A bit overwhelmed with s2member

[snails07]

I have a few questions about implementing s2member into a WordPress network site using buddypress.
I know it handles buddypress fairly well and that it can also handle the creation of blogs etc. but I am a bit unsure of a few things.

Could somebody please tell me if s2member is capable of the following:

- Setting up 3 different member types all with free access. I don't want members to pay for anything or to have to go to Paypal.
The first level will be to just allow members to use the buddypress features such as groups and forums.
The second level will allow a member to see extra profile fields (using the BuddyPress xProfiles ACL plugin) so that they can add their business information.
The third level will allow blog creation.

- I don't want to use paypal in any way. I just want members to see the signup page with three options to choose their membership and I would like to use custom buttons.

Is s2member capable of this??

Thanks in advance

[man-O-media]

Hi,

The answer is yes... and there ae a few ways you might make that work...

Have a look at: Free Registration @ Different Levels
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=934&p=6737&hilit=set+user+level#p6737

You might also have a look at: Can Access Levels be set via script? (ie., without payments)
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2164&p=6518&hilit=set+user+level#p6518

Daine

[Cristián Lávaque]

Thanks for your help, Daine.

Snails, here's a thread that has some help to achieve that: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=2819 I'll check to make sure that the code there would still work with the current version.

Here's how levels work, in case you had not read this before:

Membership Levels provide incremental access:

* A Member with Level 4 access, will also be able to access Levels 0, 1, 2 & 3.
* A Member with Level 3 access, will also be able to access Levels 0, 1 & 2.
* A Member with Level 2 access, will also be able to access Levels 0 & 1.
* A Member with Level 1 access, will also be able to access Level 0.
* A Subscriber with Level 0 access, will ONLY be able to access Level 0.

* WordPress® Subscribers are at Membership Level 0. If you're allowing Open Registration, Subscribers will be at Level 0 ( a Free Subscriber ). WordPress® Administrators, Editors, Authors, and Contributors have Level 4 access, with respect to s2Member. All of their other Roles/Capabilities are left untouched.

Also, you could probably just use the free Level 0 and handle the rest with custom capabilities to decide what you'd let them do. I'm pretty sure this should be possible, but I'll check with Jason.

You may find these helpful, too:
WP Admin -> s2Member -> API / Scripting -> Custom Capabilities
http://www.s2member.com/custom-capabilities-video/

[Cristián Lávaque]

Regarding mulsite networks (a.k.a. blog farms), the most important thing to do when setting up one with s2Member, is to add this line to your /wp-config.php file.

Code: Select all

define('MULTISITE_FARM', true); 

That will add a default layer of security to all blogs within your network, with respect to s2Member.

You can see more multisite networks information over at WP Admin -> s2Member -> Multisite Config.

If you'd like full details along with support for Blog Farming, please take a look at our Network Support Package, listed toward the bottom of this page: http://www.s2member.com/prices/

[Cristián Lávaque]

Regarding BuddyPress and multisite networks, you may be interested in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1069

You will be able to protect BuddyPress areas with s2Member's URI restrictions found at WP Admin -> s2Member -> General Options -> URI Level Access Restrictions.

*BuddyPress ( and similar )* URI Restrictions work great with plugins like BuddyPress that add new areas to your site ( where those new areas are NOT necessarily a Post/Page/Tag/Category ). In other words, anytime you'd like to protect a specific feature offered by BuddyPress ( or other plugins ), you'll need to nail down some word fragments found in the URIs associated with those areas. For instance, with BuddyPress you might have:

/members/
/groups/
/blogs/
/activity/
/messages/
/profile/
/friends/
/settings/

Another good thing to keep in mind, not just for BuddyPress, but even if it's just WordPress: don't mix www with no-www. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1066

[Jason Caldwell]

Thanks for the great question.
~ and thanks for pointing me to this thread Cristián.

I've decided to answer you through a quick video; covering your question in greater detail.
Please click here to download/view the MP4 video file:
http://www.s2member.com/wp-content/uplo ... Levels.mp4

[buck415]

I'm running WP (MultiSite) 3.14 with s2Member Pro 110606, and BuddyPress 1.2.9 using its default template.

s2Member instructions require me to "use /wp-signup.php" because I plan to offer blogs. That's easy enough for me to understand, but the default BP template has a sign-in/registration widget automatically positioned in the upper right area of the sidebar. That sign-in widget has a built-in link to "create an account" that links to /register.

I have not been able to find a control to redirect that link to /wp-signup.php. Does s2member have a control somewhere that I'm missing to create that change?

If not, what is the best way for me to make that change?

Thanks,
Buck

[Jason Caldwell]

Sorry for any confusion. With BuddyPress installed, you'll want to use the BuddyPress forms for registration. With BuddyPress installed, the /wp-signup.php file is no longer needed, because most BuddyPress themes handle this interaction in a custom way ( i.e. with custom forms integrated by BuddyPress ).