s2M with Buddypress question

[arikuchar]

Hi Guys,

I am using s2m with Buddypress.

Basically, we want to offer open registration to everyone to enjoy the social network and the site's content. The only thing we want to limit and hence get people to pay for is a full membership which allows them to get advice with an expert. At the moment the 'expert' is the site administrator.

Is there anyway to use this plug-in to create this type of limitation? If not, is there some way to make it very easy for the administrator to check if the member is a full paid member? Something like a 'plus' icon for a paid member which can be seen visibly on their avatar? Or an easy to access list?

Finally, if a non-paying member contacts the 'expert' can there be an automatically generated massage that tells the member that such a service requires a paid membership?

The site is at: www.artmeartyou.com.au

Many thanks,
Ari

[crushthenet]

Hey Ari,

I think that you can achieve this quite easily. A free member would be level 0 and a paid member level 1. Have your contact/ask an expert page set to be only available to level 1 members. To do this go to General Options -> Page Access Restrictions and enter the page ID for level 1 members. Free members that try to access that page will be routed to your membership options page that you should have configured. Not sure how to get a symbol or special image on their avatar but I'll update you if I find a way.

[arikuchar]

Thanks crush, that's an awesome idea. Would creating a page like this accommodate the paid user to have a facebook like discussion with the expert, seeing as buddypress is installed..
Many thanks!

[arikuchar]

I guess what is needed is a saved correspondence that is added two when each of the members writes a message

[crushthenet]

On my test site I'm playing with buddypress and groups/forums. What I tried was going to General Options -> URI Access Restrictions and then enter for level 1....

Code: Select all

groups
forums

Then only level 1 members can access any URL with the word groups or forums in it. So free members can't access the forums or groups, worked fine for me when testing.

[crushthenet]

Or find the WP Forums plugin (think you have to pay for it) but you can insert forums into individual pages and then protect those pages. You could have a forum for each person or get creative with it somehow.

[arikuchar]

Nice. That will totally work! Thanks mate.

[arikuchar]

Nice. That will totally work! Thanks mate.

[synergymkt]

You probably resolved your issues a while ago, but there is another way to approach this if the other option didn't work out. You could utilize the BuddyPress group functionality. It allows you to create a private, invitation-only group with private forums, etc.