Import Subscriptions - How to

-- HikaShop version -- : 3.1.1
-- HikaSerial version -- : 2.0.0
-- Joomla version -- : 3.7.5
-- PHP version -- : 7.1.8
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : Chrome 60

Hi guys,
I have a customer that is managing manually few Subscriptions (500 yearly, where 200 are active and 300 as "unsubscribed" = they have not renewed their subscription at the moment).
Till now, when a user buy the Subscription (one year long) he moves him, manually by the administrator panel, to the Subscribed group. When the Subscription arrive to its end life, he moves back the user to the Registered group.

Now, I want test HikaSubscription on this site, so, it should work like:
from the time the HikaSubscription plan has been setted, all users buying the "subscription product" that cost 100 € will be added to the "Subscribed" group for one year and at the end of the period they will be token away from the "Subscribed" group (if they don't renew before the end date with a discounted price of 70 € ).

Now, the question is, Please, How to step by step (any suggestion is too appreciate):
1 - Import the last Subscription dates (Start date + End date) for all users ( 500 = "Subscribed" 200 + "Unsubscribed" 300). Do any other field is needed ?
2 - Move the active Subscribers to the Subscribed group. Can be done during the import ?
3 - Send an email to all the "Expired Subscribers" (may be through AcyMailing)
4 - Have from now that all the Subscribed users will receive an email 60 and 30 days before the subscription expiration date as discounted renew advice. Renewing before the end date mean to pay 70 € and not 100 €.
5 - In case they renew, their subscription end date will be moved and users will countinue to be in the group Subscribed.

Many Thanks for help!

Hi Jerome,
really many thanks for help and suggestions. So:

4 - Have from now that all the Subscribed users will receive an email 60 and 30 days before the subscription expiration date as discounted renew advice. Renewing before the end date mean to pay 70 € and not 100 €.

4 - Since you use Acymailing, you can insert a coupon code in a newsletter. The best would be to regroup your users in Acymailing to send them different newsletters.

Coupon: I like this solution, But it should have (automatically) an expiration date deadline, the Subscription End Date. May be adding the "Discount validity period" valuein the Coupon ?
Please, How to have the Coupon unique and strictly connected with the user ?

Or, Is it possible have in the plan two prudocts ?
ACL: Where I can control them with that feature, like:
- If I'm not Subscribed I'm in the Registered group, I view and can buy the Product 1 (or Price 1 of that product), a year Subscription that cost 100 €
- If I'm Subscribed I'm in the Subscribed group, I view and can buy the Product 2 (or Price 2 of the same product), a year Subscription extension that cost 70 € > As you described at point 5

Or, Why not work on the "PRICES AND TAXES" ACL Feature on the same Product ?

(I'm trying to inderstand the different teory approach and when one way is better than the other... All suggestments are too appreciate)

Product creation > CUSTOM FIELDS > Usergroup after purchade: None - the work will be done directly from the SUBSCRIPTION, right ?
Product creation > SUBSCRIPTION > Relation type: Please, What is its job ? When use Creation and / or Renewal ?


Import:
- the plan ID = For all 500 users that "bought" this plan (Active and Expired Subscribers), right ? Please, Can you give me instruction on which Table/Field write the plan ID number?
- the HikaShop user ID = Ok, again, Please, Can you give me instruction on which Table/Field write the HikaShop user ID?
- a subscription data/key (afterwards you can put the same content to everybody) = What is this ?
- the subscription status = Ok, where 1 is Active and 0 Expired, right ? Again, Please, Can you give me instruction on which Table/Field write the subscription status?
- subscription start date (timestamp) = Ok, Please, Do you mean in this format: unixtimestamp.com ? Can you give me instruction on which Table/Field write the start date?
- subscription end date (timestamp) = Ok, Please, Do you mean in this format: unixtimestamp.com ? Can you give me instruction on which Table/Field write the end date?

Hi Jerome,

Coupon: ok, sorry.

ACL: As I wrote I'm trying to understand the suggestment you gave me in the previous post and specifically what is been your "theory approach" on how we have to use HikaSubscription... for that I wrote all "suggestments"/informations are too appreciate. Is the only way I know to report, as you wrote: "issues, to get idea of improvements".

Please, Can you answer to:
A - Product creation > CUSTOM FIELDS > Usergroup after purchase: None - the work will be done directly from the SUBSCRIPTION, right ?
B - Product creation > SUBSCRIPTION > Relation type: Please, What is its job ? When use Creation and / or Renewal ?

Import: ok, anyway thanks.

Hi Jerome,
many thanks for your gentle answer, too appreciate. I uderstood what the words mean, what I don't understand is how should work those features.

CUSTOM FIELDS > Usergroup after purchase:
I made the question knowing the feature is like a "reduced Subscription feature" ? Where there is no a deadline. What's happen if I set for the same product:
- CUSTOM FIELDS > Usergroup after purchase: "MagicGroup" (have no a deadline)
- SUBSCRIPTION > Relation type: Creation & Renewal to "MagicGroup" (have a deadline)
Can create a conflict ? In this situation always the "Subscription rule" have the "priority", right ?


SUBSCRIPTION > Relation type:

Jerome wrote: Creation : Create a new subscritpion
Renewal : Renew an existing subscription
Create & Renew : Create a new subscription OR renew an existing one.

Creation : Create a new subscritpion = If selected I can only create a new subscription, so I have yet bought this subscription and I'm an active subscriber, What's have to happen if I buy another subscription ?
A - Should work as an ACL, where if I'm an active subscriber simply the product "Subscription - Creation" should not shown ?!?
B - Or SHould work as a "permission" where if I'm an active subscriber and try to buy the product "Subscription - Creation" the HikaSubscription should tell me "you have no the permission to buy this product, you are yet a Subscriber of this product" ?!?
C - What else ?

Renewal : Renew an existing subscription = If selected I can only renew a new subscription. The vice-versa of the questions above.

These are questions about HikaSubscription, you should know what you done and we should know and understand it to set, test it in the right way... this is not my opinion, is logic.
So, Pleaase, Can you answer at least to this question ?:

SUBSCRIPTION > Relation type:

Jerome wrote:

Creation : Create a new subscritpion
Renewal : Renew an existing subscription
Create & Renew : Create a new subscription OR renew an existing one.

Creation : Create a new subscritpion = If selected I can only create a new subscription, so I have yet bought this subscription and I'm an active subscriber, What's have to happen if I buy another subscription ?
A - Should work as an ACL, where if I'm an active subscriber simply the product "Subscription - Creation" should not shown ?!?
B - Or Should work as a "permission" where if I'm an active subscriber and try to buy the product "Subscription - Creation" the HikaSubscription should tell me "you have no the permission to buy this product, you are yet a Subscriber of this product" ?!?
C - What else ?

Renewal : Renew an existing subscription = If selected I can only renew a new subscription. The vice-versa of the questions above.

Hello Jerome, may be I badly explained myself, As far as I know, these are the only scenarios I can image:

Creation: will create only a new subscritpion.
If selected for example, buying that product on 1st january 2017 a new yearly subscription has been created. So, from that date I'm been added to the Subscribers group, with a deadline on 1st january 2018, when I'll be taken from Subscribers group.
What's happen if I yet bought that product, so I'm yet an active subscriber, and I buy again it ?

A - It will works as an ACL, where if I'm an active subscriber simply the product "Subscription - Creation" should not shown ? So, I cannot buy anymore that product till the 1st january 2018
B - Or, similar, It will works as a "permission" where if I'm yet an active subscriber and I try to buy the product "Subscription - Creation" the HikaSubscription will tell me "you have no the permission to buy this product, you are yet a Subscriber of this product"
C - Or, I can always buy the product again, for example today on 23 august 2017. It will try to add me again to the Subscribers group, where I'm yet added. But, What's happen to the deadline ? It will be moved to the 23 august 2018, always one year later since the last time I bought that product. So, only in that date I'll be taken from Subscribers group, no more on 1st january 2018.


Renewal: Renew an existing subscription.
If selected I can only renew an existing subscription. So, What's happen if I don't have yet an active Subscription ?:

A - like ACL: I haven't an active subscription, the product "Subscription - Renewal" is not shown = I cannot buy it.
B - As a "Permission": I haven't an active subscription, trying to buy the product "Subscription - Renewal" it will tell me "you have no the permission to buy this product, you are not a Subscriber"


Thanks for help in understanding how it should works...

Hello and sorry for the late reply,

Jerome is actually on holiday and will be back next Wednesday. He is in charge of HikaSerial so he will come back to you as soon as possible.

Once again, we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Best regards,
Mohamed Thelji.

Hi Jerome,

Jerome wrote: You can't renew a subscription if you don't have one.
And as I told you, the only way to renew a subscription is via the HikaSubscription subscription listing.
It means that your renewal products should not be listed in your shop ; since the only way to renew a subscription is via the subscription listing.
We plan to improve that system in a future release but for the moment, it's only working that way because we can't do everything right now ; we need to improve the component step by step.

Wanting manage the Subscription price product / renew Subscription price product as described in the third solution here , I set a Subscription product as Create/Renewal andset different prices: 100 for Registered group, 70 for Subscribed group (a renew discounted price).
The questions are:

A - Can I do that ? Because in that case the Subscription product is always shown, but with a discounted price if I'm yet subscribed. So,
What should happen if the User click the Subscription product instaed on the HikaSubscription subscription listing ?
Will it perform a Renew or buying a new Subscription ?

B - How to set a discounted Renewal price clicking on the "HikaSubscription subscription listing" ?

C - Do I have to use the second solutions ?
"your renewal products should not be listed in your shop" - Do we have to create "a hidden product", please, How ?
The first solution, Coupon, is something that really cannot used, because is not user related and the Coupon can be used by any other user.

Thanks for help on understanding how we can manage it right now testing HikaSubscription (a discounted renewal Subscription price is the base to have success on sites Subscriptions.

Hi Jerome,
many thanks. Please, let me recap also for all the user that can read this thread.
So, right now, if we want a discounted price for the renewal, considering:
1 - "Coupon" is something that really cannot be used because is not user related and the Coupon can be used by any other user.
2 - "the only way to renew a subscription is via the HikaSubscription subscription listing... It means that your renewal products should not be listed in your store..."

The possible solution would be to use the Product ACL feature, having in the HikaSubscription plan two products with two differents ACL:

Product 1: set ACL to Registered and Subscription to Creation. If I'm in the Registered group, I view and can buy the Product 1 in the store: a year Subscription Creation that cost 100 €. Buying it I'm added to the Subscribed group for 1 year.
In teory a User, yet Subscribed, can accidentally buy another Product 1 Subscription creating another Subscription:
- Is there a way to hide the product Subscription when I'm an Active subscriber ?
- Is there a way to limit the Creation Subscriptions to 1 ?

Product 2: set ACL to Subscribed and Subscription to Renewal. In this way this will be my "Renewal" product. If I'm Subscribed, I have an Active Subscription, I'm in the Subscribed group, I view and can buy the Product 2: a year Subscription Renewal that cost 70 €.
Now, if there is no a solution to hide the Product 1 (at least one of the two Product 1 questions), the "Renewal product should be in an unpublished category so it won't be visible in the store" rule will be a must to don't generate confusion. Where:
In the store I have only the Product 1 and I can buy the first Subscription when I have not an active Subscription.
When I'm an Active Subscriber I'll can renew via the HikaSubscription subscription listing.

Is it right ?

Hi Jerome,
thanks for your answer. About "Creation":

Jerome wrote: Hello,
Like I wrote "creation" will create a new subscription.
So in any use case it will create a new subscription.

And I don't know what to tell you about having several subscription. You will have several subscription.
It depends on your website, it depends on what you want to do. But the tool should not limit you ; it should authorize you to do things.
And if I take an example : HikaShop ; you can have several subscriptions in the same time. There is no problem and that's required feature...

joomleb wrote: Product 1: set ACL to Registered and Subscription to Creation. If I'm in the Registered group, I view and can buy the Product 1 in the store: a year Subscription Creation that cost 100 €. Buying it I'm added to the Subscribed group for 1 year.
In teory a User, yet Subscribed, can always accidentally buy another Product 1 Subscription creating another Subscription:
- Is there a way to hide the product Subscription when I'm an Active subscriber ?
- Is there a way to limit the Creation Subscriptions to 1 ? (Cannot buy another Product 1 Subscription if I'm yet an Active Subscriber)

You wrote: " you could see to use product ACL on the "creation" product to avoid a user to buy several subscription "in the same time" "

What do you mean exactly ?
When I buy Product 1 Subscription "I'm added to the Subscribed usergroup", but I'm also still in the Registered group...

Am I missing anything ?

Hi Jerome,
may be I'm missing something, please, let me try to explain better. Having two Products in the Store:

Product 1 - Creation Subscription 100 €
Product 2 Renewal Subscription 70 € - "Renewal product should be in an unpublished category so it won't be visible in the store" - "the only way to renew a subscription is via the HikaSubscription subscription listing... It means that your renewal products should not be listed in your store..."

Now, What I'm looking for is to prevent misuse of users = A user Cannot buy/see another Product 1 Subscription if he is yet an Active Subscriber, So cannot pay 100 € for another Product 1 Subscription when it have the right to pay 70 € for its simple renewal. This is why I asked you:

- Is there a way to hide the Product 1 Creation Subscription when I'm an Active Plan subscriber ?
- Is there a way to limit the Creation Subscriptions to 1 ? = Cannot create another Product 1 Subscription if I'm yet an Active Plan subscriber.