Paying membership website - how to start, where to look for

[dmcghie]

Hope this is the right place for this question:

I would like to build a website where I would like for the members to pay for membership and access.

How can I build or buy something that already exists to fit my needs?

I would like to have articles on the site and people can read the first few sentences. To read more they would need to sign up.

What is the best to use for a sign up and also emailing passwords and to double opt in. It should offer automatic password retrieval as I wont have the time to give everyone their forgotten passwords.

Is there something out there to set up a subscription with paypal automatically? Something which will interact with the website sign up and the subscription so I don't have to do it manually every day?

Also for an ebook, how can I secure the book somewhere and they can only look and read it online or if offline it cannot be shared or emailed on nor printed. Any ideas of any easy to use products out there which do not cost the world or are even free to use?

Thanks for your help. Any website links to further reading or such is highly welcomed.

Dani

[cinnamon9691]

Originally Posted by dmcghie

I would like to build a website where I would like for the members to pay for membership and access. How can I build or buy something that already exists to fit my needs?

This can be done with out of the box software that is prebuilt, or you can get somebody to customize available scripts. I would advise that you look at the following forum, they have some good advice about this type of software.

http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/index.php

Originally Posted by dmcghie

I would like to have articles on the site and people can read the first few sentences. To read more they would need to sign up.

Yeah, this is pretty standard it's just a secured website.

Originally Posted by dmcghie

Is there something out there to set up a subscription with paypal automatically? Something which will interact with the website sign up and the subscription so I don't have to do it manually every day?

All these features are available, depending on your budget. I know I work for a shopping cart company that offers these types of features.

Originally Posted by dmcghie

Any ideas of any easy to use products out there which do not cost the world or are even free to use?

Go to the forums I mentioned above, most of the people there have a setup very similar to what you are seeking. They are really good sharing what they know as well.

Originally Posted by dmcghie

Thanks for your help. Any website links to further reading or such is highly welcomed.

I would recommend searching Google for 'subscription based products', 'soft goods', 'digital delivery', and 'membership product'. I hope this information helps! :)

[joer80]

Your looking for somone to write IPN code for you. I did it for my site. Allows paypal to send messages to you that tell you when somone has subscribed so you can add them to your database. They also tell you if somone cancels their account so you can remove them automaticly.

Was pretty difficult. I wasted a week learning it on asp.net.

[Ify]

Originally Posted by dmcghie

Hope this is the right place for this question:

I would like to build a website where I would like for the members to pay for membership and access.

How can I build or buy something that already exists to fit my needs?

I would like to have articles on the site and people can read the first few sentences. To read more they would need to sign up.

What is the best to use for a sign up and also emailing passwords and to double opt in. It should offer automatic password retrieval as I wont have the time to give everyone their forgotten passwords.

Is there something out there to set up a subscription with paypal automatically? Something which will interact with the website sign up and the subscription so I don't have to do it manually every day?

Also for an ebook, how can I secure the book somewhere and they can only look and read it online or if offline it cannot be shared or emailed on nor printed. Any ideas of any easy to use products out there which do not cost the world or are even free to use?

Thanks for your help. Any website links to further reading or such is highly welcomed.

Dani

Try http://siteinteractive.com - commissioncart plus subscribemepro.
------
Ify

[megahertz28]

If you aren't looking to spend any money or much time, look on your host for how to setup a password secured directory (make sure to tell SE robots not to include this dir / pages) Use paypal to accept the payment. Use outlook rules to do some simple processing like send all orders to one folder or automate the sending of the user / pass, etc. It is a very simple setup but cost nothing to start.
Good luck.

[varun8211]

I can develop everything for u. I have a s/w and have a team of professionals in various technoglogies like PHP, J2EE, ASP.NET, Mysql etc..

Contact me, if you are interested in working with us.

[chadhaajay]

Hello dmcghie,

I'd suggest you to have a look at "PHPKB Knowledge Base Software" from http://www.knowledgebase-script.com

It will help you build a complete online article directory website in a few clicks only. Customization service of the PHPKB script is also offered and you can order the customization for members database so that only paying members can access the full articles otherwise only a short content of the article is displayed to them.

You can view the online working demo at http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/

[dharrison]

Hi Dani

I had a similar project to this last year. It was a syndication site where the membership fee was payable via PayPal and membership pages were restricted until you had signed up.

I also used http://www.siteinteractive.com/acctman/ which costs about £30-£35. There is a lite version at http://www.siteinteractive.com/acctlite/ thats free to download, but it gives you no billing capabilities.

HTH. Do feel free to PM me if I can help further (I notice you are from London and I'm not all that far).

[datajam]

Go to http://mwpx.com and download a FREE copy of Max Web Portal Extreme. It has everything you seek, including Paypal. Try it, it's clean, easy, and FREE!

[dmcghie]

Thank you for your replies.

I am really looking for a product which I can administrate and build all by myself. At this time I am not looking to hire anyone.

So far the best ones are Amember and account-manager.

The other products I find too confusing or the websites are for total utter geeks. LOL

I am geekish but not like that ;-)

Thanks Debbie, I think once I know exactly which product I am going for you might receive a "help me please cry"! I have just sent an email to my hosting people to find out which of the two products their servers support.

Thanks again!

Dani

[webmaker]

I think that for what you want to do. You should consider Joomla. You will find that it is very, very easy to work with and customize. Many modules and components to work with including payment gateways. Could save you thousands. Also, you could be building your content base as you go.