Subscription Setup Guide

On this step, we will focus how to set up your Editions for your digital and print publication management. First, you need to create the Editon Profile, then a Product Line and then your Editions, which represent your issues. Here you can manage sign off, delivery and circulation dates.

Control > Publish > Edition Profiles > Edition Profile Edit

Here are some of the key fields, with help text, that you will need to set up the Editon Profile:

• Name - The name of the Edition Profile you wish to create, for example: Issue, Supplement, Manual.
• Presentation Style - Select the Presentation Style, A Simple Edition Listing which includes a search bar with up to 2 filters or an Advanced Edition Listing which allows you to create tabs for listing contacts, accounts and articles. This is useful if you wish to reflect your Editions on your site. However, if you do not wish to reflect it on your site, select any Presentation Style as this field is required. 

If you would like to find out more about how to reflect Editions on your site, we have a detailed help guide for it: www.affino.com/affinohelp/publish-guides/how-to-configure-the-advanced-and-simple-edition-template

• [ ] Active - The Edition type can be inactivated, i.e. it will not be available for use later. 

Control > Commerce > Product Lines > Product Line Edit

Product Lines have Product Categories which contain Catalogue Items. "Part of Print management, you have several Product Lines to each Product Category - individual units / publications / properties or elements Example. Product Line is brand or property, Product Category is website, magazine, conference, Catalogue Item is exhibition stand, ticket or sale item"

• Name - Enter the name of the Product Line, this will be the Brand associated with the Products (Catalogue Items).

Control > Publish > Editions > Edition Edit

Here are some of the key fields, with help text, that you will need to set up the Editons:

• Name - The name of this Hardcopy Edition. For example, The Environmentalist May 2020 Issue.
• Year Of Publication - Select the year of publication for this edition.
• Product Line - The Product Line (or Range) this Edition belongs to. A Product Line is a series or range of products on offer by Business Unit.
• Edition Profile - Select Edition Profile, for example, Issue, Supplement, Advertisement.
• Format - Select to indicate whether this edition is a print and/or digital version.
• Issue Number - The Issue number for this Product. If you are adding a Edition you can enter a comma separated list of issue numbers to create multiple issues. All issues will be created with the same details besides the Issue Number which will be unique to each. Once created the issue number is fixed. Error Handling - if a edition of the same edition type exists then show the error - A Edition already exists with the same Edition Type and Issue Number, please enter a different issue number.
• Parent Edition - Select the Parent Edition if this is a Supplement, Inset etc. that accompanies a higher level product.
• Subscription Plan - Select the Subscription plan that this edition is available to. At the point when the Customer Delivery Date is hit, the circulation will be calculated and assigned based on the active subscribers at the time. Users who subscribe subsequent to the Customer Delivery Date are added to the circulation for the latest edition for any given product line that they subscribe to.
• Submission Deadline - Select the date for final submission of content.
• Sign-Off Date / Final Deadline - The Sign-Off Date / Final Deadline for this Edition.
• Online Date - Select the date to publish this edition online.
• Press Date - The date this Edition goes to Press i.e. to be printed.
• Internal Delivery Date - The Internal Delivery date for this Edition.
• Customer Delivery Date - The date the Edition is scheduled to arrive on the Customer's Desk.
• [ ] Create Contact List - Select to create an associated contact list for this edition.
• [ ] Live - Select to make this Edition available for selection.

This step will focus on setting up all of the eCommerce elements to have a paid subscription plan setup.

Now with the ability to sell auto-renewing subscriptions online, we recommend using Stripe and GoCardless payment gateways as these have continuously Credit Card payment and Direct Debit.

Control > Commerce > Payment Gateways > Payment Gateway Edit

Here are some of the key fields, with help text, that you will need to set up Payment Gateways:

When selecting Stripe:

• Name - Enter a Name to identify this Payment Gateway option.
• Run Mode - Select which Run Mode is operational on this Payment Gateway. Live makes for genuine transactions; until such a time the gateway goes live, Approval or Decline Test Mode should be selected
• Publishable Key - The Publishable key from Stripe.
• Secret Key - The Secret key from Stripe.
• Webhook Signing Secret - The secret for the Webhook.
• [ ] Use Tax Rate For Subscriptions - When ticked Affino will pass the Tax Rules External ID to Stripe. This ID needs to be same as the Tax Rate ID in Stripe
• [ ] Use Coupons For Subscriptions - When ticked Affino will pass the Coupon External ID to Stripe. This ID needs to be same as the Coupon ID in Stripe
• Use Renewal Catalogue Item Price And Tax - Select to pass the Renewal Catalogue Item's External ID and Tax Rule External ID to Stripe if a Renewal Catalogue Item exists. If not selected, the Renewal Catalogue Item will still be used to generate the renewal order but Stripe will continue to renew on the existing price and tax rule. These IDs need to match ones in Stripe.
  
