RSS feed not showing properly

OK so I set up a feed which needs to be authorised within Kindle. I am using the format

http://usrname:password@feedaddress.com

. The user has a code #3 clearance. The feed validates. Some entries show – those which have no S2 restriction on them – that’s to say they are posts with no S2 at all (just left blank). No post which the user is entitled to view is parsed into the feed. What’s going on?

In my posts I have the following –

various posts with no S2 involvement – they all show
1 post with a level #0 – it does not show
1 post with a level #3 – does not show
various posts with level #4 – don’t show but don’t want them to.

Restrictions – only these…

I have a category access restriction in force which is compatible with my level 3 viewer.
plus:
└─ Feeds ( hide protected content in standard XML/RSS/ATOM feeds )
└─ Comment Feeds ( hide comments associated with protected content, in comment feeds )

Noi other restrictions in force which I am aware of.

Hi Nigel.

Maybe this video helps you with that:

If not, could you please explain the problem some more? Thanks!

Hi, thanks for this and yes it covered some of the points. However, I’m providing a feed address of the website rather than a specially crafted xml – although I could obviously rewrite the whole xml file and put it into a different directory and that has occurred to me as a laborious option.

I’ve tried a url such as this:

http://usrname:password@feedaddress.com&s2member_file_remote=yes

but it just defaults to

http://feedaddress.com

which suggests the permalinks are rewriting this url?

in my htaccess file I have the following:

# BEGIN s2Member GZIP exclusions
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /publish/
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|\?|&)s2member_file_download\=.+
RewriteRule .* - [E=no-gzip:1]
</IfModule>
# END s2Member GZIP exclusions


# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /publish/
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /publish/index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

If I use the shortcode not sure that would work but what would be the format?
[s2File download="do I put the feed url here?" remote="yes" /] and anyway if I add a shortcode to the post when I save it it’s not there any more (obviously not in the visualiser).

Any help much appreciated. Thanks again.

It occurs to me – I don’t know – that perhaps part of the problem is the way this site was set up. It is in a subdomain and then in a directory of an old directory on which I have a permanent re-write – do you think this is part of the problem.

e.g structure is as follows.

subdomain.mainsite/olddirectory/website

in ‘olddirectory’ I have a permanent forward set up to ‘website’.

I don’t know how these things work but is it rewriting the url as it passes across? Thanks.

I don’t know if your rewrite is affecting this. You can try in a new WordPress installation to test it and once you make it work there, try copying it in the existing one.

The shortcode is [hilite code][[s2File download="example-file.zip" remote="yes" /]][/hilite].
[hilite path]Dashboard -› s2Member® -› Download Options -› Remote Auth/Podcasting[/hilite]

I hope it helps.

Thanks but what would this be for a feed? eg main feed = http://mysite/feed…?

Is this then outside the scope of your support given however that the way S2 integrates a feed – or rather excludes it – is part of the functionality. I have excluded the redirect as interfering simply by disengaging it — any help much appreciated. This is an important element in the way s2 functions. Obviously it is key that RSS cannot bypass the membership levels. But it is also important that those with the correct authority can use it…

I just went back a re-read some of the posts.

I’m providing a feed address of the website rather than a specially crafted xml – although I could obviously rewrite the whole xml file and put it into a different directory and that has occurred to me as a laborious option.

So you’re not following the instructions in the video for the authenticated feeds?

The regular feeds would be controlled by the Alt Restriction setting here [hilite path]Dashboard -› s2Member® -› Restriction Options -› Alternative View Protection[/hilite]

For something more advanced than that restriction, you should follow Jason’s instructions.

I hope that helps. :)

First, feeds according to their level don’t seem to be able to be controlled through the Alternative View Protection except in so far as one is already signed in with the appropriate level e.g. signed in with #3 clearance one can see the posts for that level.

Second, I can’t get the remote auth to work. I’ve upload an xml to the appropriate directory. I’ve formed the url and I obtain the username/pswd prompt (ideally I would like to set this up so it was alreayd part of the url) but it won’t clear the person for entry to view/download the file.

