What is the Future of s2Member?

[bessmccarty1]

Jason, I love s2Member. It did what Amember and Wishlist couldn't do, easy and fast. Thank you!!!

I've just begun my membership site and want to build it for many years to come. Is s2Member here to stay? How do you get paid? If you should quit, what happens? Could we continue, or would it eventually need upgrades to be compatible with continuing changes of Paypal, Aweber, etc.?

I want to stay w/ s2Member, and have been telling people about it. (Membership Academy forum, etc.)

But if we should need to change to another software one day, like Amember, can we do that without disrupting the members?

Thank you,
Bess

[Jason Caldwell]

Hi Bess. Thanks for the kudos, and the great question.

WebSharks, Inc. is a team of 5 here in Loganville, GA / USA; with over 10 years experience in web development. I am the Lead Developer ( Jason Caldwell ) Zend® Certified / PayPal® Certified.

s2Member is being promoted through a relatively new venture of ours @PriMoThemes.com, which we also have big plans for ( look for significant changes to PriMoThemes.com over the coming weeks and months ahead ).

The free version of s2Member ( available through WordPress.org ) is the framework for s2Member Pro, a commercial product available at s2Member.com. s2Member is supported in a variety of ways; one of which is it's commercial counterpart at s2Member.com.

The s2Member Framework ( the free version ) is, and will remain, open source, so that everyone is free to adapt it, modify it, fix it, and/or contribute to it; so long as you remain within the terms of the GPL.

This HUGE benefit ( GPL ) has been missing for a long time; and it's very important for developers working on client projects. As a developer, you can Hook into, Filter, or even modify most of the files directly if need be. We recommend using Hooks/Filters ( there are now over 200 Hooks/Filters spread throughout the s2Member Framework ). Using Hooks/Filters to integrate your own processing routines, has the added benefits of (a) better organization, and (b) hassle-free upgrades in the future.

Even with the s2Member Pro Module ( which IS commercially encoded in two different flavors: ionCube® & Zend® Guard ), we've worked very hard to maximize compatibility, and your flexibility to tinker with Hooks/Plugins. The s2Member Pro Module generates simulated ( self-verified / proxy ) IPN responses that interact with the free s2Member Framework; furthering your ability to extend s2Member Pro in various ways; even without having direct access to the source code for the Pro Module.

Should we decide to abandon the development of s2Member ( not likely ), it's framework will remain available to anyone who would like to continue its development. It is GPL after all. In addition, because s2Member is built on top of WordPress, and it's integrated seamlessly with Roles/Capabilities already built into the WordPress core framework WITHOUT introducing any new database tables... you are free to move your entire database of Users/Members at anytime you need to.

If you would like to contribute to the ongoing development of s2Member, please consider making a donation... or better yet, just purchase yourself a licensed copy of s2Member Pro.

In future versions of s2Member ( with some features being exclusively available through s2Member Pro ), you will see partnerships being formed with other online services. Which will ultimately extend the reach of s2Member and increase it's level of support. There are some other cool things in the pipeline, but we'll save those as a surprise Look for the Changelog with each new version we release.

[bessmccarty1]

Thank you, Jason!

I posted your reply on the Membership Academy forum, and will make a donation, and get the Pro version if I need it.

~ Bess

[Jason Caldwell]

Great to hear that Bess. Thanks!