Category restriction won't go away?

I previously restricted a category as a test but then removed the restriction from the s2Member restriction options page. However, when I pull the archive listing up for that category, it is still restricted. Do I have to make some sort of manual change or…?

Actually, I just experimented with changing the status on some posts to unrestricted from restricted, and the same issue is coming up. It appears as though once something has been restricted in some way, the database is not being flushed clean if that restriction is removed. Here is the redirect URL (with my website name removed) I am getting on a post that was formerly restricted at the post level but is not now:

http://xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxx.com/subscribe/?_s2member_seekingtype=post&_s2member_seekingpost=341&_s2member_seeking_uri=LzIwMTIvMDkvMjYvdS1zLWVxdWl0aWVzLWRlZmVuc2l2ZS1zaGFyZXMtaW5jcmVhc2luZ2x5LWluLWZhdm9yLw%3D%3D&_s2member_reqtype=level&_s2member_reqlevel=2&_s2member_restype=post&s2member_seeking=post-341&s2member_level_req=2

And in terms of my original query regarding a specific category that was once restricted but I tried to unrestrict, here is the URL redirect:

http://xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxx.com/subscribe/?_s2member_seekingtype=catg&_s2member_seekingcatg=24&_s2member_seeking_uri=L2NhdGVnb3J5L21lbWJlcnMv&_s2member_reqtype=level&_s2member_reqlevel=0&_s2member_restype=sys&s2member_seeking=catg-24&s2member_level_req=0

In both cases, the items were formerly restricted but aren’t now. Is there a routine to flush or remove this data from where it is lingering? Is this stored in a particular file that should be written over freshly (otherwise, I have a lot of settings the way I want, so I don’t really want to have to reinstall S2Member from scratch.

Hi Michael.

The restriction shouldn’t be applied if you removed it. When you removed the restrictions, did you make sure to save the changes?

Also, are you using a caching plugin? Could you try deactivating it to test if that’s causing this problem?

All of my settings have been saved and my browser has been refreshed; In addition, my host provider (WP Engine) offers caching and I cleared all the caches. Unfortunately, the problem is not going away.

Is there a file that stores S2 restriction data that can be directly edited, or wiped clean, or written over with the default version that comes when you first install the plug-in (I am happy to set all category/post/page/etc. restrictions to the default null state and then reapply the restrictions I want manually)?

Alternatively, is there a way to save all of my current settings (General Options, Mail Chimp APIs/List IDs, etc.) and reinstall S2Member with those settings (but without any specific category and/or post data restrictions)?

Alternatively, is there somewhere in the SOL database where I can specifically check what restriction is associated with a category, post, etc. and somehow fix it?

While I am not a programmer, this appears to be some sort of bug.

Michael,

I’ve heard other s2Member users having trouble hosting with WP Engine. I believe they resolved it either by talking to the WP Engine support, or by disabling the caching altogether. I recommend getting in touch with WP Engine support and seeing if they can help.

I couldn’t resolve the problem directly, but by changing the name of the category from “Members” to something else (e.g., “Member”), it seemed to solve the problem. Perhaps the word “members” has some special significance with respect to S2Member restrictions? Regardless, you can consider this topic closed.

Interesting… No, s2Member doesn’t have something like that, but it’s possible that some other plugin (BuddyPress comes to mind) may.

Anyway, nice work finding the problem! Thanks for the update. :)