@Steven Thanks so much for this response, itâs very helpful.
Looks like custom fields solves most of my issue, I use the teaser plug-in, and come up with a working solution for membership types based on what the plug-in allows.
I looked at the table (Google translate for the win!) and it looks like we can have multiple membership levels of different costs through ProCourse, correct? If so, I can just create an add-on membership, that provides the exact same access but at a lower cost. Weâre a small enough group that we can work with that as a solution and have someone manually make sure there is a âmasterâ membership for these users.
Exactly, each cost will have its own membership page, thatâs where the static page is the most helpful and the table was the best solution in my case.
Working on getting this set up, and I have a question. If I have a membership set for 12 months to a group âBronzeâ, at the end of that 12 months, will the membership to that group be removed? Is there a warning to the user that it happened/about to happen?
I read through this a couple of times and tried the Demo site again, and I think I figured out my confusion with the signup / membership flow.
Hereâs what I think I need to do:
Note: my site is 100% paid, thereâs no free tier
I have a static sales page (outside Discourse) with an application form. If the application is approved (manual process), Iâll send an invitation to join from within Discourse.
new member signs up and gets a new account in Discourse.
new member logs in to Discourse and seesâŠan empty forum, but for one topic about âcreating a membershipâ [perhaps this is where the pro-course-static-page comes in, and I can have a static page with payment options instead?]
That topic [or static page] has two options: a monthly recurring payment and an annual recurring payment. Each link or button goes to the membership page I created within the Procourse plugin.
New Member completes the payment and is added to the Member group, which has access to the full forum.
I think Iâm on track here. But #3 and #4 are questionable to me. Am I missing an easier / more obvious path?
PS - I thought the payment page would come first, before the new member created an account. The need to create an account first was a big mental block for me, but I understand why. I think.
I think youâre going to have usability issues for your user base by making them sign up, get approved, then go into an empty forum, then make them pay for content.
You may be better of by doing something similar where Discourse is locked, but use WP Discourse for SSO and Paid Memberships Pro to restrict access to the community. Itâll all happen more seamlessly for your users.
Thanks @justin, Iâll check it out. The forum isnât empty (Iâve had a small group in there for several months) but i see your point. I appreciate your perspective.
The idea for the application is to get some background about the person and what they hope to get out of the community. I am part of another group where we had members come in and leave soon after because it was not a good fit for them.
I could change things to go directly to the member signup page, however, and then, once they have joined, ask them the same questions as part of their onboarding. That would work since in this case i have been talking a lot about what to expect prior to people signing up.
One question: if I go that route, can I send them straight to the procourse member page (where they subscribe and pay) and then create their Discourse account? Or is it still create an account then pick a payment plan?
I would combine this with the Custom Wizard plugin. Using that plugin you can capture any/all information you want on signup and then when the form is submitted, send the user to the membership payment page. That way you have it all in one flow.
Personally, I prefer it this way as opposed to the Paid Memberships Pro route. PMPro can work great up until you start trying to sync group memberships back and forth. You can do it, but in my experience itâs not as easy to set up and isnât always reliable.
When I ran PMP on my site with group sync, I never had issues, but itâs true you need some technical know-how to make it work. Personal preferences aside, both are definitely options with unique advantages and disadvantages â @madbaker hope weâve helped you come closer to possible decisions!
