I Have built myself into a Box of Hell!!!!

I bought your product 2 weeks ago. I do not fully understand how to set the Membership site. My brother, My VA, and Myself are getting completely beat down by this product. Do you know of a Genius, guru, or someone that can help us. One day I would love to have a membership site that works. I really need to talk to someone? Is that possible?

Anything I give to my VA she can figure out but not this. My brother is the same way but without a way to have a back and forth conversation they are stuck. Oh and then there is me, I have watched 50 hours of video and there is no comprehension

• This topic was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by  Joe Mallon.

Hello Joe,

Could you please describe what you need? Maybe we can help you if we know what you need. ;)

Could use some help too!

You can find my e-mail in my forum profile. Shoot me an e-mail with what you are trying to do and if I can help, I’ll send my contact details.

Dave

I’m going to spend my entire day today going through the tutorials while working on my site as I watch the tutorials. My brother is doing the same..

Almost everything is set up exactly as we want so I’m going to do my best today to figure out the missing pieces with my brother. At the end of our day, we will post – in very thorough detail – every question that we still have in hopes that someone can help us finish up this project so that we can move forward and start making money.

Just a heads: Here are the 2 problems that we’re having trouble with…

Our membership site has 8 modules total (carsalescashmachine.com). The first 2 modules are free (level 0) and modules 3-8 are all paid (levels 1-6). All anyone needs to do to access the first 2 modules is fill out the free form (in either the module 1 sign up page or the module 2 sign up page) – an email confirmation username and password is sent to the subscriber – then the subscriber simply logs in and they can access both modules 1 and 2.

1. This works PERFECTLY if you have a yahoo email but the subscriber never gets the email for their password if they use gmail? Yahoo mail works 100% of the time but we CANNOT get gmail to work?!?! I already submitted this question to the s2member forum which was answered by telling me to follow the instructions found here: (Knowledge Base » Troubleshooting Email Delivery Problems). I went through every step and still can’t get gmail email addresses to receive a confirmation email upon submitting a form. This is problem #1 – Please help me!!

The second problem we’re having is finding 100% clarity in how this is going to work – I will try my best to make this question as clear and concise as possible:

I have Authorize.net setup – modules 1 and 2 are free – modules 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are paid. After completion of module 2, my members must be able to go to module 3 to sign up. Here is where things get confusing.

Lets say in (s2member>Auth.Net Pro-Forms) each of the forms (Authorize.Net Forms For Level #1 Access – through – Authorize.Net Forms For Level #6 Access) or otherwise (Modules 3 – 8) are setup like this:

I want to charge: $50 / One Time (for lifetime access, non-recurring, no trial)

Then I Generate my Form Code for (Authorize.Net Forms For Level #1 Access – through – Authorize.Net Forms For Level #6 Access) and paste those codes individually in my Module 3 Sign Up Page, Module 4 Sign Up Page, Module 5 Sign Up Page, Module 6 Sign Up Page, Module 7 Sign Up Page, and my Module 8 Sign Up Page.

This works perfectly and I completely understand how this works (Note: this works as long as I have a yahoo email address and I’ve already registered for Modules 1 and 2 – this does NOT work right now if you have gmail).

I could leave my site like this (if I could get gmail to work) and everything would be in place. This allows my members to go at the pace that they want by purchasing a new module whenever they’d like…perfect! Now what if I want my modules setup as automatic recurring monthly drafts? Here we go:

Lets say in (s2member>Auth.Net Pro-Forms) each of the forms (Authorize.Net Forms For Level #1 Access – through – Authorize.Net Forms For Level #6 Access) or otherwise (Modules 3 – 8) are setup like this:

I’ll offer the first 0 Days @ $0.00
Then, I want to charge: $50 / Monthly (recurring charge, for ongoing access)

This makes it to where you pay for access to Module 3 and you’re in – One month later it charges you again and now you have access to module 4 – Then 5, 6, 7, and 8.

