Account Expiration Control Component 0.10.1 just released!

[skOre]

This Free Software joomla! component gives you the possibility to offer paid memberships on your website. It supports multiple payment gateways, multiple payment plan options, an easy and comprehensive front- and backend and easy customization - you will have your memberships set up in a blaze.

Accepts multiple payment gateways (Paypal, Authorize.net, 2Checkout...)
Membership options: Paid, Free, Lifetime, Trials
Integration with major components like CB and JACL
Other Features: Global Free Trial, customized NotAllowed page, easy backend workflow
Languages currently supported: english, spanish, french, brazilian/portuguese, italian and german
And its hacking core joomla files with a Mouseclick from your backend!


################
Latest Release notes for Version 0.10.1:

• CB and CBE specific bugfixes (new file hacking to make original CB registration defunct, proper recognition of CBE)
• Fixes concerning the new ACL features of payment plans (including the mingid fix)
• Also included instant changing of ACL without the need to logout/login (Thanks to Sam Lewis!)
• Fixing several bugs with 2Checkout payment
• New Paypal currencies (NZD, CHF, HKD, SGD, SEK, DKK, PLN, NOK, HUF, CZK)
• Better redirect urls for SEF and Joomfish - should integrate well now!
• Fixing Problems with Javascript dates
• Possibility to move users from Excluded list to a specified payment plan
• Custom Redirect on login and logout for the module

Please undo and redo the hacks from the hacks page if you have false redirects for the old registration and the NotAllowed page!

Due to the CB hacking, this is a very important security release for everybody who uses AEC in combination with CB!
But every other user should upgrade as well, since we fixed countless bugs and enhanced lots of features - this is the most stable release to date!
We would also like to announce an addition to our team! Ethanchai from Malaysia has joined us about a month ago and has since become a very valuable part of our development team. He is already responsible for the new redirect on login/out feature (and several bugfixes) and is helping our users out on various forums.
And finally, we would like to thanks Andres Freire for reporting the security flaw at CB integration.
################

(To update, just uninstall your old AEC and install the new one - all data will be preserved, although you should have a look at your settings)

Please support our development by becoming a member on globalnerd.org. Its not expensive and helps us a lot in our development. We wouldn't have come this far without the people that already support us. You also get a nice wiki manual and access to our support forums! Learn more

Download now!

[Dyvel]

Seems pretty buggy to me...
Link to component redirects to the frontpage so I can't se my plans.

If a user tries to upgrade no plans are showed. The plans are published. I have tested on 2 different installations with joomla 1.0.11 - no seo/htaccess. I'm using CB

Any hints?

[ethanchai]

I can get it work in sandbox mode with jaclplus nicely but without the cb component. My spec is like below.

version : 1.0.11
jacl plus for 1.0.11
and lastest aep component.

Just some comment my own implementation:

1) too many pass by reference warning from php. -> could easily change by removing the '&'..
2) the expiration date did not show correctly in front end and backend.-> use back the normal expiration value directly from db. :P
3) undefine index and undeclare variable in ipn process part. -> because did not take care of _GET variable ..
4) browser will show some error if disable username check from the backend.  --> js have some invalid or null object, make check username on, error gone.
5) Some undefine offset happen, mainly for the backend. --> because of the expiration date issue.


I have done all this in 2 hours, and actually i wish to join the development on this, but unfortunately there is no way for me to join the development process except i pay for subscription, weird ... pay to help development..

[skOre]

Dyvel:
Just to state the obvious - There is no direct linking to the component, you have to use our login module (in your case the CB Version).

ethanchai:
1) Noted
2) What did it show/ What was wrong exactly?
3) Noted
4) The js should be completely disabled... strange
5) Could you specify?

You say that you used it without the cb component - is that because this was not working for you?

And no, you don't have to pay to help in the development, if you want to contribute, just send us your changes and we will have a look into them. Where did we state that you would have to?

[Dyvel]

Hi skOre

Thanks. I've got it working now...