A key might work but it only seems to work if you’re logged in (I’ve tried it) – so can’t see how that would be useful. (message: 503 ( Invalid Key ): Sorry, your access to this file has expired. Please contact Support for assistance.)

Where am I going wrong?

To give an indication that something within S2 may not be working quite right I have managed to set this up manually. eg created a directory for an xml. Added an htaccess/passwd protection. Uplaod an xml. Accessed file remotely using username/pswd@url. All works fine.

Thanks for the heads up on this request for support.

@Nigel

Feeds within WordPress (i.e. those which are NOT inside the secure /s2member-files/ directory), are treated like any other feed. That is, the feed itself will always remain available to the public.

If your feed contains links to Posts/Pages, which you may have protected with s2Member; then upon clicking the links that lead to these protected areas of your site, non-Members will be asked to log into your web site with a Username/Password. Nothing special here, that’s how one would expect this to function.

Alternative View Restrictions

s2Member can also be configured to use Alternative View Restrictions, so that links in your feed are filtered down, to only those which are available to a particular User/Member, based on the current Member’s status on your site. For example, if your feed contains a link to a Page protected at Level #1, and the current Member is logged into their account with Level #1 access, the link would be visible. However, if they are NOT logged in, or they’re logged in as a Free Subscriber at Level #0, the link would not be visible to them.

See: Dashboard -› s2Member® -› Restriction Options -› Alternative View Protection

Please keep in mind that while s2Member’s Alternative View Restrictions have the ability to filter the links made available in a feed, based on the current Member’s status with your site, many feed reading applications pull data via server-side applications, scripts, or even through software apps designed to run on mobile devices, etc, etc. Therefore, it’s not always possible for s2Member to detect the actual Member (i.e. there is no browser involved in many of these feed requests). This is where Remote Authorization might come in handy. If you’re integrating with Kindle, Remote Authorization through a custom feed that you build, designed specifically for use within Kindle, would be more appropriate.

Protecting The Feed Itself (Integrating Remote Authorization)

This is an entirely different approach, and it requires that you make your own custom feed, placing the feed itself into the secure /s2member-files/ directory. Remote Authorization is NOT something that’s built into WordPress by default, it’s something that s2Member makes possible, and it’s only integrated with s2Member’s File Download functionality. Thus, in order to use Remote Authorization, you will need to make your feed a File Download, by placing it into your /s2member-files/ directory.

I understand from your previous post, that you’re attempting to integrate with Kindle. I think you’ll find that an integration with Kindle, is very similar to that of iTunes. However, I’ve not done an integration between s2Member and Kindle myself, so I can’t say with absolute certainty. I would start this project by first watching the video tutorial that we’ve made available for iTunes. Attached to this post for your reference.

Video » s2Member® File Downloads (Remote Auth/Podcasting)

See also: Dashboard -› s2Member® -› Download Options -› Remote Auth/Podcasting

<Embed Playlist>

Thanks for your considered reply.

I did watch the video and I did follow the instructions. I uploaded an xml into the s2member-files directory but I couldn’t open it. It gave me the option to key in the username and password (good) but when I did it just repeated the option e.g. it didn’t log one through so I never even got to try the automatic method eg usrname:psswd@mysite.com/s2member-files/file.xml. Something was blocking the log-in – I tried using different users which had rights of access.

I’m not really sure one gains very much over just doing it manually as I’ve described since setting up the directory doesn’t take much work. The unfortunate thing with both systems is that one has to recreate the xml file every time and it is not created dynamically. I had hoped that I would dupe all the posts I wanted for the Kindle using a different membership level and access would be made available on the fly but that doesn’t work either. So, once one is stuck with recreating a feed it doesn’t make much difference whether one uses the S2 system or a specially created directory. The latter has one major advantage – one doesn’t have to spend time trying to make it work – it does! Thanks again.