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Membership software with Forum/cms builtin

by valen42
17 replies
Hi,
I want to start a new membership site that will allow the members to post comments via a forum. In fact their comments will be the basis of the content. I have been looking around for software to handle this, but have not come up with anything suitable for me.

I am not interested in learning about WordPress or SMF or Simple Press, I just want to purchase a reasonably priced piece of software that I can configure and get on with my business.

Does anyone know of such a product?

I am not that technical, but can build a basic website and use Aweber etc....but WordPress eludes me completely...just can't get it to work, and don't have the time to try and learn it at the moment.

Any help greatly appreciated.
Lawrence
#builtin #forum or cms #membership #software
  • Profile picture of the author valen42
    Looks like no one knows of anything that will do the job...Maybe it's worth developing a software product on this...couldn't do much worse than whats out there at the moment.
    Lawrence
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  • Profile picture of the author gforces
    I am sure there will be something if you look hard enough. What software do you use to build the websites you are doing at the moment? WP is great but at the same time it can be so frustrating... I'm getting there with it but it's a bit of a learning curve, not intuitive at all. I know there are plugins that could do the job for you if you are using compatible software. Joomla, Mambo? Cheers
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    • Profile picture of the author valen42
      Originally Posted by gforces View Post

      I am sure there will be something if you look hard enough. What software do you use to build the websites you are doing at the moment? WP is great but at the same time it can be so frustrating... I'm getting there with it but it's a bit of a learning curve, not intuitive at all. I know there are plugins that could do the job for you if you are using compatible software. Joomla, Mambo? Cheers
      Hello, thanks for the response. I currently use Web Page Maker to do my websites. I wish I had the time to play around with WordPress and use their plugin etc....it really is frustrating, but at the moment I would just like to get the new membership site developed.
      Lawrence
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  • Profile picture of the author Droopy Dawg
    Here's a SERP from Google... plenty to look at.

    membership software with forum - Google Search
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    Here's a super-simple solution with forums built-in. They make it really easy.

    Information Marketing Business in Minutes - Traindom

    I write about the pros and cons here.
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    • Profile picture of the author valen42
      Originally Posted by Jesus Perez View Post

      Here's a super-simple solution with forums built-in. They make it really easy.

      Information Marketing Business in Minutes - Traindom

      I write about the pros and cons here.
      Thanks, I'll have a look.
      Lawrence
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    • Profile picture of the author valen42
      Originally Posted by Jesus Perez View Post

      Here's a super-simple solution with forums built-in. They make it really easy.

      Information Marketing Business in Minutes - Traindom

      I write about the pros and cons here.
      Hi Jesus,
      I downloaded the Traindom free trial and had a bit of a go. It seems to lack a lot of functionality, as it can only handle one level of membership, does not yet integrate with Aweber, does not have to capability of rating products 1-5 star. However, they seem keen to improve their product and are very responsive. I only wish it was developed enough for me to use now...I guess I will keep looking.

      Lawrence
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      • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
        Originally Posted by valen42 View Post

        Hi Jesus,
        I downloaded the Traindom free trial and had a bit of a go. It seems to lack a lot of functionality, as it can only handle one level of membership, does not yet integrate with Aweber, does not have to capability of rating products 1-5 star. However, they seem keen to improve their product and are very responsive. I only wish it was developed enough for me to use now...I guess I will keep looking.

        Lawrence
        Lawrence. Completely agreed on your points. Until they hammer it out (which I'm certain they will), it's a beginner solution. Mutil-level membership upgrades and Autoresponder integration are vital.

        I only recommended it because you're trying to avoid Wordpress at all costs. Here's a complete list of your possible solutions. Please keep in mind that none of these are easy to setup. They will involve manual installations.

        • Wordpress + SitemanPro + InvisionBoard
        • Wordpress + Wishlist Member + Wordpress Forum Plugin (BBPress or SimplePress or Tal.ki)
        • Amember + VBulletin (very technical setup...not recommended)
        • Wordpress + Digital Access Pass + VBulletin
        • Login Frequency Marketing + PHPBB forum
        • Delavo + PHPBB
        All of the above solutions will manage the content delivery and integration with a forum. However, they are technical installs and will take a bit of time to get running. I've done them all except for SitemanPro and DAP.

        My last recommendation is membership site software and content manager solution - MemberGate. Expensive, but it's a full blown, hosted solution that powers the best membership sites online. It has everything you've alluded to so far.

        P.S. I'm also confused about the 5-star thing.
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        • Profile picture of the author valen42
          Originally Posted by Jesus Perez View Post

          Lawrence. Completely agreed on your points. Until they hammer it out (which I'm certain they will), it's a beginner solution. Mutil-level membership upgrades and Autoresponder integration are vital.

