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Add or Edit a WooCommerce Subscription Manually

Last updated on January 3, 2024

WebToffee’s Subscriptions for WooCommerce is a powerful plugin enabling seamless subscription-based e-commerce business management. This plugin allows creating and managing subscription products, ensuring a streamlined experience. This article explains the process of manually adding a subscription and editing existing subscriptions.

Adding subscription manually

Manually adding a subscription provides full control over the process. To add a subscription manually, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Add Subscription page.
  2. From the Subscription Details section, link a customer to the subscription.
  3. Using the Billing Schedule Details section, set up the billing schedule.
  4. From the Item section, add products, shipping costs, taxes, and fees to the subscription.
  5. From the Subscription Action section, select Create a pending renewal order and click on Update.

Step 1: Navigate to Add Subscriptions page

From the WordPress dashboard, navigate to WooCommerce > WebToffee Subscriptions > Add Subscription.

Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Manage subscriptions page
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Manage subscriptions page
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Add subscriptions page
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Add subscriptions page

Associating a subscriber with a subscription is crucial for effective management. Follow these steps:

  • Under the Subscription Details meta box, click the Customer search box
  • Type the first few letters of the customer’s name or email.
  • Choose the customer from the loaded list of accounts.
  • The above-mentioned action will automatically load the billing and shipping address.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Add subscriptions page
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Add subscriptions page
  • Alternatively, it is possible to enter the details manually in the fields.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Add subscriptions page
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Add subscriptions page

Step 3: Add a Billing Schedule

The billing schedule is a critical aspect of a subscription, it is used to determine the start date, trial period, and expiry of the subscription. Follow these steps to set up the billing schedule:

  • From the Recurrence section, select the billing interval for the subscription.
  • From the Billing Period section, select the billing period in days, weeks, months, or years.
  • In the Start Date section, enter a date or use the calendar to choose a date. The start date must be in the past.
  • In the Trial End Date section, enter a date or use the calendar to choose a date (optional).
  • On the Next Payment Date section, enter a date or use the calendar to choose the next recurrence of the subscription.
  • In the End Date section, enter a date or use the calendar to choose a date for the subscription expiry. Leave it empty for a lifetime subscription.
  • In the provided example, the subscription without an expiration date will commence on June 20, 2023. The customer will enjoy a free trial period until June 30, 2023. Subsequently, the initial payment will take place on July 1, 2023, and subsequent renewals will occur daily.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - billing schedule details
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – billing schedule details

Step 4: Add Items (Products, Fees, Shipping, Tax)

To add a subscription product along with fees, shipping costs, and tax details, follow these steps:

  • Click the Add item(s) button in the Subscription Items meta box, it will open the below shown section.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Items section
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Items section
  • To add products,
    • Click on Add products(s).
    • Search for the desired product by name.
    • Select the product and click on Add, multiple products can be selected.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Add products
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Add products
  • To add fees,
    • Click on Add fee.
    • Enter the fixed amount or percentage to be charged on each renewal and click on OK.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Add fee
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Add fee
  • To add shipping details,
    • Click on Add shipping.
    • A generic Shipping item will be displayed in the Subscription Items meta box.
    • Click on the edit icon next to the shipping line to add a shipping category and rate of shipping.
  • To add tax,
    • Click on Add tax.
    • Choose the applicable tax rates from the configured options.
    • Click on Add.
    • Click on Save and then on Recalculate to calculate the tax.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Add Tax
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Add Tax

Step 5: Creating a Pending Renewal Order

Create a Pending Renewal Order by following these steps to record the transaction and guarantee it reaches the customer:

  • From the Subscriptions Actions meta box, select Create Pending Renewal Order.
  • Click on Update to create the order.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Subscription actions
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Subscription actions

A renewal order in pending status will be created in the Related order meta box as shown below:

Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Related orders
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Related orders

Step 6: Activate the Subscription

The Subscription will only get active only if payment is done towards it. This can be done in two ways

  • Once a subscription is created from the back end with the status of pending renewal, a new subscription order will be added to the customer’s (Subscriber) account. This can be located in the customer’s account from My Account > Orders as shown below. The subscriber can then make a payment using the Pay option from the Orders section to activate the subscription.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Related orders
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Related orders
  • Alternatively, the store owner can manually update the order status to Processing/Completed upon receiving the payment, from WooCommerce > Orders.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Orders page
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Orders page

Edit an existing subscription

It is possible to make edits to an existing subscription; however, there are certain limitations regarding which aspects can be modified. It is important to be aware that any changes made will only affect future recurrences and not past occurrences.

Please note that specific payment gateway providers may impose additional restrictions on edits related to billing schedules and recurring totals.

To edit an existing subscription, follow the given steps:

  • From the WordPress dashboard, navigate to WooCommerce > Webtoffee Subscriptions.
  • Click on the Subscription ID of the desired subscription, which redirects you to the Edit Subscription page.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Edit page
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Edit page

Change billing schedule

Using the Billing Schedule Details section on the Edit Subscription page, it is possible to modify the subscription’s end date, next payment date, trial end date, or recurring schedule according to the needs.

Subscriptions for WooCommerce - billing schedule details
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – billing schedule details

After editing, click on Update to save the subscription.

Change Recurring Totals

In case of the need to edit the existing product, shipping, tax, or fee:

  • Select the edit icon inline to the desired field to edit the data.
  • Edit the field.
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Edit shipping details
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Edit shipping details
  • Click on Save.
  • Click on Recalculate to recalculate the totals.
  • Click on Update to save the subscription.

Change Subscription Status

By default, all currently active subscriptions are assigned an Active status, ensuring that customers can enjoy the associated benefits. However, in exceptional cases such as manual transactions, failed payments, disputes, and other circumstances, the admin has the option to manually update the subscription status as needed.

To edit the subscription’s status:

  • Click the Subscription Status select box in the Subscription details meta box.
  • Select a new status for the subscription
Subscriptions for WooCommerce - Edit status
Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Edit status

Click on Update to save the subscription