Admin approval/denial on free subscription level 0

#1

Hi guys, is it possible for admin to approve/deny access to free subscription level 0 before the user receives their password after registration?

I do have the PRO version of the plugin and I have spent a lot of time trying to work around this from some other answers that I found, but have been unsuccessful. Maybe I’m missing something or doing something wrong!?

Thanks in advance
Nicole

#2

Can you clarify the use-case you are looking to support. It is not clear who this applies to, when, and with what access restrictions.

The user should receive a password email right after they register. Not sure what you would like to happen in between the user pressing the registration button and receiving the registration success email. There should only be a 500ms gap between those events.

#3

Hey Tim

Thank you for your prompt reply. Apologies for the unclearness.

The website should not be accessible by the public. To gain access the user must register - this registration is free, but needs to be approved or denied by admin before the user receives a password and gains access to the website.

So, when the user presses the registration button, they should receive an email saying subscription pending approval. Admin should also be notified by email so that they can approve/deny the user access. If admin approves access, the user then receives the password confirmation email.

I am actually doing this on behalf of a client of mine. I’ve told him that this functionality is not the primary purpose of the s3Member plugin. He has said that he wants to add/remove members via API from their Zoho apps.

I’m not really sure how this would work. If he adds members this way, does the user get an access link? I wouldn’t know where to start… Are you able to support me in this case?

Thanks in advance.

#4

From your description, based on the requirement to add/remove members via Zoho apps, it sounds like you and the client are attempting to make a corporate-style portal.

Corporate portals are unusual in that their registration process is commonly a 3-step process…register, get approved, get access. They also tend to use a centralised user database and require SSO (Single Sign-On) for the users in their central database with other applications (such as a WordPress-based portal).

So it sounds like you have a Zoho installation with a user database. You have a WordPress website that you want to run like a corporate information portal controlled via Zoho Apps based on users in the Zoho user database.

This is NOT simple.

WordPress has a 1-step registration process and you don’t want to mess with that.

Ignoring Zoho, the best you can do using s2member is the following:

  1. Configure the site such that Level0 registered users see nothing on the site

  2. Configure Level1 to have access to all the site content and then manually change a user from Level0 to Level1 once they are approved.

#5

Hey Tim

That makes perfect sense… I’ve configured your suggestion and it works like a dream. I’ll present it to the client and see what he comes back with.

Much appreciated…
Nicole

#6

You are most welcome :slight_smile:

An alternative to consider if you have a closed group is to have open registration based on the email domain. So, for example, if all your “members” come from branded email domains (e.g. no gmail, no yahoo, no outlook, etc) then you can use a domain whitelist plugin.

NOTE: This plug-in is a bit out of date but works fine. I have used it for years on a number of sites.

#7

Thanks again Tim…

My client has come back with not wanting user registration… this is what he says:

“There is no user registration. We give them access. E.g. Webhook create_user sent to s2Member with login details and approval. We email the client login details from our CRM. We automate the whole thing. We just need somewhere for the client to be able to change password.”

Do you understand what he needs? And is what he’s asking for possible?

Thanks again…
Nicole

#8

Wow. That’s a requirement that you should not agree to via email or verbally. You need to write a requirement spec and get their approval. This has all the makings of a client / supplier mismatch (delivering what you think they asked for and then having them not pay because it isn’t what they want or think they want).

This is a requirement from someone who thinks they understand technology but don’t.

As I suspected…they want to drive the world out of their CRM (Zoho) user database. This is a clash of user databases…Zoho and WordPress. Which is the master that the other synchs to and what software will synch them.

The comment “We just need somewhere for the client to be able to change password.” is confusing. If the user database is the Zoho database then password resets go through Zoho. What are they using the WordPress site for! How does S2Member fit into this!

You can control a WordPress site via REST API. If they want to control access to a WordPress portal via Zoho then the registration process is via Zoho and access to the WordPress portal is by adding / removing people from the WordPress user database via REST API.

I think that you need to go back to the start with this one. I still can’t figure out what solution you and your client are trying to create to solve what problem.

I wish you luck though. If it was me I would either drop the client or start a documented requirement process. In any case I wouldn’t do this job for under $5K with a $2K / year maintenance and a liability waiver clause in the contract.

Just some words of wisdom. Feel free to ignore :slight_smile:

#9

Thank you Tim. I truly appreciate your support. I do apologise if I have wasted your time, however you have given me incredible insight and I am extremely grateful for that.

I will go back to the drawing board with my client and get it figured out!

Thanks again for your support, insight and words of wisdom…
Nicole

#10

No worries. Good luck and…stay strong on getting those requirements signed off in writing :slight_smile: