Suggestions requested about Paid Subscriptions and trial periods or something...

[rnmcd]

I want registered users to pay for a subscription to the forum BUT I want to give some users something like a coupon code that allows them to get the subscription for a time period for free. Kind of like a trial period (for some users) where they can pay for the subscription if they want to keep posting otherwise they will not be able to login.

This could be similiar to when you do an online transaction checkout and you have coupon code for part of the payment. My only difference would be that I want some people that know this code to get, lets say, a one-year free subscription.



How would you recommend this be accomplished? $5 reward (via PayPal) for the suggestion I go with. Feel free to ask any questions if I haven't made much sense.

[Steve Machol]

Please don't doublepost. I answered your original post here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175623

[rnmcd]

Please don't doublepost. I answered your original post here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175623

I am now looking for other options because I don't understand the Paid Subscription feature very well.

Maybe someone knows of a way I can accomplish this. IT DOESN'T HAVE to be with the coupon method I described in the earlier post. I even mentioned here that a trial period would work.

I am open to ANYTHING that could allow for SOME invited users to avoid paying for a subscription. I just want some members to bypass the subscription and the only way I have seen it accomplished in a similiar manner is with coupon codes. But that is not the only thing I am willing to consider. Maybe someone with much more familiarity with vBulletin could generate ideas for me to look into.

[MRGTB]

You could do things like, limiting normal members features, like not allowing them to upload custom avatars, use sigs, view the who's online, upload to site and so on. If you create stuff. Limit download access to paid users to download from that board and so on.

One good way it can be used is - lets say you create skins. You could create a forum board to hold all your skins for download. And only allow paid members to download from that board. So in a sence you get paid for your skins.

You could even take that further and have a few boards that hold a certain skin on each board and create different priced paid subsciption groups, were the cheapest has access to one board, the next price up has access to two skin boards and so on. If you get the idea.

[hugh_]

Couldn't you easily create very short subscriptions to serve as trial periods samplers?

hugh

[rnmcd]

You could do things like, limiting normal members features, like not allowing them to upload custom avatars, use sigs, view the who's online, upload to site and so on. If you create stuff. Limit download access to paid users to download from that board and so on.

One good way it can be used is - lets say you create skins. You could create a forum board to hold all your skins for download. And only allow paid members to download from that board. So in a sence you get paid for your skins.

You could even take that further and have a few boards that hold a certain skin on each board and create different priced paid subsciption groups, were the cheapest has access to one board, the next price up has access to two skin boards and so on. If you get the idea.

I think you may have misinterpreted my original question. I'm not looking for methods to make money using the Paid Subscription feature.

[allenmur]

could you not create a member group that you can put them into yourself and take these members back to normal members after a time

[MRGTB]

I think you may have misinterpreted my original question. I'm not looking for methods to make money using the Paid Subscription feature.

Well it seemed like you was after reading this in your first post.

I want registered users to pay for a subscription to the forum BUT I want to give some users something like a coupon code that allows them to get the subscription for a time period for free. Kind of like a trial period (for some users) where they can pay for the subscription if they want to keep posting otherwise they will not be able to login.

Which is why I said you can create a new user-group that they will get moved too automatically after they subscribe, which will give them more site features to use. Based on how you setup that new user-group they get moved too.

And if I'm right (not sure though). Once there subscribed time limit expires, they would get demoted back down to normal members group automatically if they don't re-new there subscription and lose the features they had before open to them. But I'm not sure if that does happen though! Or if they still remain in the same user-group even after there subscription time runs out.

Also, this was answered by Steve in the other thread. The paid subscription feature is there for paid users, not free users. So you would have no option but to a one week trail period that cost about "$1 " or something daft like that.

Making is basicly that cheap, that it's more or less free!

[ManagerJosh]

Small problem though Gary. What about Deja Vu? There's nothing stopping a user from reapplying for that same program again and again.

[MRGTB]

thats true. Mmmmmmmmmmmm

[MRGTB]

ops wrong board

[rnmcd]

Is there anywhere I can test out the subscription feature from the users point-of-view?

I want to see what steps are involved in subscribing so I have a better idea how to approach this.

thanks.

[JamesGG]

No paid please

[rnmcd]

No paid please

Ok.

[rnmcd]

I wonder if there is a way that I could have two different URLs for registration...one takes people through the standard subscription process. The other 'secret' URL bypasses the subscription process.