User Registration at Trade Show - CBSubs

Using: joomla 3.10.12 and CB 2.9.3

I use the CB Subs plugin to track memberships on my site. I need the most future-proof way to signup new members with cash instead of card. Use case is a booth at trade shows / seminars. Here's what I've done so far but there's gotta be a better way:

1. In the past I simply didn't broadcast the "cash" subscriptions, via CB Paid Subscriptions -> Workflow -> Registration CB workflows -> "Propose spontaneously plan at registration". However, the cash subscription URLs became public knowledge, rendering them useless. I'm aware of an "User Approval by Moderator" option but this still causes overhead IRT detection and administration of unapproved accounts.
2. Another idea I had was using Coupons. I was thinking of dynamically generating one-off coupon codes, something like this post , that could be scanned in either in-person or at home by the new member. This might work, but then there's the hassle of generating a code that can't be guessed by bots or trolls (User ID would be easy to guess for example). Then there's the cost of a label printer, finding a way to print the coupon codes on the label printer, etc...
3. The last idea I had was simply giving admin access to a user with an iPad at the trade show. But I can't find a way to lock down the user to just signing up new users - too much overhead and risk.

Any additional ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Some dev-time on my part is possible but an out-of-the-box solution is preferred.

-M


 

I assume their accounts already exist and they've just selected to pay with the Offline payment gateway. At that point the only remaining process is activating their membership, which is done from backend. However it maybe possible to move that process to frontend using CB Auto Actions and a custom form then going with your iPad approach where all they'd need to do is utilize that custom form and not have to touch backend.

If the accounts also need to be created on-site you'll either need to give the iPad user an admin account to do so or again custom form combined with CB Auto Actions.

Me personally as long as the online account isn't mandatory for the trade show I would delay the process. So they would show up and pay in person and provide the email address on their account. Then later after the show is over you can go through and deal with manual activation of their subscriptions as needed. If you also need them to create an account at that time then have them fill out a paper form during the trade show and you can make their accounts later.

Thank you for the quick reply.

• Both scenarios need to be accounted for:
  • 4/5 accounts need to be made new, 1/5 need to have their subscription renewed/upgraded.
  • It would be preferable to have everything handled on-the-spot, cash traded for a working account.
• I'm not familiar with the "Offline payment gateway" if you could please elaborate.
• The online account isn't mandatory for the trade show, however one show alone could have 50 signups, with 3-4 shows in a month
  • This does not scale with manual entry. Form validation on our registration page also prevents incorrect email, username conflicts, bad data in general.
  • This is the current state / the problem I wish to solve
• Could you please elaborate on the custom form / CB Auto Actions idea?
  • Could it be password protected?
  • Could it validate user input like the existing registration form?
• Is there a workflow to simply reuse the existing registration form with cash payment?

I'm not familiar with the "Offline payment gateway" if you could please elaborate.

The Offline payment gateway in CBSubs lets you go through the payment process and either mark a subscription as pending or fully activate it then collect payment by external means. The external means can be whatever you like. So for example wire transfer, mail in check, or in-person cash payment. An administrator then just needs to mark the basket as paid in CBSubs > Baskets and the process is complete.

The online account isn't mandatory for the trade show, however one show alone could have 50 signups, with 3-4 shows in a month

Then I'd probably take a mode modern approach here. I would provide iPads or tablets of some kind at the event that people use to sign-up. There they're just go through normal registration in the browser. They can then opt to pay through the tablet or use the offline payment gateway (you could call this Cash On-Site or whatever you want) where you'd then collect the cash.

This frankly is the gold standard for something like this. I've seen kiosk systems specifically designed for this, but usually it's just a tablet attached to a stand of some kind. This also lets you do online OR in person registration using the same processes. For people that registered online, but opted to pay in person you can have people there that they can provide their email address to or name for example and then that person can accept payment and mark their basketed paid.

Could you please elaborate on the custom form / CB Auto Actions idea?

CB Auto Actions has actions for registering accounts and for activating subscriptions. So the idea is you could have a custom HTML form that submits to an auto action and pays a subscription, but you may not need to bother with this if you use tablets to just let them go through the sign up process themselves.

AH. Yes the Offline payment gateway seems to be what I need.

I have it working now - do you have any advice on streamlining verification of these new users?

• It would be nice if the "pay offline" button only appeared on our approved tablets
• After a user is made this way, instead of verbally asking for the new username and writing it down, is there an easier way to document the new user, in-person?
  • Person behind booth is not tech-savvy, I would like some way for the iPad to be connected to the sale (prevent human error)
• The payment slip screen adds extra clicks. Is it possible to just redirect to the registration page with a fresh slate?

Thank you!

It would be nice if the "pay offline" button only appeared on our approved tablets

There's no functionality built in for that. Gateways only have basic access permissions, which would be checked against their account. I'm not sure how you would limit that to a specific device, sorry. Offline payments require manual confirmation so I suppose it doesn't really matter. When you're doing your book keeping to confirm the payments just reject anyone that didn't pay. Maybe only make the offline payment gateway available while an event is actively going on? Should be as simple as enable/disabling it.

After a user is made this way, instead of verbally asking for the new username and writing it down, is there an easier way to document the new user, in-person?

Document in what way? If registration asks for email address or phone number then they can probably just provide that and write it down. I don't see how else you could possibly document in person unless you offered printers to print out the offline payment slip as a form of confirmation.

The payment slip screen adds extra clicks. Is it possible to just redirect to the registration page with a fresh slate?

It might be possible using the below in CB Auto Actions.

Global
Triggers: onCPayDisplayBasketResult
Type: Redirect
User: Self
Access: All Non-Registered Users
Conditions
Field: Custom > Value
Custom Value: [get_result]
Operator: Equal To
Value: showslip
Action
URL:


Within your offline payment gateway be sure to set "Payment slip opens in" to "Stays in same window within the site, optionally with PRINT button" to avoid the confirmation using a popup window. That should loop back to registration for non-logged in offline payments. You can optionally add a confirmation message to the redirect auto action.