Subscription Overview
What is a Subscription?
A subscription is a recurring payment that is billed at regular intervals. Subscriptions can be created in one of many ways; the primary means of creating subscriptions are:
- Directly from the Administrative Dashboard
- Select "Subscription" from the "Quick Add
The quick add menu is located in the primary navigation bar. It is a green icon with a white plus sign." Menu - When a user purchases a subscription product from the store front.
How Does the Program Renew Subscriptions?
The program uses a cron job to automatically renew subscriptions. It is vitally important that you ensure that the cron job is running properly. Click here for information on creating a cron job.
Creating a Subscription
To create a subscription from the administrative control panel, click on "Subscription" from the "Quick AddThe quick add menu is located in the primary navigation bar. It is a green icon with a white plus sign." menu. A popup will appear with a number of options. These options have been outlined below:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Next Renewal | Date on which this subscription will next renew. |
| Product | The product associated with this subscription. |
| Price | Leave blank to use the standard product price, or add a custom price to override the standard price. |
| Options | If the product you selected is a trial product, this setting controls whether the trial period will be skipped or not. |
| Type | Determines whether to create this subscription for an existing member, or whether to create a new contact to associate with this subscription. |
| Member | If you selected "Existing Members", this is where you select the member's username. |
| First Name Last Name | If you selected "New non-member user", input a name and email for the new contact. |
| Credit Card: Type | Gives you the option to select an existing credit card (based on the member selected in the "Member" field), add a new credit card, or assign no credit card to the subscription. |
Subscriptions Without a Credit Card
The program's default action when a subscription attempts to renew without a credit card on file is to invoice the user for the service. However if you would rather notify the user of the failed attempt and request that the user add a credit card to the subscription, you can do so from "Shop > Subscriptions > Options". Select "E-Mail Card Update Request" for the "Action For Cardless Renewals" setting.
Failed Attempts and Automated Reminders
By default, the program allows a maximum of 3 retries before a subscription is cancelled, with each retry every 2 days. You can customize these settings from "Shop > Subscriptions > Options". Update the settings as follows:
- Maximum Failed Retries: Number of times a subscription can fail before it is cancelled.
- Retry Spacing: Timeframe between retries.
When the program does detect a failed renewal attempt, it will email the user to inform them of this. The template used for this is called "Cart Subscription: No Card Notice".
Additional Options
Article Links
- What is a Subscription?
- How Does the Program Renew Subscriptions?
- Creating a Subscription
- Subscriptions Without a Credit Card
- Failed Attempts and Automated Reminders
- Additional Options
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Published on 2013/07/12.
Last updated on 2013/07/12.