Direct links to members only articles

[jeffreygaudette]

Hello,

I seem to have a problem and I don't know if there a solution. Basically, I am trying to share a link to an article that is for members only. If a member is logged in and he/she/I type the url directly into the address bar, you're taken right to the article. Here is my problem. If you click on the link through an email or through an excel file (which is what I need), the user is automatically redirected to to the membership options page as if they were not signed in.

Here is what I have troubleshooted so far:

1. Cookies are enabled.
2. Link opens in same browser as the one I am logged in as

Is this something that is not possible with s2member Pro? Or am I doing something wrong in the setup.

Thanks in advance!

Jeff

[theone]

I'm having of a bit of trouble understanding your problem.

If someone clicks a link from an e-mail, chances are they are not going to be signed in so they would be redirected automatically.

Are you saying that instead of being sent to a login page, they are getting sent to the members option page?

Your problem might be an access level issue. If the person is logged in but does not have the required access level for the page they are trying to view they will be sent straight to the signup page. You should look into the access levels of the specific page / post your trying to view and make sure that your user has a sufficient access level.

ie. If your post required access Level 4 and your user has only access Level 1 they will be sent to a signup page to purchase the required access level.

If they get this problem when they log in then it sounds to me like you have your "Login Welcome Page" set to goto the "Members Options Page".

s2member > General Options >> Login Welcome Page

Try and set it to a different page and that should fix the problem.

I had something similar happen to me when I entered a custom URL under "Login Welcome Page" but did not specify a page in the drop down. I think you need to set both if you want a custom URL to work.

[jeffreygaudette]

Thanks for the response.

Yes, I was double checking to make sure that I was indeed logged in when I used the link from my excel file. I made sure that the browser was already open, logged in, and had the right permission to read the article.

I don't think it's an issue with the members welcome page as I've tested that in other situations and it works fine.

Again, if I type the URL directly, I am taken to the page without a hitch. If I try to visit via a link in my excel file, I am redirected as if I were not logged in.

[theone]

Again, if I type the URL directly, I am taken to the page without a hitch. If I try to visit via a link in my excel file, I am redirected as if I were not logged in.

Did you check the URL in excel for errors? I'd check it real closely as this could cause a redirect.

[jeffreygaudette]

Yes, I double checked. I also copied the url directly from the excel file and then pated it directly into the address bar, which worked fine. However, if I try to use the hyperlink directly, it does not work

[jeffreygaudette]

I've created a screencast of the issue: http://screencast.com/t/mA7qPrt7yg
Note, I am a level 4 user with access to everything and this article is for any subscriber. I've also tested this with other accounts with different access privileges and it does not work.

Thanks

[Cristián Lávaque]

Hi Jeffery.

That is really weird, I'll show it to Jason to help figure out what's going on.

Just curious, does it do the same when you use another app like OpenOffice Calc or another file format like PDF?

[Cristián Lávaque]

Also, have you tried other browsers?

I ask these things to help narrow down the options to find where the problem is.

[jeffreygaudette]

Interesting.

I tried with explorer, same issue.

I tried with a pdf, no issue. I am really crossing my fingers here, I NEED this to work with excel or my whole concept and idea for the site fails. Argh

Thanks for the help

[Cristián Lávaque]

The problem may lie with Excel, then. Have you tried Open Office?

Jason should be around later.

[jeffreygaudette]

I don't have open office. I'll look into downloading it and giving it a try.

[Cristián Lávaque]

Cool.

[Jason Caldwell]

Thanks for reporting this.
And thanks for bringing this to my attention Cristián.

No, I don't see how it would have anything to do with Excel vs. OpenOffice or the like. A link is a link, no matter which application it's opened from, so long as it's opened in the same browser the User was logged-in with, it should be fine.

I'm just joining the conversation here, so forgive me if this has already been discussed. Is it possible that your Excel file contains links with a different variation of your domain name? For instance, WWW vs. without? Please see this post: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1066

[jeffreygaudette]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for chiming in. Good question. I checked the excel file and the link is the same variation as the site. I've even copied the link directly from the excel file and pasted into the url and it worked. The only time it doesn't work is when I try to clickthrough directly from the excel file. Definitely perplexing.

I appreciate the help

[Jason Caldwell]

Gotchya. I was just reading over this article. Skimmed it really. I'll take a closer look later, but if you find anything interesting here, please let us know. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899927

[Cristián Lávaque]

I somehow knew it would be Excel (actually Office (actually Microsoft)).

Note Regardless of the version of Office that you have installed, add the registry key in the exact location that is specified in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 218153.

Ask all your members to edit their registry?

[Jason Caldwell]

So Cristián was correct. It is an Excel/Microsoft issue.

100% Resolved

I just took another peek at this article. From what I skimmed over, it looks to me like Excel web sessions generated by clicking a link inside an Excel doc, are independent from other browser sessions that you might have already logged-in with.

OK, so a possible solution, is to use the "Remember Me" check-box whenever you log into the site, so that WordPress sets a more permanent cookie, as opposed to just a single browser session cookie. That should allow the links inside Excel docs to work as expected, from one browser session to another.

Either that, or go with OpenOffice. I suspect this is not an issue with OpenOffice, but if anyone can confirm that, please let me know; it will be much appreciated.