Hey there,
I’ll try to answer your questions one by one.
It looks like there is no differentiation between a new user and a renewing user… Am I correct in my assumption?
Sort of. PMPro uses the same Checkout page to handle renewals, membership changes, and first time registrations, but changes depending on what’s happening. If a user has already registered and they’re already logged in, they won’t be asked for their account information again, and their billing address information should already be filled out (if it is required).
On the renewal, what happens?
When a member renews their non-recurring membership, their entire membership will be extended that long. For example, if a level expires in a year, another year will be added on if they renew.
I assume that the user get an email saying renewal is due? (I have been unsuccessful in testing this – I can’t get the system to send me a renewal notification)
PMPro should send out expiration warning emails 7 days before expiration (by default, but that can be changed). An expiration email is also sent out when a membership expires. If you aren’t receiving these emails, are you receiving any WordPress emails in general (Forgot Password, New User Registration, etc.)?
If a paypal subscription is used – I assume paypal just auto-deducts the money from the selected account – what happens to the membership in PMPro? Does someone need to manually renew members on receipt of payment? Is there an option that will allow for completely automated renewal? If so, what is the recommend configuration for this?
As long as everything is configured correctly on both the PMPro and PayPal side, recurring billing, cancellations, etc. will be handled automatically. PayPal has multiple gateways which handle things differently, so you’ll have to be more specific about which one you’re using, but generally PayPal sends out an Instant Payment Notification(IPN) to your site every time one of these events happens at PayPal, and PMPro handles them.
Non-recurring memberships will require the users to check out again in order to renew their memberships. You should set up your levels to be recurring subscriptions if you want them to “auto-renew”.
Also, FYI, if you’re using PayPal Standard, we typically advise against it for various reasons, in favor of PayPal Express. You can read more about that on our blog.
Does that clear things up?
Thanks,
Jess
