S2 Member
Quite often I get the request to build membership sites. Now, with the release of Buddypress, it is a part of nearly every project I do. There are many flavors of Wordpress plugins out there that do a decent job of providing a workable solution, but most of them are encrypted and poorly supported, riddled with poor code, or just so inflexible that it is hard to tailor them for a real world solution. Not only that, but almost NONE of them are compatible with a Buddypress environment. I have found one other, but it used an independent registration process and a separate login for paid members. Ewww.
Finally, finally, someone has done an clean job developing a membership solution for Wordpress, and Buddypress. S2 Member aka “subscriber to member” is a newer plugin developed by Primo Themes (a division of Web Sharks). It is the most robust membership plugin that I have seen, and the only membership plugin I know of that is extensible. To me, as a developer, this plugin is a dream because it provides a really solid foundation, and puts all the tools and hooks I need to be able to work out any solution my clients need (which is the same reason why I LOVE Wordpress).
What I like about S2 Member:
- It uses the native processes Wordpress and Buddypress use for registration. One of the biggest pitfalls most other plugins make, is they monkey with the registration process (which is usually why they don’t work with Buddypress).
- Uses Wordpress’ database tables for a seamless integration. Many of the other membership plugins use their own database tables to store information, which is not ideal when you start adding other features (and other plugins) to your site
- Provides several PHP conditionals you can use in template files. Some of the other plugins also do, but they don’t provide as many to work with.
- Integrates with any existing Affiliate software that supports pixel tracking (all the ones worth using), which also makes it easy to integrate with Google Analytics. Most of the other membership plugins want you to use their “affiliates” plugin as well, so they don’t leave the door open for you to use anything you want/need.
- It isn’t encrypted. Most of the premium membership plugins are, and you are stuck with their support team (in my experience, usually poor support) for any issues you need to fix/debugging you need to do.
- It’s FREE. The only plugins that compare to S2 Members feature set are $150+
S2 Member, especially for me, is a dream come true. Thanks to the team at Primo Themes for making my life easier, especially Jason!
May 17th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Thanks for the review. I just found S2 member after researching just about every paid membership plugin on the market. I am SO hoping this one will work.
I didn’t notice if it had an affiliate module. Have you integrated one with it?
Thanks again – Ryan
- Ryan
May 18th, 2010 at 9:03 am
It doesn’t come with an affiliate module, but it does leave the door wide open to integrate with just about any third party affiliate software you want to use. The API is pretty robust. I have not yet integrated S2 with an affiliate program, but I know I have all the hooks necessary when I do.
May 18th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Thanks. I am somewhat stunned, but I have already set-up the basics of my first S2 website. Truly, a beautifully done plugin.
If I can’t figure everything out, I may ask for your help. Most of my sites and business depend on getting others to sell for me. And the affiliate stuff is crucial.
- Ryan
(Thanks for the comments on my blog – gives me a breadcrumb trail back to you)
May 31st, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Any clues if it works with 1ShoppingCart or ClickBank???
June 1st, 2010 at 11:21 am
Nope, it doesn’t : (
It is designed exclusively for Paypal at this point. I know the developer is an official/licensed Paypal developer so everything is pretty tightly integrated with Paypal.
June 17th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Do you know if it will drip content, or can that feature be programed in? also, what about one click up selling?
June 18th, 2010 at 11:31 am
Yep, content dripping is built in via some php conditionals (which you can insert in posts/pages via the ExecPHP plugin). Not sure about one click up-selling, but the plugin leaves the door wide open for custom scripting
September 20th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Hey there,
Thanks for this great review.
Can you share any insights on how s2 member compares to aMember?
Basically, aMember sucks (am using it for one site now) and I’m wondering if it’s worth it to try something new (new is risky!), and would love your advice.
Susan
September 21st, 2010 at 9:04 am
Haven’t used aMember before (mostly because of that RIDICULOUS price point). I have used a few of the other paid options out there, and none of them come close to what you can do with S2 Member. You might need write some custom scripting to do some advanced things, but at least the hooks and filters are actually there! With the other paid options I’ve seen… emember, amember, wp-member, etc. you get what you get. The thing I like about S2 Member is it leaves the door wide open.
October 21st, 2010 at 7:11 am
Hey, nice article I noticed the plugin is used mostly for membership areas restricting access some areas of the sites.
Is this also useful for selling an e-book for example?
January 23rd, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Installed s2 Member as I think the options are great, however when you click on the PayPal buttons and try to pay, it rejects ALL payments. Thus far PayPal have said it’s nothing to do with my PayPal account.
Any ideas?
Regards
January 25th, 2011 at 9:19 am
Are you trying to use Paypal Pro, or regular Paypal Standard?
January 28th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Hello,
Can s2Member drip content via e-mail delivery. For example, i would like s2member to send sequential e-mails for a mini-course spread across two weeks.
Is this possible with S2Member?
Thanks
February 2nd, 2011 at 9:18 am
It doesnt have email content dripping built in, but it does have content dripping available for the actual site. I suppose you could send out an email with a link to the page as you drip it out, which is close to the same thing… and you would have more control over the design and layout of things.
February 2nd, 2011 at 12:50 pm
FYI: the problem with all the payment options S2 works with now is that you can’t sell your entire membership site easily, if you want to. For example, PayPal won’t let you “sell” your list of auto-renew accounts to a third party. It’s a problem for M&A. It’s one of the reasons we work with a more traditional gateway.
February 3rd, 2011 at 11:34 am
For selling an e-book, I would probably recommend using the WP Ecommerce plugin. It is also a free plugin that is still in active development, and has the capability of selling downloadable content
March 20th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Can anyone compare this to wishlist for me. I few people are steering me towards that but they also said they had not heard of s2. Any feedback to to pros and cons of the two?
June 17th, 2011 at 9:05 pm
Will S2 allow for multiple customized profiles? Each profile would be associated with a membership level and needs to be unique.
Thanks.
June 19th, 2011 at 8:59 pm
You can have 4 tiers of membership, and each tier can have an unlimited number of custom subscription types. So yes, you can essentially have an unlimited number of membership levels, but only 4 different payment tiers.
September 10th, 2011 at 12:56 am
So far, S2Member has been great. Except the last couple weeks when a new member signs up it is not sending the registration link to their email for some reason. I can’t seem to figure it out. Any suggestions???
October 3rd, 2011 at 9:04 pm
I’m glad I found your article. I had been searching all over for a plugin under $97 that would intergrate with optimize press. I believe I have found my answer. Thanks alot. You saved my some cash and this is appreciated.