Over the weekend we did some major upgrades on our hardware and software backend to enhance the security and integrity of the system but more importantly make way for the new features and functionality requested by our users in the past few weeks specifically.

We now have the infrastructure in place for setting up FTPs accounts which has some obvious benefits for you our clients relating to themes, plugins etc.

Our team has been literally working around the clock on the system to get it functioning as expected with the new functionality ASAP so that you can start enjoying the added benefits in the next week or 2. Thank you to everyone who has reported any minor bugs.

We’re also working on better documentation rather than just the video training and tutorials to make it easier for those of you who like to read step by step instructions.

Secure files are a great way to store files securely for your ‘members only’ content that you don’t want to be made available publicly via link sharing or any other means.

Confirm your ‘Secure Files’ directory is set up correctly go to BLOG > MANAGE FILES > SECURE FILES.

In the ‘Secure Files Directory’ it should say something like: /home/yoursiteid/secure/ – Please note it MUST have the forward slash ‘/’ on the very end for your secure files to work correctly. If it doesn’t please add it and click the ‘Update Options’ button.

See below.

When you’re creating a ‘Membership Sign up Form’ in the EM Form Creator you do not need to insert the Password field as the new member will be issued with a password automatically upon sign up.

So you can create a ‘Membership’ Signup form with the most basic information e.g. Email, Username, and the Membership!

*Note: if you’re creating a ‘Login’ form then you WILL need to use both username and password fields in your form.

We’ve just made some nice improvements to the Domain Names management side of things. To avoid any issues please login to the Domain Names screen (Options > Domain Names) and remove your current domains and re-add them – Simple as that! This will ensure everything keeps running smoothly.

Deciding when to use the ‘Upload Secure Files’ section or the standard Media Manager Uploads section can be confusing until you understand how it works.

Here’s what I recommend.

If you are going to be using a file (image, audio or video) on your ‘Public’ site that everyone can see then DON’T use the ‘Secure Files’ section.

But, If you are going to use a file (for example: image, audio or video) that you will want to protect and make available only to certain levels of membership THEN use UPLOAD SECURE FILES section.

When you upload any files to the ‘Upload Secure Files’ section those files will not be accessible to the general public.

Infact the files will not be accessible to anyone until they have been ‘linked to – from a post or page that is protected already’ or embedded into a post or page that is already protected by a membership level.

Clear as mud?

So if you’re going to use or want to use a file and make it only available to ‘Members’ and not to the public then use the Secure Files section.

If it’s going to be available to both e.g. Public visitors plus Members then use the normal Media Upload NOT the Secure files one.

Note: you can still use the ‘Non Secure Files’ section for ‘protected pages and posts’. Meaning that if you create a normal web page or blog post and then protect that page / post e.g. make it accessible to ‘Gold’ Level members only you can still add images, video, audio etc. to that post from the ‘non-secure’ media manager.

The images below are old and not the current admin area.

When creating a Post or a Page you will see this:

This is where you can select to upload an ‘Image, Video file, or Audio or any other ‘media’ files.

Once you get in to the media manager you depending on what type of file you selected to upload you will see something like this: (this is the screen you will see when you choose the ‘Image button’ in the ‘Add Media’ section).

Note: you can upload multiple files simultaneously by clicking the ‘Browse’ button and then selecting the files you want to upload (Ctrl + Click or Shift + Click)

OK, so you want to know if you can use the SAME ‘Secure File’ on multiple membership levels?

Yes! you can. You can make a post or page accessible to as many different membership levels as you like and the user will only be able to get access if they have the appropriate membership level for that page or post.

I hope this helps you decide how to know and decide where to upload your images and videos.

Have a great day

To see how to use the Extreme Member help videos section please watch the video below.

Click Here for the Online written manual

Extreme Member is going live in less than 24 hours now. Go to the sign up page for more details. Click here to go there now.

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Widgets allow you to customize the sidebars of your site. For the public site and also the Members only site. Watch the video below for more detail.

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