Please help. Users can't log in.

I have tried User Access Management and Member Access and I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. When I register a user and assign that user the role of Subscriber, after they log in, it takes them to the Dashboard. When they go back to my website, and they click on a link to a Page that has been designated as accessable only by members, they can’t access it, it’s as if they are not logged in. How does a page know if a user is logged in or not?