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Recommendations on Membership Site - For Recipes/Videos

by webgal
18 replies
Hi everyone, I'm looking for some feedback from anyone who'd be willing to share some advice for me with regards to the following:

Need to decide what platform to run a membership site that will have recipes (both free and paid recipes) for the membership

The membership will also have access to videos (as the paid members of the site) which will feature techniques for cooking, food preparation etc)

If you were deciding on the backend to run such a system, what platform would you suggest? I've thought of the following but would love some feedback and input from anyone who has run a membership site before with content that is video and content based and that has both free and paid components.

1. Joomla - has a recipe plugin
2. Straight Joomla without the recipe plugin but using regular Joomla to separate the content for recipes
3. What membership component would you suggest to tie into Joomla?

or

4. Wordpress - using categories and regular posts to separate content
5. Using some wordpress plugin for the membership component (which one would you suggest) if you are suggesting wordpress?

or

6. A Member with Ez107 or another platform

or

7. Simple Member Pro

(Note: Or something else, these were just the options I had thought of)... If you have other suggestions, please comment and let me know)

8. In terms of hosting the videos I was considering using Amazon S3 but is there something else that you all would recommend for the hosting of paid content videos (so not one of the free video sharing sites) that wouldn't break the bank in terms of bandwidth for a high traffic site?

If anyone has some suggestions or input on recommendations I would really appreciate it. Also, if you need more info about requirements or projected needs in terms of scaleability I can provide more details.

Thanks so much Warriors!
#membership #recipes or videos #recommendations #site
  • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
    Do you plan to upload your own videos, or will members have an opportunity to submit video as well?

    I'm currently working with memberspeed - it is a bit pricey but it has all the features you are looking for.

    We got the host to increase the size of videos we can upload, so currently hosting all the videos on site.

    A neat feature is the ability for members to submit videos- I have not used or tried yet as we are providing everything for the members - but in the case of a recipe site I would imagine you could cover a lot of ground with this feature.

    Another question is are you planning to incorporate a forum as well for members to share their experiences making dishes and/or personal changes etc?

    Are there any member sites on the web that tickle your fancy and you'd like to do something similar to? I say just peek at the source code.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohsin Rasool
    Well i suggest you go with Joomla+aMember

    No do not use specilized plugin for recipes, it reduces the power of Joomla system..
    use normal cms framework of Joomla with Sections and Categories... and Protect
    whole joomla instalattion with aMember or the areas you want to...

    Yes Joomla can handle all video stuff, you need a simple video plugin, like denvideo
    or something, and you can run videos from own server or/and from the videos sites...

    May this help,
    Mohsin
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  • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
    Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post

    Whoever nuked my first post, my post doesn't break any forum rules. I am answering a post that directly mentioned my product and I am not putting any links to my products in the post. The link below is to a customers site, not mine.
    Maybe people are bored of you name dropping your product into every thread about membership sites Johnny :rolleyes:
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    • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
      Jay, my product was specifically mentioned, and I only mention my product on posts where it specifically answers a direct question asked by the thread starter.

      Besides, if you looked you would see there are people here who mention their product way more than I do and it is not against the forum rules in any shape, form, or fashion.

      Member moderation doesn't give anyone the right to nuke posts just because they don't agree with them.

      Originally Posted by JayXtreme View Post

      Maybe people are bored of you name dropping your product into every thread about membership sites Johnny :rolleyes:
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      • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
        Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post

        Jay, my product was specifically mentioned, and I only mention my product on posts where it specifically answers a direct question asked by the thread starter.

        Besides, if you looked you would see there are people here who mention their product way more than I do and it is not against the forum rules in any shape, form, or fashion.

        Member moderation doesn't give anyone the right to nuke posts just because they don't agree with them.
        No... Johnny..

        Member moderation gives people the right to report posts that they think add no value or break rules.

        Let me tell you this.. I reported some of your posts, not because I don't "agree" with them... but because your previous posts page looked like one big ad for SMP..

        I do believe it would take more than me to nuke them, so other people must be seeing what I am too. Cut it whatever way you like Johnny, but you're always on the promotional train... I zap by the same criteria every time, Admin can always bring your posts back if they think it adds value (doubt it).

        Now, pick your dummy up and move on.. we'll all have a better forum if we don't act like children.
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      • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
        Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post

        Besides, if you looked you would see there are people here who mention their product way more than I do and it is not against the forum rules in any shape, form, or fashion.
        The vast majority of people who recommend
        products tend to recommend other people's
        products        .

        Simply pushing your own product without
        adding any other value to the thread is just
        blatant self promotion.

        And, in any case, just because someone else
        does it doesn't make it OK for you to copy, or
        to condone, their rule breaking.

        John
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        • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
          John... mentioning your own product is NOT breaking any rules. The rule has always been you can mention your own product if it answers a specific quesiton asked.

          Originally Posted by John Taylor View Post

          The vast majority of people who recommend
          products tend to recommend other people's
          products.

          Simply pushing your own product without
          adding any other value to the thread is just
          blatant self promotion.

          And, in any case, just because someone else
          does it doesn't make it OK for you to copy, or
          to condone, their rule breaking.

          John
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          • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
            Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post

            John... mentioning your own product is NOT breaking any rules.
            When it's a blatant advert it's classed as SPAM.

            Spammed advertisements are very much against
            the rules. As you well know. When you cross the
            line from making a helpful constructive contribution
            into making self promotional posts you are setting
            a bad example.

            John
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
    Jay.. reporting a post that doesn't break any rules is the childish act here.

    Sam mentions DL Guard in his posts all the time, Josh mentions Nanocast in his posts all the time, and I mentions SMP in my posts all the time because people ask questions that our products specifically address.

    The rules are no blatent advertising but you are free to mention your own product in a post if the product directly answers a question asked. This forum is full of people who mention their own products on a regular basis, it's not like I'm the only one who mentions his own product.

    If someone has an issue with me they are free to send me a PM and hash out the issue, but it is very childish to report posts that do not break any forum rules just because you perfer not to read them.

    btw.. looking at my previous posts page there are very few posts where i mention my own product. Most of them are answering general questions or posting specific answers to peoples questions about paypal buttons.
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    • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
      Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post


      btw.. looking at my previous posts page there are very few posts where i mention my own product. Most of them are answering general questions or posting specific answers to peoples questions about paypal buttons.
      That's because they have now been nuked for adding no value at all..
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      • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
        Ok Jay.. now go nuke every post where Sam mentions DL Guard or where Josh mentions Nanocast. If your going to play this game you can't play favorites.

        Originally Posted by JayXtreme View Post

        That's because they have now been nuked for adding no value at all..
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  • Profile picture of the author mywebwork
    I've created a few sites with the older (1.0) version of Joomla and AEC (Account Expiration Control) and have been very happy with them. I'm currently working on a couple of projects using the same setup with the current (1.5) version of Joomla.

    I did look at aMember, as I've been working on a tight (i.e. nonexistent) budget I opted for the open source AEC component. aMember had some nice features but required a separate license for each site I would use it on. To be fair it was challenging getting AEC to work without paying for support (I did make a donation and received access to the user manual wiki) and if you paid for support the price would be a good fraction of the cost of aMember (without the per-site cost).

    How complex is your membership structure going to be? Are you planning to have different levels of access, such as Bronze, Silver and Gold? With the 1.0 version of Joomla I used JACL to create different membership levels and Community Builder to provide some interaction between my users (on your site perhaps they could exchange recipes). Both of these are available for Joomla 1.5 although JACL requires a paid membership to use the J 1.5 version - I am looking at JUGA for this function, it has both a free and paid version for Joomla 1.5.

