Hi, I've searched the forums for answers and found a few but have these pre-sales questions yet unanswered: 1) With a successful signin using the login for amember as opposed to the login for mambo: a) does the now active user have access to the registered only menu items that a typical 'mambo login' user would have? ie: if I create a couple menu items on the user menu in mambo, do these now show up and work as if they signed in using the mambo login? ie: register member only bulletin board component in mambo for instance? b) How does the content get displayed within mambo that amember is protecting? Is it in an iframe? c) Lastly, as far as a demo download, does it contain the necessary 'add on' for mambo? Thanks in advance and look forward to your reply. tj
a) Yes, but make sure you're logging in via the aMember/Mambo integration module/plugin ($40). b) It is somewhat dependent on the protection options you choose/configure for the integration plugin. You can implement/configure for Mambo's access controls: [(un)registered, special, etc.], aMember's access controls: [directory based], or both. Your protected content may or may not be displayed in an iframe depending on your presentation of the material... it is up to your design. All aMember does is provide the access control (directory based or CMS-acl based). You structure your pages as to whether you want them in an iframe or not. c) I don't believe the demo contains the add-on. Even purchasers of the pro-version still need to purchase the $40 mambo integration plugin in order to have it. The plugin is an additional purchase (not included w/the software). Unfortunately for me due to my design, I am unable to use aMember or the Mambo integration plugin for my needs, but I have tested the hell out of it in trying to get it to work for my needs (to no avail). I'm waiting on the aMember/Community Builder integration plugin that is currently in development.
Mambo integration Hi, Thanks for the response. I am thinking then, if I create the amember content via the mambo wysiwig editor for instance, then all I will be using amember for is processing the purchase via 2checkout for membership. It won't be 'protecting' any real content/directory, but simply setting up a registered member via mambo. Am I thinking right? I can create any and all the content for registered members via mambo. tj
Last question then... To be sure: That sounds good, I get the mambo integration plugin which essentially sets up a module which I can position in one of my spots on my mambo template, people choose to become a subscribed member, they 'sign up' via the only available option (the amember/plugin login module), they do their thing at 2checkout (which would be my processor of choice), are automatically added to the registered members in mambo and off to the races. This site would have a member sign up for one years access. Can I count on amember to terminated the registered member after one year automatically? tj
Yes, but one important thing - aMember still be a seperate script, not integrated into Mambo. You will have separate signup page - it will not be part of Mambo. All we can provide for Mambo is a special login box module. Yes, aMember will terminate member access - it works.
Thanks I get it. Just wanted to be sure amember still 'goes in' to the Mambo registered users and deletes the expired subscriptions when the time comes. Thanks, Todd
The integration plugin is not designed to delete the account, but rather set the account status one level lower than what is needed for your CMS users to access the protected content. (In essence, expiring the subscription but not necessarily the same as account deletion). That's how access is controlled when CMS integration is configured through aMember. Me personally, I trying to set up the accounts so they're both fully synchronized (Community Builder accounts & aMember accounts) and use aMember's directory protection as the access control mechanism instead of the integration to the CMS's user levels.
Oh I see So what your saying in my case is: amember sets the newly created account as a 'registered' member, after the account access time has expired it 'lowers' the level to 'public'? Not sure that makes sense if I understand you correctly. Mambo has 'registered' and 'public', anyone visiting the site is public which can't be set. Is all the plugin does is create the user account period? Phil-taylor has a plugin that does that for less than half with total integration. I can see amember being useful outside of a cms, but if planning on using one, I'm not sure there is much value for the money.
Mambo's three access levels are public, registered, and special. According to what I've read, the aMember/Mambo integration is supposed to work best when users are given access to "special" sections and then accessibility is set to "registered" areas once the subscriptions have expired. I suppose it should work the same way going from registered access to "public" areas (depending on how you structure your protected pages). I don't know as I haven't tried it specifically.
amember and mambo site example I'm using amember/mambo at http://www.wmfsb.com If you'd like to see how a live site works. Let me know if you have any specific questions. My setup is a bit different - amember controls usernames and passwords access to my videos in addition to mambo access. Works well for me