• Webhook Integration Script - Select an Integration Script to run custom code / functionality.
  
• Start Renewal Automation - Select to initiate the renewal automation scheduled task which will check for and generate subscription renewals.
• Start Cancellation Automation - Select to initiate the cancellation automation scheduled task which will check for subscription cancellations and cancel the payment at the payment gateway.
• [ ] Live - Tick to make this payment gateway active.

When the Payment Gateway is created for Stripe, the Webhook URL is generated. Here are some references: Orders will be cancelled for the following events: charge.failed, subscription_schedule.canceled, customer.subscription.deleted. On stripe set the following Event Types: subscription_schedule.created, charge.succeeded, subscription_schedule.canceled, customer.source.expiring, charge.failed, customer.subscription.deleted

When selecting GoCardless:

• Name - Enter a Name to identify this Payment Gateway option.
• Run Mode - Select which Run Mode is operational on this Payment Gateway. Live makes for genuine transactions; until such a time the gateway goes live, Approval or Decline Test Mode should be selected
• Access Token - The Access token provided by GoCardless. The token type must be read-write.
• Webhook Secret - The Webhook secret from GoCardless.
• Start Renewal Automation - Select to initiate the renewal automation scheduled task which will check for and generate subscription renewals.
• Start Cancellation Automation - Select to initiate the cancellation automation scheduled task which will check for subscription cancellations and cancel the payment at the payment gateway.
• [ ] Live - Tick to make this payment gateway active.

When the Payment Gateway is created for GoCardless, the Webhook URL is generated. Here are some reference:  Orders will be cancelled for the following events: mandates/failed, mandates/cancelled, payments/cancelled, payments/charged_back, payments/failed, subscriptions/cancelled

Once your chosen Payment Gateway is created, you need to set it as a Payment Method.

Control > Commerce > Payment Methods > Payment Method Edit

• Payment Method Name - Enter a Name for this Payment Method.
• Gateway - Select Payment Gateway from Options available in the drop-down menu.
• Store - Select the store or stores that this payment method applies to.
• Group Options - Select whether the Payment Method can apply to All or Selected.
• Groups - Select the Groups to which this Payment Method will apply. This only applies if you have selected Selected Groups on the Group Options field.
• Payment Method Type - Select the payment types that this payment method supports. Default it will be presented for all products, however, if it can only handle subscriptions and renewable payments then it should be selected as such. Otherwise, users will select this as a payment option and then be unable to complete the transaction.
• Geo Filter - Select to restrict access to the payment gateway by region.
• Geo Filter Countries - Select the countries you want to filter by.
• Geo Filter Address - Select to restrict access to the payment gateway by address.
• Currency Filter - Filter this payment method by a specific currency. This allows you to use this payment.
• [ ] Live - Tick to make this payment method active.

If you have created the Product Line on Part 2, then you can move straight to creating Product Category. If not, please create a Product Line before creating a Product Category.

Control > Commerce > Product Categories > Product Category Edit

Product Categories describe which type of saleable product this is e.g. data, advertising. Product Categories are associated with Product Lines within Edition Management - Category is the grouping element, and lines are the individual publications or properties within each relevant category.

• Name - Enter the Name of the Product Category; describe which type of saleable product this is e.g. data, advertising.
• Description - Enter a description to provide more information about the product category.
• Catalogue Items - Select the required products for this Product Line.
• [ ] Active - If set to no then the Product Category will not be available for selection at the product level.