[skOre]

Added this to the first post as well - be sure to check out our Quickstart Manual

[Dyvel]

Yes, but I did look at the guide but I must have missed something.
But I don't quite understand to registration/pay flow. My logic would say that you would choose a plan forst, and then create the user information with CB. You made it the other way around. What's the reason/argument for doing so?

[Dyvel]

I've just discovered that if I enable manual transfer under settings>transfer then I do se the plans first, but if I then choose manual payment then I'm just redirected to the frontpage and not reg. form. I'm redirected ok if I choose a plan with online payment.

[ethanchai]

2) What did it show/ What was wrong exactly?
For example, the expiration should be like this Thursday, November 23, 2006 11:59:59 PM, but in the original rc1, it is showing  Thursday, November 23 only on aep login module and backend.

5) The offset is because of the DisplayShortDateInLocalTime function, maybe it need some tweak?


I do not use it with community builder because i do not need to function, and i feel it is a bit too "heavy" for my website.
For helping with the development, actually it is best that if we can actually have some access to svn or cvs so that we are not doing duplicate job. Error looking by someone may already being solved by some other , and we as the coder hard to guess and know the component progress.

Maybe release the access to the dev source but charge for the support for forum and docs..

p.s. I am concern with the warning or notice because it does affect trust of the compenent if the user find that it generate a huge warning and undeclare stuff. As a good component like aep, it should also polish the little warning part, perharps i can help to test it all the time as i like this component so much.. :P

[skOre]

Dyvel: Could you provide a link to your site (maybe via pm) so that I can have a look at it? It does seem like strange behaviour to me. It would also be good to have admin rights to see how your settings are. We have customers using CB and AEC where it works exactly as you want it to. My guess is that you simply overlooked something in the setup...

ethanchai: We have no problem opening our svn to developers, we have done so for example to Luca Scarpa who provides the italian translation. Crucial to this however is that we can see the quality of your work first. We have a responsibility to our users and especially to our customers that we don't gamble with. So if you want to help us out on the things you found, please send us your work and we will look into it. But please understand that we can't accept you as a developer just because you say that you fixed bugs

2) We still need to find a good way to display dates - Admins like to have an exact expiration, but for users it mostly just clutters up the screen to have their expiration rendered to the last fraction. We decided that we would have short renderings in general and see what needs to be changed after this.

5) We'll look into it.

[skOre]

Dyvel:

Found your problem (I think) - Disable the global Entry Plan (Enable Entry Plan = No on AEC Settings->Global Settings tab)

cheers!

[HecticDMC]

Before I even try to install the com, I need to know how it works with my setup - specifically, it says I need to use the com's login module and disable my own... but I'm using the SMF bridge. I found a reference to the SMF bridge from Joomlahacks and how it'll work with that, but I'm not using that bridge, I'm using the bridge from Simple Machines.

Given that a lot of people have expressed concern over core files being modified, I'd like a wee bit of reassurance before I try it out

I'd try out the forums over there, but it's paid only, and I can't imagine paying for something that I have no idea if it even works or not 

[edit]
I installed on a domain I'm not using yet - a clean install of Joomla 1.0.1.1, and I get errors. Nothing has been modified, it was a totally clean install, no changes. You can view the site at http://www.thecppc.com - hit the register link and you'll see the errors:

Code: Select all

Warning: Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated - argument passed by value; If you would like to pass it by reference, modify the declaration of [runtime function name](). If you would like to enable call-time pass-by-reference, you can set allow_call_time_pass_reference to true in your INI file. However, future versions may not support this any longer. in /home/.arioch/thressh/thecppc.com/components/com_acctexp/acctexp.php on line 942

Warning: Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated - argument passed by value; If you would like to pass it by reference, modify the declaration of [runtime function name](). If you would like to enable call-time pass-by-reference, you can set allow_call_time_pass_reference to true in your INI file. However, future versions may not support this any longer. in /home/.arioch/thressh/thecppc.com/components/com_acctexp/acctexp.php on line 942

