Elevated X - anyone use them currently?

[deltav]

I'm thinking about going with Elevated X for my vintage paysite in the next few months - the past several years general consensus was it was the best out there, just wanted to check in and see if that's still the case before I finalize the jump.

Most of the other adult CMSs seem to have kinda stalled development paths - a couple exceptions - and the field definitely seems to be thinner. Elevated has probably 4x more features than I'll actually need, so bloat is a concern, but so many of those automation and member management aspects look pretty great. To say nothing of easier device/mobile compatibility (assuming they're actively developing this as devices change quickly).

In the same vein, since I'll be changing hosts does anyone use their packaged server/CMS license (I think partnered with MojoHost)? Recommended?

If anyone's got equivalent CMSs that they truly think are better (and if you've had direct experience with both), feel free to share long as you're not going to try to sell me on running a membership site via Wordpress ;)

[vittle]

Elevated X and Mojo host are a good combo. I'd recommend both

[USA]

Originally Posted by vittle

Elevated X and Mojo host are a good combo. I'd recommend both

thank you very much for your advices

[Oliver Klozov]

Ditto!!!

Originally Posted by vittle

Elevated X and Mojo host are a good combo. I'd recommend both

[CurrentlySober]

Originally Posted by vittle

Elevated X and Mojo host are a good combo. I'd recommend both

seconded...

[CurrentlySober]

Originally Posted by CurrentlySober

seconded...

Oh yes, and btw... Thanks for asking for my opinion personally in your subject line

[MrGusMuller]

You can take a look at deerecms.com.

CMS preview here

• Multi-language
• Video screencaps and scroll
• Multi-site
• Free-theme
• FHG builder
• iPhone / iPad / Android ready
• JSON data, AJAX 'ready' and RSS feeds
• Afilliates email

[NEW XTC]

Originally Posted by deltav

feel free to share long as you're not going to try to sell me on running a membership site via Wordpress ;)

You must not know much about WP to make this statement.

aMember is far more than the term "plugin" would suggest - its a full blown CMS and it runs on WP.

The idea of paying monthly for a CMS (unless you are a large company with multiple high traffic sites and mass content needs) is over.

[Matyko]

I am in the middle of paysite setup with the ElevatedX team and so far everything seems to be professional.

[iSpyCams]

Never used Elevated X but you can't go wrong with Mojohost.

[atom]

We started using ElevatedX in December and so far have been very happy with it. We do not use Mojo so I can not comment on that combo.

Any new site development we do will use ElevatedX

[dgraves]

I'm with Mojo and use EX. Mojo does a great job and have a thorough knowledge of EX which helps tremendously. They work closely with EX and Proxypass to make a nice little package.

[DamianJ]

Why hasn't Ryan posted yet saying they are shit?



That aside, I constantly recommend elevated x and mojo to clients. totally top notch.

[plsureking]

PornCMS development hasn't stalled. Its actively developed, maintained and supported. the interface is far beyond the 90's style elevatedX interface. have all these people giving praise to elevatedX tried editing the template through the admin panel? oh yea, you can't lol. everything is segmented and separated. not an easy way to manage a website. they don't even include the video converter in the base cms. you have to pay extra for it.

WP is a really bad choice for managing a porn site, but at least they know how to build a cms. try PornCMS tho. you'll be wondering why you ever bothered with any other cms..

#

[plsureking]

Originally Posted by DamianJ

Why hasn't Ryan posted yet saying they are shit?

i get tired of repeating myself lol

#

[deltav]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Originally Posted by plsureking

PornCMS development hasn't stalled. Its actively developed, maintained and supported. the interface is far beyond the 90's style elevatedX interface. have all these people giving praise to elevatedX tried editing the template through the admin panel? oh yea, you can't lol. everything is segmented and separated. not an easy way to manage a website. they don't even include the video converter in the base cms. you have to pay extra for it.

WP is a really bad choice for managing a porn site, but at least they know how to build a cms. try PornCMS tho. you'll be wondering why you ever bothered with any other cms..

