Paypal generated button vs S2 Member button

The PayPal buttons won’t pass the information that s2Member needs. You need to use the s2Member buttons.

I’d also caution very strongly against using “Wordfence w/ caching.” Every security plugin I’ve tried causes some sort of conflict with s2Member, while you must not cache logged-in users at all unless you do it using Quick Cache Pro (by the s2M devs).

Well – using W3TC is definitely faster than quickcace (not pro) and also possible with s2member.
Of course – do not cache logged in users, and do not activate minify JS. The other minify settings are fine. So I use minify by Oppcode (Xcache), Page Caching disk enhanced, and Browser Cache enabled.

Pageload times for my website are (webpagetest.org)
– 3.5 seconds unached / 2 seconds repeat view.
– 3 seconds quick cache / 1.2 seconds repeat view with quick cache
– 1.7 seconds with W3TC – 0.4 seconds repeat view with W3TC.

Reloads/Repeat views are much quicker because of a) caching b) keep alive and SSL negotiations which are kept alive. First time view for SSL is always slowest.

The main thing is however minifying. And quick cache does not do that in the free version. That provides the biggest speed increase.

Oh and never activate any s2member additional payment gateways if you don’t use them. Crazily s2member is loading them also for pages where there are no buttons/proforms – and e.g. Paypal Pro gateway activated adds 4 additional request – and about 0.5 to 2 seconds for pageload time – cause their servers are not the fastest. Also Stripe loading slows down your site considerably (it’s never faster than 0.3 to 0.4 seconds – and SSL negotiation is not well – as in fast – implemented on their servers – e.g. no OSCP stapling).

Of course – webpagetest.org test speeds are rather slow. The cap the connection to 5Mbit – and use rather underpowered servers/PCs for testing. Their times are what people with old PCs will most likely need – or similar to a very modern smartphone. On my own PC with 30Mbit I get no pageload over 0.8 seconds and repeat views are below 0.2 secs consistently if logged out. but I use an overpowered server.

Hm, maybe it would be best if I bought a book on what caching actually does.

Why should I not use it on a buddy press site? Also, word fence has an option to remove specific pages from caching. Could this work?

I’m mainly concerned with the page load speed and I also want the site to be as secure as possible. If I remove word fence, is there another option available to keep the site secure?

Also, is there a way to change the appearance of the S2 Member PayPal buttons? I like that the button generated on PayPal shows the credit card icons and it also says “Subscribe” instead of “pay now” – displayed on the S2 Member generated button.

The PayPal generated button also allows me to show a drop down menu of my subscription options, ie monthly or annual memberships. Any way to display that with the s2 Member button?

Many Thanks

You can change the wording on the s2 button if you select a Subscription option rather than a Buy Now option for your button. (I’m not sure what the text will then say, though: I don’t use buttons.)

If you upgrade to the Pro version, you can use forms (much better) and also generate a drop-down list of alternatives.

As for Wordfence, what specifically are you hoping to get from it? s2Member already provides a lot of security functions, and others are easy to implement without a plugin.

As for caching, problems will occur if you cache anything for logged-in users. For example, one member might be identified as a different member!

If you can ensure that you cache only logged-out visitors (and, even then, don’t cache any pages with payment buttons or forms) you will be OK. But if most of your site is accessible only to those logged in, caching will hardly be worthwhile anyway.

If you want real speed with caching and CSS/JS compression, Quick Cache Pro is the way to go. I’ve tested it on over a dozen sites now, and it knocks W3 into a cocked hat, especially for logged-in members.

Could you send me a link to your site so I can see how the forms work

See this video (even though I hate the music)!

My live paypal button says, “we were unable to decrypt the certificated id”

How do I fix this?

@socialmediaoutofthebox,

How did you generate the button?

I also am having problems getting the PayPal Subscriptions buttons to show.

My page is here:

[url]https://valleyandbluff.com/membership-signup-2/[/url]

I have turned off my super cache plugin. I am using encryption on my buttons. I definately used the wordpress shortcode to past on my Membership signup page.

I am using the free version of s2. I am using the most recent download. I have used this plugin before and I was able to get it working. Oddly enough, I thought this iinstallation was running very smoothly.

@billydennis123,

Actually, WP Super Cache is still running on that page. (You can check by right-clicking and selecting View Page Source.)

Well, crap. I turned off the plugin. I’ll have yto manually remove it

I have installed S2 Membeership pro on a website. I’ve verified that it is installed properly.
I have added all of the settings in the general options panel.
The owner of the website added the paypal codes and signatures himself.
We verified on a 3-way call that the 2 or 3 “on” buttons were set to on at
Paypal.

My button generator is not working. When I click on it, nothing happens.

Can someone tell me what is wrong and/or missing from my setup that may be causing this?

One bit of info that may be necessary to know is that the website does have “old paypal buttons” from before I installed S-2 Membership Pro.

Thank you in advance for your help.