Warning: Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated - argument passed by value; If you would like to pass it by reference, modify the declaration of [runtime function name](). If you would like to enable call-time pass-by-reference, you can set allow_call_time_pass_reference to true in your INI file. However, future versions may not support this any longer. in /home/.arioch/thressh/thecppc.com/components/com_acctexp/acctexp.php on line 1562

Warning: Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated - argument passed by value; If you would like to pass it by reference, modify the declaration of [runtime function name](). If you would like to enable call-time pass-by-reference, you can set allow_call_time_pass_reference to true in your INI file. However, future versions may not support this any longer. in /home/.arioch/thressh/thecppc.com/components/com_acctexp/acctexp.php on line 1562

Warning: Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated - argument passed by value; If you would like to pass it by reference, modify the declaration of strtolower(). If you would like to enable call-time pass-by-reference, you can set allow_call_time_pass_reference to true in your INI file. However, future versions may not support this any longer. in /home/.arioch/thressh/thecppc.com/components/com_acctexp/acctexp.html.php on line 176
DB function failed with error number 1064
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'AND active=1 AND entry<1 ORDER BY ordering' at line 2 SQL=SELECT * FROM jos_acctexp_plans WHERE mingid= AND active=1 AND entry<1 ORDER BY ordering

[/edit]

[ethanchai]

You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL

This is because you have not create any plan from the backend yet. Please enable at least 1 plan and this error will gone.

Warning: Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated

This is because the aep component use pass by reference in some of the place,just to do the partifular file and the line specify suggested from the log,  remove the "&" sign and the warning will gone.

[ethanchai]

Crucial to this however is that we can see the quality of your work first.

Agree. Maybe i can just keep an eye for the aep component and fixing those bugs which i think should be avoid for a profesional component, perharps i should really  do some language translation and bug fixes and post it here to get evaluate first. :P

Anyway, i think i can offer some simple "free" support for comminity user at this forum to show my support for the aep component ,  this is the chances to give the idea for user what this component can do and hence promote it. Do note that most casual User will stay away from the component if they do not even know if this is the right component for them, and they need to pay before they know it.


Lastly , aep is actually the fantastic and quality component in joomla that i ever seen. Cheers
 

[HecticDMC]

*sigh*
Okay, well, I've got it working on my test server, and it looks pretty good so far. There is one important feature, I don't know if I'm overlooking it or if it's missing, and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pay money to find out.

Is there an option to have users check a "I agree" box for a membership agreement or terms of service? If there isn't, I can't use this, and I imagine most other people can't either - anytime you have money changing hands, you need a document to go along with it.

The decision to make all support and documentation paid-only baffles me. It's like you don't want people to use the product. It's unfair to use the Joomla! forums to answer questions from people like me. I want to like your product, I really do.

[ethanchai]

Is there an option to have users check a "I agree" box for a membership agreement or terms of service

Well. I think there is the way to check for it by hacking thru the accexp.php script or accexp.html.php under the component directory.
If i remember correctly, it should be do some check on the registration flow . It should be the small js part of the inside the script.

[skOre]

HecticDMC:
What would you like better? Pay for the software and get manuals and support for free? We have chosen that we rather want to make the component as good and self-explaining as it gets, the manual and our own support forum are more of a bonus to our membership (which exists basically for the case that you want to show your gratitude for our work). We know that its not entirely self-explaining yet, but understanding it by using it is doable (thats how I got to work on it) and we will try to improve on this in the future. And we also see that some will want bits of free support in advance, this is why we do answer here.

To your questions:
We have not yet tried that bridge out (I couldn't get it to run, found the joomlahacks bridge to be way better), so its good to hear that it works. As it seems we were quite right with our autohacking feature which amends to core files, not replacing them. Yet I must warn you that there might be some things in the bridge that need to be cushioned in our own files. We had to add some bits of code from the joomlahacks bridge into our own component in order to make them work together. Would be great to hear what you find.

