Lifetime pledge is currently an override. For it to be active, the post should be locked with a level. Then it will let the users who either fulfill the level requirement or lifetime pledge requirement unlock the content. So think of it like this: You locked a post for $20 tier, but you also want any patron who paid you $20 lifetime pledge to see the post as well.
It doesn’t do this. I can set lifetime to 500 and a tier of 420 and in theory as long as you had a lifetime pledge amount higher than 500 you should be able to access the post. Regardless of what tier you are currently in. This does not currently happen.
The plugin currently only checks tier level. There is no regard being made for lifetime pledge amount.
It does kind of spoil the sentiment of just wanting to share a post with longtime patrons by also having to include an unrealistic tier amount. This unintentionally assigns a value to a post you meant more as a thank you for continued support.
So the pro option does seem appealing.
But on the other hand the free version doesn’t even work…
Even in the free version that shouldnt happen. You might have caching or something else interfering with the locking of content. Normally it should unlock with either active pledge from the tier level or enough lifetime pledge. Note that lifetime pledge is in cents and in your own currency.
Also - don’t enable active pledge option - if you do that, only patrons who were active patrons at the date which the post was posted will be able to unlock the post. And if they have the correct tier.
But on the other hand the free version doesn’t even work…
If you have something at your site that interferes with unlocking, it wont go away with pro. So you must make sure that it works with the free version before upgrading to pro to use the lifetime pledge only lock option.