There are two main items that need to be addressed when it comes to a member wanting to Upgrade or Downgrade their Subscription from one membership “level” (a.k.a “Product” in DAP) to another.
1) Modifying the actual recurring payments to reflect the new amount
2) Giving them appropriate access as per the upgrade (or downgrade)
So let’s see how both of these are accomplished.
You do need to take some manual action for this. The way to do it is….
Set up automation rules using DAP’s Product Chaining feature, so that if they sign up for one Product (or “level”), they’re automatically removed from another Product (or level).
So if they are currently signed up to your “Gold Membership”, then when they sign up afresh for the “Platinum Membership”, then set up a Product Chaining rule that says, “If member signs up for Platinum Membership, then remove them from Gold Membership”. This is just to make sure that they don’t have access to two products (or “levels”) at the same time.
DAP offers a number of affiliate statistics on the “Affiliates > Reports” page.
Here’s how it looks as of DAP v4.2.1.
This is the field where you would enter the email id of an affiliate, if you want to generate a report specifically for an affiliate. If you leave it blank, the report will include all affiliates.
By default, if you leave these fields blank, then DAP will assume “today’s” date – i.e., the date whenever you’re viewing this page.
This is the most detailed report available. This is the report being viewed in the above screenshot. For a given time period, for a given number of affiliates (“all” affiliates if (1) is left blank above), it shows…
This shows the breakdown of each purchase referred by each affiliate. It’s a detailed view of the affiliate earnings, that lists each and every transaction (order) in the system that was referred by affiliates, all generated for the selected time period. It displays…
This shows all payments made to affiliates during the period.
This is a config setting that you can change in Setup > Config. This is what drives which orders are picked up for affiliate payment. See this article for more details.
This is the MAIN button you should click to start the process of paying your affiliates each month (or however often it is that you pay affiliates). When you click this button, it will show you a report (see screenshot below) of commissions owed on all orders in the system UNTIL X days ago, where X is your “Refund Period”.
So if today is 10/01/2011, and you have a refund period of 60 days, then DAP will only consider orders prior to 60 days as of today. Which means, orders up to 08/01/2011 (of course, depending on how many days in a month, you may not exactly end up with 08/01/2011, because it goes an actual 60 days back from today – and sometimes, the report will stop at the 2nd or 3rd day of the month – like 08/03/2011. But that’s ok, don’t worry about it). You just focus on paying your affiliates on whatever day you wish to make the payment.
So when you click on this button, DAP will bring you a summary report of all affiliates, and how much they’re owed today, for all transactions referred by them as of 08/01/2011 (as per this example).
And when you click on the “Export These Affiliates For Payment” button shown in the screenshot above, DAP will select and mark those affiliates as being exported for payment.
And DAP will show you Paypal Mass-Pay Ready text report, with the affiliate info and the commission amount info already filled in and ready to go. If you’re paying via Paypal Mass-Pay, then all you need is this file. See this post for details.
NOTE: Being exported for payment doesn’t mean that you’ve actually paid them. Exporting affiliates for payment only means that DAP has now “set aside” those affiliates for payment, and you still need to tell DAP that you’ve actually paid your affiliates.
This is important, because you might export affiliates for payment on the first of the month, but it may take you a day or two (or 10) to actually make the payment – especially if you’re sending out Checks.
So once you’ve made the payment either through Paypal mass-pay, or by mailing your affiliates physical checks, then you need to tell DAP that you’ve actually sent out the payments, which is what you’ll do in the step below.
This is where you will select the most recent export from the drop down (see #8 in first image at the very top), and click the “Paid” button. This is what actually lets DAP know that you’ve actually made the payment, and only after you do this, will the affiliates see the payment show up in the “Payments” section on their “Affiliate Info” page.
This is just a report that shows you past commission payment exports.
If you have a coaching program, or have clients for whom you’re doing custom work (like if you were a teacher, CPA, web designer, personal trainer or coach) and wish to publish content that is available to and downloadable by only that specific client/student/customer, then there are THREE ways in which you can do Member-Specific Content in DAP.
1) BEST SOLUTION: Using a combination of a special page for each member PLUS DAP’s “For Your Eyes Only” Shortcode
2) Creating Separate Products for each Member
3) Using DAP’s “For Your Eyes Only” Shortcode
Let’s take a look at each one in detail.
This is partly manual, partly automated, but is the absolute best solution for multiple reasons, as explained below.
1) For each new member, you would create a separate page. So, for Joe Customer, you would create a new page in WP – http://YourSite.com/joe-customer/
This page would be created after someone has become a member, of course. But creating a WP page for every member will probably take you about what, 30 seconds? So it’s not going to be a big deal (unless you wish to make it one 😉
2) Then, assuming Joe Customer’s “userid” in DAP is 144 (you can find this out on the Users > Manage page). So within the above new page, you would add the following shortcode…
[DAP userId=”144″]protected content[/DAP]
(See DAP’s “Member-Specific Content” Shortcodes )
3) You can start adding any amount of private content between the shortcode start and end tags (where you see protected content above).
