[SOLVED] Plan Hierarchy - child of 2 parents?

Hi

Here is a scenario where it would make sense for one plan to have two distinctly separate options for upgrading.

My site will have essays and a couple of books I'm writing. Following is a hierarchy of some of the membership plans:

(1) Lifetime sitewide access to all content
. (2) Annual sitewide access to all content
. . . (3) Annual access to all essays
. . . . . (4) - Monthly access to all essays
. . . (3) Monthly sitewide access to all content
. . . . . (4) - Monthly access to all essays

Notice that the two shown in bold blue italic are the same plan, but with two different parents available for upgrade.

Can a plan select 2 parents for possible upgrade, or do I have to make a choice of which is offered as an upgrade? If not, do you have any other ideas on how this could be implemented?

Thanks,
Webmuse

Post edited by: krileon, at: 2010/06/18 21:18

Can a plan select 2 parents for possible upgrade, or do I have to make a choice of which is offered as an upgrade?

Yes, as long as they are non-Exclusive.

Your hierachy is too deep. CBSubs does not support that level of children plans. The following is possible within CBSubs.

Plan 1
- Plan 1a

The following is not supported in CBSubs

Plan 2
- Plan 2a
-- Plan 2a1

I suggest the following.

Parent :: Plan 1 - Lifetime sitewide access to all content (Exclusive)

Parent :: Plan 2 - Annual sitewide access to all content (Exclusive)

Parent :: Plan 3 - Annual access to all essays (Exclusive)
Child :: Plan 3a - Monthly access to all essays (non-Exclusive)

Parent :: Plan 4 - Monthly sitewide access to all content (Exclusive)
Child :: Plan 4a - Monthly access to all essays (non-Exclusive)

Wow! Quite a limitation. I was actually planning to have 4 levels of plan hierarchy with additional categories beyond those previously mentioned. Will need to think this thru a bit.

I'm confused with your suggestion:

Parent :: Plan 3 - Annual access to all essays (Exclusive)
Child :: Plan 3a - Monthly access to all essays (non-Exclusive)

Parent :: Plan 4 - Monthly sitewide access to all content (Exclusive)
Child :: Plan 4a - Monthly access to all essays (non-Exclusive)

Are plans 3a and 4a the same plan with two different parents? Or are they defined as separate plans? A subscriber is unlikely to know which parent plan they might want to upgrade to until they are ready to upgrade, so I only want the one plan of this type.
Could they be the same plan if the parent plans were non-exclusive?


Here's my original ideas for plans. Can you offer any suggestions on part #5, given the consideration above?

1) Support this site's launch - donation (non-exclusive)

2) "Grand Opening" special - lifetime site-wide access (available for a very limited time with a reduced price) (exclusive)

3) Annual comment on blog (type: component)
(functionality will be included with all #5 plans and #2) (uncertain exclusive or non?)

4) Unexpected income club - donation plan (non-exclusive)

5) Lifetime site-wide access (exclusive)
5A) Annual site-wide access
5A-i) Annual access to all essays
5A-i-a) Monthly access to all essays
5A-ii) Annual access to all books
5A-ii-a) Monthly access to all books
5A-iii) Monthly site-wide access
5A-iii-a) Monthly access to all essays (5A-i-a)
5A-iii-b) Monthly access to all books (5A-ii-a)
5B) Lifetime access to essay ONE
5C) Lifetime access to book ONE
5C-i) Monthly access to book ONE
5D) Lifetime access to essay TWO
5E) Lifetime access to book TWO
5E-i) Monthly access to book TWO
etc...

I may also want to add a new category for Daily Affirmations in the future, which would fall inside the Plan #5 area at the same level as books and essays, with only an annual subscription. Other areas might arise in the future.

Also, if I make #3 exclusive, can they later subscribe to any of the #5 plans? Should #3 be a child of each #5 option?

Your help and responsiveness are so appreciated!
Thanks,
Webmuse

Are plans 3a and 4a the same plan with two different parents?

Yes. Just copy the plan and change its parent.

Not sure what further to advise, it's a trial and error scenario. There is no limit as to how many plans you can create so it's up to you to determine which plan scenario is best for your needs. Just please keep note that there is only a Parent > Child hierarchy it can not go any deeper then this. You may want to rethink the plan structure you've devised.

Krileon,

Thanks for your response. I will be rethinking my plan hierarchy.

Now that I'm actually creating plans, I finally understand the concept of parent-child within CBSubs. I was thinking along the line of Sections and Categories.

Here is what I'm doing and it seems like it will work for me:

1) Essay Plan - parent - free - at least 1 child is required.
1a) Annual access to all essays (exclusive)
1b) Monthly access to all essays (exclusive)
1c) Essay - Choose From Multiple Parallel Universes (non-exclusive)

2) Book Plan - parent - free
2a) Marry Yourself - The Ultimate Relationship for Ego & Spirit
2b) 2012 - A New Beginning

This does make much more sense, now that I understand that the child plans are options of the parents.

Thanks,
Webmuse

Post edited by: WebMuse, at: 2010/06/18 18:23