CARMA to ElevatedX, Who has made the switch?
 

I'm considering a switch from CARMA to ElevatedX as CARMA seems to be way behind in terms of system updates.

Has anyone actually made the switch? I anticipate it would be rather painful. I'm looking for real experiences...

It was my intention to do so.Then toomuchmedia made me some false promises and I fell for it.
Big mistake.

They both suck.

My advice: get something custom written for you.

Actually, we did it the other way around :)

Are you still with CARMA?


Anything out of the box is not going to be a perfect solution. However I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel.


Why would you switch from ElevatedX to CARMA? When?

I'm a NATS supporter, but CARMA is way behind the times in terms of upgrades and support. It obviously didn't take off like NATS did so they don't focus as much on it. Its a business decision and I respect that. However I am in business as well and need to do whats best for me. I just need to decide if I should migrate from one to the other or just start from scratch -- which I would prefer not to do if I don't have to.

we have moved clients over from both platforms to X2K Media Suite, hit me up I just ICQ'ed ya....

I tried to switch a couple years back and had to abort after a few months of work... total nightmare.

We are but Toomuchmedia is pissing me off behind control.
Carma is way behind and I need to be able to use wowza.

They want to charge me for every single step and dont respect my european sleeping hours. Only recently they have made it possible to make them clear that I dont want to be woken at 4 am.

I am so done with them and will pay extra to get out of that nightmare.

on a sidenote, your website makes me squirm pornopat lol

Thank you it is supposed to do that...lol

I don't understand. Do you have many sites or just one? Because for one site, if you can't convert DB just go the ghetto way and copy paste text between CMS, move content and such, as long as you do it yourself or the work is done by someone that knows what to do, it shouldn't be that big of an issue. And btw, whatever way you decide to go, don't put "saving money" as your main priority or you'll always end frustrated.

Alternatively, you may contact AJ, I assume he must know the way or at least lead you on the right path

btw, we never did this kind of job, but we could take a look to databases and see what can be done and/or eventually transfer all content the hard way if you need it so, just lmk if interested

I was moving someone from Carma to eX and yes, it's a mess... In the end we decided to go with a custom CMS as neither could do all the sorts of things they wanted... They're much happier with the end result. Looking back though, there are some things that could be done to make it a bit easier. Even then, it's still very time consuming.

I agree with Harvey on this. Good advice.

AJ

Sharky,
Elevated X is intended as an out of the box adult CMS solution. It works extremely well for 90% of adult site owners.

When someone runs into trouble it often has nothing to do with the CMS or the move. Most problems are due to someone requiring a massive customization project on top of moving their content over. If you buy a new house and then want to demolish and rebuild 2/3 of it, it's going to be far more messy than just moving in and hanging new curtains...

We offer a few options for moving content that make things easy:
1) We provide database documentation so you can have a developer write a script to convert your data
2) The CMS has a built-in CSV import utility that will take an Excel file of your data and import it into the system with 1 click
3) Add content manually which can usually be done at a rate of about 50-100 updates/content sets per day on avg. Big copy/paste job. Not much fun but not terrible.

Please email, ICQ me or give me a call. 800-690-9277 ext 1. I'll be happy to share honest info based on dozens of migrations - even if that means telling you I feel Elevated X is a poor fit or that a custom CMS is the best way to go based on your needs.

AJ

NATS is awesome and TMMs flagship product. Carma is a solid program, however, not leading with features in the CMS space. No matter what you do, don't endeavor to have a custom one programmed. Focus on making money and not reinventing the wheel, even for an important site tool. I've seen companies of all sizes and budgets fail miserably because a programmer got his way and also when a stubborn business owner decided to be stubborn instead of focus on retention or new sales.

We have happy customers on all platforms, by a multiple on elevatedX.

Take your time and choose wisely!

Brad

I agree with you Brad. I love elevatedx and find the functionality of it great.

custom is the way to go.
Get a good coder.

Great POV :thumbsup

I'm a developer by trade and I agree with Brad wholeheartedly. Do not go custom unless you're prepared to spend in the multimillion dollar range (OR get very lucky - because I know I'll get replies saying how their Indian/Russian/mythical developer can get one done in $10k and 2 months)

On another side note, Elevated X has 4-5 per month support ticket limit. Make sure you find EVERY Limitation before you move man.

So very very true :thumbsup

To clarify:

Elevated X DOES NOT have a ticket limit for things like how-to questions, legitimate bug fixes or how many tickets you can submit to request general help using the CMS.

It's unfortunate when we need to impose a ticket limit but we're forced to do it to prevent problem customers from abusing our support services.

In 5 years we have only had to enforce a ticket limit 2 times. :thumbsup

AJ

I've used both, I've integrated them both ways, from big to small, I've worked with many other service companies in our industry doing this exact same thing as well, because it's such a huge ass job, the owner of the product needs that much help.

Smaller sites, setups, corps, staff, etc should go with Carma. It's that much easier to use.

If you have the time, skilled staff, and willing to actually add the features elex has, correctly, then you should go with elex.

One is not better than the other, they are different.

