SMS Subscription Module

Worker Joined: Aug 22, 2006 Posts: 192

I would like to make certain areas/pages of my website only accessible to paying/subscribing users.

One way I know this can be achieved is by making the pages you want to restrict to subscribers part of a group, then when someone makes a payment, (e.g. through paypal), you/the webmaster can add that user to the group.

Of course the problem operating in the aforementioned way, is that even though a user makes payment, they have to wait for you to add them to the group.

A additional point is that in addition to offering users the option to subscribe using a credit/debit card and a service such as paypal, I also want the option for them to subscribe by sending an SMS/Text to a premium text number and collecting the subscription change in this way.

The way I thought the subscription process could/would ideally work is as follows...

The pages only available to subscribers would require a code to be input into a field in order for the user to gain access.

If a user pays by paypal, they immediately receive a notification email saying the payment has been received and within this you can give the user details of the code they need to enter to gain access to the restricted pages.

Or if the user sends an SMS/Text to a premium number, they then receive a reply/confirmation text and this gives the user details of the code they need to enter to gain access to the restricted pages.

Anyhow, after searching for a solution to the SMS subscription idea, I came across a website which appears to be using a method to that which I have just explained. The URL is:
[ Only registered users can see links on this board! Get registered or login! ]

I have searched for the module being used at that website, but cannot seem to find any details and wonder if someone can help with tracking down where the module is available from?

That said, maybe you know of an alternative/better solution for the SMS/Test subscription idea.

Finally, the reason I am keep to implement the SMS/Text subscription solution is that I think people are more likely to pick up their cell phone next to them on impulse and make payment by sending a quick text. If people have to find their credit/debit card, they often think twice about making such a subscription.

Thanks in advance guys and gals.

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:24 am

I never seen that module available anywhere so it must be custom, but there are various PayPal modules around that should do the first part of the job for you.

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:51 am

jakec wrote:

...there are various PayPal modules around that should do the first part of the job for you.

What do you mean JakeC?

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 1:13 pm

There are Paypal modules for Nuke which will allow people to pay for access to subscribed content.

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 1:21 pm

Here is an example: [ Only registered users can see links on this board! Get registered or login! ]

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 4:46 pm

Hi Jakec,

Thanks for your further reply and clarification.

However, when I make a posting here, I am always very aware that everyone is busy and so I do personally spend a lot of time trying to be comprehensive in providing all the information and facts, in order to prevent someone giving information I may already be aware of or know and to eliminate the possibility of them wasting their valuable time.

I did explain in my original message that I am aware of the options for people to make payment via Paypal, (ie using credit/debit card etc) and did try to emphasis that my ultimate concern is that I desire for people to make payments and subscribe using an SMS/Text option and this kind of technology.

If anyone can help further I would be most appreciative.

Thanks.

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 5:11 pm

Sounds like a custom job.

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 5:58 pm

Hi Gremmie,

Did you check out the link I gave in my original post?

Are you suggesting that the URL is a custom made module or do you mean that for me to accomplish the SMS Text Subscription facility, you think I am going to have to seek a 'custom solution'?

Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:37 pm

Why don't you ask them?

I've never seen such a module released. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist in the wild.

Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:15 am

emmaphp, what you said was:

emmaphp wrote:

Of course the problem operating in the aforementioned way, is that even though a user makes payment, they have to wait for you to add them to the group.

...and what I was pointing out was that there are modules which would add them to the group for you.

Like I and Gremmie have said it looks custom. This kind of thing probably isn't going to come cheap.

Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:26 pm

OK Jakec,

I was aware of the Western Studios payment solutions, but again my main desire here is for users to be able to make a subscription payment via their cell phones. Again I feel this is a step further to making the e-commerce of a site far more accessible to users.

Firstly, younger users of your website would not have a credit card but many have cell phones.

Secondly, when people have to enter credit card details, with the thought of having to go get the card and trying to locate it, they can often have the chance to think they cant be bothered and with the hassle. It also gives them the chance to think twice about making the purchase. More specifically, it is far easier for someone to use their cell phone, (usually in their pocket or close by), to text a short code to a given number and receive an access code for premium content on your website.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:38 am

jakec wrote:

Like I and Gremmie have said it looks custom. This kind of thing probably isn't going to come cheap.

I just want to re-iterate this statement. You are not likely going to find anyone to just code this for free.

Usually how open source projects work is someone identifies a need that they have and searches for a solution (or, some just jump right in and code it if they have the skills). When they find that there is no solution that will meet all their needs, they go off and either hire someone to do it, or code it themselves. At some point, they desire to share it and a new open source project is born...

As others have stated already, this appears to be a custom job. You might get a "taker" somewhere, but you have to find someone who has the same need/desire as you AND has the skills to write the code.

Good luck to you.
Regards,
montego

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:05 am

Thanks for the input Montego, much appreciated.