2. Is this correct or not? Yes or no? If yes, then perfect! If no, can you please explain? :)

Now, what happens at the end on module 8 (my last module)? It would make sense in my mind that they would be automatically charged again for module 9 (which doesn’t exist) so should I change the (Authorize.Net Forms For Level #6 Access) from:

I’ll offer the first 0 Days @ $0.00
Then, I want to charge: $50 / Monthly (recurring charge, for ongoing access)

To:

I want to charge: $50 / One Time (for lifetime access, non-recurring, no trial)

3. Is this how everyone thats using automatically recurring monthly drafts should set up their final Authorize.Net Form so that the automatic billing stops after their final draft for the final module? Yes or no? If yes, then perfect! If no, can you please explain? :)

Now, what happens if my modules are setup as automatic recurring monthly drafts and someone wants to fast track from module 3 to module 4?

4. Do they have to wait a month for the draft or can they simply fill out the form on module 4 sign up and immediately access module 4? Please be thorough…

5. If they are able to fast track and sign up for module 4 whenever they want, what happens on the next month when that draft for module 4 was initially scheduled to come out? Please be thorough…

That about does it for my Box of Hell… If these descriptions aren’t thorough enough and there’s no one out there to provide detailed answers for my questions, I’m afraid that tall bridges and skyscraper ledges are the only two options in my near future… (Weeeeeeeee!!!!) Jk :)

Thank you kindly for your time,
Joe

Gmail
My first thought is that there is something about your hosting account that gmail doesn’t like. What e-mail address does it say the email is coming from? Is it going to spam in gmail or just not going at all? I’ll have to look into this.

Forms
I must admit, I’m still trying to wrap my head around all these pricing plans. Are you using “registration” forms for each “upgrade” or are you using the Billing Modification Form?

You should be able to use the billing modification forms for members to upgrade manually as your first option whenever they feel like they want to move on.

The automated billing gets tricky, because that is not how s2member is designed. It’s designed to provide recurring billing for one product or “level” continuously until it is canceled by the user.

If you offered recurring option, you would have to stop it manually or through some custom process after the 8th month. Plus you would have to write your own script to check if the member should be upgraded and upgrade them manually (or via the script).

Fast Track
Since the automated payments doesn’t work the way you thought, then this doesn’t really apply. However, using the billing modification, you can modify (cancel and re-set) a user’s membership whether it’s one-time or subscription payments… just depends on how you set up each billing modification form.

You would still have the issue (assuming you are using automated recurring billing) of creating some way to check how long the user has been a member or how many payments have been made at that level and if the user should be upgraded, etc.

I hope that makes sense… lol!

Dave

Thank you for your response but where is the solution? Can you please answer my question in this manner:

1) YOUR ANSWER

2) YOUR ANSWER

3) and so on.

The moderators of this forum should already know exactly what we need and what we are trying to accomplish. The reason the name of my post was “I Have built myself into a Box of Hell!!!!” is because of answers like this. I’m not trying to be mean but there is no LOL on this side of the computer, that watered down of a response to such a thorough question is simply unacceptable.

CAN WE ACCOMPLISH WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH (a module based membership site with automatic monthly drafts that will automatically cancel drafts after the final draft for module 8) WITH THE s2member Pro PLUGIN?? If Not please say so and we will go look for a plugin that will

Thank you,
Joe

Sorry, I actually started answering that way but several of your questions kind of build on each other more toward topics so that’s what I used. I apologize if it seemed convoluted. I’m not a moderator, and don’t work for s2member but I’ll do my best to help out as another user of this product. Hopefully, if I’m incorrect on anything one of the staff will set me straight.

CAN WE ACCOMPLISH WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH (a module based membership site with automatic monthly drafts that will automatically cancel drafts after the final draft for module 8) WITH THE s2member Pro PLUGIN?? If Not please say so and we will go look for a plugin that will

Quick Answer: Out of the box – No, recurring billing products in s2member are designed to run continuously until they are cancelled by the end user.

As you already stated it works great if the user is manually upgrading but there is no setting on recurring billing Pro options to make it stop after a certain number of payments in s2member.

You probably CAN use this plugin but, in order to do it the way you want with the recurring billing automation, it would take some extra thought and programming to do it. You could probably use the content dripping feature to space out the modules to match the monthly payments, but you would still need to program a way to make the payments stop and still give the user access to the content since that’s not a native feature of s2member.

If you want something that will work just that way out of the box then no, s2member won’t do it, it’s just not quite designed for that type of payment processing.

As far as the number points go, I’ll try to give better answers as much as I know them.

1. I’ve not had this issue so I would have to dig deeper.

2. No. This is not the way s2member recurring billing works. It simply charges the same amount every month for the exact same product. It doesn’t have any way of knowing that it should upgrade the user’s account type because in s2member’s “mind” the next module is a different product than what the user is paying for.

3. You are correct that the module 8 would continue to process payments until it was stopped by you or the user. I think part of the issue may be how you understand the forms to work. Each form is designed to pay for 1 “product” which I’m sure you understand because you already set it up great, outside the recurring billing (and the gmail issue).

However, they don’t build on each other or even communicate with each other in any way. So if you set up a recurring billing for module 3, it’s not going to notify another form to process a payment for module 4, it just keeps processing the same payment for module 3 (in s2member’s mind). So, no, that’s not how you would set up your recurring payments forms.

4. If you are using the Billing Modification forms for upgrading members who want to “fast track”, then yes, a user could do that. When they clicked on it, the system would cancel their old recurring billing agreement and set up a new one based on the new time and give them access to that next module. However, that still doesn’t solve your issue of needing to stop the payments after module 8, which s2member currently doesn’t provide an option for on recurring billing products.

5. This was answered in 4, but just to be clear, if you use the Billing Modification forms for upgrading, then the system will automatically cancel their old billing agreement and payment cycle and start a new one based on this new time and give acces to the new product (module).

While the answers may not be what you want, hopefully that gives you a more accurate look at s2member and how you can or can’t use it (easily).

Let me know if something was unclear and I’ll try to clarify. As a programmer, I look at this and say, it’s just something I need to code a work-around for, but I also understand that not everyone can or wants to do that. So while there probably is a solution to make this work, as far as I know there is nothing natively accessible to handle all aspects of what you want in s2member easily.

I feel your pain about being ready to launch and just getting frustrating results… my frustrations are with my bank and payment processor. Thankfully s2 works for what I need otherwise I might join you on the skyscraper…

Dave

Alright, Now we’re talking!!

First off, your last sentence def made me laugh and I needed that right now so thank you! :)

Second off, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to answer my question – s2member is not what we are looking for and if there were a refund for the product, that would be in route as we speak.

Third off, I apologize for sounding a bit upset on my last reply – it’s kind of hard to be happy with things when we’ve already spend 2 weeks on Wishlist Member, 2 weeks on Magic Members, and 1 week here on s2member and still don’t have our WP-Membership plugin setup to our liking.

I am now standing on the ledge of the tallest building in downtown San Diego and I don’t think its tall enough to do the job. That being said, I think it’s best that I return home now to look for my 4th Membership plugin instead.

Cheers Dave, and thanks again,
Joe

No worries. I’m just hoping I don’t get the ax for letting you “get away”! JK

Hope you find something that will do for you. S2member is a great option, but even they admit that it doesn’t cover every scenario, though I’m told they’re working hard on adding some much needed features.

Maybe we can get this type of payment processing on the board. I agree that being able to stop a recurring billing should be doable, as long as the payment processor provides an option.

Nice site BTW.

Have a good one,

Dave

Joe, Dave answered the questions quite well, but I’d like to add a few things:

1. This works PERFECTLY if you have a yahoo email but the subscriber never gets the email for their password if they use gmail? Yahoo mail works 100% of the time but we CANNOT get gmail to work?!?! I already submitted this question to the s2member forum which was answered by telling me to follow the instructions found here: (Knowledge Base » Troubleshooting Email Delivery Problems). I went through every step and still can’t get gmail email addresses to receive a confirmation email upon submitting a form. This is problem #1 – Please help me!!

I agree that it seems like a problem with Gmail not liking your server. If you don’t have your own IP, someone else you’re sharing the IP with may have been flagged for spam. Or who knows what the problem is. You should really contact your web host about this.

This is not an s2Member problem. s2Member uses the wp_mail function, which comes with WordPress.

Did you check if the emails to Gmail addresses are being sent? You can use the email logging plugin. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/email-log/

Are other emails from your site to Gmail addresses getting to their inboxes?

