Paid Subscriptions Documentation

[LLFan]

I've done some searching on the forums here to get a better idea of exactly what the purpose of a paid subscription is and how exactly to get it working.

I have found the answer to the first question, but how to set it up is still a mystery to me. Is there some sort of documentation somewhere on Paid Subscriptions describing a thourough way to set it up explaining each step?

[Princess Nikida]

Granted, I am still playing on my test forum and don't have a live vb 3 forum, but this is the basic idea that I have of the Subscription system...

• Set yourself up with a PayPal and / or NOCHEX account (if you don't already have one).
• Admin CP --> vBulletin Options --> Paid Subscriptions:
  • Activate appropriate "Payment Methods" by putting a checkmark in the PayPal and / or NOCHEX boxes
  • Enter "PayPal Email" and / or "NOCHEX Email" that you registered with
  • Save
• Determine what / how many subscriptions you will want. Options include (and can be mix and matched):
  • One subscription - All bonus features included, only one subscription length option
  • Subscribe to each bonus - One feature included for price, user subscribes to as many or few bonuses as they want, only one subscription length option
  • Multiple subscription periods - User can get a discounted rate for subscribing to a subscription with a longer subscription period (i.e. - for one month subscription $10, for 1 year subscription $100)
• Determine what added bonuses you would like to give to your subscribers. Some ideas can include, but are not necessarily limited to (pick the ones you like and / or add more that you find):
  • Usergroup Options:
    • Special "User Title" (i.e. - Donator, Subscriber, Loved Person -- will require "Can override primary group title/markup" set to "yes" if going to be a secondary group, noted later on)
    • Special "Username HTML Markup" (i.e. - bold, italics, colors -- will require "Can override primary group title/markup" set to "yes" if going to be a secondary group, noted later on)
    • Viewable on Show Groups (will require the usergroup to be the users primary usergroup, noted later on)
    • Can set self to invisible mode
    • Can use custom titles
    • Can use signatures
    • Can upload attachments
    • Larger attachment limit
    • Can upload custom avatars
    • Larger custom avatar limits (height, width, filesize)
    • Can upload profile pictures
    • Larger profile picture limits (height, width, filesize)
    • Can use private messages (Max stored messages of 0 will disable for others)
    • Larger private message storage
    • Can view who's online
  • Forums:
    • Special forums that only subscribers can see
    • Special forums that only subscribers can post to (others can view)
  • Calendars:
    • Special calendars that only subscribers can see
    • Special calendars that only subscribers can post to (others can view)
  • Avatars / Post Icons:
    • Special avatar categories that only subscribers can use
    • Special post icon categories that only subscribers can use
  • User Ranks: (may require usergroup to be primary usergroup)
    • Only subscribers can have user ranks
    • Special user ranks that only subscribers get
• Create new subscriber usergroup(s):
  Admin CP --> Usergroups --> Add New Usergroup
  • Only one needed for subscribe to all bonuses (whether multiple durations or only one duration option)
  • Multiple usergroups needed for subscribe to each feature wanted (whether multiple durations or only one duration option)
• Setup usergroups and / or forums for special bonuses:
  • Usergroup Options:
    Admin CP --> Usergroups --> Usergroup Manager --> Edit Usergroup
    • If bonuses include giving "new" features to subscribers, remove those features from all non-subscriber primary and secondary usergroups (i.e. - Registered) and all non-related subscriber usergroups (for subscribe to each bonus option)
    • Adjust new appropriate subscriber usergroup(s) according to new bonuses
  • Forums:
    • Create new subscriber forum(s), if needed
      Admin CP --> Forums & Moderators --> Add New Forum
    • Deny access to all non-subscriber primary and secondary usergroups (i.e. - posting and / or viewing) and all non-related subscriber usergroups (for subscribe to each bonus option)
      Admin CP --> Forums & Moderators --> Forum Permissions --> Edit
    • Grant access to new appropriate subscriber usergroup(s) (i.e. - posting and / or viewing)
      Admin CP --> Forums & Moderators --> Forum Permissions --> Edit
  • Calendars:
    • Create new subscriber calendar(s), if needed
      Admin CP --> Calendars & Moderators --> Add New Calendar
    • Deny access to all non-subscriber primary and secondary usergroups (i.e. - posting and / or viewing) and all non-related subscriber usergroups (for subscribe to each bonus option)
      Admin CP --> Calendars & Moderators --> Calendar Permissions --> Edit
    • Grant access to new appropriate subscriber usergroup(s) (i.e. - posting and / or viewing)
      Admin CP --> Calendars & Moderators --> Calendar Permissions --> Edit
  • Avatars / Post Icons:
    • Create subscriber "Avatar Categories" / "Post Icon Categories", if needed
      Admin CP --> Avatars --> Avatar Manager --> Add New Avatar Category
      Admin CP --> Post Icons --> Post Icon Manager --> Add New Post Icon Category
    • Add new avatars / post icons to categories, if needed
      Admin CP --> Avatars --> Upload Avatar
      Admin CP --> Post Icons --> Upload Post Icon
    • Deny access to all non-subscriber primary and secondary usergroups and all non-related subscriber usergroups (for subscribe to each bonus option)
      Admin CP --> Avatars --> Avatar Manager --> Avatar Permissions
      Admin CP --> Post Icons --> Post Icon Manager --> Post Icon Permissions
    • Grant access to new appropriate subscriber usergroup(s)
      Admin CP --> Avatars --> Avatar Manager --> Avatar Permissions
      Admin CP --> Post Icons --> Post Icon Manager --> Post Icon Permissions
  • User Ranks:
    Admin CP --> User Ranks --> User Rank Manager
    • Create new user ranking system for each new subscriber usergroup
    • Remove user ranks for regular users, if only subscribers get ranks
• Create new paid subscription(s), repeat as necessary for all subscriptions wanted:
  Admin CP --> Subscriptions --> Add New Subscription
  • Give descriptive, yet not overly verbose title
  • Detail bonuses given by subscribing to this option in the description field (so that users will know what they are subscribing for)
  • Set appropriate duration / price(s)
  • Set appropriate new usergroup(s) -- Suggest Primary = "No change" and using additional usergroups instead, unless new bonus for group requires primary usergroup (if you are using the subscribe to a feature option, and use the primary usergroup change, each option that they user subscribes to will "invalidate" the previous option subscribed to)
  • Active = yes

