Changing a member's plan

This is not a problem, just a question/suggestion.

Is there a way of moving a member from one plan to another that does not involve 'upgrade to another plan'. I know I can do it by changing the database directly via Paid Subscriptions/Subscriptions, but our administrators are reluctant to do it this way (mainly because I've put the fear of God into them of what can happen if they mess around with things they don't understand!).

For example, we have two membership plans which are identical in every respect, except that one is free. This is a concession to a member who takes on a formal (volunteer and unpaid) role in running the non-profit Club for the duration of their service in that role. Changing them from the paid to the free plan using the 'upgrade this plan' route also changes the subscription date and renewal date, which means that I have to change these back directly on the database. Obviously, when they leave the role the same thing happens because they revert to the paid plan.

We have no need for the additional subscription records that result each time this happens either, as it's basically just an edit to the plan_id of the comprofiler record.

Despite my decades in IT software design and development this is not something with which I am comfortable - it's not my system, and there can be unforeseen consequences to this kind of interference.

So it's just a question/suggestion, and I'd appreciate your comments.

Thank you

Do I understand the request correctly as having a "plan transition" possibility between "sibblings" plans, that is not an "upgrade", and that only cancels the old plan and activates the new plan, taking over the subscription and last renewal dates ?

Is there a need to have 2 plans except for the price ?

Just an alternative suggestion without knowing the details: Create a promotion with 100% discount on a condition on a CB field that marks them as active vounteer (it could even update itself automatically with CB Auto-Actions depending on their activity or lack of activity) to make the renewals free for them ?

You have understood the basic need exactly - just a change of plan (and therefore the rate), nothing else changes at that point. The waiving of the subscription is for people who are elected to the position of committee member. Their election and commencement of duties are very unlikely to coincide with their renewal date, so they will have paid for the current year by the time they are elected. Subs are waived for as long as they stay on the committee, so their next renewal (and probably some subsequent ones as well) is free. Similarly, when they leave the committee they are part way through their subscription year and it is not until the following renewal date that subs are payable again.

It might seem a bit of a strange way of doing it, but it minimises mistakes and simplifies administration - in the original paper-based system the current committee members didn't pay subs when their renewal came due, it was as simple as that.

We have another situation where this 'sideways move of plan' also applies but that has more to do with credit control and restriction of membership benefits, both of which are beyond the scope of CBSubs. However, which plan a member has does inform the actions taken.

I need to keep this simple for the users - I won't always be here or available to fix things.

I appreciate your giving this your time, and if you say 'not possible right now' that's fine

Thank you

Would my alternative suggestion above work for you ?

It would just mean e.g. a moderator can activate or deactivate a 100% promotion depending on their status, simply by editing the user's profile on a protected moderators-only CB field.

Then their renewal is free, they just have to press the renew button, for as long as that CB field is set.

We will consider this feature-request when we rework CBSubs upgrades and renewals workflows, but that won't happen anytime soon. Thus my suggestion

It's a concept worth trying out on my test system and it's certainly a mechanism that would fit the bill perfectly in other situations that could arise.

Thank you for the suggestion. We don't use Promotions at present, so it would never have occurred to me.

Thanks you for your time and your help.