#

Hey plsureking - since I've never tried your PornCMS I can't speak to its quality one way or another, but as for feedback on your sales pitch... first off man, don't go negative like you did above. When you do so & if you have an obvious agenda (being the competition in this case) it 's off-putting to prospective customers. Talk up the positive points of your own product, you can always slip in a subtle dig/comparison if the customer bites.

Far as your website goes, the verbiage is addressed to total newbies. The heading "Can I Really Make Money In Porn?" and then describing the very basics throughout the site, etc. I think most of that aspiring webmaster-type customer died out in 2008 or so, nowadays they've been weeded out and even the smaller operations like mine have been around for a decent amount of time (since 2002 in my case) and are at least somewhat savvy. We're looking for info emphasizing the time-saving features, adaptable design across mobile & non-mobile devices, solid development paths, etc, not text to the effect of "You Too can make Money in Porn, Here's How!"

If anything, that sort of copy reminds me of the old generic turnkey paysites companies used to sell to newbie suckers - not saying what you're offering is anything near so worthless by any stretch but the verbiage is similar.

Just my 2 cents, think about your sales pitch and who you're selling to these days.

BUT... to everyone else, he does bring up my next question sort of, with the "have you tried editing the [Elevated X] template through the admin panel? oh yeah, you can't lol." That is, how customizable is it, within reason?

What edits is he referring to, via what admin panel? If it's the visual design & such, we're not expecting full flexibility from a control panel but it would be nice if any options there played well with coding/css customizations. I.e. can you easily customize in-house or 3rd party, or do you really need an Elevated X expert for that stuff?

[plsureking]

Hey Deltav - I understand where you are coming from, but my pitch is not negative. Its factual. What's wrong with pointing out the issues with my competitor's products? There are many lol

That sales website (www.porncms.com) was built for SEO. 99% of the people looking for a cms are nubes to the industry. Although we have some massive sites using the cms, we do cater to solo models and small producers. Its a much larger customer base than trying to go after the handful of large networks. If the pitch on the site turns off a few people from gfy, its unfortunate but it won't bankrupt us. Out of the hundreds of sites we install every year, less than a dozen come from the boards. I really only post on the boards as a public service lol

To edit ElevatedX templates, you need to know Smarty and you must do it manually through the server's filesystem. Comparatively, the template in PornCMS is php and edited right in the cms. These are facts, not negativity. We've got a few maintenance contracts working with ElevatedX sites. I've personally used all of my competitor's cms on active sites (other than Mr. Deere - he's new).

Anyways, you should demo any cms that catches your fancy. You need to be comfortable with the interface AND the developer. I'm extremely helpful, and go out of my way to support our site owners, but some people think I have an ego. Its not ego, its confidence.

#

[DamianJ]

Originally Posted by plsureking

PornCMS development hasn't stalled. Its actively developed, maintained and supported. the interface is far beyond the 90's style elevatedX interface. have all these people giving praise to elevatedX tried editing the template through the admin panel? oh yea, you can't lol. everything is segmented and separated. not an easy way to manage a website. they don't even include the video converter in the base cms. you have to pay extra for it.

WP is a really bad choice for managing a porn site, but at least they know how to build a cms. try PornCMS tho. you'll be wondering why you ever bothered with any other cms..

#

Ah, there you are, knew it wouldn't be long before you tried your brilliant marketing approach. Thanks for not disappointing me.

[CamTraffic]

Originally Posted by plsureking

Although we have some massive sites using the cms

Name 2 of them

[deltav]

Originally Posted by plsureking

Hey Deltav - I understand where you are coming from, but my pitch is not negative. Its factual. What's wrong with pointing out the issues with my competitor's products? There are many lol

Sorry, it is by definition "negative". You spent more time talking down your competitor's product than you did talking up your own. Whether it's "factual" or not is a different thing entirely.

Far as the website's sales pitch, sure, market to whomever however you want. I was just giving my impressions as a prospective buyer. I think there could be a middle ground between the "You Too Can Make Money In Porn" pitch you have and a more professional approach, or at least change the testimonial & customer links to sites that are more polished.

[Clark]

We used Elevated X and were happy with it. AJ was good to work with. Seems to have maintained a solid reputation for a long time now.

