Some Newbie Questions for Ocajunally.com "Recipe Archive"

[rob118]

Hello, we have a new recipe website called http://www.ocajunally.com that is basically a "paid recipe archive" for various food/cooking recipes. We just recently installed it & have the Free plugin setup to accept payments thru PayPal for the archive, but I am having issues with a few of the features in the plug-in. My basic configuration setup is to have some specific "free recipes" for our "recipe of the day" but EVERYTHING else should be paid. I am using ONLY level 0 for the free "recipe of the day" and Level 1 for all the paid recipes. I am using restricted access by "tags" feature to lock-down all the paid recipes. (I am using a WP theme called "FoodPress" from ThemeForest.com)

Please understand, As I am NOT a WP/php developer, but am very comfortable getting around in the "dashboard" and all of the basic features of WordPress. I have a list of questions that I would like to have answered, I have been going thru all the forum posts/topics to find answers, but no real luck? I believe these should be pretty simple to figure out for any of the experts here in the forum. This seems to be an EXCELLENT plugin and the support for it looks awesome!

1.) When I register and pay, I'm redirected to the generic paypal return page (still on the to-do list? ), which has the mailto address for support@ocajunally.com. If I navigate back to this page from the registration without registering, I get Page Expired: Duplicate Return-Data. Please contact Support if you need any assistance," then all I can do is to click Home Page where I see recipes that redirect me back to the Premium Support Page, i.e., I'm out five bucks and I can't do anything until support hooks me up... which is undefined, i.e., if I get email from someone who hit the back button by mistake, I don't know how to fix this. We need a way to confirm and correct registration for people who have paid.

2.) I paid with a credit card via PayPal using Chrome -- it forced me to create a password for the email I used there -- then when I got back to the registration page, I couldn't register because I'd already used that email address to test before. This means that users could get into a situation where they're paid but can't proceed.

3.) When I use Internet Explorer 9, the PayPal link now insists on creating a PayPal account ("You need a PayPal account for this purchase"), vs. the option we saw before to use VISA/Mastercard. Chrome shows me "No PayPal account? Pay using your credit or debit card".

4.) Navigating away from the generic PayPal return page causes loss of link to registration page.

Please let me know if there is any additional info you need from me, to resolve these issues!

Any help with these items would be GREATLY Appreciated
Thanks a MILLION,
Rob Buchanan

[Cristián Lávaque]

Hi Rob. Thanks for the kudos! Very appreciated.

1) What page do you mean by "generic paypal return page"? Do you have a URL or screenshot?

If you needed to help a paying customer register his account because for some reason he's not allowed to the registration page, you can generate a link for him from WP Admin -> s2Member -> PayPal Buttons -> Member Registration Access Link.

s2Member, after being notified by PayPal of the payment, will email the person a link that will let him register too.

2) You mean you created an account with that email address and then tried to create a new account with it? That won't be allowed by WordPress unless you go delete the other account first so that email address isn't in use by another member.

3) That's odd, seems like a problem with PayPal rather than s2Member. s2Member doesn't control whether PayPal accepts users without a PayPal account or not. You should check with them and see what they reply.

4) This seems related to point (1). I'd like to see what page you mean.

Thanks!

[rob118]

Thanks for the quick response Cristian! I have another quick question for you. As I'm still really trying to figure all this stuff out... (newbie)

What is the correct/best way to create a "FREE" member? You see I thought that s2Member would ONLY be just used for "paid memberships" and the free users would just get in normally thru WP, but now going back over all the videos & documentation, I now see/understand that I will have to have a separate button/link to have the "FREE" users register also. Where can I find this link/button that will bypass the "PayPal" option for a paying member?? I cant find it? I then went to WP Admin -> s2Member -> PayPal Buttons -> Member Registration Access Link. To create a Free level, BUT It DOES NOT have a Level 0 to select??? Sorry very confused here...

How do I set this up for my "Free" members??? As I've also looked under the "paypal" button subscr modifications, but I really dont see how to create a link to register for FREE


Thanks So Very Much!
Rob

[Eduan]

The way a free member registers is through the usual WordPress way (http://www.your-site.com/wp-login.php?action=register).

Or the other way is to use the free registration pro-forms. Which can be used in different and more creative ways.

Hope this helps.

[Cristián Lávaque]

What Eduán said. Just make sure you have Open Registration enabled so non-paying users are allowed to register with the default registration page, although this is not an issue when using the Free Registration Pro-Form in s2Member Pro. WP Admin -> s2Member -> General Options -> Open Registration

[rob118]

I think I finally got it now, thanks So VERY MUCH!

[Cristián Lávaque]

[rob118]

Hey guys, well it looks like I maybe didn't get it quite yet? Anyway not sure what I did? but now I can't seem to make the "Recipe Of The Day" page openly viewable to the public?

Rhonda said that she does NOT want people to register for the "Recipe Of The Day" page, she wants that page to basically be the very first page that a visitor sees (OPEN/FREE) Is there anyway to make that specific page viewable WITHOUT having to register at all? As she only wants the "paying" members (level1) to have to register for all the other recipes.

Can one of the Bright Minds here please show me/explain to me, how to do this correctly! As I just can't seem to find where to change the settings in s2Memebers?

Also I noticed that under the WP "General" setting the box for "membership is now grayed out, I suppose that the s2member plugin did that? And please tell me, Is this the correct plug-in/membership software to be using for this type of site??

SO SORRY, don't mean to be such a pain... I'm just a newbie trying to learn more about WP and your software...

[Raam Dev]

Hi Rob118,

It appears that you're using a Static Page (page id 711) for the home page (WP Admin -> Settings -> Reading) and that you're also protecting that page with s2Member (either in WP Admin -> s2Member -> Restriction Options or using the s2Member Widget on the Edit Page window for that page).

That's why when you visit http://www.ocajunally.com, it redirects you to the Membership Options page. Visiting the home page attempts to load page 711 (which is protected by s2Member), so it redirects to the Membership Options page because the visitor (me in this case) isn't logged in.

If you unprotect the page with id 711, you won't be redirected to the Membership Options page.

Let me know if that works.

[rob118]

MANY Thanks! Yep it worked, I cant believe I overlooked that?? You ROCK man!
Rob

[Raam Dev]

You're most welcome, Rob! Glad to hear it works.