Version 4

Discussion in '3rd Party Service Providers' started by chrome62, Jul 17, 2009.

  1. chrome62

    chrome62 Member

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    About 2 years ago there was rumor of a version 4 being in development.
    Anybody know if this is still a live plan?

    I see some other membership scripts coming out that look like they have similar development lines and some pretty cool features. I am considering trying them and maybe, eventually phasing out my use of aMember.
    It's just a matter of time until someone "out Alexes Alex".
    No offense, the script works well, but is beginning to be "dated".

    :eek:
  2. chrome62

    chrome62 Member

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    bumping post
  3. kengary

    kengary aMember Pro Customer

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    I'm not sure about version 4 but I'd be interested in hearing what you consider to be dated about aMember.
  4. henrykuong

    henrykuong New Member

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  5. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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  6. kengary

    kengary aMember Pro Customer

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    Thanks Skippy!
  7. microvb

    microvb Member

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    I think that aMember is a very solid well designed application.

    aMember is simple to use, simple to integrate, and provides nearly everything you would need in a simply payment system.

    The only things aMember could benefit from adding would be the following:

    AJAX Shopping Cart API front end integration (aka, aMember would drive it, but the interface could be added into your site as a small plugin such as a php include)

    Full SMTP Authentication support. The base code is there, simply need two/three more fields for allowing for email address as a username, password, and alternative port.

    Simpler interface for editing templates.

    And perhaps.... if Alex has time, a front end wizard for plugin design :) ... but not a must have.

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  8. chrome62

    chrome62 Member

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    Don't get me wrong, aMember is great, but whatever happened to version 4?

    There is a LOT of stuff that could be improved! The affiliate system is lacking in reporting and payment to affiliates is very confusing, there are database issues, a better way to track or flag rouge members, improve newsletter function and a dozen other suggestion that have been seeped under the rug. Yes, it does what is is supposed to do, but I see other solutions on the horizon that are offering more bang for the buck, so for Alex to keep improving the script by adding features is not a bad idea.

    I'm looking 5 years into the future, so if aMember is eventually left for dead, I'll have to look elsewhere.
  9. chrome62

    chrome62 Member

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    2010 - still no word on the "total rewrite" or version 4. Was this left for dead?
  10. powerkeys

    powerkeys Member

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    I use Drupal for my content management, and they have a free ecommerce package (Ubercart) which seems to have reached a level where it may meet my membership management needs. The benefits for me are that I can also sell physical products which require shipping fees to be added, and members use the same purchase interface as the general public. Also, there won't be an issues with trying to log into 2 separate systems simultaneously.

    Obviously, it doesn't do everything aMember does, and it's pretty much locked into the Drupal system, so it's not for everyone.
  11. alex

    alex aMember Pro Customer Staff Member

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    No, it is not left for dead. aMember4 will be available as beta by Feb 01, 2010, and in the same time we will start PA DSS (PCI) certification.
  12. miso

    miso aMember Pro Customer

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    Interesting!

    Put me on the list for the beta testing, if possible...
  13. jenolan

    jenolan aMember Coder

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    Can I tell everyone I told ya so now?
  14. alex

    alex aMember Pro Customer Staff Member

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    jenolan, I will :)

    We decided to do not break backward compatibility.
    So aMember4 release plan is:
    - reworked internal API with usage of OOP. Yes, and PHP 5.1 is the requirement;
    - reworked aMember CP with Jquery/AJAX + HTML_QuickForm2 library. Yes, and no <frame>s :)
    - improved security of credit card processing to match strong PCI DSS standarts;
    - if it will be ready, you will also see improved protection technique, a single point of control for protection of files and folders. I hope everyone will love it;
    - also, if it will be ready by Jan/31, there will be a flexible configuration for ALL e-mailings aMember does. The concept is ready.
    - e-mail queuing.
  15. deafdavid

    deafdavid Member

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    I'm exciting about the new upgrade (hope it's a major upgrade and/or rewrite). Would someone translate neat stuff Alex just explained? I'm not a web programmer or anything close to that -- I would hope someone tell me in plain english what this new stuff means and if possible, give me examples. Sorry being so ignorance on this stuff (e.g. what is "<frame>"?)
  16. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    OOP stands for Object Oriented Programming. Put simply it allows you to think of things in terms of objects (users for example) and perform queries and actions on them programmaticly.

    Ajax simply means, for example, that the admin control panel can retrieve updates without having to reload the page.

    No frames means that they have removed the HTML frames that existed in 3.x (info on frames here)

    More on what that means here

    Love simply put is that emotion that you relate to how you feel about your Mom or a favorite food or pet.

    This is like when they introduced the "Betty" character into the Flintstones vitamin product in December 1995

    Ability to define how many emails are processed during a given time frame (ie. send only 100 emails /hour). This is useful for Host Providers that have set limits.
  17. kcarey

    kcarey Member

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    Alex:

    I just purchased aMember last week. I am in the process of customizing to meet our needs - "small" non-profit organization where I volunteer my time to maintain / develop their website. Should I wait until Version 4 is available before I deploy amember?

    thanks!
    ________
    Daihatsu Charmant History
  18. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    @kcarey: Consider that what is being made available to testers in February is a beta version which suggests that something that is production ready may not be available for many months to come.

    Unless you are making significant template changes (ie. above and beyond basic css, etc) or there are specific features in v4 that you require for your project (see what is known above) probably better to build on v3 and migrate at some point in the next 6 months to a year.
  19. alex

    alex aMember Pro Customer Staff Member

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    Yes, it is absolutely correct, I'd answer exactly the same.
  20. kcarey

    kcarey Member

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