When you have the above in place, you can start creating a Product Channel, if you don’t have one yet, and start creating your Product Articles. From this point, you need to start configuring your Catalogue Item (click on the dollar sign tag icon from the Product Article to create a Catalogue Item based on that product)

Control > Commerce > Catalogue Items > Catalogue Item

Here are some of the key fields, with help text, that you will need to set up Catalogue Items accordingly for Subscriptions:

• Catalogue ID - Enter your own alphanumerical reference for this Catalogue Item.
• Product Line - Select the required product line for this Catalogue Item.
• Product Category - Select the required product category for this Catalogue Item.
• Catalogue Group Title - Enter the title displayed on the basket when this item is part of a Catalogue Group. e.g. Monthly Subscription Direct Debit, Monthly Subscription Credit Card, etc. This is needed to differentiate between the items within a Catalogue Group.

After this, complete the Price Matrix accordingly, you can introduce multiple pricing based on dates and/or Security by adding extra rows.

• Payment Method - Select the Payment Method to be used on this Catalogue Item. If a Payment Method is selected, the customer will only be able to add items to the basket with the same Payment Method and for Direct Debit and Continuous Credit Card payments, only one item can be purchased at a time. Note: This is required if this item is to be added to a Product Group. If left blank, all available Payment Methods will be displayed on the Checkout (for items not part of a Catalogue Group).
• [ ] Enable Subscription - When this option is ticked, subscription fields are activated. Please note that all Digital Goods Catalogue Items must have the subscription attributes defined.
• Deferred Income - For the Deferred Income report to be calculated, the Deferred Income field will only work in conjunction with the Subscription Duration field in one of the following combinations (Deferred Income / Duration): a). Monthly / Months, b). Monthly / Years, c). Monthly / 3 Months, d). Monthly / 6 Months, e). Bimonthly / Years, f). Quarterly / 3 Months, g). Quarterly / Years, h). Biannually / 6 Months, i). Biannually / Years.
• Subscription Duration - Use the drop-down menu to select Duration Type, from Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, 3 Months, 6 Months and Years.
• Duration Number - Enter Duration Units with reference to the above Duration Type.
• [ ] Allow Different Start Date - Select to allow the purchaser to select a different subscription start date. A date field will be displayed on the basket screen.
• [ ] Automatic Renewal - Automatic Renewal cannot be used in conjunction with a Duration Period of Hours or Days. The Duration Number must be set to 1. Note: Automatic Renewal cannot be used in conjunction with a Duration Period of Hours or Days
• Renewal Catalogue Item - Select the renewal catalogue item. This could be used where there is a price change, the original item is no longer on sale or there are new benefits.
• Sale Start - Choose the date and time when this item will be on sale.
• Sale End - Choose the date and time when this item is removed from sale.
• [ ] On Sale - Tick this option to put this Catalgoeut Item on sale.

Once saved, associate the Subscription Plan against the Catalogue Item. This can be done using the Good link at the bottom of the screen when the Catalogue Item is saved. Click the Add button and relate the Subscription Plan.

If you are offering your subscription on different payment methods and different prices, you need to create a Catalogue Item per payment method including the price and group them in a Catalogue Groups. E.g. you could have a subscription which cost users £10 monthly via recurring payment (Stripe), £25 Quarterly via Direct Debit (GoCardless) or £80 Annually via Credit Card (Stripe). In this case, you need a Catalogue Item for each. Once you have them set up, group them on the Catagory Group as per the steps below:

Control > Commerce > Catalogue Groups > Catalogue Group Edit

• Name - Enter a name for this Catalogue Group
• Description - Enter a description for this Catalogue Group
• Catalogue Items - Select the Catalogue Items for this Group. Sort the order in which they are displayed on the basket screen.

Note: if you add more than one subscription plan to the catalogue item, or add a media item beside the subscription plan, and the catalogue Item is set to Automatic Renewal, then the eCommerce payment methods (i.e. Stripe, Go Cardless, etc) will not be shown during checkout. Only the Purchase Order option will appear as the available payment method.

Associate Mailing List with Subscription Plan for on-site subscriptions. To allow your customers to subscribe online you will need to create mailing lists that correspond with the subscription plans you offer. You might for instance just have one mailing list with an associated subscription plan to allow users to sign up for your newsletter messaging, print product and on-site subsection in one step.

Alternatively you might want to have three separate ones, one for the newsletter subscription, one for the digital subscriptions and a third for the print subscription. In that case you would set up two subscription plans as well and relate to each appropriate one from the relevant mailing list.