Clickwrap Agreements are of questionable validity, but you can work them in, and I am actually currently working on preparing such a feature. If you want to build it in right now manually, change the following bits in the acctexp.php:

Code: Select all

	case 'register':
		selectSubscriptionPlanB($option, 0, '', '');
		break;

to:

Code: Select all

	case 'register':
		$intro = trim( mosGetParam( $_REQUEST, 'intro', 1 ) );
		selectSubscriptionPlanB($option, 0, '', '', $intro);
		break;

this:

Code: Select all

function selectSubscriptionPlanB ( $option, $userid, $username, $name ) {

into this:

Code: Select all

function selectSubscriptionPlanB ( $option, $userid, $username, $name, $intro ) {

and right after this (in the same function):

Code: Select all

	if (!$mainframe->getCfg( 'allowUserRegistration' )) {
		mosNotAuth();
		return;
	}

append this:

Code: Select all

	if ($intro) {
		$mainframe->redirect(yoururlhere);
	}

When somebody clicks register now, he will be led on to the url you provide. In that page, you can add two links to the bottom, one for cancel, which leads to where ever you want, and one for accept, which links to "http://yoururlhere/index.php?option=com ... er&intro=0" to override the intro.

ethanchai:
I agree, thats actually how I got to develop together with helder - see it is as your apprenticeship If Helder and I see that you can be of good use, we will ask you to join, so keep it coming! (And please stop calling it aep - Account Expiration what?)

[HecticDMC]

First, let me apologize if I came across as harsh last night. I'd been staring at Joomla for about 14 hours, trying to race the clock to get things finished by this Thursday, and I was frustrated. I do think that the paid-support/paid-manual is strange though, because learn-as-you-go is one thing, but you're applying that concept to a critical component -  that is, a component that, if it gets messed up, could ruin the logins for your entire site... know what I mean? I don't know what the answer is... free software is great, free support is great, if I had to offer one or the other ... I'm not sure what choice I would make.

One thing that might work would be to offer a sandbox for people to test in. Not sure how feasible that is, but I spent 45 minutes setting up a new joomla install with the SMF bridge and all that so I could test things out (and I'lll definitely let you know about the bridge integration once I get everything playing nice together).

Anyway... the proposed solution is perfiect. Questionable validity aside, I need to have users accept a terms of service before registering. It's a requirement from the company that I am supporting. I made the changes to the code, but now I'm getting a fatal error. To clarify, around line 782, I should be appending code - my code will then look like this:

Code: Select all

	if (!$mainframe->getCfg( 'allowUserRegistration' )) {
		mosNotAuth();
		return;
	}
	if ($intro) {
		$mainframe->redirect(myurlhere);
	}

Is this correct? (changing the myurlhere later on of course). I tested the code with a redirect to Yahoo, and came up with this fatal error:

Code: Select all

Fatal error: Call to undefined method mosMainFrame::redirect() in /home/.arioch/thressh/thecppc.com/components/com_acctexp/acctexp.php on line 787

Looks like it doesn't recognize the redirect function. Any idea what might be causing that?

Thanks for your time!

[skOre]

Instead of

Code: Select all

$mainframe->redirect(myurlhere);

try

Code: Select all

mosRedirect( "http://www.myurlhere.com" );

[helder]

This is because the aec component use pass by reference in some of the place,just to do the partifular file and the line specify suggested from the log,  remove the "&" sign and the warning will gone.

Be careful, the "pass by reference" is there for a reason. If you simply remove them, your fields will not be updated in the database.
This message is a "warning", not an error. It is saying that this kind of use is deprecated in newer version of PHP. We can just start to use new model of passing by reference (putting the requirement to pass by reference in the function prototype), but this will probably break the code for users that are using older versions of PHP. We need to keep compatibilty for a while.

[ethanchai]

Be careful, the "pass by reference" is there for a reason

\

noted and thanks for input. But is it "seem alright to me when i just remove the "&" , any clue?

please stop calling it aep - Account Expiration what

Sorry. I did not notice that i actually put the wrong short name. Apologize.