Get in touch when you launch. Might have some traffic for you.
-C

[_Richard_]

Originally Posted by deltav

Most of the other adult CMSs seem to have kinda stalled development paths - a couple exceptions -

took me awhile..

[deltav]

Originally Posted by MrGusMuller

You can take a look at deerecms.com.

CMS preview here

• Multi-language
• Video screencaps and scroll
• Multi-site
• Free-theme
• FHG builder
• iPhone / iPad / Android ready
• JSON data, AJAX 'ready' and RSS feeds
• Afilliates email

Hey Gus, can you send me (either here or email webmaster at deltaofvenus.com) some examples of sites that use your CMS? Is the managed server mentioned on your page included in the pricing or extra? And any chance of an admin demo?

Originally Posted by Clark

We used Elevated X and were happy with it. AJ was good to work with. Seems to have maintained a solid reputation for a long time now.

Get in touch when you launch. Might have some traffic for you.
-C

Will do. It'll still be months out as I'm doing basically a ground-up rebuild. Will probably announce here when it's finished, as I plan to give the affiliate program a bit more love. From your sig am I correct guessing you've got some mature traffic in mind? In my experience that crosses over very nicely to vintage.

Also, anyone who wants to post their Elevated X sites feel free - I'd like to see some that aren't just from E-X's own sales pages (i.e. "flagship" sites). Or for that matter your sites if they run on Deere, PornCMS, or whatever.

Originally Posted by NEW XTC

You must not know much about WP to make this statement.

aMember is far more than the term "plugin" would suggest - its a full blown CMS and it runs on WP.

The idea of paying monthly for a CMS (unless you are a large company with multiple high traffic sites and mass content needs) is over.

I've been working with and modifying Wordpress for years, both as a straight-up blog platform and also customizing it for other projects. I've run an adult paysite using it myself. I've also learned over the years not to bother arguing with the guys who insist that it's a great platform for paysites, because they typically have a cultist's fervor and refuse to see the many flaws & drawbacks no matter what you say But if it works for you, that's great.

[aviatorz]

It's good if you know the smarty template language.

[MrGusMuller]

Originally Posted by aviatorz

It's good if you know the smarty template language.

its easy to learn following their tutorials, of course u need to have some basic knowledges of coding/scripting.

[NEW XTC]

Originally Posted by deltav

Hey Gus, can you send me (either here or email webmaster at deltaofvenus.com) some examples of sites that use your CMS? Is the managed server mentioned on your page included in the pricing or extra? And any chance of an admin demo?



Will do. It'll still be months out as I'm doing basically a ground-up rebuild. Will probably announce here when it's finished, as I plan to give the affiliate program a bit more love. From your sig am I correct guessing you've got some mature traffic in mind? In my experience that crosses over very nicely to vintage.

Also, anyone who wants to post their Elevated X sites feel free - I'd like to see some that aren't just from E-X's own sales pages (i.e. "flagship" sites). Or for that matter your sites if they run on Deere, PornCMS, or whatever.



I've been working with and modifying Wordpress for years, both as a straight-up blog platform and also customizing it for other projects. I've run an adult paysite using it myself. I've also learned over the years not to bother arguing with the guys who insist that it's a great platform for paysites, because they typically have a cultist's fervor and refuse to see the many flaws & drawbacks no matter what you say But if it works for you, that's great.

Ive also been running WP and other systems and Im no cultist - but you arent hearing this so Ill say it again: aMember is a whole separate system running on WP - its a FULL BLOWN CMS - if you havent tried it your former experience with WP has no bearing whatsoever.

please try to find a "flaws & drawbacks" and let me know

[dgraves]

I still use WP for a few paysites and it works well. The only issue I had was when plugins don't get updated or the conflict with other plugins. The cache plugins seem to cause the most problems. You're pretty much at the mercy of the plugin developer which can put you in a bad situation depending on which plugin it is.

One of the many features that turned me onto EX is the FFMPEG Transcoder.

[Clark]

Originally Posted by deltav

Will do. It'll still be months out as I'm doing basically a ground-up rebuild. Will probably announce here when it's finished, as I plan to give the affiliate program a bit more love. From your sig am I correct guessing you've got some mature traffic in mind? In my experience that crosses over very nicely to vintage.

