Coachamatic

On a coaching list I belong to, someone recently asked this question:

“I have several clients that are putting together member sites and it’s technically quite challenging to connect the member username/password management with the shopping cart (1 shopping cart). I’m wondering if any of you have used AMember software or another similar program to do this. If so, do you have the shopping cart handle the autoresponders and billing or the member software?”

So, Coaches, Therapists and other folks who want to create a unique member community for those they serve, listen up, here’s my reply….

I am so happy to say that soon my team and I will be debuting our Quantum Flow Communities membership site during the holidays, after much trial and error. I’m SO looking forward to the day I will be sending you an invite to a test-drive! But I digress…

I tried AMember and disliked it. My team and I found it clunky and not as fully featured as we wanted. Same with many of the others including Civicspace, Geeklog, OneCMS, Movable Type and other blogware. Drupal is a good system, but lacked some of the modules we wanted to integrate. What we settled on and are so-happy-we-could-plotz with, is Joomla. Joomla is a f.r.e.e, open-source Content Management System - which is basically what you’re talking about needing in a member website.

It’s worthwhile to know that Joomla is the progression of another system called “Mambo”, and IMO, is the better of the two. It’s also the one that enjoys the best developer community and has the most extensive module selection - membership, community, magazine capabilities, and so on. All here if you want to take a look:

http://www.joomla.org

To “try” all the modules you can plug in (and get yourself REALLY excited) - again, about 90% of this stuff is f.r.e.e - go here:

http://joomlaportaldemo.com

Click on the folders for a list of the different modules available. Choose only those who have significant good comments in the comment area of the page (scroll down to see these)

But first things first. And first of all, from the tech-geek end of the spectrum, you should know what you WANT in a CMS - Content Management System - member site. You know you want integrated ecommerce with 1shoppingcart.com. Joomla for instance, I know has this as they are the cart I use. They also integrate with my merchant gateway, Authorize.net. You might also want an e-learning module, games, classified ads, affiliate tracking, helpdesk, blogs, forums, a picture gallery….the possibilities are endless. Generate yourself a good “wish list” of things you want.

This great article from Devopedia will get you started in understanding how this stuff works and what you want to shop for:

http://www.devopedia.com/index.php/CMS

And for great advice on how to actually choose from the bewildering array, go here:

http://snipurl.com/How2ChooseCMS

Then, once you know what you’re looking at and what functionality you want, you’re going to want to go comparison shopping. While you can drop a few thousand on a bang-up member site - why, when the best software out there is f.r.e.e to use? (though I suggest a nice donation to the developers of whatever you end up using)

I suggest open source CMS-ware as you will get a great developer community who hops on getting problems dealt with and modules you want, developed - many times much faster than if you bought a thousands-of-dollars package.
Your first stops on the comparison trail to “try before you buy” (or f.r.e.e download, in this case) are:

http://www.opensourcecms.com/

and

http://www.cmsmatrix.org/

At cmsmatrix.org, be sure to scroll down and check the “ease of use” and “security” categories closely. Have your tech validate that enough security exists to protect your content, and you and your staff validate that it will be easy enough for you to work day-to-day.

As to shopping carts and autoresponders (AR’s), I am having my cart handle the big list. I am blessed to have a tech wunderkind who is hacking me a module to bind 1shoppingcart.com autoresponders to various opt-ins on the site as well articles and products at the Joomla site. We have the option of doing AR’s through the Joomla interface or through the cart. Since all my other AR’s are the cart, I’m probably going to opt to keep them at 1shoppingcart just for clarity’s sake.

Usually you have the option of where you want the AR’s to originate from, the choice at least for me was in what was going to be neater, cleaner and easier to handle through one interface. Hence, content, value and product listings at Joomla, contact and ecommerce at 1shoppingcart.

Side Note: A good tech should be able to hack you a module you want if none exists - don’t accept “it can’t be done”! That’s what the developer communities are for. You can often get the best help possible through the individual CMS development community forums. Newbie forums are a great place to say “Help! I need a widget that does X, Y and Q and the basic package doesn’t provide one - are there any developers out there who can help me out?”. A link to the development forums will exist on each open-source CMS portal site out there

I hope this is helpful for everyone. CMS’s RULE! And Joomla, IMHO, is the Queen Bee of all CMS systems. But then, I’m predjudiced. Do your own research and find out what works best for you. I wish you good luck and good hunting!

Posted on Sep 8th 06 by Maryam Webster.

Maryam Webster is Director of The Certified Energy Coach Program (certifiedenergycoach.org), where Coaches & Therapists Become Sought-After Superstars. She helps therapists, coaches and entrepreneurs to blow past what is holding them back and create outrageous personal & business success "at the speed of thought". http://maryamwebster.blogs.com

Other posts on Coachamatic by Maryam Webster.