Shocking, Goes against the whole ethos of WordPress

Referencing: https://on.fb.me/1AA1xlR

> you want more user levels . . .do you type in how many levels you want . . . no, you have to go recode the wp-config ?!?!

Level bumps are intentionally via /wp-config.php, because we generally discourage users from going down this path. If you find yourself needing more Levels, I suggest the use of Custom Capabilities instead. Please see: https://s2member.com/kb-article/video-custom-capabilities-for-wordpress/

Really though, it’s just one config. line in your /wp-config.php for such a thing. This is no different from WordPress itself. Referencing: https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Editing_wp-config.php

define('MEMBERSHIP_LEVELS', 10);

> But hang on a minute . . . .when you BUY a pro version of a product your really paying for support aren’t you . . . . think again with this product.

> Least user friendly WP-plug Ive ever seen. . .

Well, I thank you for the feedback. It is appreciated. As for s2Member being an unfriendly plugin, many thousands of s2Member Pro customers would disagree, but of course, there is always room for improvement. We realize that ??

If you run into any other problems, please write to our support dept. for assistance. I see that you have one open ticket and two that were handled to your satisfaction and closed. The most recent issue that you opened was related to a plugin conflict that @raamdev investigated for you; i.e., “JS Composer” (i.e., unrelated to s2Member).

Happy to help if it’s an issue with s2Member, just reply back to the support ticket, as we are not allowed to discuss s2Member Pro here in the community forum; WordPress policy.

Want your members to have a choice on payment methods like they do everywhere else, want paypal and stripe?? Whats this plugs answer . . . NO, you cant, really simple . . . just no, pick ONE , we cant handle both.

That is not true. You can use multiple payment gateways with s2Member without any issue at all. In fact, we’re doing that on our own sites where we use s2Member (we allow payment via Stripe and PayPal to purchase s2Member Pro).

Im having to edit php files to do the simplest of things

Nearly all of s2Member’s features can be used without any PHP coding experience at all. In fact, nearly all of the s2Member plugin features are based on WordPress Shortcodes, which are a feature of WordPress that allows plugin developers to create added functionality without introducing PHP code to the site owner. That is why we use shortcodes, because it avoids the need to use PHP code.

That said, we recognize that many site owners want more flexibility and more power (this flexibility is why most advanced site owners choose WordPress–you can easily customize and tweak it to your liking), so most of what you can do with shortcodes you can also do with PHP code–you can make all sorts of special customizations using PHP to fit your specific business model, but using PHP is not necessary at all.

As Jason mentioned above, the example you provided with the membership levels is a unique example–that’s really the only time you need to use a single line of PHP code to use one of our advertised features.

Be prepared to be deterred by about 6 pages of text to submit a question, with many hurdles to trip you up

Thank you for the feedback. We’re in the process of refining the ticket submission process to make things easier when it comes to asking questions.

@cheets_uk,

I’m a bit confused. I’ve just seen on the support forum that you’re actually using a bit of code I posted, so you’re obviously still using s2Member. So it obviously can’t be “shocking” at all.

I realize that s2Member can be a bit overwhelming. (Just in case you suppose I am developer, I’m not. I can’t code (in PHP or anything else) at all.) But if you take things step by step, you’ll be amazed what you can achieve. I certainly have been.

Hey, I’m just trying to get that code you very kindly shared to work at the moment.

What I find shocking is the fact I have to ask good people like yourself for help in getting such fundamental things to work.

I’m still using the plug as I have had to invest so much time at this point I’m determined to get it to do these basic functions, which I would of thought would of been simple sections in the s2member control panel or a provided shortcode.

However, I’m very close to just writing off the many many hours, if not days building and trying to get s2Member to do what I want, the cost of the pro plug itself seems irrelevant now in comparison to the time Ive had to spend on it.

I still cant get an option for Paypal AND Stripe at the end of a form, I have been told I have to make a separate form for each payment type for each level, which is laborious and messy.

I cant get a sortable Member List.

I still cant display the EOT to a user at the mo but I’m trying to get it to work following your help.

The Member-list ‘search shortcode’ only provides an avatar and name, if I’m searching for a User with a certain parameter, surely I want to see their details, not just be told they exist somewhere down that long list.

So, yes, Id stand by my ‘Shocking’ comment, regardless of the thousands of downloads of the plug. I didn’t think Id have to be entering PHP, learning how to hack wordpress and depending on good-hearted people offering help on forums just to get these basic needs to work.

Ive learned a lot so far which is of course useful, but I didn’t buy the plug to spend time learning PHP, I bought the plug thinking it was an ‘In the box’ membership database.

@cheets_uk,

No plugin I know does what you want out of the box. They all require customization and PHP “hacks,” “gists” and the like. On that basis, you’d have to condemn every full-service membership plugin.

But this is not “hacking” WordPress. On the contrary, it is actually using WordPress in the very way for which it was designed. It’s just that membership websites involve considerably more complexity than virtually any other type of website.

One of the (many) strengths of s2Member is that it stores user data in the regular WordPress tables. (I know of only one other full membership plugin that does so, and it’s not on www.ads-software.com.) This fact means that you can use other plugins, built for the purpose, to display user information.

AMR Users is particularly recommended for this purpose. The developer of that plugin even offers an add-on that is designed specifically to work with s2Member.