However I am wondering if you have actually checked out the subsequent information I have provided at the following Posting/URL:
[ Only registered users can see links on this board! Get registered or login! ]

To confirm, I have advised the authors of the already available solution at [ Only registered users can see links on this board! Get registered or login! ] how I an having a small issue with integrating their solution securely, (as described), with a PHP Nuke Page/Module. As far as I see it, it is in their interests to assist with this because once a solution has been found, there will be an immeasurable number of PHP Nuke webmasters wanting to use the service, (i.e pay2access.net will make plenty more $ $ $'s).

As explained in the other thread, the SMS Text solution works just fine if you want people to purchase an access code before they can view a particular PHP Nuke Page/Module.

The only ('small') problem is that once they make an initial purchase and know the exact URL of the restricted pages, they can subsequently access the pages directly at a later time, once their current access code has expired.

However, I think between everyone here and the original authors of pay2access.net, the solution of making direct access to a URL/PHP Nuke Page is going to be simple to reach.

Any further help with this will be greatly appreciated as always.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:13 am

emmaphp, I have seen your other thread. If I had time to help you I would. What might seem to you to be a simple fix, could take many hours that many of us do not have to try and track down. The point I made above is that it also takes someone with a similar need sometimes to get things like this done. I have no such need or desire for this.

If you find a "taker". Great.

(By the way, this is not a debate, just a statement of the facts as I see them from my viewpoint. We should just keep this thread on track from here and not debate the need/desire part. I have no doubt that this is important to you.)

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:19 am

Thanks again Montego,

But again, if no other users here can help with this matter, then I must repeat my earlier thoughts that it is unequivocally in the interest of the pay2access.net authors to make their solution work for website using the PHP Nuke CMS.

Let see how things develop over the next 48 hours Wink

Site Admin Joined: Jun 04, 2004 Posts: 6432

Sorry to jump in on this, but I suspect the authors of pay2access.net will have the same constraints that we have supporting RN. In software development (as in any business), choices are made to determine the costs and benefits of changes / efforts. Pay2acess.net (if they're smart) will want to know what the market is for that. To provide that information, I'd suggest a survey of webmasters using Nuke to see if this might be valuable to them. If there is a sufficient quantity, you could point pay2access.net officials to the survey for justification.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:16 pm

KGuske,

I think you are absolutely correct, but I didn't feel the need to express this fact word for word myself, as I thought it most obvious to all.

However, with PHP Nuke so prevalent accros the globe, I wouldn't hesitate to suggest, (prior to any such survey/poll), that there is no question an immeasurable number of webmasters would be keen to have such an option available and want to implement such a solution.

Moreover the fact the solution requires no initial cash investment/purchase will make it exceptionally appealing to many.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:05 pm

Does anyone remember the Kevin Nealy skits on Saturday Night Live where he used subliminal messages (hot sex) in his attempts to influence attractive women? For fun, I'll try that here - see if you can find it and appreciate the analogy...and if it works in a free digital content medium.

Emmaphp,

What isn't obvious is the demand for this function. PHP Nuke may be prevalent (though there are many who would debate that, even here), but the number of Nuke webmasters who offer premium content isn't so obvious. Of the many sites I've developed or supported - Nuke or otherwise - only a couple (hard fact) have premium content, and this would be unappealing to those - mainly because it smacks of sleaze (my opinion), which may be why the site doesn't reference a single actual customer (for more info on this, I highly recommend this book, though I suspect you've already know this and am simply providing this link for others).

This is a pretty popular site for Nuke support, and I haven't seen anyone else (hard fact) agree that this is something they want. I'm sure there are those who would like this, but I'm not sure there are enough to justify pay2access.net's interest.

However, a Google Search for pay2access.net brings up a whopping (hard fact) 125 results. Take out the domain searches, web hosting discussion sites and other noise, and what remains (hard fact) are a few porn sites who offer this so their customers (funny assumption) can get access without it appearing on a credit card statement, where their mommies or spouses can find it. For a domain that's been around for 3 years to have a (hard fact) pagerank of 2, that's not exceptionally appealing. With such a small market appeal / acceptance, pay2acess.net (my guess) might be VERY interested in developing that type of interface (no pay2access interfaces seem to exist for any other CMS - or even any e-commerce software!).

Moreover, if your business model relies on kids paying for premium content, I'd question (hot question) the viability of that business model since today's kids live in a culture of free everything and pirated everything else in the digital content realm. Just check out this site if you think the access code (hard fact) will only be used by those who pay. Sure, you could develop some method for validating IP addresses to prevent this and / or a process for removing access codes that are posted online, etc., but that's extra work (not free).

Of course, with all your research, this might be obvious to you, too, and, if so, I can certainly see (funny guess) why you wouldn't feel the need to express it. If it isn't obvious, I wouldn't hesitate to again suggest getting some support by investing $0 and a few minutes of your time on a survey.

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 5:08 am

Hi Kguske,

Thanks for your last (further) posting on this topic.

To confirm, the people at Pay2Access have been extremely busy and their service now works with the current version of Raven Nuke (Version 2.20.01).

I understand they will update their website very soon and include the 'modification' information for those users of their service, who want to integrate it with a PHP Nuke website.

