Possibly moving from Wix – What Plugins would I need?
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I’m looking at moving away from my current site which is hosted on Wix and WordPress is appealing due to its flexibility. However, I’m confused by all the plugins and wondered if someone could advise if what I need is possible + recommended plugins.
Currently, when a client decides to work with me, they get sent an invoice. Once that invoice has been paid, they receive an invite (email currently) to join my members area (Wix members area). Once they are a member, they can:
- Book + manage their appointments
- Access training guides
- Purchase products + more training sessions
- Connect with other clients
The majority of this is done via Wix members area + spaces app, which whilst there are limitations, is working for now. Most of this works well, however the issues I have stem from the lack of automation that Wix allows.
Ideally, I’d like to be able to offer clients the above features but automate the backend with:
- Booking reminders if an appointment hasn’t been booked (linked to original purchase) with conditions to check if a booking has been made
- Send invoice link via sms
- SMS/email booking notifications for change of status
- Sign up invite sent via SMS (possibly WhatsApp)
- SMS/email reminders to complete forms
- Limit the number of appointments I have during a day
- Better visibility to see all client information in one place (forms, bookings, purchases etc.)
I hope this is ok to post here and thanks in advance.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there! There is a large range of plugins for WordPress, it’s definitely worth narrowing down what you might need.
From what you’re saying, it sounds like you have a fairly well-established setup so far and would want to expand the back-end to make your management work easier. We actually have a service called Built By WordPress.com for building/migrating sites, which includes consultation and revisions. In the name of making your work easier it could be a useful option for you!
In terms of the plugins you’d want, you’d definitely be looking at store functions along with memberships, possibly a forum (depending on how your clients current connect with one another), and bookings functions for appointments.
With that in mind, I could suggest a few options. There are a few free and paid plugins here. One of the advantages of paid plugins is that they come with a higher level of support from the plugin creators, than the forums of free extensions! As it is, here are some options:
- WooCommerce – free. this is a store plugin at its core; and there are extensions available for it that are both free and paid. Used for laying the foundation for your products, bookable sessions, members’ area, and more.
- WooCommerce Memberships – a paid extension for WooCommerce which lets you set membership restrictions on areas of your site, and sell the membership directly.
- This can also be handy if you would want to automate granting access to your clients, as they can pay on the site, log in, and access the appropriate content.
- Related to this, if you want to offer your memberships as a subscription, there’s an extension for that too: Woo Subscriptions (paid)
- You can also use WooCommerce Memberships to restrict access to certain products in your store so that only existing members can purchase them.
- WooCommerce Bookings – paid. for creating “training session” products that clients can book.
- You can of course integrate WooCommerce Bookings with your own calendar and set the availability so that you don’t get overbooked.
- This doesn’t directly include SMS notifications to confirm bookings, but those can be integrated using the Twilio SMS Notifications extension (paid).
- Should you need to display a calendar of available sessions, the WooCommerce Bookings Availability extension (paid) could be useful.
- AutomateWoo – paid. This extension lets you set up triggers and automated flows for your site, and it too integrates with Twilio SMS Notifications, WooCommerce Bookings and WooCommerce Memberships among others.
- Twilio SMS notifications also integrates with other extensions too!
- Two example options for letting your members connect with one another:
- BuddyPress – free. Create a sociable area with profiles, activity streams, groups, among other options.
- bbPress – free. This is more specifically a forum plugin.
This is a non-exhaustive list and just a few of the plugins which could work together! Honorable mentions go to WooCommerce Order Status Manager (paid) for additional options/integrations with Twilio SMS Notifications for various points of the purchase process, and Sensei LMS (free at the basic level) should you wish to set up any courses/lessons/quizzes for your members as training material.
I hope that helps; but if you have other questions please do let us know.
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