Control > Promote > Mailing Lists > Mailing List Edit

Here are some of the key fields, with help text, that you will need to set up Mailing Lists with a free Subscription Plan:

• Name - Enter the Name you wish to call this Mailing List; note that all entry fields with a tick next to them must be filled in
• Subscription Plan - Select a subscription plan to make a join between the mailing list and the subscription plan. When joined, any user who is added to the mailing list is also added as a subscriber to the subscription plan, and when they are removed, the subscription is removed. Note: Existing mailing list subscribers will not be automatically assigned to this subscription plan.
• Section - Select the Section where you would like this Mailing List to appear.
• [ ] Live - Tick this box to publish this Mailing List 

The Calculate Circulation button on the Edition allows you to calculation the number of users that meet the criteria for the print edition. This calculates all the active subscribers that fall within the Circulation Date. 

Active subscribers are those that have a subscription on the circulation date with one of the following statuses

• Active
• Active Lapsed
• Active Pending
• Active Renewed

These subscribers will be included if their subscription Start/End date fall within the Circulation Date.

You can see all the active subscriptions on the main Subscription control centre screen.

You can easily add a free subscription here, re-assign subscriptions, suspend them or change the timeframe of the subscription.

If you wish to add a paid subscription, you will need to create a Pro Forma and assign Subscription Plan. We have a detailed guide on Sales, which includes creating Pro Forma: www.affino.com/affinohelp/communicate-guides/sales-guide

You can filter by different subscription statuses, accounts, individuals, plans, timeframes and much more.

For the renewal date, Affino checks the order Creation Date and the subscription End Date.

___________

Example:

• An order is created on the 14 Jan 2022 for a yearly subscription
• The subscription runs from 10 Feb 2022 till 9 Feb 2023

The above will give us two dates:

1.- Order Creation Date: 14 Jan 2023 (+ the subscription interval)

2.- Subscription End Date: 9 Feb 2023 the Sub End

Based on those dates, Affino will generate the renewal 10 days before the earlier date, thus the renewal will be generated on the 4 Jan 2023.

__________

The reason for the above is that payments can be taken straight away, even if the subscription starts at a later date.

Affino needs to have an order before the 14 Jan 2023 since the renewal payment will be taken on that date.

Commerce > Orders

Commerce > Subscriptions

Commerce > Subscription Plans

For recurring subscriptions, where there is a clear chain of orders and previous orders, we set any subsequent ones as a renewal where the Order status is "Paid Full" and the Payment status is "Paid" or "Awaiting Payment Confirmation".

For those that are not chained, that is, when an order is Cancelled or its a one off order, Affino only checks the Catalogue Item that was previously purchased, so long as the Order status is "Paid Full" and the Payment status is "Paid".

There are no additional checks on time frame, price, subs plans or payment methods to determine whether it is a renewal.

This logic applies to all products, not just subscriptions.

Examples:

1.- A customer purchases a trial subscription and renews onto a renewal catalogue item, the second order is a renewal as there is a chain. If they then cancel and purchase either the first or second catalogue item again at any time, this will be a renewal.

2.- A customer purchases Product A with Subscription Plan A, then the subscription lapses. If the customer purchases Product B with same Subscription Plan A, Affino does not create a renewal even though it has the same subscription plan, this is due to the Catalogue Item being different.

3.- A customer purchases a subscription and it is gifted or assigned to another person. If the other person purchases their own subscription, Affino will not deem this as a renewal.

Note: Affino does not automatically generate renewals for free subscriptions.

Free subscriptions can be manually renewed from the users My Account page or you can create a new, free subscription from the Subscriptions screen.

We have updated the Renew action when viewing subscriptions on My Account. For free subscriptions, the renew button is displayed from one year in advance until the Renewal Period After Expiry setting on the subscription plan.

For paid subscriptions, the button is displayed depending on the setting in the Store Profile, and only shown in the event that there is no subsequent renewal or cancellation. We have also updated the Renewal workflow so that if a Renewal Catalogue Item is selected on the Catalogue Item the users purchased, then that is added to the basket and the user taken to the checkout. It is now also possible to cross-check from subscriptions through to their underlying orders through the Order Number shown against relevant subscriptions.

There is also the option to let customers cancel their own subscription from My Account screen. It is now possible for customers to cancel their subscriptions on their My Account. This is an option that is displayed on the My Account screen when enabled. In the event that a person wishes to cancel their subscription, they will need to double confirm on-screen and are then sent a cancellation notification message. Note that this won’t cause an immediate cancellation, rather the renewal will be cancelled. When cancelled a cancellation message is sent.

