Paid Subscription Changes Primary Usergroup

[Merriweather]

I've used Paid Subscriptions for years, but until recently, I used them to only add additional usergroups to members accounts. Now, I've made it so the paid subscription changes their primary usergroup (i.e. from "Registered User" to "Paid Member").

Provided all is set up properly, it will revert the user back to "Registered User" when the subscription ends, right?

[Jake Bunce]

Yes. The system records the user's previous primary group at the time of purchase so it can revert them back when the subscription expires.

Be careful with paid subscriptions and primary groups. If you have multiple subscriptions that affect the primary group them you can get overlapping primary groups which can cause weirdness with the expirations.

[dknelson99]

Just last night I added a "Supporting Members" group. When people bought a subscription, it moved them to the new group. Immediately though I started getting emails from people telling me that they could no longer login. I had all the permissions set properly. What did I do wrong? For now, I deleted the new group and reverted them all back to the registered users group.

[Steve Machol]

Check the overall Usergroup permissions:

Admin CP -> Usergroups -> Usergroup Manager -> Edit Usergroup

And the Forum permissions for each forum and Usergroup:

Admin CP -> Forums & Moderators -> Forum Permissions

Main Usergroup Permissions take precedence unless you override them with specific Forum/Usergroup permissions.

When multiple usergroups are involved, a 'Yes' permission always overides a 'No' permission if 'Allow Users to have Member Groups ' is set to 'Yes' for the Primary group. Same goes for a larger quota.

Note, the primary group must have 'Allow Users to have Member Groups' to 'Yes'. Otherwise the secondary settings are not applicable.

[dknelson99]

So, a new group has to be a secondary group of a primary group? I think I made the additional group a stand alone. Is it not possible to create a new primary group?

[Steve Machol]

Yes, you can make a new primary group. You still have to set the permissions correctly though. The problem you describe is either from faulty permissions or an add-on.

For further assistance please start your own thread with all the relevant details. Thank you.

[dknelson99]

I'm sorry to be so dense but how do you create a new primary group. Maybe I said it wrong. I guess what I'm asking is about creating a new default group. It looks like you can only add custom groups. What would you call a primary group?

[Steve Machol]

Admin CP -> Usergroups -> Add New Usergroup

You do not 'make' a primary group. You make a group then assign is as the primary usergroup for select users.

[Merriweather]

Yes. The system records the user's previous primary group at the time of purchase so it can revert them back when the subscription expires.

Be careful with paid subscriptions and primary groups. If you have multiple subscriptions that affect the primary group them you can get overlapping primary groups which can cause weirdness with the expirations.

Thank you, Jake. I only have one Primary (custom) group users can subscribe to, so I think I'm ok.

[dknelson99]

I finally got back around to this and now have a couple more questions.

I've got about 950 paid members now that I want to move to or add to a "Supporting Members" group. I edited the subscription to add the members to the new group when a subscription is purchased. It apparently doesn't do anything to the 950 who have already purchased though. Do I have to manually edit each of those members to add them to the new group or is there an easier way to do it?

Also, I now have it set to not change their primary group but just add them to the new group. Is there any advantage to moving them to the new group instead of adding them to it?

[Jake Bunce]

You can add users to a subscription in your:

Admin CP -> Paid Subscriptions -> Subscription Manager -> Add User (in the menu)

This is different than simply adding a user to the associated group because it will expire the user back to their original group when the subscription expires. If you just move a user to the group then there is no expiration.

[dknelson99]

Yes, I know how to add a user via the subscription Manager. I've already got close to 1,000 paid subscribers though. I then went back and in the subscription manager I added the option to add them to the newly created "Supporting Members" group. None of the existing ones got added though. Do I have to go back and edit all 1,000 of them one at a time?

[Jake Bunce]

Do I have to go back and edit all 1,000 of them one at a time?

Yes.

Some one on www.vbulletin.org may be able to help you with a custom script to automate the process.

[dknelson99]

WOW...that is not very well implemented. Guess it's time to head over to VBulletin.org and see if there is a rational solution. I do appreciate the reply though.