Make Blog Viewable only to subscribers
Make Blog Viewable only to subscribers
Is it possible to "secure" my blog and make it viewable/usable only to subscribers? Example: if I have a website that offers advice on a pay per view type basis and in order to see this advice you have to purchase a subscription. Part of the enticement to subscribe is the blog which is updated periodically and only available to a subscriber.
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Don Chambers
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- Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:40 am
- Location: Chicago, IL, USA
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Re: Make Blog Viewable only to subscribers
You create a category, let's call that "premium", that will be used to protect your content. You write an entry then assign that entry to a this protected category "premium". You create a user group, lets call that "subscriber". You define the category "premium" so that it is only readable by the user group "subscriber". You assign your paid members to this "subscriber" group.
Visitors arriving at your site will see only the content that has not been assigned to the protected category "premium". Paid members can log into serendipity and will see the premium content.
Serendipity has no easy way to manage memberships. One option would be to use a tool such as aMember. aMember can manage subscription terms, send out reminder emails, process payments, etc.
I have been working directly with their developers so that their membership system works with Serendipity. I believe we finally have all the bugs worked out so that their plugin (which is not free) will first log a visitor into aMember, and then into Serendipity.
I only have this operational on a test site, and will be trying to make it work on a live site within the next week or so. With assistance, I also developed a sidebar plugin that presents a login form to visitors which handles the simultaneous login to aMember and Serendipity. Once logged in, it shows the membership info (ie, subscription status, expiration, etc). This plugin is still experimental and not available via serendipity's code repository.
Allow me to add one final thought to this puzzle. As I was working on this "premium" concept, it occurred to me that protecting content solely by category was not ideal for my needs. For instance, (this is a crude example) I might want to categorize content by categories odd and even, yet have access levels of silver and gold. Categories and access groups have nothing to do with one another.
Additionally, protecting content by Serendipity's current ability of category assignment is all or nothing - that is, you see the content if you are logged into the protected user group, but it is as if the content does not exist at all if you are not logged into protected user group.
Serendiptiy's entry structure is such that we have an introduction part, known as "entry body", seen in most/all overviews (front page, category view, archives, etc) and an additional "extended body", seen after entry body, but only on detailed page views (reading the full entry with comment form).
I decided I wanted all visitors to see the "entry body" as that would be the introduction, summary, or teaser to the rest of the entry, but only defined user groups would have access to the extended body. This concept MIGHT make its way into a serendipity plugin, but at the moment only exists in a template I have customized on a test site.
Visitors arriving at your site will see only the content that has not been assigned to the protected category "premium". Paid members can log into serendipity and will see the premium content.
Serendipity has no easy way to manage memberships. One option would be to use a tool such as aMember. aMember can manage subscription terms, send out reminder emails, process payments, etc.
I have been working directly with their developers so that their membership system works with Serendipity. I believe we finally have all the bugs worked out so that their plugin (which is not free) will first log a visitor into aMember, and then into Serendipity.
I only have this operational on a test site, and will be trying to make it work on a live site within the next week or so. With assistance, I also developed a sidebar plugin that presents a login form to visitors which handles the simultaneous login to aMember and Serendipity. Once logged in, it shows the membership info (ie, subscription status, expiration, etc). This plugin is still experimental and not available via serendipity's code repository.
Allow me to add one final thought to this puzzle. As I was working on this "premium" concept, it occurred to me that protecting content solely by category was not ideal for my needs. For instance, (this is a crude example) I might want to categorize content by categories odd and even, yet have access levels of silver and gold. Categories and access groups have nothing to do with one another.
Additionally, protecting content by Serendipity's current ability of category assignment is all or nothing - that is, you see the content if you are logged into the protected user group, but it is as if the content does not exist at all if you are not logged into protected user group.
Serendiptiy's entry structure is such that we have an introduction part, known as "entry body", seen in most/all overviews (front page, category view, archives, etc) and an additional "extended body", seen after entry body, but only on detailed page views (reading the full entry with comment form).
I decided I wanted all visitors to see the "entry body" as that would be the introduction, summary, or teaser to the rest of the entry, but only defined user groups would have access to the extended body. This concept MIGHT make its way into a serendipity plugin, but at the moment only exists in a template I have customized on a test site.
=Don=
Re: Make Blog Viewable only to subscribers
Sorry for the delay in responding to your suggestion but i was away working for my "real" job in Ireland.
Sounds great if you can integrate the subscription database. I'm currently using iSubscribe it functions similar to aMember but at a greatly reduced cost. I would hate to dump it and start anew with another subscription software. As an alternative since both of these "subscription" databases are similar maybe when the bugs are worked out between serendipity and aMember you can get it to work with iSubscribe's database.
Sounds great if you can integrate the subscription database. I'm currently using iSubscribe it functions similar to aMember but at a greatly reduced cost. I would hate to dump it and start anew with another subscription software. As an alternative since both of these "subscription" databases are similar maybe when the bugs are worked out between serendipity and aMember you can get it to work with iSubscribe's database.
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Don Chambers
- Regular
- Posts: 3657
- Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:40 am
- Location: Chicago, IL, USA
- Contact:
Re: Make Blog Viewable only to subscribers
I do not know anything about iSubscribe, and their CMS/dynamically powered site integration documentation is minimal.
Serendipity and aMember work together through single point authentication. Serendipity enforces access restrictions, and aMember manages their membership (durations, payments, reminders, etc).
Not sure the similarity of the databases between aMember and iSubscribe, if any similarity even exists, will really make any difference... the key components I have between aMember and serendipity are an aMember plugin that handles the single authentication, and a serendipity plugin that presents a shared login form to visitors, then understands that visitor's access rights, subscription terms, etc.
Serendipity and aMember work together through single point authentication. Serendipity enforces access restrictions, and aMember manages their membership (durations, payments, reminders, etc).
Not sure the similarity of the databases between aMember and iSubscribe, if any similarity even exists, will really make any difference... the key components I have between aMember and serendipity are an aMember plugin that handles the single authentication, and a serendipity plugin that presents a shared login form to visitors, then understands that visitor's access rights, subscription terms, etc.
=Don=