Integration wise, it's not in integration, it's a fresh setup, all around. The data that can be moved from db to db, is very tiny, time saving wise it's piss. Setup, structure, templates, content, format, layout, video conversions, storage, etc, is VASTLY different and no db move or special trick will save your ass... it's hand work and it's a hellish amount - period!

My actual advice is this, none are easy, no part of a cms is simple, some are easier than others, none are simple. If you want professional, good, expandable, and truly what you want - you must create it yourself, but you also better be willing to fork over $20k+ and months of work and continual maintenance as well, anyone saying otherwise has zero experience in doing it.

I have built my own, 3 times, I know exactly what it costs - and I ended up with Carma, if that tells you how f'in crazy this can get.

Buddy I think you should stick with Carma bcz elevatedx people won't give you free upgrade. You need to pay them to get better or newer version or until you findout any bug in there....

Carma gives you free upgrade for any new version they got

Elevated X has an unmatched level of product updates over 5 years. In fact we have released more new features and software version upgrades in that time than every other CMS provider combined.

We release a new CMS version once every year that contains improvements as well as brand new features. The last update in April of 2010 (http://elevatedx.com/3.2.php) offered customers dozens of new features and also a totally redesigned, more modern member's area. This newest version also served as a platform for us to develop new features such as a 1 click to mobile pay sites, iPad compatible pay sites, tube style tours and Video on Demand.

New CMS version upgrades are a 1 time $500 fee which covers our staff doing all the work of upgrading your files (often a few hours of work). We also update your design templates to our latest version and re-batching your thumbnails site-wide so they fit the new design. The fee also includes any new version related support to help you use the new features (often a few more hours of work).

You're not paying for the upgrade, you're paying for our time and for the service of having our staff do all the work.

Upgrades are always option and customers are not forced to get the newest version.

AJ

Thanks for the Clarification AJ.

I've used both systems quite extensively... and will throw my support behind both products, but also must be fair here, and in agreeance with Brad's earlier comments... The EX system is one of the most well laid out, feature rich, and intuitive CMS products I have had the pleasure of working with. In my years of experience with AJs product, If I can't make it happen with EX... it quite simply was not meant to be. Look over both extensively... work with people who know the ins and outs, and goods and bads of both systems, I look forward to TMM further developing their CARMA product which I believe they have in the works, competition spurs enhanced development afterall...

Short and simple... my 2 cents... NATs affiliate backend and EX CMS equals homerun, plain and simple. Church.

Sharky

For what it's worth - I love Elevated X. We migrated our one of our network of sites their first a few years ago from a hard to manage custom CMS. The time and money we were looking at to fix or rebuild a new CMS was just not reasonable so we thought we would give it a shot. We knew we would need many customizations and feature additions to make it work the way our systems and legal department would need it to function, but were assured it would be workable. And it was.

We have had such a great experience that we have moved all of our AdultCashProgram networks to ElevatedX. We have tried others, as well as custom but my experience with Elevated X has been that it provides us with what we need, they are constantly updating with new features, and their support is top notch.

Just my two cents - hope it helps.

R

ElevatedX is the best non-custom CMS out there bar none. Support is awesome and their script is really user-friendly. I was turned on to it by someone with a lot of credibility and I have preached it's values to all my friends.

AJ is awesome too! :)

Why don`t you show us your pussy please:winkwink:

Although we have never used Carma, we have used Elevated X for a while now, and are currently running 16 sites on the Elevated X backend, and are getting ready to launch another three sites here shortly. We have had nothing but an exemplary experience with Elevated X. The support has been great (believe me, we use them a lot! Right AJ lol) and the features are so plentiful, it is hard to take advantage of them all. It is a great platform from a great company.

Since I saw Brad in this thread, we moved not too long ago to Mojohost, and I cannot say enough goods thing about your company Brad. And as an added bonus, the Mojhost techs are also quite knowledgeable how Elevated X is integrated, which makes our jobs that much easier.

Scott

ElevatedX is currently the smart choice IMHO, particularly if you are looking to offer as many content options to your members as possible. If you have the funds I would recommend paying someone to assist you in the migration process, otherwise you'll be stuck copypasta-ing for days.

Zuzana Designs has worked with both products over the years and I can say they both are a great CMS. We have worked with AJ on several more projects and every client that used the CMS has been extremely happy with the support and results of the script. I love the fact that AJ listens to his clients and developers. He’s always around if we have any questions. With the right knowledge of the smarty template system ElevatedX can do so many things that will make updating easy and make your tours convert. The constant updates and new features is also another plus in my book. When someone comes to me looking for a paysite CMS I send them to AJ as I know they will be treated professionally and get the support that’s needed.

I have to agree with this! We have used countless CMS systems over the 11+ years we have been running our sites and programs, including CARMA and our own custom built one. We currently use elevatedX as its the most user-friendly, modern, stable, secure and well-supported CMS available.

cheers
Luke

Thanks for the continued posts on the subject here.

AJHall, I will give you a call this week to discuss things with you. I appreciate your comments!

Thanks for the clarification