Existing site with many users

I have an exiting site that already has a couple thousand users subscribed with the basic WordPress subscription service. What happens to those users when s2Member is loaded?

My site, for the most part, exists outside WP, using it for a blog and overall access control. We have utilized the wp userID heavily to relate user to data. Not knowing how s2Member works behind the scenes I’m concerned this might all break, and that is not a good option. Can you give me an idea of what to expect, and maybe how s2Member affects the db structures/data.

We’re looking to add a premium level of service which has led us to consider s2Member.

Thanks,
Hugh

Hi Hugh,

s2Member uses the WordPress user base, so if your existing subscribers exist within WordPress as users, you won’t need to do anything to start offering a premium level of service to them (they will simply login and purchase the premium level using an s2Member-generated button, which will then upgrade their account to a higher level after purchase).

I recommend downloading and installing the free version of the plugin to see if it fits your needs. The s2Member Pro is simply an add-on to the s2Member Framework (free) that adds additional features. All of the source code is made available for both the free version and the Pro version, so you can make any changes necessary and inspect the code to understand how it works.

Thanks Raam, and I appreciate your response.

I did load the framework version into a test site today to play around with it. So far I am very pleased with what I’ve seen.

I had a problem with mysql timing out while searching for users, but found a recent post were someone had added an index to the usermeta table. That solved the problem, although with a non-standard db structure. That is not a big deal at this point in the process, but might be something someone needs to take a look at.

I need to work with the framework a bit more before moving to the pro version.

Very impressed, and thanks again for the reply,

Hugh

Question – how do I restrict prior existing “subscriber” users from even logging in? I want to keep them available only to level0 or above but s2 seems to equate subscribers to level0 level content?

Hugh, thanks for the kudos! Glad you’re liking it. :)

Jim, s2Member Level 0 is the same as the Subscriber role. What you need to do, if you don’t want content to be visible to that role, is protect the content, e.g. a higher level, like Level 1.