4) You can use a simple, free plugin like Exclude Pages to make sure the customer’s page http://YourSite.com/joe-customer/ does not show up in any of your menu’s. Even if it did, it’s not like anyone else can see the contents of the page – only Joe Customer – after he’s logged in to DAP – can see the contents of the page. So it’s secure from everyone else.
Here, you would create separate products, one per member – and only give that member access to that product. The advantage here, is that you can protect the entire page (not just the content section) and make it available just to that one client, so you can be a lot more creative with this page, use special templates, add sidebar widgets that show content just for that client, use the commenting system to communicate back and forth with the client.
So if you had a client named John Customer, then you would create a DAP Product by name “John Customer”, then take John’s email id and give John access to his product.
And within this DAP Product, you would’ve protected files, pages and posts that only John should get access to. So since only John has access to the product, only he can get access to the content protected as part of this product.
Obviously, it takes a few minutes of additional setup per customer to create a DAP Product specifically for him, but then the few extra minutes of creating a DAP Product would be nothing compared to the few hours (or tens of hours) that you’re actually going to be taking to create the actual custom content for John. So it’s a very small overhead compared to the whole process, where you are actually creating custom content for each member.
If you wish to automated this a bit more than Option #2, then one way is to implement this is using DAP’s “Member-Specific Content” Shortcodes, which look like this:
Using the “userId” parameter in the DAP shortcode, you can now protect a piece of content so that only John Customer (who has the user id “144” in your membership site) user can see it.
[DAP userId=”144″]protected content[/DAP]
So on a single page, you may publish a number of these shortcodes, with content meant only for specific members protected within those shortcodes.
And doesn’t matter which one of your members visits the above page, they will all only see content intended only for them, and will be unable to see content intended for others.
So those are the three ways in which you can create Member-Specific Content.
Using our WPChatR Chatroom plugin for WordPress, you can also create a separate page per user, then put a chat room on that page specific to that user, so you can have unlimited back-and-forth real-time or off-line chats with one specific member.
If you want to speed up your web site, you must address the core issue, which is — your web site is getting more traffic than your web server (web hosting account) can handle.
So here are a few ways in which you can speed up your web site:
DAP has a very powerful, flexible and easy-to-use log in flow for your users and members.
And we call it the Smart Login, because the login process will work differently under different conditions, all designed to make the user-experience for your member more smooth and consistent with general login standards around the web.
So let’s see the various possible login locations in DAP.
But first, it is important to note that DAP has two main types of logins.
This is where it is considered a “generic” login by your member. For eg., a member came to your web site, and then just generally wants to log in to the member’s area – so they have no “context” – it’s NOT as if they were trying to view a specific page or post, got challenged with a login form, and then logged-in from there. That makes this a “Primary Login“.
Examples of this are…
a) Dedicated Login Page: You have a dedicated login page, like http://YourSite.com/login/ – which is what you’ve entered in to “Setup > Config > Login URL“. The body of this page has the DAP merge tag for the login form, which is %%LOGIN_FORM%%
b) Login/Logout Widget on any page of your web site. This is also considered a primary login. The reasoning here is that if they’re logging in through a sidebar widget, it means that they just want to log in to the member’s area, so it is considered primary login.
This is a login action that HAS “context”. Say, a member landed deep into your site (not the home page, not the dedicated login page) and were challenged by the “In Page Error Message” that says something like “Sorry, you must log in before you can view this content” and are presented with a login form right on that very same page. They were trying to read something before they were asked to log in first – which means, they must be returned to the same page they were trying to view BEFORE they were asked to login. So that makes this a “Secondary Login“.
Examples of this are…
a) Any custom “Error Page”, where you have inserted the DAP merge tag for the login form, %%LOGIN_FORM%%.
b) DAP’s “In-Page Error Message” which says “Sorry, this is private content – you must log in first before you can view this”.
c) Log in form showing up on a page when “Sneak-Peek” is enabled.
Based on whether it’s a Primary Login or a Secondary Login, your member will be redirected to a different location.
1) If it is a Primary Login action, then…
a) They’re taken to the “Post-Login URL” if set at a Product-level AND they have access to just one Product.
b) They’re taken to the GLOBAL “Post Login URL” (under Setup > Config) if you have NOT set anything at a Product-level, OR if they have access to more than one Product.
This scenario is the only one where the Post-Login URL is ever used (whether it’s the Product-level or Global-level).
1) If it is a Secondary Login action, then…
They’re always redirected back to the same page they were on (or were trying to access) before they were challenged to log in first to view the content.
Bottom-line:
Primary Login is predictable, and you (the DAP Admin) control where they go right after they login.