Hope this helps!

[OffLead]

Okay, scratch my first question as, in the true nature of all things computer related, I answered it myself moments after asking in a public forum, in spite of not having been able to figure it out all evening.

However, I now have another question. Is it possible to restrict access to subscription B to only those who have subscribed to subscription A? In other words, if we're offering one basic level of paid membership, with additional packages available to "supersize" a membership, the user must have actually paid for a membership before they are allowed to supersize it. The additional features subscriptions should not be available to the general public.

[Steve Machol]

Is it possible to restrict access to subscription B to only those who have subscribed to subscription A?

Not at this time.

[OffLead]

Not at this time.

Ouch. Hrmm...this is going to cause problems, because PhotoPost isn't yet recognizing the secondary usergroups. So to grant additional accesses we're having to change primary usergroups, meaning that someone can bypass the initial membership and get into the system for the lower "additional space" price.

Drat!

[The Dude]

Is there any way to increase the amount of characters I can use to describe the subscription content?

[Steve Machol]

You will need to manually change the type and length for this field directly in the database with phpMyAdmin.

[OffLead]

Steve, or someone who's running subscriptions, would you please explain what vb does when subscriptions are up for renewal? I was trying to test this today, by bumping up the expire date on a test subscription, but I found that nothing whatsoever happened. Is this something that's done once a day or something? And just what are the steps taken by the script? Mail out a renewal reminder to user? When does the script take a user back down to their previous membership level if they haven't resubscribed?

[Princess Nikida]

Steve, or someone who's running subscriptions, would you please explain what vb does when subscriptions are up for renewal? I was trying to test this today, by bumping up the expire date on a test subscription, but I found that nothing whatsoever happened. Is this something that's done once a day or something? And just what are the steps taken by the script? Mail out a renewal reminder to user? When does the script take a user back down to their previous membership level if they haven't resubscribed?

One of the developers (Scott) posted some really good info about the subscription system and I believe that he said in the thread that as of Beta something reminders for renewal are sent out via email to the members (I think one week in advance, if I remember correctly, which may be why your test didn't work), and that it now has the ability to for the members to renew their subscriptions rather than just subscribing again (it was apparently an issue in some of the previous Betas). I do believe that someone in that thread asked about the reversal (i.e. - non-renewal actions) of the members, and I *think* he talked about it, but for the life of me I can't remember what he said. You may try doing a search on Scott's posts for "subscriptions". You may get a lot of extra stuff, but it should be in there somewhere...

[redbox]

Steve, or someone who's running subscriptions, would you please explain what vb does when subscriptions are up for renewal?

I don't know what the official answer to this is. However, when I set it up through PayPal, the paypal IPN process asked if this would auto-renew or if it was a one time payment. I didn't want it to auto-renew, so I chose the one time payment. I'm guessing any auto renewals would be done via paypal and not the vB subscription system.

[Mike Warner]

When the users pays via PayPal / Nochex, does this send a notification back to my site to automatically upgrade their profile, or is this done manually by me once I have confirmation of payment?

[OffLead]

Mike, on the PayPal side (which is all I've tested), your forum is notified as soon as payment is accepted. If your paypal settings are such that payments are automatically accepted, then notification will be sent immediately back to your site. If you manually accept payments, it sends the notification once you have hit that accept button. This is why you set up the paypal IPN stuff when setting up subscriptions...it's how your site is notified.

[Mike Warner]

How do I set this IPN stuff up? DOes it work directly with vB3?

[corsacrazy]

im havin a problem a user just signed up via paypal BUT i had to manually add his subscription is there a tutorial on how to get all this done automatically upon payment?

maybe this page can be of use ot people

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/we...p/acc/ipn-info

and this page

click here

[corsacrazy]

i just set mine to this

Instant Payment Notification (IPN) On Instant Payment Notification (IPN) URL: http://www.url.com/forums/subscriptions.php