I’m looking to give away some memberships for free for the first month only. Then if they want they can purchase. So my questions are.
How do I set up a user to have access to my site for only a month (this plan usually requires monthly recurring payments)
How does this user then purchase their membership if they want it to continue it after their free month is up?
Thanks
Joe
Hi Joe,
You could do it in a couple of ways…
If the user is just signing up, with s2’s pro-form, you can give him the higher level with an expiration time, when he’d be demoted to the s2 level 0 (WP’s subscriber role).
You could also sell him the subscription, but with a free trial period.
You could also use a bit of PHP to change his account’s role to the higher one if he’s never had that before, and set an s2 EOT time in his account so he gets demoted after the trial. https://s2member.com/kb-article/rolescapabilities-via-php/
There’s another option, to have a redemption code he uses to get a discount, but the problem with that one is that it wouldn’t change the access times, only the amount to pay (like a coupon code). So you’d still need some PHP logic to change the form based on this previous access, and in that case, changing the role directly via PHP is more straightforward.
Is there a way I can create their membership manually in the WordPress backend and give them access for only a month?
I still have the second question about how they purchase their own access using the same account. Do they simply use the purchase form and it will know not to charge them until after their free month is up?
Is there a way I can create their membership manually in the WordPress backend and give them access for only a month?
Of course. You can edit their account to upgrade the role to a higher s2 Level, and set an EOT time for the demotion after a month.
I still have the second question about how they purchase their own access using the same account. Do they simply use the purchase form and it will know not to charge them until after their free month is up?
You can sell them the subscription with a month of trial first, after which they’d start getting charged.
Sorry maybe I’m not understanding your answer or not asking the question correctly.
So once I’ve set up this account for a free month I’m wondering if they decide to want to start paying for membership after the free month is up how they should do that?
Should they wait until their free month is over to use the purchase form or will the system know to not charge them until after the free month is over if they just it before?
If they want to upgrade before the end of the free month they need to contact you so you can demote them manually, then they can subscribe.
If they want to upgrade after, the system will demote them automatically, then they can re-upgrade.
If you have the pro version of the plugin you can create a coupon for them instead (there’s also single use coupons etc).
If they want to upgrade before the end of the free month they need to contact you so you can demote them manually, then they can subscribe.
Then can subscribe even if they’re still in the trial month, no need to ask for a demotion first. You’d just need to adjust your conditional to show the subscription button to someone trialing, but not someone who’s already subscribed, even though they have the same level. Or he can make the trial level 1, and the subscriber level 2, with content protected at level 1 (so level 1 and 2 can access it).
If you have the pro version of the plugin you can create a coupon for them instead (there’s also single use coupons etc).
The coupon would not be helpful, because he’d need to create one for each user. Even if he generates redemption codes dynamically, it’s not good. Codes would only give a discount, not turn the form from a subscription to a single free month upgrade. In that case, a bit of PHP to upgrade the user’s role automatically the first time, seems like a cleaner solution.
Should they wait until their free month is over to use the purchase form or will the system know to not charge them until after the free month is over if they just it before?
If they subscribe with a trial period, then the charge will happen at the end of that trial.
If they’re not subscribed, no charge will happen. They can be upgraded for the trial, with an EOT (end of term) time set, so they’ll be demoted. If you have s2 pro, you can have a free signup form that gives them the higher level on registration, and set an EOT time. https://s2member.com/kb-article/creating-a-free-membership-with-a-trial-period-limited-time-free-membership/
You can enable your EOT handling and set the behavior to demotion, which will change the user’s role to Subscriber (i.e. s2 level 0), meaning they still have the account and login, but they can’t view content at a higher level (e.g. level 1). WP Admin > s2Member > PayPal Options > Auto EOT Behavior
So once I’ve set up this account for a free month I’m wondering if they decide to want to start paying for membership after the free month is up how they should do that?
You show them a payment form/button for the higher level, so they subscribe. The Framework lets you create paypal buttons, Pro lets you create payment forms (e.g. with Stripe). WP Admin > s2Member > PayPal Buttons > Buttons for Level 1 Access
You can put that inside a conditional that checks the current user’s level, so you don’t show it to someone already subscribed, only someone that isn’t. If you do what I mentioned in my previous reply above, you can sell level 2, but protect content at level 1, then the conditional would check if the user’s role is level 2. https://s2member.com/kb-article/s2if-simple-shortcode-conditionals/