Complimentary (free-of-charge) subscriptions

A Complimentary Subscription Purchase does not require the subscriber to provide payment information or payment. Subscribe clients may offer Complimentary (free) Subscriptions to their employees, partners, advertisers, etc.

Goal

The goal of this section is to explain how to configure a Complimentary Subscription Purchase in Naviga's Solicitor Concierge and CMS dashboard.

NCS Circ Specific

• This feature allows users to create a fixed term (with an end date) or unlimited (no end date) free subscription.

  • Unlimited Complimentary subscriptions (Subscription Kind = Comp with the option 'No end date' selected) are supported from Subscribe 3.16.2 onwards.

• If the subscription is set up as unlimited, the subscription can be stopped at any time via Account Management or by calling a CSR rep.

• Complimentary Subscriptions cannot be turned into paid subscriptions. If you are interested in this functionality, please check Trial-with-Payment Subscriptions.

• Complimentary subscriptions do not have access to payments, including EZPay, payment method updates, complaints, or vacations.

Changes in Solicitor Concierge for Comp Subscriptions starting from 3.16.2

• A new 'Complimentary' option is available under Offer Groups → Additional Options → Subscription Kind, replacing the earlier 'Comp' option. The Complimentary subscription can be either with 'No end date' or 'With end date'.

• The complimentary subscription with no end date will be available for an unlimited period of time. If the user selects the option With end date, two additional fields are displayed under Complimentary Unit: a dropdown with values Day(s), Week(s), Month(s) and a text field that accepts Integer values greater than 0.

• The options available under Subscription Kind are Complimentary, Lite, and Trial Subscriptions. Only one option from Subscription Kind can be selected for an offer.

• The other validations added to Solicitor Concierge for Complimentary Offer Groups (Offer Groups → Coding → Billing system codes) are:

• The Rate Code field will be disabled as it is not applicable for Complimentary subscriptions.

• Only two Billing method options will be supported: Paid Comp or Unpaid Comp. If the user selects any other value for the Billing method, the offer will not be published, and the following error will be displayed - 'The setup is not correct. Complimentary Subscription should have either Paid Comp or Unpaid Comp billing method'.

• Users will see a new message 'Please verify your publishing calendars and ensure the date is supported' when the subscription duration exceeds 720 days in any unit. This ensures that the users set up the offer correctly.

• Reason Code has been made a mandatory field to start a Complimentary Subscription in Subscribe. If this field is left blank, the user will be notified with an error message while publishing the offer - 'Reason code is required for Complimentary Subscription'.

Changes in Subscription Panel for Comp Subscriptions from 3.16.2

• The Purchase flow corresponds to various Start Types from the Offer API. Within the SP logic, the Complimentary flow has been mapped to the 'isComp' flag from the Offer API.

• Complimentary subscriptions do not involve any payment from the subscriber. From an application perspective, a default PaymentTypeID value of '13' has been set for Complimentary subscriptions within the Subscription Panel.

Changes in API for Comp flows starting from 3.16.2

• The Purchase API for Complimentary flows has been revised as part of code clean-up and to distinguish between Complimentary and Trial Subscriptions.

• The API now uses the 'isComp' parameter instead of 'isPassOrTrial' to indicate a Complimentary offer.

• The 'TrialDays' parameter has been renamed to 'SubscriptionPeriod' to define the duration in Days, Weeks, or Months.

• A new parameter, 'SubscriptionUnit,' represents the unit of the 'SubscriptionPeriod.'

• The 'isEndDate' parameter has been added to specify whether an end date should be sent to the circulation system. When applicable, the API calculates the end date using the 'SubscriptionPeriod' and 'SubscriptionUnit' and passes it to the circulation system.

• The 'Remarks' field no longer includes 'Trial' in the API request.

• Demographic events are not fired for Complimentary Subscriptions.

• The Purchase API has also been updated to accommodate Payment Method ID 5, which is 'Billed,' to support the Matrix client.

Implementation/Configuration

The 'Comp' option is configurable from MG2control or Support Viewer, with a new property added to App settings ('OfferGroupAdditionalOptionIsCompFlag').

To configure the 'Comp' option, you need to follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Support Viewer → Management → App settings.

2. In the Filters section, set the following parameters:

   • Setting type: Client Component Permission

   • Key: OfferGroupAdditionalOptionCompFlag

   • App type: SolCon Admin

3. Click 'Search' and select a value from the 'Setting keys' grid.

4. Choose a value from the 'Clients group' dropdown (e.g., Mg2 Groupstripe) and 'Environment' drop-downs. Note: Set the value as either 0 or 1 for any selected client.