          I only recommended it because you're trying to avoid Wordpress at all costs. Here's a complete list of your possible solutions. Please keep in mind that none of these are easy to setup. They will involve manual installations.

          • Wordpress + SitemanPro + InvisionBoard
          • Wordpress + Wishlist Member + Wordpress Forum Plugin (BBPress or SimplePress or Tal.ki)
          • Amember + VBulletin (very technical setup...not recommended)
          • Wordpress + Digital Access Pass + VBulletin
          • Login Frequency Marketing + PHPBB forum
          • Delavo + PHPBB
          All of the above solutions will manage the content delivery and integration with a forum. However, they are technical installs and will take a bit of time to get running. I've done them all except for SitemanPro and DAP.

          My last recommendation is membership site software and content manager solution - MemberGate. Expensive, but it's a full blown, hosted solution that powers the best membership sites online. It has everything you've alluded to so far.

          P.S. I'm also confused about the 5-star thing.
          Hi Jesus,
          Thanks for the response. Yes, all the products you list are hard work and would take me too long to get them to set-up and working. I agree the Membergate product looks good, but is a little too expensive for me at the moment.

          As for the 5 star rating, I would like to be able to list a any given product and let the people who have purchased it give it a rating. Then subscribers could check and see how a product was rated and this would assist them in deciding whether or not to purchase.

          Thanks again for your advice.
          Lawrence
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  • Profile picture of the author lvraa
    I have just finished building a membership site using Wishlist member for WordPress. The CMS part is delivered by WordPress and you will not get anything better I believe... With regards to the Membership part you can see a review here. I think Wishlist is really easy to use and delivers the features most membership sites need: Review: Wishlist Membership Site Plugin for WordPress - tripwire magazine

    On top of Wishlist I'm using OpimizePress providing a full set of membership templates for Wishlist and makes it really fast to get started. Review and how-to here: OptimizePress Review: Creating WordPress Membership Sites, Squeeze, Sales and Launch Pages - tripwire magazine

    Then to the forum part.... may not be perfect but I'm using bbPress as it integrated neatly to WordPress and allows users to jump to the forum with single sign on. LEt me know if you need any further info or assistance to get it set up.
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  • Profile picture of the author cassidywilliams
    Thanks Lawrence for your feedback. While our feature set is already extensive, it is true that some integrations and features are to be added still.

    Aweber intergration is in the works and is only delayed because they have a read-only API (unlike their competitors). We already integrate with GetResponse, MailChimp, iContact and InfusionSoft.

    Multi-level memberships is a priority for us at the moment and will be available shortly.

    I didn't get your comments about rating products? Traindom is for building and selling online courses / membership sites, what products would you like to rate?

    All the recent feature we've added is because our users ask for it. We're keen to work with our user base and consider them all as our partners.

    Thank you and let me know if you have any further questions or suggestions.
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  • Profile picture of the author subhub-mark
    Hi Lawrence,

    SubHub's hosted membership platform includes a forum.

    We have a 14 day fully featured trial, if you'd like to kick the tyres.

    The link is in my sig.

    Best wishes,
    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author PPC-Coach
    The best solution that I have found is amember plus vbulletin.

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    • Profile picture of the author Alexander Sebastian
      DAP with vbulletin,

      Auto login in dap membership site also log you in seamlessly to vbulletin

      allows members use of forum, and to create their own blogs!

      paid sections of forums and lots more, im using this setup for my site!
      Also Cms function is in vbulletin suite! killer combo!

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  • Profile picture of the author RedHat39
    Not trying to razz you or anything but personally I think you're being a bit unrealistic in your expectations. By that I mean the more features and automation you want - you can expect a more complicated setup and yes, a bigger price tag.

    My suggestion is to use DAP + Wordpress + VBulletin. If you can't figure it out how to set it all up then outsource the setup to someone on elance.com or guru.com.

    There are bookoo's of wordpress tutorials (in text/PDF/audio/video) available for free.
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    • Profile picture of the author valen42
      Originally Posted by RedHat39 View Post

      Not trying to razz you or anything but personally I think you're being a bit unrealistic in your expectations. By that I mean the more features and automation you want - you can expect a more complicated setup and yes, a bigger price tag.

      My suggestion is to use DAP + Wordpress + VBulletin. If you can't figure it out how to set it all up then outsource the setup to someone on elance.com or guru.com.

      There are bookoo's of wordpress tutorials (in text/PDF/audio/video) available for free.
      Thanks for your comments, but I don't think that I am being unrealistic. There are products out there at a price, so just checking to see what's around. If you don't ask, you don't get... so they say.

      Anyway, I see the Warrior Forum as being a good place to check on things first without commiting a lot of time and money.
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