Yes most of ours is mature traffic. We've got other niches as well and run a lot of PPC campaigns for people. I was thinking there would be good potential for some cross over w/ mature so I want to give it a shot.
clark -AT- paysiteservices ,com
Good luck with your rebuild.

[Itchy]

Originally Posted by dgraves

I still use WP for a few paysites and it works well. The only issue I had was when plugins don't get updated or the conflict with other plugins. The cache plugins seem to cause the most problems. You're pretty much at the mercy of the plugin developer which can put you in a bad situation depending on which plugin it is.

One of the many features that turned me onto EX is the FFMPEG Transcoder.

[NEW XTC]

Originally Posted by dgraves

I still use WP for a few paysites and it works well. The only issue I had was when plugins don't get updated or the conflict with other plugins. The cache plugins seem to cause the most problems. You're pretty much at the mercy of the plugin developer which can put you in a bad situation depending on which plugin it is.

One of the many features that turned me onto EX is the FFMPEG Transcoder.

This is a non-issue now with aMember...finally a developer that isn't going anywhere and is on top of each new update. If you are using adultsite CMS - well I'm sorry.

http://www.amember.com/

[pornguy]

We use it on our network. Its an amazing tool.

Czarina is the best person to have do the integrations for your site.

[AJHall]

Originally Posted by deltav

Sorry, it is by definition "negative". You spent more time talking down your competitor's product than you did talking up your own. Whether it's "factual" or not is a different thing entirely.

Far as the website's sales pitch, sure, market to whomever however you want. I was just giving my impressions as a prospective buyer. I think there could be a middle ground between the "You Too Can Make Money In Porn" pitch you have and a more professional approach, or at least change the testimonial & customer links to sites that are more polished.

You already know I would love to have you on board with us

As far as "factual" I'm really not sure why reference was made to our admin panel being out of date but sadly we see a lot of this kind of nonsense from most of our competitors.

Elevated X unveiled a brand new modern CMS admin panel at the XBiz 360 show in LA last month and it's been getting rave reviews. We were also thrilled to take home the XBiz award for 2014 Software Company of The Year, our second win in the past 3 years.

To see our new admin panel check out the Elevated X CMS demo at http://www.elevatedx.com/demo.php

AJ

[AJHall]

Originally Posted by deltav

Also, anyone who wants to post their Elevated X sites feel free - I'd like to see some that aren't just from E-X's own sales pages (i.e. "flagship" sites)

The trouble with this is you're relying on GFY and a lot of people aren't reading threads like this and eager to post their sites for other people/potential competitors to look at.

If you want to see more sites than those who offered testimonials on our site or the large brands shoot me an email and tell me what type of sites you're interested in seeing and I'll send you a list.

AJ

[RainGurl]

Elevated X is a great tool and AJ and his team are very responsive, helpful and in my case, patient. I went to Elevated X from using WP and another WP-based system, and the ease of use was fantastic. Elevated X was built for our industry and therefore has the tools you're likely to need. Using WP, I spent way too much time trying to get the system to do things it wasn't designed to do.

[deltav]

Originally Posted by NEW XTC

This is a non-issue now with aMember...finally a developer that isn't going anywhere and is on top of each new update. If you are using adultsite CMS - well I'm sorry.

http://www.amember.com/

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong XTC, but it looks like aMember is a stand-alone membership CMS that has optional Wordpress integration (among other CMSs)? This is quite a bit different than a CMS built entirely on a WP base.

It looks fine, but part of the appeal of going with an industry-specific CMS is not having to hack together and maintain all the 3rd party plugins to do exactly what you want, most of the functionality is built in. And ideally a good developer anticipates your needs and updates the software according to industry standards.

That being said, if I were running a mainstream membership site I'd actually take a good look at aMember.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[fmadison]

We use

ElevateX
amember
isprime for hosting.

Top of the food chain. But I am creating my own CMS on top of wordpress.

Those who say wordpress is a no go for CMS well, I can make wordpress do anything and fast as well.

Looking to add VOD with payper minute including bitcoin payments...