Impatient as always, I am throwing open the doors to the new members area somewhat early. The builders (PKS Consulting) are still in, the decorators (PKS Consulting) haven’t been yet and the removal men (me) have barely started loading up. OK, the place is a mess but that’s pretty much how I live 🙂 Anyway, good things are happening thanks to Ryan and his team at PKS Consulting who seem very professional and helpful unlike one company I have had the misfortune to suffer.
I’m still adding content and the customisation is yet to be done so the new site all looks a bit basic for now. So far, almost no work has been done to the basic default configuration of PornCMS. It will look a lot more like the current site when they have finished their work.
The new members area will eventually replace the existing one to overcome the problems caused by CodingFutures YourMembers plugin and the odd server side performance issue. The latter is a consequence of too many cooks: WordPress, numerous plugins and a VPS server. I was the under-qualified piggy in the middle as plugin authors and server side techies blamed each other. Now PKS Consulting will be providing everything for the new members area: the CMS software, back-ups and hosting. This means the buck stops there and there is only one butt to kick.
Unfortunately, I have been badly let down by YourMembers when support evaporated after a problem with the payment processor interface meant I have had to manually intervene to authorise some sign ups. YM will be phased out as soon as feasible but a transition period is inevitable while we switch the memberships systems over. The good news is that you don’t have to do anything and your existing membership will work. The site now will be on a much more stable platform so you will have a better user experience and I will have more time to add more content. The faster upload facility will facilitate this and less constraints will mean I can upload higher quality videos. Win, win! I also have the option of adding things like web cam for live sessions or teaching. Things can only get better.
I will take a view on the fate of the existing WordPress site. Pro tem, it will remain. Long term, I might absorb it all into PornCMS. On the other hand, it could continue as a public blog with minimal or no gallery content. Meanwhile, somebody is working on a fix for YourMembers to remove ongoing problems with signs ups and upgrades during the transition. All in all, I feel confident the site will be greatly improved and that there will be massive changes in the next couple of weeks, maybe sooner. Exciting times!