    WordPres would be a bit easier to manage, however I haven't had any experience with membership plugins. Joomla takes some getting used to but it's a powerful tool. Both platforms would be suitable for your site.

    Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
    Ok.. Allen has said that you can mention you own product if it answers a specific question asked. If someone says "What script does timed released content?" and I answer saying "My product will do this" and go on to explain exactly how thats not advertising, thats answering the question. Something which Allen himself has said several times is not against the rules.

    As I said, it has been allowed for years and no I am not the only one doing it. Unless you are willing to delete every post where any product owner mentions their own product then you're not looking out for the forum but going on a personal vendetta, which IS against the forum rules.

    If you were deciding on the backend to run such a system, what platform would you suggest? I've thought of the following but would love some feedback and input from anyone who has run a membership site before with content that is video and content based and that has both free and paid components.

    7. Simple Member Pro
    A specific question was asked and my product was specifically mentioned. There is no rule against me addressing the question and providing a link to a site which I do not own that shows how someone else did exactly what the OP was asking about.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
    Johnny,

    Here's just one example of a typical thread where
    you don't add value. A single line post that simply
    promotes your own product:
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...d-domains.html

    I'm not in the habit of starting personal vendettas, I
    just happen to think that people with some seniority
    should demonstrate leadership and set a good example.

    If you think it's personal, then you're wrong.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
      John, He asked a simple one line question that could be answered in one line. He asked about an unlimited site license and I answered that my product comes with that.

      Would you rather that I had went on for 800 words mentioning every single feature of the product, like some other people do when mentioning their products? A question was asked that only required a one line answer. There is nothing wrong with that.

      Originally Posted by John Taylor View Post

      Johnny,

      Here's just one example of a typical thread where
      you don't add value. A single line post that simply
      promotes your own product:
      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...d-domains.html

      I'm not in the habit of starting personal vendettas, I
      just happen to think that people with some seniority
      should demonstrate leadership and set a good example.

      If you think it's personal, then you're wrong.

      John
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay Moreno
    webgal to follow up on what you where asking i would agree with the comments made by mywebwork

    using the latest version of joomla 1.5, Community Builder, and AEC will give you a very powerful membership site - the only cost being time to set this up and understanding how it all works.... AEC can be a little bit tricky to setup...

    as for the videos if you do go with joomla look for an addon called allvideo plugin by joomlaworks.gr very easy to use however it uses progressive streaming, meaning that your videos will be downloaded into peoples temporary internet files folder... which can lead to people sharing or distritbuting your video content

    alternatively to try and combat distribution of your videos you can use a flash media server, there are a number of companies offering low cost hosting for this - i am testing several out myself, some have even more security options if it is a concern. the difference with using this setup is that the videos do not download to peoples local machines, the new flash media servers (v3) also to a point as far as i am aware prevent video capturing software from grabbing your videos - however just like most protected/copyrighted materials if someone wants your videos they are going to get it!

    also just one last thing, providing that the recipe component is open source which technically it should be if its to be used with joomla you can always customize it or have someone customize it to suit your needs if they it doesnt quite fit what you need, thats one of the great things about open source and in particular joomla that i love!

    any questions please dont hesitate to ask

    hth

    jay
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    Sorry, I am too busy helping people to think of a cool signature!
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  • Profile picture of the author Quentin
    Hey you guys want to get a room or what. Go start your own post and bitch to each other.

    Webgal asked a question and you are all in breech for bitching in someone elses post.

    Me I use wordpress and wp-member. Easy quick.

    Here is my link to show it in action.

    Making Online Business Easy

    Q
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    • Profile picture of the author Sipboy3000
      I use wordpress to build membership sites using the memberwing plugin.

      You can do virtually anything inside wordpress and memberwing gives you the flexibility to do want you want. You can create up to four levels of memberships and it is drop dead simple to use.

      Check out my site at VideoMarketingSeries.com to see it in action.
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