Discrete Access Levels

[JohnMike]

Dear All,

I have read a several posts here e.g. 3 free Membership Access to different content, Level Specific Access, Are Membership levels cumulative ... etc ...

These posts all underline the fact that access levels are incremental as is clearly stated in the plugin.

Obviously I also wish to permit discrete access to various pages (sections) of the web site based on what class of user is attempting to view that section. With a general area accessible to all regardless of whether they are logged in or not. So I definitely do not want incremental access.

So the purpose of my post is to gain some clarification of the process and get some ideas.

Firstly

If using a free version of s2 manually apply capabilities to a given user post their account set up.
If using pro version of s2 specify user capabilities on the registration screen to be automatically applied to the relevant user.

Secondly

So I would ignore Post Access Restrictions, Page Access Restrictions Tag Access Restrictions Category Restrictions URI Restrictions for all sections including the 'public' area.

Thirdly

Incorporate some conditional php code into the html for any given page that uses the capabilities applied to appropriate users to display the desired content.

But at this point I am a little concerned as I do not see what is stopping any end user looking at the source code for given page and thereby gaining partial access to that which you do not want them to see.

I wonder if another approach would be to utilise sub-domains. i.e. have the public content in the primary domain and hold the content for each class of user in a sub-domain and have a separate instance of wp and s2 for each sub-domain thus maintaining discrete access for each of the areas? would this work?

BTW Can I assume that incremental access levels are forced upon the plugin by virtue of the underlying working of Wordpress. I ask as wonder if a future development might be a switch whether at the basic or pro level which gives the administrator the option of selecting the dependencies between various access levels i.e. incremental, non incremental or a combination of both.

Regards

[Raam Dev]

Hi JohnMike,

Have you read about Custom Capabilities in WP-Admin -> s2Member -> API / Scripting -> Custom Capabilities (Packages)?

Specifically:

Custom Capabilities are an extension to a feature that already exists in WordPress®. The current_user_can() function, can be used to test for these additional Capabilities that you allow. Whenever a Member completes the checkout process, after having purchased a Membership from you ( one that included Custom Capabilities ), s2Member will add those Custom Capabilities to the account for that specific Member.

Custom Capabilities are always prepended with access_s2member_ccap_. You fill in the last part, with ONLY lowercase alpha-numerics and/or underscores. For example, let's say you want to sell Membership Level #1, as is. But, you also want to sell a slight variation of Membership Level #1, that includes the ability to access the Music & Video sections of your site. So, instead of selling this additional access under a whole new Membership Level, you could just sell a modified version of Membership Level #1. Add the the Custom Capabilities: music,videos. Once a Member has these Capabilities, you can test for these Capabilities using current_user_can("access_s2member_ccap_music") and current_user_can("access_s2member_ccap_videos").

You could offer several versions of Membership Level #1, each with its own custom capabilities. Then, you could tell s2Member which WordPress pages/posts should be seen by the users with specific custom capabilities.

*New* Starting with s2Member v3.2+, you can now tell s2Member to require certain Custom Capabilities on a per Post/Page basis. So now, s2Member ( if you prefer ) CAN handle Custom Capabilities for you automatically! Whenever you edit a Post/Page, you can tell s2Member ( i.e. there is a Meta Box for s2Member in your Post/Page editing station )... you can tell s2Member to require certain Custom Capabilities that you type in, using comma-delimited format. In other words, you will need to type in some of the trigger words that you used whenever you created your Payment Buttons/Forms. This way paying Members will have the Custom Capabilities to view different kinds of content that you offer

The content that you want to be seen by everyone, regardless of whether they're logged in or out, would simply be added as regular content in WordPress, without s2Member restrictions of any type.

Also, keep in mind that a user cannot look at the code and gain other access: The code that determines who should have access resides on the server (because it's PHP) and so the user never sees that code.

You may also want to check out the video on Custom Capabilities here: http://www.s2member.com/custom-capabilities-video/ and another here: http://www.s2member.com/advanced-conditionals-video/

[JohnMike]

Hi Raam,

Many thanks for your reply.

No I had not looked at the API tutorial yet, I will do so next. I was just looking at Specific Posts/pages to see if that could do anything for me.

