S2Member-files directory questions

#1

I have uploaded numerous Flipping Book files to various directories within the s2member-files folder under /wp-content/plugins.

It was my understanding that anything in this folder is protected by the plugin, however that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I have also tried entering the different URIs in the URI Restrictions settings, but after several attempts at entering different strings, this isn’t working either.

Can someone please direct me to some documentation about this, or provide me information about how this is supposed to work? I’m not able to find anything in the documentation. I’m sure it’s there, it’s just too huge to wade through and find what I’m looking for.

Thank you.

#2

This should get you started on the docs: https://s2member.com/kb-article/can-i-sell-protected-file-downloads/

Then you can follow the links.

But maybe you’ve made a mistake similar to one I addressed a month or so ago: Can I have web apps inside protected area?

#3

Am I wrong in my understanding that everything behind the s2member-files directory is protected then?

I guess I’m hoping that something isn’t working properly that can be fixed and I don’t have to rename and relink everything.

I will try renaming the index.html file, but that is going to be a tedious process, since we have over 600 files.

#4

I renamed the index.html to home.html, and it still won’t open. I just get a page full of various characters.

Here is the href I used -

a title=“Introduction to Psychoanthropology” href=“http://companions.flywheelsites.com/?s2member_file_download=pa_docs/Introduction_to_Psychoanthropology/home.html&s2member_file_inline=yes” target="_blank"

Am I doing something else wrong here?

#5

Or, how can I use the URI restrictions to protect the subfolders within the s2member-files directory?

That would be the easiest route to take at this point, but I can’t get that to work either.

#6

I don’t know if URI restrictions will protect files. That’s not its purpose and I have never tried it.

The reason for renaming HTML files to something other than index is that index.html files have a specific (security-related) meaning on most servers, so you are likely to have all sorts of problems if you use that name. That’s nothing to do with s2Member or even WordPress. It’s just how many servers are configured.

But your main problem is the way you are constructing the hyperlink. You have the names of folders before the name of the file. That will never work. It should just be:
/?s2member_file_download=home.html&s2member_file_inline=yes

You can also avoid the necessity to add &s2member_file_inline=yes to every HTML file if you instead add html to the list at Download Options -> Inline File Extensions.

#7

Given that in the s2members-files directory, I have numerous different sub directories, I can’t just name it home.html. On our current site (I am working on the development site), we list the subdirectories within the s2members-files folder all the time and it works fine. And this is a Flipping Book publication, which creates a folder for each PDF file that has been converted, and within that folder is the home.html file. So, I HAVE to add the pathway here, as there is no other way to link to the correct one without the pathway.

There must be a way to do this, I have wasted a week now trying to figure this out and have gotten nowhere. Support is not responding, and we are a Pro member, so I’m not sure where to turn now, other than paying for MORE support by hiring a freelancer.

#8

Who said you did? You could give each such file its own name.

It’s been a couple of years since I used Flipping Book, but I seem to recall that it produces a folder with an HTML file and a subfolder. So you can just take the HTML file and subfolder out of the envelope folder and put them in the s2Member files directory. Then you won’t need the link to be anything more than the HTML file without the preceding folder name, though (since you have many such Flipping Books) you will need to both change the name of what was the sub-folder and edit the HTML file to point to the re-named folder to avoid confusion.

As I say, it’s been a couple of years since I used Flipping Book, but I seem to recall that it costs something like five times the price of s2Member. And yet you’re complaining here rather than asking the Flipping Book devs for help! That’s not exactly the best way I’ve seen to ask for help which you get for free but which costs somebody else their time.

#9

I realize I could name it anything I want, but it doesn’t matter what it is, I’ve tried several, it won’t open the file.

Yes Flipping Book creates a folder with dozens of sub folders inside it, as well as an index.html file. Each sub folder is named for the appropriate file name of the PDF that it was converted from. Each subfolder is a number, starting with 1 and going up into the hundreds, I’m assuming for each page of the document. I can’t just pull those folders out of the main document folder and put them in the root of s2members-files, because all the subfolders are numbered the same.

Attached is a screen shot of the directory, to give you an idea. Everything needs to be organized in the appropriate folders for each converted file, or it will be a gigantic mess of duplicate folders.

And I have checked with Flipping Book support as well, however I’m not sure why I should expect them to help me with a variable provided by s2member that isn’t working. They’ve done their job, and that is convert PDF documents to Flipping Books, they shouldn’t have to provide support on s2member. I have paid support here as well, but can’t get them to answer at all, so I’m left with the forums.

I appreciate your time, but I’m not sure why you say it’s free, given that we have paid for the Pro version of s2member.

#10

Screen shot attached.

s2member files.JPG566×692 63 KB

#11

Flipping Book products are designed to work on a server. Since servers can have many different configurations, they should have some good ideas of what to try. We aren’t talking about a “variable”.

Oh, dear! Another one who thinks I am associated with s2Member. In fact, my only association with s2Member is as a user. So you haven’t paid me a penny, not even indirectly. But you have paid hundreds to Flipping Book.

#12

There is also a version of Flipping Books that doesn’t require a server or their cloud storage.

No, I know you are not a paid s2member employee, but that doesn’t change the fact that I paid for the pro version which includes support which they are not giving and they constantly refer people to the forums. If you don’t want to answer questions, why are you?

Clearly you don’t know enough about this issue to help, so I’m not sure why you bothered responding.But thanks anyway.

#13

I originally responded because it reminded me that my old Flipping Book needs to be updated to work with javascript instead of Flash, and that I will have to work out how to get it to work with s2Member too. So I was motivated to find an answer.

But I’m not motivated to help anyone with an entitlement complex.