Lets say in (s2member>Auth.Net Pro-Forms) each of the forms (Authorize.Net Forms For Level #1 Access – through – Authorize.Net Forms For Level #6 Access) or otherwise (Modules 3 – 8) are setup like this:

I’ll offer the first 0 Days @ $0.00
Then, I want to charge: $50 / Monthly (recurring charge, for ongoing access)

This makes it to where you pay for access to Module 3 and you’re in – One month later it charges you again and now you have access to module 4 – Then 5, 6, 7, and 8.

2. Is this correct or not? Yes or no? If yes, then perfect! If no, can you please explain? :)

It gets tricky. The thing is that the subscriptions in s2Member are for a single level. s2Member doesn’t change the user’s Level after each monthly payment of the subscription. He’d remain at the same level and the new content would need to be dripped with conditionals in the body of the posts/pages.

The way content dripping works currently, is explained here: [hilite path]Dashboard -› s2Member® -› API / Scripting -› Content Dripping[/hilite]. Basically the conditions would be checking how long ago the user paid for the level, and based on that decide whether to show the new content in the drip sequence. It doesn’t check following payments, those times aren’t available, only the first time for the level, and the conditions would be based off of that.

The shortcode for the Auth.Net pro-form has the [hilite mono]rrt[/hilite] attribute available, which you can use to specify the number of terms the payments will recur, instead of going on indefinitely. [hilite path]Dashboard -› s2Member® -› Authorize.Net® Pro Forms -› Shortcode Attributes -> rrt[/hilite]

Now, what normally happens at the end of the last term paid, is what your Auto EOT Behavior setting says. [hilite path]Dashboard -› s2Member® -› Authorize.Net® Options -› Automatic EOT Behavior[/hilite]

Since you are giving lifetime access to the paid modules, you’d need to change the EOT setting so no demotion back to Level 0 happens. This is fine if someone pays all the terms, but if someone stops paying before, then the dripping of content will continue and, since he didn’t lose access, he’ll be shown the coming modules eventually.

Selling the modules individually with one-time payments, which is the one you set up already, is the one that would work for you with s2Member without customizations. From what you said, fixing the Gmail addresses problem would do the trick.

Now, if you want to customize the behavior a bit to do what you want, it may be possible to use the Notifications API in s2Member to load a script created by you, that will change the user’s Level after each new payment.

Video » s2Member (API Tracking/Notifications)
Knowledge Base » Changing Roles/Capabilities via PHP

If the payment doesn’t happen, then the notification won’t happen, so the script won’t be ran and the user won’t be moved to the new level. That would work for what you want. And payments would only be a set number if you use the rrt attribute, as mentioned earlier.

I hope that helps. :)

See, I knew they would correct me… lol!

Argh… I can’t believe I forgot that you can add that info to the shortcode!

I guess you can’t put every option in the shortcode creation form, especially since in order to make it work the way you want, you would still need to alter some other settings and even add your own script.

Thanks for the clarification Cristian!

Dave

The other day I drove out to Loganville Ga to get help and it was a UPS address. In my head it was going to be a office and Jason was going to be wearing a country looking baseball hat I was going to give him a Dollar bill with Benjamin Franklin on it and he was going to fix my site in 8 minutes and 22 seconds then my life would change. But instead I drove home feeling like an idiot :-) thats a true story!!!

My brother in San Diego is jumping now – Why would I jump? I live in Gwinnett, I know what hell feels like Collins Hill BABY. I’m getting me out of here. I pray that this is my escape website. A moment of silence for my brother…. OK thats long enough now lets get back to work

lol Joe, you made laugh.

Jason is not doing custom coding anymore, since months ago, and is now full time working on the new s2Member to release it this summer. It’ll make many new things possible out-of-the-box, most probably including what you’re trying to do.

But for now we have what we have, and it’s pretty good, but to do what you want the only way I can think of is what I suggested above: use rrt in the shortcode of the pro-form, edit EOT so user is not demoted, use the payment notifications with a script to change the user’s role.

See, I knew they would correct me… lol!

Man, you already know a lot about s2Member and help right and left! Even I forget certain things from time to time. Thanks for all your help! :)

Are you doing freelance jobs? Maybe you want to do this one for Joe if he needs help.