We have introduced a new Channel type to promote products, and subscriptions in particular. It is now possible to set up a Channel / Promotion Profile with a group of products, e.g. subscription offerings or promotions, with one in particular highlighted. This allows you to both set up the main subscription promotion screen, and run any combination of separate promotions with alternative or discounted product propositions through either secured or hidden screens.

Each product promotion panel offers multiple spaces for highlighting the benefits of the offer and to provide additional promotion messages e.g. best value, most popular, getting started etc. We have designed the whole process so that you can have a single promotion Skin which can be used on multiple channels with different promotion offerings, all with minimal additional setup, especially on the design side. It is also possible to directly edit the promotions from the app bar. We have also enhanced the checkout to ensure that when a user goes ‘back’ they return to the relevant promotion they were on.

Control > Commerce > Promotion Profiles > Promotion Profile Edit

• Name - Enter the Name for this Promotion Profile.
• Promotional Article - Add two or more product articles to be displayed on the Promotion Channel.
• [ ] Highlighted - Select which Product should be highlighted as the recommended option
• Promotion Action - Select the action on the promotion button. This will override the default behaviour of going to the detail and override the Add To Basket Action on the Store Profile.

After the Promotion Profile has been set up, create a Promotion Channel.

Control > Structure > Channels > Channel Edit

Here are some of the key fields, with help text, that you will need to create a Promotion Channel:

• Name - Enter a name to identify the channel.
• Skin - Use this field to select the Skin that will be the basis of this Channel.
• Promotion Profile - Select the Promotion Profile to be applied to this Channel.

Control > Publish > Articles > (Add/Edit) > Upsell

Product type articles (Simple and Advanced) have the Upsell panel, where you can choose the Upsell Product and Upsell Message so you can persuade customers to purchase a more expensive, upgraded, or premium version of the chosen item.

Upsell Product: This is an existing catalogue item.

Choose the desired catalogue item, it will be shown to the right of the of the main items information.

Upsell Message: Set an text message related to the upsell product/catallogue item.

Control > Commerce > Catalogue Items > (Edit) > Subscription > Renewal Catalogue Item

You can up-sell a subscription by using the Renewal Catalogue Item option:

The renewal catalogue item can be a more expensive or lengthy subscription.

Once the time comes for renewal, the catalogue item set in that field will replace the one associated to the current subscription.

This happens automatically.

It is possible to import subscribers by simply having the mailing list subscription column filled in with the appropriate mailing list

You then run the user import to activate the subscriptions. In the event that subscriptions have lapsed you can import a single lapsed subscription per user at a time.

It is possible to export all contact details including their subscriptions for given subscription timeframes and whether or not they’re requested or active / lapsed.

It is also possible to filter by Print Product so you get the contact list for label printing etc.

Active - user has a current subscription (free or paid), i.e. subscription has not yet expired.

Active Awaiting Payment - user has a current subscription and the order is awaiting payment confirmation

Active Cancel - the Renew Action has been set to Cancel. A current subscription exists and no renewal order or subscription will be generated. If it has already been generated, the renewal order is cancelled and subscription is suspended.

Active Renew - the Renew Action has been set to Renew. A current subscription exists with an intention to renew, the renewal order / subscription will be generated in due time.

Active Pending - a subscription has not yet started, e.g. the subscription starts next month

Cancelled - this subscription has been cancelled. 

Inactive Not Paid - a subscription is not active and the order has not been paid, i.e. the payment status is Not Paid

Lapsed < 60 days - a subscription has expired within 60 days and has not yet been renewed

Lapsed > 60 days - a subscription has expired more than 60 days and has not been renewed

Lapsed Awaiting Payment - a subscription has lapsed, however a renewal order is awaiting payment confirmation.

Renewed - this subscription has been successfully renewed, i.e. the renewal order has been paid and renewal subscription is active.

Suspended - the subscription has been suspended either manually, i.e. the Renew Action has been set to Suspend or automatically if payment cannot be collected through the payment gateway - the renewal order is cancelled, the renewal subscription is suspended and the current subscription is cancelled.

This guide is intended to provide a detailed description of the various Subscription scenarios that Affino caters for along with their relevant order status, payment status and subscription status.

It also includes general information about how the automated subscription generation, renewal, and cancellation workflows function and how they can be configured in Affino.