrate better and stay more reliable over the long term.
- Don’t skimp on hosting. Running a membership site with heavier plugins requires solid infrastructure, and good hosting can make a huge difference in performance and member experience.
Content has also been a big part of StringKick’s growth. Long-form resources like the Music Theory for Guitar guide continue to attract new members through organic search, while building StringKick’s brand authority online.
And finally, Just recommends WP Fusion as the simplest way to manage access and integrations. Instead of stacking multiple tools, WP Fusion became the single connector that tied everything together for StringKick. For him, it was the key to scaling without being buried in technical issues.
His takeaway for new membership site owners: start simple, focus on stability, and build on a foundation you trust.
#🤝 Why WP Fusion Remains Essential for StringKick
For Just, adopting WP Fusion was about building his business on a reliable foundation for his membership site. He describes the transition as “a world of difference” compared to his earlier struggles.
What stands out most is the consistency. WP Fusion continues to deliver exactly what he needs, without surprises or hidden complications. Updates are dependable, support is responsive, and features integrate naturally into his workflow.
Looking ahead, he’s especially excited about the next big step: StringKick Games.
Just describes it as “Duolingo for guitar” a set of interactive, gamified exercises that use levels, scores, and real-time microphone feedback so the guitar itself becomes the controller. It’s designed to make practice both engaging and practical, while continuing StringKick’s mission of helping guitarists connect theory, ear training, and fretboard mastery.
WP Fusion sits at the core of this vision, powering the integrations and access control that make it possible. For Just, it’s become more than a plugin – it’s a long-term partner in growing StringKick.
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