Just coming back here to say that UM 2.0 is now mature and works without issues (in case anyone was put off by the original thread)
Hi @anonymous3542 — apologies if this is now the most appropriate location for a detailed follow-up, but here goes…
I see from these forum discussions that you are relatively expert in UM / WPForo and would value your reflections.
I am building an e-learning website, primarily using LearnDash, with WPForo for parallel group discussions. I also want an element of member profiling / networking. I will be working interculturally, principally with users in African contexts, so I need my solution to provide as much clarity and user-friendliness as possible. All on a tight budget.
I am presently using ProfileGrid for member profiles. It's quite nice, but it doesn't have any integration with WPForo, as UM does. My question / issues are this:
- What does the UM / WPForo integration achieve / offer, compared to a standalone profile plug-in?
- I recently installed UM, but got nowhere fast. Multiple reinstalls. Require manual creation of main pages and didn't create Member user-type. Gave up. Pity because it looks good in principle. The only "support" suggestion I found was to turn off all other plug-ins and see if there was still a problem. The poor installation process suggested to me that there was an issue with UM and I didn't fancy unpicking the process in that way. Any advice?
Kind regards,
Thanks for the question. I'll provide some answers here
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What does the UM / WPForo integration achieve / offer, compared to a standalone profile plug-in?
The integration of wpForo with UM means that UM assumes the role of the user profile, but adds tabs for topics, replies, subscriptions, etc in the profile manager for UM. For instance, if I choose your profile, I can then view the above items. There is also wpForo integration with UM's Notification Plugin which works very well, and it's something that my site uses. You might want to have a look at https://www.phenomlab.com (my site) as this is a good example of the integration in a real environment
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I recently installed UM, but got nowhere fast. Multiple reinstalls. Require manual creation of main pages and didn't create Member user-type. Gave up. Pity because it looks good in principle. The only "support" suggestion I found was to turn off all other plug-ins and see if there was still a problem. The poor installation process suggested to me that there was an issue with UM and I didn't fancy unpicking the process in that way. Any advice?
UM can be tough to install and configure when starting out. It also has a number of "hidden" dependencies in terms of what needs to be in place first before it'll work properly. However, it's rock solid once you have it configured properly. UM have a habit of placing far too much emphasis on paid customers (I have a developer license) and seem to cast the free users off with the re-usable line of "perform a conflict test", which helps nobody.
What you are looking for in UM may require some additional plugins outside of the UM core. You should know that these addons are not in fact cheap, and require an annual renewal to keep them updated - if you don't renew, they will still work, but won't get updates.
If you want to keep the cost down, there's always BuddyPress, although this can be pretty difficult to configure as well - and it's a nightmare when it doesn't work how it should.
Let me know if I can be of any further help.
Thank you @anonymous3542. I have had a quick look at Phenomlab — interesting project and impressive implementation of WPForo etc.
UM can be tough to install and configure when starting out. It also has a number of "hidden" dependencies in terms of what needs to be in place first before it'll work properly. However, it's rock solid once you have it configured properly.
Interesting. Are you able to give any additional insight into what I need to address, in order to get a functioning version of UM in place? Do you know whether there is a way to ensure a 'clean install' for example? I got the impression something was interfering with it from the start (i.e. having to manually install UM setting pages etc) and that's why I gave up.
What you are looking for in UM may require some additional plugins outside of the UM core.
I hadn't realised that what I needed required add-ons. What are you suggesting that I will need?
Thanks again for your perspective.
@johnbrc and @anonymous3542, I split the old topic. This discussion was not related to the old topic.
@johnbrc, in future please open new topics if your question doesn't match to the topic title and to the first post of topics.
Interesting. Are you able to give any additional insight into what I need to address, in order to get a functioning version of UM in place? Do you know whether there is a way to ensure a 'clean install' for example? I got the impression something was interfering with it from the start (i.e. having to manually install UM setting pages etc) and that's why I gave up.
Each install of UM 2.x I have done so far (and I've done a fair few) always missed the pages, and I had to create them manually. I'm not surprised by this at all. Without gaining an insight to your installation, its not easy to tell. The only real way to ensure a clean installation is to install the plugin, then navigate to Settings -> Misc, where you'll see a checkbox marked as "Remove Data on Uninstall?. Check this box, then save.
Now deactivate and remove the plugin.
I hadn't realised that what I needed required add-ons. What are you suggesting that I will need?
You mentioned member profiling and networking, which is why I mentioned that you may need to extend UM with paid extensions - have a look here to get an idea of why I think this may be necessary
https://ultimatemember.com/extensions/