You mention several versions of level #1. So this implies that the user has been through the check out process. But as I am not looking to charge for membership only to differentiate between different classes of user is it possible for a user to go through the checkout process without having to complete a transaction. If this is possible I have yet to find it in the tutorials.

Excellent video tutorials by the way. I have spent a little while looking a several plugins of a similar flavour s2 is streets ahead of anything else I have looked at so far.

Regards

[Eduan]

Check these videos:
http://www.s2member.com/specific-posts-pages-video/
http://www.s2member.com/custom-capabilities-video/
http://www.s2member.com/advanced-conditionals-video/

They all deal with something similar: No incremental access.
Choose the one you think would work best.

[Raam Dev]

You mention several versions of level #1. So this implies that the user has been through the check out process. But as I am not looking to charge for membership only to differentiate between different classes of user is it possible for a user to go through the checkout process without having to complete a transaction. If this is possible I have yet to find it in the tutorials.

With s2Member Pro, which adds the Pro Registration forms, it's possible to create multiple free registration forms, with each form assigning its own Custom Capabilities. (Using Pro Registration forms does *not* require Paypal Pro.)

Here's a video that explains how this works: http://www.s2member.com/free-registrati ... vel-video/

You'd essentially create a separate WordPress page for each type of free membership and direct visitors to the appropriate page. When they fill out the registration form, their account will be assigned the Custom Capabilities you specified. When they login, they will only be allowed to see the pages/posts that you make available to those Custom Capabilities.

You can also configure the free registration forms to assign new users to specific membership levels, bypassing the need to purchase anything (this could be used instead of Custom Capabilities, as described above, or in conjunction with them).

Does that make sense?

Excellent video tutorials by the way. I have spent a little while looking a several plugins of a similar flavour s2 is streets ahead of anything else I have looked at so far.

Thank you!

[Eduan]

(Using Pro Registration forms does *not* require Paypal Pro.)

You're right, Pro forms don't require PayPal Pro, atleast the free registration pro-form, the level 1, 2, 3 etc. Does require PayPal pro, in fact the free registration pro-forms don't need PayPal at all.

[Raam Dev]

(Using Pro Registration forms does *not* require Paypal Pro.)

You're right, Pro forms don't require PayPal Pro, atleast the free registration pro-form, the level 1, 2, 3 etc. Does require PayPal pro, in fact the free registration pro-forms don't need PayPal at all.

Correct. I was explaining that the free registration form (included in s2Member Pro) can be used to assign new users to a specific Membership Level (1, 2, 3, etc.) without involving Paypal.

With the free version of s2Member, the only way for new users to register for a Membership Level is to use a Paypal Button to complete a purchase. With s2Member Pro, you can configure a free registration form that assigns the user to a specific Membership Level, bypassing Paypal altogether.

[Cristián Lávaque]

Excellent video tutorials by the way. I have spent a little while looking a several plugins of a similar flavour s2 is streets ahead of anything else I have looked at so far.

Thanks for the kudos!

[davidpayne]

I really like the fact that you can use the free registration form to assign custom capabilities at any level. However, what if you want to provide a user who is already registered the option of selecting a custom capability? The only way I can see doing this is by selling him the custom capability with a "buy now" form or by manually applying the custom capability.

Let me explain what I'd like to do. My site is a Physician Assistant Education site. I have some members who are pre-Physician Assistant students, some who are current Physician Assistant students, and some who are Physician Assistant educators. I would like to create a custom capability at level 0 for each of these groups. However, I need them to be able to switch from one to another without being charged. In other words, when a pre-PA gets accepted into PA school, they now become a current PA student. I would like a form (or a button) where they can switch from having the pre-PA custom capability to now having the current PA student custom capability, but without having to purchase it through the a "buy now" form. Is this possible? Is there a function where with a button or form a user can have one custom capability removed and another added?

Thanks in advance for your time!

David Payne

[Cristián Lávaque]

Hi David.

Well, you could have the student request the status change and then you'd do it manually. But if you want the person to click a button/link and have it changed, then this thread may help you: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=2599

I hope it helps.