Secondary Login depends on “context”, and they’re taken back to whatever page they were on, before they logged in.
Once you protect a post in DAP, you can …
a) Make it completely disappear from your feed except for authorized users who have valid access to the post and are using a member-specific RSS feed URL
-OR-
b) You can show a “Summary” of every post, by turning on sneak-peek and making sure you have inserted the “<!–more–>” tag entered into each of your posts.
If your blog post is showing in its entirety in your feed, then….
1) You may not have protected the post in DAP at all, so it’s an unprotected post, which will (and should) show up in your feed
-OR-
2) You have turned on Sneak-Peek and haven’t inserted the WordPress “more” tag (<!–more–>) into each of your posts. If you turn on Sneak-peek, then you must insert more tags into all posts. Also, if you have turned on Sneak-Peek, then you must also do this…
Go to “Settings > Reading” in WP admin, then set “For each article in a feed, show” to “Summary“.
If it is set to “Full text”, then it will show the full text in the feed, which is not what you want.
Starting DAP v4.2, each of your members can now get their own unique RSS feed link that they can use with a feed reader (like Google Reader, FeedBlitz, iTunes, etc) to get a custom RSS feed with content that they’re eligible to view.
To give each of your members their own unique RSS Feed URL, just insert the following line of code into the top of the “Member Links” or “My Content” type page, or wherever you want your users to see their personalized RSS feed link…
http://YourSite.com/feed/?key=%%ACTIVATION_KEY%%
http://YourSite.com/blog/feed/?key=%%ACTIVATION_KEY%%
The text %%ACTIVATION_KEY%% in the above URL will be replaced with their own custom key, like…
They can then copy that link, enter that into any feed reader, and it will show content specific to their account.
Another useful feature we’ve added, is that the custom feed link also does IP count validation. So if they share the feed link with others, then after “X” unique IP login attempts (where “X” is configurable by you, the DAP Admin, in Setup > Config), their account will automatically get locked out.
This is the old, deprecated version of the DAP Shopping Cart add-on. This is still here for archive purposes only, and should only be used with DAP versions 4.4.x or EARLIER.
If you are wanting to use the new DAP Shopping Cart Plugin that supports Stripe and has a unified checkout page, etc, then you can download it from http://digitalaccesspass.com/dappers/new-dap-shopping-cart-plugin/
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ARCHIVE ONLY:
This plugin replaces ALL files from both the “Paypal Payments Pro” Upsell-Tree plugin as well as the “Authorize.net” Upsell-Tree Plugin
Starting DAP v4.2, we have consolidated both the Authorize.net & Paypal Payments Pro Upsell-Tree Plugins into one simple set of files, and it has been named the DAP Shopping Cart, which will allow you to both accept one time and recurring payments, as well as do 1-Click Upsells.
This consolidated set of files is named DAPShoppingCart.zip , and is available for download from the members’ area at http://DigitalAccessPass.com/dap/ .
If you are upgrading to DAP v4.2 from a previous DAP version, and you’ve been using Authorize.net or Paypal Payments Pro to accept payments, then you must also upgrade to the new DAP Shopping Cart.
So all you need to is…
1) Download the DAPShoppingCart.zip file from the members area
2) Unzip it to your desktop
3) Upload all files inside directly to your main “dap” folder on your site. (do not upload the folder named DAPShoppingCart – upload only the files inside this folder)
Here’s how you test emails in the system before making them live.
In DAP 4.2, we have added the support for admin defined custom-fields. You can define your own custom fields in DAP admin panel, accept/store the custom fields via DAP Free Signup/Registration form and it can be viewed/managed in the DAP admin panel.
We have also added the ability to allow the admins to refer to the custom field values via merge tags within DAP email messages (auto-responder/broadcast).
Here’s a screenshot of the DAP admin panel => Users => Custom Fields page.
(Click to enlarge)
Here’s the steps to define your own ‘custom’ field in DAP admin panel => Users => Custom Fields page.
Step 1: Database Field Name
Define the fieldname. DAP will use the name defined here to manage this field. The database field name is also used within the dap direct signup form/html so when the user’s enter a value for the field during sign-up, DAP will store it in the right database field.
If you want to accept any custom field via the DAP direct signup form, then use the database field name defined here as the field name in the direct signup HTML code generated from DAP products page.
Ex –
<tr>
<td>Tax ID:</td>
<td>
<input type=”text” name=”custom_tax” size=”10″></td>
</tr>
<tr>
Step 2: Label (will appear on User-Facing Pages)
The Label will appear on the user’s profile page. The database field name is only for internal use… the label is what the user’s will see.
Screenshot of user profile page with sample custom fields – Social Security and Tax ID.
Here the label names are Social Security and Tax ID.
(Click to enlarge)
Step 3: Description
Just for Admin User to describe the custom fields. Not displayed to the user.