However, to clarify, if you are using Pay2Access with a PHP Nuke website and want to prevent direct URL access to restricted/premium content pages, the 'modification' is as follows:

1. In the Module you want to restrict access to, find the first instance of:

OpenTable();

2. Immediately after this (and before the rest of the pages code), insert:

session_start();
if ($_SESSION['pay2access'] != "pay2access" ) {
echo "You are not authorised to view this page";
CloseTable();
include("footer.php");
exit();
}

3. Your done!

Users will now only be able to access the restricted pages if they purchase an access code via SMS.

Thanks to all those who have contributed to this 'energetic' topic. RavensScripts

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:21 am

In your other post, you said

emmaphp wrote:

3. Website user entres code in your website and gains immediate access to the restricted area of your site.

With the code above, I don't see where a visitor can enter the code. In other words, where is the pay2access session variable set? In that same post, Guardian suggested a solution.

Also, how does pay2access address access code sharing? One option appears to be limiting time for the access code to say, 1 week. But that's not a strong solution, IMO.

Finally, the FAQ page suggests a couple of significant limitations:
- Premium SMS payments are not available outside 11 countries in Europe - other countries require credit cards
- The standard cost for the premium SMS service is 60% (I read that several times to make sure it was correct), though this can be lowered (by how much and on what schedule wasn't specified) when your volume increases (cost for accepting credit card payments isn't specified), but could be higher unless you accept payment via PayPal.

So let's say you charge 10 Euros for European kids to access your downloads / pirated movies / gaming / porn site for one week. 6 kids sign up via pay2access (over 6 weeks, because they're sharing the code weekly). Your balance shows 24 Euros, so you request a check (because you're a kid, too, and don't have a bank account required for PayPal or bank transfer), which costs 15 Euros, and 6 weeks later you get a check for 9 Euros.

In other words, you'll need a lot of volume to make it worthwhile, but that won't happen if the access codes can be shared.

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:53 am

Hi again Kguske,

I understand your concerns, but for my application of the Pay2Access solution, I have thought about all this and it is ideal (as a starting point).

Firstly, as we all know, we 'cannot have our cake and eat it' and in this instance I refer to the following...

The usual way to set up a start up/project and use this SMS payment technology (or any other similar service) would be to is to pay for this upfront. There is usually a set up fee and ongoing monthly fee.

So (akin to Paypal being free to implement',), using Pay2Access is free to implement and there is no fee unless a purchase is made.

So what Pay2Access clearly does, for ideas people and other with no initial budget to invest, is it allows them to initiate a website project utilising the SMS Payment method, moreover it eliminated the requirement for a significant start up budget/investment. It also give you a chance, even if you have no budget, to take an idea from your mind or paper and try it in the real world and a real working environment.

As you highlighted, the Pay2Access website does also state that they will consider reviewing the 'standard' percentage they initially take, depending on how much traffic your website has, more specifically if you have a significant number of purchases being made.

You must of course realise that it is the interest of Pay2Access to take the last point about the percentage of revenue they take, quite seriously. If they do not, subsequent to someone using their service to initiate a project, if the project does begin to prove popular and make a nice sum of money from the 1st month or quarter etc, at any time subsequent the website administrator may decide to use the money made to switch to a pay monthly service, (because they now have funds to do so and the pay monthly service is more profitable).

I must again repeat that the scenario here, is no different to the choice of Paypal v's another pay monthly credit/debit card processing solution.

With regard to you requiring the complete code and information about integrating Pay2acess with a website, you will have to sign up (for free) to their website. The code containing a form where the Pay2Access access code is input, is given there and the interface and functionality is extremely easy to use.

Additionally, indeed at present, there is not an SMS Text number that users in the USA can use. However I have been advised that this will change very soon and very likely before Fall 2008. Of course in the meantime, websites can accept SMS Text payment from website users in various other countries.

Lastly, in the settings of your Pay2Access account, you can set any purchased access codes to expire after a certain number of uses or after a certain duration has elapsed.

As for preventing people sharing a single access code, well this is a prime example of how, when it comes to being a webmaster, it is time to sort the men out from the boys. Creativity is yet again the name of the game and you have to give your website users a reason/incentive why they would not want to share the code they have purchased. In my situation, when someone purchases an access code, it is their 'ticket' to enter a monthly draw and possibly receive a VERY significant prize.

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:54 am

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:06 pm

So any chance of a link to your website so we can see it in practice?

Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:42 pm

Just to clarify: I don't require the code. I was just pointing out that the code as you presented wouldn't work.

I also have no interest in giving 60% of any revenue (which, by the way, is about 20 times greater than what PayPal charges, hardly a good comparison). Or were you referring to the undisclosed charge for accepting credit card payments via pay2access?

As for giving incentives to men and boys, I'll leave that to you as well. I have no idea what your frame of reference is for determine the significance of a prize, nor for determining the value of whatever premium content / access your visitors hopefully will be paying to receive (hence the disincentive to share access codes).

Still, I hope it works for you.

Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:13 am

Hi Jacec,

I would rather not disclose the URL of the new website I am constructing in this public forum.

I have sent all details that may be required to you via a Private Message.

Please report back here in this public forum, once you have tried out the Pay2Access solution.