Why use the wordpress plugin

Discussion in 'Integration' started by andrebell, Sep 16, 2007.

  1. andrebell

    andrebell Member

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    Aug 28, 2007
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    Why use the wordpress plugin instead of just password protect access to the blog using aMember?

    I need to add some sort of support area to buyers of a product, plus ongoing posts about product updates and new uses. I figured before I get wrapped up installing wordpress and adding content just password protecting access to the blog, I'd better find out what other options are available. Could save me headaches later if I do this right in the first place.

    Thanks.
  2. sitesbycal

    sitesbycal New Member

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    Sep 9, 2007
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    Well I'm just using the trial right now but thought I'd respond because I'm using the WordPress plugin....trying it out

    I have Wordpress connected to BBpress (the forum software) so basically when members sign up with Amember, they're automatically registered in Wordpress and BBpress....So only members can access the forums

    As far as Wordpress goes, it really serves no purpose as of yet......I'm hoping to eventually figure out how to do more as far as wp user levels and accessing certain posts and stuff like that, but until then.....

    edit: addition....Just read the post about the wp member plugin...sweetness
    http://amember.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6559
  3. sitesbycal

    sitesbycal New Member

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    Okay, so I've been digging and came up with some more sweetness.....

    Check this out, it's a Role Manager Plugin for WordPress 2+
    http://www.im-web-gefunden.de/wordpress-plugins/role-manager/

    It allows you to create and edit roles that can have custom capabilities, awesome

    Sooooo.....Here's what you can do....
    1.Install the Plugin ( i tested it with wp 2.2.1 )
    2.Edit a Role with capabilities to "Read Private Posts" and "Read Private Pages" and "Read"
    3.In Amember with product settings, choose that WordPress group you edited
    4.Add a Post with "Private" chosen instead of Public

    Now only your members with that subscription can read Private pages and posts.......pretty cool eh

    If you have downloads you could also put the files in the protected folder set up in Amember, example..... /members/membersA

    Then create a Private post and in that post have a link to your download file example.com/members/membersA/topsecretfile

    Later
  4. andrewpnlp

    andrewpnlp New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2007
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    Here's an idea I'll be toying with shortly:

    1. There's a wordpress plugin (http://edwards.org/2006/03/12/hidethis-v10-plugin-for-wordpress/) which allows unregistered users to read the post summary, but not the full content.

    2. Each post will include a teaser, and maybe some useful content, in the summary, but the critical bits will be in the main content.

    3. People need to subscribe via Amember to become full members and read the full post.

    4. The teasers allow me to submit the blog URL and feed URL to the normal places, set up pings and social bookmarking each time I add a new post, and give the search engines something to work with; without giving away all my post.

    Neat, eh?

    Andy
  5. sitesbycal

    sitesbycal New Member

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    Sep 9, 2007
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    That's pretty nice Andrew, I'll probably be using both methods.....

    One for private posts and pages as I posted and the other with the plugin you showed for teasers or hiding the download link.....

    This is so much fun! LOL

    Okay so I couldn't download that plugin you posted Andrew (maybe it's being updated or something?)

    Anyways, I found this plugin and it works pretty well http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/hidepost/

    All you do is put [protect] content [/protect] to hide content from non-members

    Also, be sure to change the options so that it doesn't link to the wp login page.......you'll see what I mean when you test it out

    Later peeps
  6. deleteduser

    deleteduser Guest

    I've found some very helpful info here. Thanks cal and andrew?

    Can either of you (or someone else) make a suggestion on where I should install wordpress in relation to amember?

    I want to have 4 or so pages in my wordpress site that are visible to everyone but hide my posts so that only members can view them.

    Assuming that I install amember at www.mysite.com/amember/ where should I install wordpress so that everyone can access the pages but not the posts? Would it be at www.mysite.com/amember/wordpress/ or somewhere else.

    Help!?
  7. sitesbycal

    sitesbycal New Member

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    Sep 9, 2007
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    Hey

    Well it doesn't really matter where you have it installed, just as long as people can only sign up through Amember you should be good

    I have my site set up so that WordPress is what you see when you visit it

    The file structure looks like this, with amember as you have it
    /amember -- obvious, just for amember
    /wp-content -- a wp folder
    /wp-admin -- a wp folder
    /forum -- maybe you have a forum too?
    index.php and other wordpress files lie at this level

    (the above is an example so it doesn't include all wp folders and files)

    So when you visit the site it looks like you ended up on a typical Wordpress site....Since users cannot register through WordPress, they have to register through Amember. And you should be able to take it from here with the above posts.

    Hope that helps
  8. deleteduser

    deleteduser Guest

    Thanks cal. That makes sense to me. I'm going to give it a try.
  9. sitesbycal

    sitesbycal New Member

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    I forgot to mention that doing it this way doesn't make use of the folder protection. I don't think there's any good way of doing this with posts or pages. All it really does is block posts and pages from view to the public. Just wanted to clarify that for anyone reading this.

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