Metered/"freemium" model possible?

Hi,

Is a metered model/freemium system for s2Member possible? Could we, for example, allow free subscribers the ability to a view specified amount of premium-level content before the system then forces these users to choose a subscription?

Thanks!

Hi Tyler,

You could certainly use the s2Member Simple/Shortcode Conditionals (see Dashboard -› s2Member® -› API / Scripting -› Simple/Shortcode Conditionals) to achieve this by checking if the user has access to a specific level and then only displaying the appropriate content.

For example, the first few paragraphs of content could be wrapped in an s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level0) and the rest of the content (i.e., premium content) could be wrapped in an s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1). Since membership levels are cumulative, those with Level 1 access will see the free content in addition to the premium content.

If you want to integrate timing into all this, you could use the Content Dripping features (see Dashboard -› s2Member® -› API / Scripting -› Content Dripping) to do something elaborate like show some free content for the first 30 days of membership and then start displaying a payment button that asks them to subscribe to see the full content. There are many possibilities.

Hi Raam,

Thank you for such a quick reply. I think I phrased my question incorrectly, however. The metered system we are thinking about would allow readers the ability to a fully view a specified number of premium articles before the system then forces these users to choose a subscription plan. Is this possible? Perhaps with the content dripping feature?

Thank you!

Hi Tyler,

Yes, you can do that with the content dripping functionality.

You would simply provide the full content to free users who have been registered for less than 30 days (e.g., S2MEMBER_CURRENT_USER_REGISTRATION_DAYS < 30[/hilite]) and then after 30 days show them a subscription button. You can use nested conditionals to create more elaborate schemes where you show the full content to free users who have been registered for less than 30 days and then start showing a payment button to them after that. With a nested conditional you can always show full content to users who belong to a specific Level (i.e., paid users). Please see the following sections for more information and examples: [hilite path]Dashboard -› s2Member® -› API / Scripting -› Content Dripping[/hilite] [hilite path]Dashboard -› s2Member® -› API / Scripting -› PHP/API Constants[/hilite]