I carefully sent the requirements for aMember to my host NetFirms and they replied that it was compatible. I purchased aMember including the free installation. I carefully read through the manual on configuration and followed it through. I understand in the initial configuration I need to: Setup your protection for protected areas. You can use .htaccess or PHP included files. I went to do this in the Protect Folder section of the aMember CP panel, I am trying to make the entire site accessible only to paid members. I go to select method of protection and find I can only use htpasswd, I can't use new_rewrite or any other. So I use htpasswd and all it does is demand a password and username to access anything on the site, but there is no username, password created. Then I have to manually delete the created htaccess file in my hosting Admin Panel in order to access anything. I need to make the entire site accessible only to paid members and it seems that I cannot do that as non of the protection methods are compatible with my server...eg (RewriteRule doesn't work in .htaccess files on this server) (php_value auto_prepend_file directive doesn't work in .htaccess files on this server) Is my assumption correct, does this mean that this program is plain just not compatible with my host? Any suggestions or help here would be really appreciated, I don't have much experience with these programs and scripts so I am lost right now. I have asked the help desk but was just told that I can't protect my www file as it protects aMember located within the folder. I am at my wits end here, this is my last resort before I have to get my money back and start the search for membership program again. Can hosts enable new_rewrite, is it worth me asking my hosting service? Which files do I 'protect' in order to make the entire site non accessible only to paying members? I figured it was the www file, but is not as that 'protects' aMember so is it every file inside the www folder with the excetoion of the aMember file?
Sounds like your server is locked down pretty tight. Honestly, you might end up with problems down the road. What did their tech support have to say? What Amember is doing in the htaccess file does nothing "weird" to the server, so they should implement it for you without gripe.
Thank you so much for replying. I copy pasted the list of requirements as set out on the AMember site and my host said... We are pleased to inform you that we meet the requirements listed for the script you have provided. Please be aware that Netfirms supports ionCube Loader but does not support Zend Optimizer. So far I have been unable to put any sort of protection on the site. When I use the htpasswd, all it does is bring up the hosts folder protection login page. It does not bring up the aMember sign up. Maybe I should change hosts and go with Lunarpages, I understand they support all aspects of this script. I have reread everything dozens of times, experimented in every way and done all I can and something is seriously not working here.
Hostgator is also very good in my experience and having 24 hour phone and chat support is a huge bonus. I wrote up some details why I use hostgator here: http://www.website-systems-expert.com/blog/recommendations/ That page is referring more to the shared hosting but I also have 3 (soon 4) dedicated servers with Hostgator and I'm very happy.