After more than two decades of working with WordPress, we have come to the realisation there there are surprisingly few plugins dedicated to assisting arts organisations and membership communities in promoting themselves and selling their members products, and that a single collection of WordPress plugins dedicated to the task simply doesn't exist. So we decided to create 21st Century Systems, a suite of interconnected plugins that together provide a complete ecosystem for arts organisations and creative memberships communities to help them run their websites and businesses smoothly and effectively.
There are three main plugins that form the core of our system:
21C Systems is the foundation of our range of premium WordPress plugins, built for arts organisations and creative communities. It gives your members a home on your own website: registration and login, personal profiles, and pages to show their works, all gathered into a member directory. You decide what each type of record contains, so the same system can hold artists, sculptors, musicians, filmmakers, authors or anything else you need. Moderation tools let you review and release new members before their work goes public, and a built-in design system keeps everything looking consistent with your brand. The other plugins in the range, such as Community, Events, Exhibitions and Ecommerce, all plug into it, so you can start small and grow.
21C Ecommerce lets arts organisations and creative communities sell online through their own WordPress site, with Stripe handling the payments. Buyers check out securely, and when a sale is of a member's work, the money can be split automatically so the artist is paid directly while your organisation keeps its share. Sellers are onboarded with Stripe through a guided process, orders are numbered and tracked from payment through to shipping, and refunds and disputes are handled in one place. A built-in test mode runs safely beside your live shop, and a demo mode lets you try the whole thing without a Stripe account at all. It works hand in hand with 21C Systems, so the works your members showcase can become things people can buy.
21C Sentinel is an early warning system for your WordPress site. Its main job is to watch what's happening, warn you the moment something looks wrong, and block the threats it recognises. Layers of detection and defence work quietly in the background, and when something needs your attention, Sentinel tells you in plain English, not security jargon. Blocking is switched on from the start with gentle settings, so your site is protected from day one without getting in the way of genuine members and visitors, and you can tighten it as you grow more confident. It's built to sit alongside 21C Systems and the rest of our range, for arts organisations and creative communities who want real protection without needing a security specialist.
Our growing range of plugins helps you engage your members, call on their help, and run events with ease.
21C Community gives your members a place to meet, share and support each other on your own website. Members join interest-based hubs, where they post updates, share images and files, reply to each other, react with emoji and mention one another with @. A Works section shows off members' creative work in a gallery that people can react to and comment on. Asks lets your organisation put out a call for help, collect written responses privately from members who want to get involved, and thank them afterwards. A notification bell keeps everyone up to date, moderation tools keep conversations in order, and it uses the 21C Systems design system, so it matches the rest of your site. It's built for arts organisations and creative communities who want their conversation to live on their own site, not on someone else's platform.
21C Events lets arts organisations and creative communities run events from their own WordPress site. Each event gets its own listing and page, and visitors and members can register their interest or book a place. People without an account just confirm their email with one click, so your list stays genuine, and when a date is set, everyone who showed interest hears about it automatically. Behind the scenes you see your whole audience in one place, with search, attendance recording and CSV export, and sign-up choices that respect what people want to hear about. You can sell tickets online by card through 21C Ecommerce and Stripe, and record bookings from platforms such as Meetup and Eventbrite alongside them, with each event's costs and profit or loss worked out for you. Old sign-ups are cleared out under clear retention rules, and everything is built on 21C Systems, so it matches the rest of your site.
21C Exhibitions turns the work your members have already shared into an online exhibition that visitors step into. You choose the works, and each one is shown full-screen, one at a time, with background music, an opening and closing curtain, and a Listen & Watch panel that gathers everything else available for the piece: extra images, video, audio and documents. Visitors can read about each work, visit the artist's page and share the exhibition with friends. If a work is for sale, they can buy it on the spot. The plugin holds the piece for the buyer with a live countdown while they check out, so two people can never buy the same work at once, and payment is handled through 21C Ecommerce. It's built on 21C Systems, so every exhibition draws on your members' own profiles and works.
Our growing range of plugins helps you engage your members, call on their help, and run events with ease.
21C Newsdesk gives your members a place to meet, share and support each other on your own website. Members join interest-based hubs, where they post updates, share images and files, reply to each other, react with emoji and mention one another with @. A Works section shows off members' creative work in a gallery that people can react to and comment on. Asks lets your organisation put out a call for help, collect written responses privately from members who want to get involved, and thank them afterwards. A notification bell keeps everyone up to date, moderation tools keep conversations in order, and it uses the 21C Systems design system, so it matches the rest of your site. It's built for arts organisations and creative communities who want their conversation to live on their own site, not on someone else's platform.
21C Newsletter lets arts organisations and creative communities run events from their own WordPress site. Each event gets its own listing and page, and visitors and members can register their interest or book a place. People without an account just confirm their email with one click, so your list stays genuine, and when a date is set, everyone who showed interest hears about it automatically. Behind the scenes you see your whole audience in one place, with search, attendance recording and CSV export, and sign-up choices that respect what people want to hear about. You can sell tickets online by card through 21C Ecommerce and Stripe, and record bookings from platforms such as Meetup and Eventbrite alongside them, with each event's costs and profit or loss worked out for you. Old sign-ups are cleared out under clear retention rules, and everything is built on 21C Systems, so it matches the rest of your site.