Step 4: Show Field Only To Admin
NOTE: If you want the users to see and update the custom field, set ‘Show Field Only To Admin’ to ‘N’.
If this is set to “Y”, then only admin will see this field in the DAP admin -> manage users page (when you click on the user’s name).
Say you want to include a field called “Tax Id” in your Free Signup Form that you generated in DAP Products page.
So first define a custom field with the database field name tax_id in the Custom Fields page in DAP Admin (as shown above).
Here’s the default free signup form code generated from dap products page (if your form code looks different, see the last section at the end of this post).
<div id=”stylized” class=”dap_direct_signup_form”>
<form id=”dap_direct_signup” name=”dap_direct_signup” method=”post” action=”http://techizens.com/dap/signup_submit.php”>
<label>First Name</label>
<input type=”text” name=”first_name” id=”first_name” />
<label>Email</label>
<input type=”text” name=”email” id=”email” />
<button type=”submit”>Sign Up</button>
<input type=”hidden” name=”productId” value=”1″ />
<input type=”hidden” name=”redirect” value=”http://yoursite.com/login/?msg=SUCCESS_CREATION” />
</form>
</div>
Just add this to the signup form code:
<label>Tax Id</label>
<input type=”text” name=”custom_tax_id” id=”custom_tax_id” />
So basically, you add the word ‘custom_‘ in front of the custom field’s database field name. So if the database field name is “tax_id“, then in the form, it becomes custom_tax_id (as you see above)
So your final free signup form will look like this:
<div id=”stylized” class=”dap_direct_signup_form”>
<form id=”dap_direct_signup” name=”dap_direct_signup” method=”post” action=”http://techizens.com/dap/signup_submit.php”>
<label>First Name</label>
<input type=”text” name=”first_name” id=”first_name” />
<label>Email</label>
<input type=”text” name=”email” id=”email” />
<label>Tax Id</label>
<input type=”text” name=”custom_tax_id” id=”custom_tax_id” />
<button type=”submit”>Sign Up</button>
<input type=”hidden” name=”productId” value=”1″ />
<input type=”hidden” name=”redirect” value=”http://yoursite.com/login/?msg=SUCCESS_CREATION” />
</form>
</div>
That’s it.
Put the signup form code on your WP page/post/sidebar, and the form is displayed like this…
You can do the same for each custom field you want to accept in the dap free signup form:
1) Create the custom field in DAP Admin -> Users -> Custom Fields Page
2) Add the field to the free signup form as shown in the example above for tax_id.
You can display the value of the user’s own custom fields on your pages, using the merge tag like this:
%%DAPCUSTOMFIELD_tax_id%%
You can send custom field values in the DAP emails by using merge tags like this – %%custom_tax_id%%
Add ‘custom_’ in front of the custom field’s database field name.
So if you have defined a custom field called tax_id in your database, to include this field in the autoresponder/broadcast email, just add this – %%custom_tax_id%% to the body of your email.
That’s it. When the user receives the email, dap will automatically replace the merge tag with the user’s tax id value.
So if your email message body contains the following text:
Your Tax Id: %%custom_tax_id%%
When the user receives the message, it will look like this (in this example, the user’s taxId = 9999):
Your Tax Id: 9999
If you are using an older version of DAP < 4.4.3, then see the section below.
Your default code will look like this…
<form name=”dap_direct_signup” method=”post” action=”http://contentresponder.com/dap/signup_submit.php”>
<table>
<tr> <td>First Name: </td> <td><input type=”text” name=”first_name” size=”10″></td></tr>
<tr> <td>Email:</td> <td><input type=”text” name=”email” size=”10″></td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=”2″><input type=”submit” name=”Submit” value=”Sign Up”></td></tr>
</table>
<input type=”hidden” name=”productId” value=”1″><input type=”hidden” name=”redirect” value=”/blog/login?msg=SUCCESS_CREATION”>
</form>
Add this to your code
<tr>
<td>Tax ID:</td>
<td>
<input type=”text” name=”custom_tax_id” size=”10″></td>
</tr>
<tr>
Final version looks like this
<form name=”dap_direct_signup” method=”post” action=”http://contentresponder.com/dap/signup_submit.php”>
<table>
<tr> <td>First Name: </td> <td><input type=”text” name=”first_name” size=”10″></td></tr>
<tr> <td>Email:</td> <td><input type=”text” name=”email” size=”10″></td></tr>
<tr> <td>Tax ID:</td> <td><input type=”text” name=”tax_id” size=”10″></td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=”2″><input type=”submit” name=”Submit” value=”Sign Up”></td></tr>
</table>
<input type=”hidden” name=”productId” value=”1″><input type=”hidden” name=”redirect” value=”http://yoursite.com/login/?msg=SUCCESS_CREATION”>
</form>