The more I research XOOPS, the more I like what I see. I tried Joomla a while back and had difficulty from the start. XOOPS seems to be a superior CMS but I'm wondering if it can fill my client's need for a membership site.

Current website consists of a private member's only section and a public section. There are three types of members: Lifetime (no dues), regular and affiliate memberships (pay dues). All members get the same privileges except their member type shows on listings.

Member's area includes:
* A Business listing directory page that display other members and their home/company contact info in alphabetical order.
* A page listing all members' emails with member status, in alphabetical order.
* Membership renewal application form.
* Conference registration form.
* Forum.
* Member account tab

Public area includes:
* Business listing page for consumers to view, displaying similar info as in the member's only listing except no personal info displayed. Listings are sorted by locale/state, then by last name. Contact a member link via contact form.
* Member's benefits page and membership application form.
* Conference registration form.

Also needed:
* If a member updates his account info, the business listings would automatically be updated.
* If member does not renew, he would be automatically removed from the member/consumer business listings as well.
* When a member joins, membership is activated by Admin.
* Track of membership expirations, send renewal reminders, track and confirm conference registrations.

Credit card processing is handled by a third-party so once someone completes the membership application or conference registration, they are redirected to a different page/site.

Are these features available through XOOPS and its modules? The client is open to having custom work done if need be. Can anyone give me some advice?

Thanks,

Cuidiu

After reading through your requirements, I believe you've made the right choice in going with XOOPS. If I'm not mistaken, most, if not all of the features you need can either be handled by the XOOPS Core or by 3rd party modules.

My best advice would be to install a standalone server program, like EasyPHP, install a local "testing" copy of XOOPS, visit the Module Repository, find some modules that have descriptions that seem like they may fit your needs, install them, and see if you will need any custom work done on them to fit your needs.

As a general rule, the XOOPS core and many XOOPS modules can be customized to fit your specific application quite easily provided that you understand and can code PHP. If not, there are several highly talented coders around here who do offer their services (for a nominal fee) to do such customization.

If you're not sure about how to get started with XOOPS, you can read up on the basic in XOOPS For Dummies (by JackJ) and go from there.

I hope this is, at least, somewhat helpful.

Best Regards,

James

Thanks, James. I should have mentioned that I know very little PHP. I don't mind rolling up my sleeves to install programs, configure settings and customize templates, etc. But this is an organization with a limited budget and my experimenting on their time wouldn't be fair to them. If someone would suggest what modules I should use then I could go right to it otherwise it's beyond me so we would definitely have to find someone to set up the project. Is there a designated forum I should post in to seek a quote? I don't see one at first glance.

Thanks,

Cuidiu
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