Product Variations and Recurring Option

[dlstefan]

This is a creative challenge, but I purchased estore plugin and have gone to great lengths to be able to use it. Since my server of 5 years could not handle the php update necessary for the plugin, I migrated 21 websites to a new Plesk Parallel server and had to learn that admin panel first! I tell you this for your sympathy:-) Now, I am ready to rock with eStore. The real challenge is the creative one. Too many ways to go on this so we started to hardcode the options and then I stamped my feet saying “No, No, NO!” I did not activate eStore plugin to bypass the wonderful workings of it. We will remain diligent until we succeed.

Okay…now I am still trying to figure out how to achieve the following payment options for my Booster’s Support Page for the Baseball team I train. I am in the FITNESS business, not web development!

The amounts are the same regardless of Player chosen. Player selection will indicate where the credit goes. That will be another tool we need in place for player support tracking. However, Each Player selection will have the same sponsor payment options:

Home Run 4-Week Support $156, Triple 3-Week Support $117, Double 2-Week Support $78, Single 1-Week Support $39

Player Selection will be a dropdown of 32 names.

The next option will be “One-Time Donation” OR “Recurring Support”. The recurrences will be MONTHLY and they will adhere to the very same options as the One-Time Donation” AGAIN as follows: Home Run 4-Week Support $156, Triple 3-Week Support $117, Double 2-Week Support $78, Single 1-Week Support $39

The subscriber will have the option in choosing recurrences up to NINE recurring monthly payments. Again, the taxonomy will be the same for all options…regardless of Player selection, regardless of One-Time vs Recurring.

It is my aim to utilize the eStore plugin for the functions it offers. I do not wish to have any hard coding unless absolutely necessary. There seem to be a few different possibilities for achieving the needs of this project. Under the eStore “Manage Products”, then select Product ID# 1 described as “Single (1-week support)” price of $39. Then, proceed to the edit mode of this product to find the third settings option down being “Variations”. After reviewing online tutorials and reading the knowledge base info I am still uncertain regarding the use of this feature. This variation feature is where we can add the product options including price differentials. Therefore, wouldn’t we be able insert the following code in “Product Variation 1:” |Choose Your Support Level|Single 1-Week Support|Double 2-Weeks Support:39|Triple 3-Weeks Support:78|Home Run 4-Weeks Support:117 ?

This variation should then cover the drop down selection for support level. If so, then we also need to utilize the second “Product Variation 2” as the recurring option? If not, where do we put the recurring option?

Finally, I need a method of tracking EACH INDIVIDUAL PLAYER’S DONATION FUNDS to calculate the ongoing status. I have ideas that we could do so using the Affiliate Commission feature, or the Product Inventory feature of the Estore plugin. However, I have not worked with these plugins but I have them installed and activated.

I have hired three different providers on Elance and Guru and am back to doing this myself because everyone wants to bypass eStore and do hardcode. I am tempted just to do it in html myself, but I am committed to utilizing eStore for the benefits it offers. Please help! I am missing my workouts ;-(

[amin007]

It shouldn’t be that hard. Given that I understand your requirement the following is one way to do it.

Nobody is telling you to have only one button for all the payment options. So create the following 4 products:

– Home Run 4-Week Support (price: $156)

– Triple 3-Week Support (price: $117)

– Double 2-Week Support (price: $78)

– Single 1-Week Support (price: $39)

Use your 32 players as the variation option for all of the above 4 products (I believe you already know how to do this). Now, Place 4 “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” buttons on your payment page so a visitor can come to this page see the options then make a payment. When a visitor makes a payment he/she will be able to choose a player from the variation drop down. Later in your “Manage Customers” menu you will be able to see who paid for which player.

Once you get the above done then move to the subscription part. For the subscription do the same as above (create 4 subscription products with the 32 players as the variation). Now use the correct shortcode to place the subscription buttons on your payment page.

[dlstefan]

Now that I have done all this, I do not find any shortcodes which allow thumbnails of variations. This will not work unless I can display thumbnails of each player for sponsorships.

How do I set this up in order to prioritize PLAYER SELECTION then SPONSOR LEVEL, followed by RECURRENCES? From the “Subscription/Recurring Payment Specific Settings” I cannot see where to designate how many months to recur. Does this continue until customer officially cancels?

Thank you for your help.

[dlstefan]

Now I have a new plan to hopefully accomplish my goals here. I have created Posts for each Player and categorized them as “Coyotes Players”. My hope is that I can then upload a photo for each Player Post and include “Excerpts”. Then, will the Excerpts display on the Coyotes Players page to offer a listing of all players? The site visitor must be able to browse Player photos and click a thumbnail to go to sponsor the player of choice.

What is the shortcode to use for this?

[amin007]

“I cannot see where to designate how many months to recur” – Please read the help text for the following field:

Recurring Billing Count

Most of the fields in eStore has help text that explains how to use that field.

I am not 100% sure what you want to do with the photo and excerpt but you can use a WordPress gallery plugin (eg. NextGen gallery) to display your player photos.

Remember, eStore processes the payment. It is not a gallery plugin so it doesn’t have option to browse photos. You can design the post however you want it then link it to the payment page… at the end all eStore cares is someone landing on the “payment” page then making a payment.

[dlstefan]

Thanks for the info. However, I am still seeking a shortcode or method of displaying a thumbnail pic of each player for payment selection. In essence the Player is the Product and there are 4 levels of payment. Then the 4 ways of payment must also be offered as one-time or recurring. Still not clear how to accomplish this unless I create 32 products for 32 Players, then use the 4 levels of payment for variations. But then how do I offer the recurring payments? I hate to do all the work so many different ways only to find out that something is missing each time. Please advise.

[amin007]

Do this step by step and then slowly improve on it over time. First try to have a system in place that people can at least use. Then try to identify ways to optimize it and make it better.

I would recommend implementing the following and see how it goes:

Create a page called player gallery. Place the pictures of your 32 players on this page each picture links to the same payment page (this payment page has all the payment buttons). Each picture should include the name of the player too.

When a visitor lands on this player gallery page they can see all 32 players and their names. When they click on an image it takes them to the payment page where they can select the name of the player from the drop down and hit the pay button to make a payment.

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