Membership Payment

[Betty Winder]

We want to charge for membership to our site but can't figure out how to add PayPal.  Can anyone help?

[AnitaC]

They haven't incorporated that featured directly into the functionality of the system yet.

[Patrick Chappelle]

There are instructions here to do so. It may be a couple of months until Ning implements this function. If you haven't found the instructions by morning, I'll post them here for you.

[Evan]

Hey Betty!

That's a great question. You can do this today. The method I suggest involves turning on member approval on your Ning Network, and then informing new members that they need to pay before they can join. Follow these steps:

0. Turn on member approval. To do that, go to your Manage section, then Members-Controls (/main/membership/controls). Check the box at the top of the page, "Approve new members before they can join"

1. You'll need a set up a donation button with paypal. To do this, follow Paypal's guide.

2. Once you've created a button, click on the "Action" drop down on the page that lists all your buttons. Click the link to "View Code":

3. Click on the "Email" tab. This gives you a simple URL you can point people to, instead of needing to use the entire button code. Copy this code to your clipboard:

4. Head to your Ning Network, and go the Language Editor (network.ning.com/main/language/edit). Click "Edit" on your chosen language, and search for "profile details must be approved". Look for this entry:

5. Just add the Paypal link to the language members see on the Pending Approval page. You can use this text as a sample:

Before you can join, you must pay $25 via Paypal. Just <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6AZFBRBS">click here</a> to pay. You will receive an email once your profile is approved.

Ta da! All new members will be asked to pay before they can join:

You just need to manage the paypal payments and approvals yourself — that's the piece we hope to automate in the near future, so stay tuned.

I hope this helps!

/Evan
Ning Product Manager

[Garfield Creator]

Nice Job, Evan! I am always taken by well organized screenshots. This is very clear and straightforward. I won't say anything about this being made available before today. Oops I think I just did. :-)

[Patrick Chappelle]

Well, there you go Betty.

Splendid response Evan.

Garfield, you're incorrigible! LOL

[Joel Human]

Thanks. BUT, this method only allows me to enforce payment on "NEW MEMBERS"
But what about the existing members?
I know some of them will pay willingly, but there will be a bunch that still have access
to our website without payment?
How can I get existing members to have to pay, before signing in?

[Andrew G Bell]

I have to agree Joel. PayPal payment is fine, but it's only a one-off. What about existing members, and a recurring annual fee - I don't think it caters for that. Would Ning mind if we made a one-off donation to PayPal instead of a monthly fee? Don't think so! Personally, I think Enterprise Subscription Manager is the only clear option right now.

[Joel Human]

Well, I found a temporary solution...
All the existing members were still logging in and using our site,
despite the fact that I was emailing them regularly, and letting them know
that we were going to switch to a paid membership.
So, I gave them a deadline to upgrade (by paying our annual fee of 49.99, via Paypal),
and they still made no payment, so I suspended the members who didn't pay,
and sent them all an email re-iterating the upgrade and deadline for free usage.

And, now a good amount of members are now mad at me.
They've emailed me back saying that they like the website free, and don't want to pay.
But...
It's ok with me, because cheap people tend to be the high maintenance clients, anyhow.
They tend to want to nickle & dime over everything, and expect the world in return.

Oh, the suspension is only temporary. The members who pay, get the suspension removed
and all of their content still remains on their profile.
(check your "member management" section for suspension and reinstatements)

We took a hit in our member count, but now we are more of an "Exclusive" site.
Our site is no longer for everyone. Only for those who have the means and desire to learn how to make money from Professional Barbers & Fashion Designers.
So, the ones who are truly hungry for the information, expertise, and access to working professionals, see the value in it. They see the annual fee as a small investment that they will get a return on, once they learn what we teach them through our site.

Anyhow, try this method. It may work for your site as well until NING catches up to speed.
Be blessed.
-Human

[Andrew G Bell]

Thanks for the advice - useful. Nb. I've looked at your site and it's impressive, but tell me: is it a hassle finding out whose annual subscription is due for renewal? How do you set reminders for all those members - isn't that a little labor intensive?




Andy

[Andrew G Bell]

Hi Evan, I've set up my Ning site for PayPal as per your hack - but I still keep getting requests for approval from members who haven't made the PayPal payment during the application process. How come? Is there no way that we can make it so they only get as far as the approval stage once they've made the payment? As it is I have to keep sending them an email/message asking them to make the PP payment, which looks a little amateurish.

Thanks for your efforts thus far (and this new text format) is definitely easier on the eye when you're authoring!

 

Andy Bell

[Chuck]

You can also try enterprisewebsolutions.

[Evan]

Hey all,

Just an FYI — we've started work on our Membership Payment feature. It's a hefty feature, so don't expect it immediately, but stay tuned.

/Evan
Ning Product Manager