[helder]

Be careful, the "pass by reference" is there for a reason

\

noted and thanks for input. But is it "seem alright to me when i just remove the "&" , any clue?

doesn't it make more sense to disable warnings on php.ini?

[HecticDMC]

That did the trick, sk0re, thank you. I'll start experimenting now, making sure it fully works with the SMF bridge and everything and post back my findings.

helder, could you expand a bit on what you meant by the fields not updating in the database? What kind of effect would that have on the functionality of the component? And how does one go about modifying php.ini? Isn't that an uneditable file held by the web host?

[skOre]

helder, could you expand a bit on what you meant by the fields not updating in the database? What kind of effect would that have on the functionality of the component? And how does one go about modifying php.ini? Isn't that an uneditable file held by the web host?

That largely depends on the host you use. For the fixes that ethanchai proposed - they could indeed make problems with older versions of php, so you're best off not using them for now. And I think that you did not intend to

Great to hear that it worked out for you! And yeah, keep us posted!

[helder]

helder, could you expand a bit on what you meant by the fields not updating in the database? What kind of effect would that have on the functionality of the component? And how does one go about modifying php.ini? Isn't that an uneditable file held by the web host?

When you call a function like editSubscription plan, you pass the object handler to be updated. If you don't pass it by reference, you will be only changing a copy of it, that will be discarded when you exit the updating page.
In a hosting systems, your php settings are composed by a central php.ini, and a local php.ini in your , if it exists.
the php.ini entry should look like
error_reporting = E_ERROR | E_USER_ERROR
to show only errors.

[helder]

My fault my fault... Yes, you can safely replace all entries like

Code: Select all

getFieldsForCBForm( &$rowFields, &$rowFieldValues, $regErrorMSG );

for

Code: Select all

getFieldsForCBForm( $rowFields, $rowFieldValues, $regErrorMSG );

Actually, that's what Im doing right now. This affects CB users but don't have any impact in functionality.

[ethanchai]

Glad to hear that it is alright to remove the "&" sign.  as i already remove it before you confirm with us.

Another small note to remove the undeclare variable and undefine index at processIPN function of accexp.php file.

instead of

$txn_id = $_POST['txn_id'];

perharps it is good to put this

if(isset($_POST['txn_id']))
$txn_id = $_POST['txn_id'];
else if(isset($_GET['txn_id']))
        $txn_id                        = $_GET['txn_id'];

Hope this help someone that do not like to see many undefine stuff in the error log, as you know, too many undeclare or undefine things in the error log might make troubleshooting in future become harder.

[ethanchai]

Also i am currently hacking into the component to see if i have some way to make it:

1. auto update docman entry on successful subscription and removal of the client. I am sure it is posible. Looking at this currently
2. fixing the html validity of the register and reset password function in the login module (Should look at the component).
3. Putting a cancel renewal link on top of the your subscription page for subscription user.
4. Language translation for chinese gbk, chinese big5 , and malay.
5. Accept terms of services. just a simple function checkbox during register and the terms of services is just a hyperlink to the page.
6. Encrypted the paypal button to provide more secure trasaction. ( for buyers.)
7. Unregisted user integration using the unregister module.

[helder]

That's great! and I would love to see AEC in Chinese!
About $txn_id, actually we need to use mosGetParam to be more secure. I just need to check if this function is deprecated in Joomla, and even if it is, have to deal with keeping compatibility for both Joomla and Mambo.

[skOre]

4. Language translation for chinese gbk, chinese big5 , and malay.

As helder said - that would be majorly awesome!

5. Accept terms of services. just a simple function checkbox during register and the terms of services is just a hyperlink to the page.

As I said before, I'm working on having the admin able to include a page before the payment plans, which would make it possible to include TOS there, but a checkbox would be nice as well.

6. Encrypted the paypal button to provide more secure trasaction. ( for buyers.)

That is domain of paypal websites pro, which we have not yet tackled. We are actually working on a modular payment gateway environment, so for us, payments pro is on the list after that.