21C Subscribe turns the work your members have already shared into an online exhibition that visitors step into. You choose the works, and each one is shown full-screen, one at a time, with background music, an opening and closing curtain, and a Listen & Watch panel that gathers everything else available for the piece: extra images, video, audio and documents. Visitors can read about each work, visit the artist's page and share the exhibition with friends. If a work is for sale, they can buy it on the spot. The plugin holds the piece for the buyer with a live countdown while they check out, so two people can never buy the same work at once, and payment is handled through 21C Ecommerce. It's built on 21C Systems, so every exhibition draws on your members' own profiles and works.
Our growing range of plugins helps you engage your members, call on their help, and run events with ease.
21C Newsdesk gives your members a place to meet, share and support each other on your own website. Members join interest-based hubs, where they post updates, share images and files, reply to each other, react with emoji and mention one another with @. A Works section shows off members' creative work in a gallery that people can react to and comment on. Asks lets your organisation put out a call for help, collect written responses privately from members who want to get involved, and thank them afterwards. A notification bell keeps everyone up to date, moderation tools keep conversations in order, and it uses the 21C Systems design system, so it matches the rest of your site. It's built for arts organisations and creative communities who want their conversation to live on their own site, not on someone else's platform.
21C Newsletter lets arts organisations and creative communities run events from their own WordPress site. Each event gets its own listing and page, and visitors and members can register their interest or book a place. People without an account just confirm their email with one click, so your list stays genuine, and when a date is set, everyone who showed interest hears about it automatically. Behind the scenes you see your whole audience in one place, with search, attendance recording and CSV export, and sign-up choices that respect what people want to hear about. You can sell tickets online by card through 21C Ecommerce and Stripe, and record bookings from platforms such as Meetup and Eventbrite alongside them, with each event's costs and profit or loss worked out for you. Old sign-ups are cleared out under clear retention rules, and everything is built on 21C Systems, so it matches the rest of your site.
21C Subscribe turns the work your members have already shared into an online exhibition that visitors step into. You choose the works, and each one is shown full-screen, one at a time, with background music, an opening and closing curtain, and a Listen & Watch panel that gathers everything else available for the piece: extra images, video, audio and documents. Visitors can read about each work, visit the artist's page and share the exhibition with friends. If a work is for sale, they can buy it on the spot. The plugin holds the piece for the buyer with a live countdown while they check out, so two people can never buy the same work at once, and payment is handled through 21C Ecommerce. It's built on 21C Systems, so every exhibition draws on your members' own profiles and works.
Our growing range of plugins helps you engage your members, call on their help, and run events with ease.
21C Newsdesk gives your members a place to meet, share and support each other on your own website. Members join interest-based hubs, where they post updates, share images and files, reply to each other, react with emoji and mention one another with @. A Works section shows off members' creative work in a gallery that people can react to and comment on. Asks lets your organisation put out a call for help, collect written responses privately from members who want to get involved, and thank them afterwards. A notification bell keeps everyone up to date, moderation tools keep conversations in order, and it uses the 21C Systems design system, so it matches the rest of your site. It's built for arts organisations and creative communities who want their conversation to live on their own site, not on someone else's platform.
21C Newsletter lets arts organisations and creative communities run events from their own WordPress site. Each event gets its own listing and page, and visitors and members can register their interest or book a place. People without an account just confirm their email with one click, so your list stays genuine, and when a date is set, everyone who showed interest hears about it automatically. Behind the scenes you see your whole audience in one place, with search, attendance recording and CSV export, and sign-up choices that respect what people want to hear about. You can sell tickets online by card through 21C Ecommerce and Stripe, and record bookings from platforms such as Meetup and Eventbrite alongside them, with each event's costs and profit or loss worked out for you. Old sign-ups are cleared out under clear retention rules, and everything is built on 21C Systems, so it matches the rest of your site.
21C Subscribe turns the work your members have already shared into an online exhibition that visitors step into. You choose the works, and each one is shown full-screen, one at a time, with background music, an opening and closing curtain, and a Listen & Watch panel that gathers everything else available for the piece: extra images, video, audio and documents. Visitors can read about each work, visit the artist's page and share the exhibition with friends. If a work is for sale, they can buy it on the spot. The plugin holds the piece for the buyer with a live countdown while they check out, so two people can never buy the same work at once, and payment is handled through 21C Ecommerce. It's built on 21C Systems, so every exhibition draws on your members' own profiles and works.
Download our guides to 21C Systems
Our 21C Systems guide offers an overview of the plugin and it's functionalities.
Our 21C Systems guide offers an overview of the plugin and it's functionalities.
Download our guides to 21C Systems
Our 21C Systems guide offers an overview of the plugin and it's functionalities.
Our 21C Systems guide offers an overview of the plugin and it's functionalities.