5. After making the change, click 'Update.' A popup will appear, click 'Execute.'

Due to changes in the 3.16.2 release, the setup for Complimentary subscription differs between previous releases and versions 3.16.2 and above. Please refer to the relevant section below.

Prior to 3.16.2

3.16.2 and above

Before you start

For this feature to be implemented the following prerequisites must be met:

• The minimum Subscribe version is 3.13 and the minimum NCS circ version is 2020.2.0. The client must be on the latest subscribe extracts that include demographics data

Complimentary offer with End Date

To set up a Complimentary offer with an end date in Solicitor Concierge please perform the following steps:

1. Select offer groups from the left sidebar.

2. Select an offer group from the list, or create a new offer group.

3. Set the price as $0. Please note that even if you set the price >0 then it will not be charged but can be displayed on UI during checkout.

4. Select the additional options category, then select the Subscription Kind section, select 'Complimentary' and enter the number of trial days that are offered (please note that you can enter up to 10 digits). Once the offer group the number of comp days cannot be edited and the 'Complimentary' checkbox cannot be unchecked

5. In the additional options category go to EZPay section and select the No EZPay option.

6. Select the coding category, then select the billing systems code drop-down menu.

7. Designate the billing method as UnPaid Comp.

8. Select update or save as new.

The steps described above are mandatory. As the majority of complimentary subscriptions don't have print products, we recommend using ZIP-only checkout for them.

To configure an offer for ZIP-only checkout please go to the additional options category, then select address requirements section and uncheck the billing address, delivery address and run product delivery check checkboxes.

No additional CMS setup is required.

Even if the presentation has one or more payment methods added as children of Payment Method V3 component they will not be displayed if they are not checked in Solicitor Concierge.

As the majority of complimentary subscriptions don't have print products, we recommend using ZIP-only start. Please see the guide for more details

Free-of-charge Offer Without End Date

As the proper Complimentary Subscriptions (SubscriptionKind = Comp) without an end date were not supported in NCS prior to 3.16.2, this guide is merely a roundabout, describing how to set up a free-of-charge subscription valid for an unlimited period of time. SubscriptionKind will be Standard.

To set up a Free-of-charge offer with an end date in Solicitor Concierge please perform the following steps:

1. Select offer groups from the left sidebar.

2. Select an offer group from the list, or create a new offer group.

3. Set the price as $0.Please note that even if you set the price >0 then it will not be charged but can be displayed on UI during checkout.

4. Select the additional options category, then select the Payment Method section and select the Billed checkbox.

5. In the additional options category go to EZPay section and select No EZPay option.

6. Select the coding category, then select the billing systems code drop-down menu.

7. Designate the billing method as Unpaid Comp.

8. Select update or save as new

   

Some additional CMS setup is required for this method to work as expected: under the Payment Methods V3 component, please add Bill Me V3 as a child component.

Before you start

Prerequisites for the implementation of Complimentary Subscription:

• The minimum Subscribe version: 3.16.2

• The minimum NCS Circ version: Rapid Release 2020.4.1

If you were previously using Comp subscriptions, please ensure that your existing Comp offers include a Reason code and Delivery method for correct functionality.

Prerequisites for the implementation of Complimentary Subscription:

• The 'Comp' option should be configured from MG2control or Support Viewer by setting the value 1 to the key OfferGroupAdditionalOptionIsCompFlag. Check here for the configuration steps.

• Comp offer must be set up in the Subscription Presentation in the CMS application.

SolCon Setup

To set up a Complimentary offer in Solicitor Concierge perform the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Solicitor Concierge application. Select the menu option Offer Groups from the left sidebar.

2. Either select an already created Offer Group from the list available at the right panel or create a new Offer Group.

3. Enter the name of the Offer group.

4. Set the Price as $0. Note that even if you set the Price >0, it will not be charged but can be displayed on the UI during checkout.

5. Click Divisions section. The Divisions available will be displayed in the right panel. Click any Division name to select that Division.

6. Click the Coding section to open its options in the right panel.

   1. Click open the Custom codes section. Enter a value in the Source field

   2. Click open the Billing systems code section. Enter the Reason code, Billing method (either Paid Comp or Unpaid comp), and Delivery method.

      
7. Click the Additional options section to open its options in the right panel.

   1. Click open the Subscription kind section. Check the option Complimentary.

   2. Select either With end date option or No end date option as per your requirement.

   3. If you are selecting 'With end date' option, select the unit (Day(s), Weeks(s) or Month(s) from the below drop-down. Also, enter an integer value greater than 0 in the below text field to denote the validity time period for the offer. Note: If you set the offer time duration a warning message will be displayed in case the subscription duration is set >720 days in any selected units: Please verify your publishing calendars and ensure the date is supported.

      
   4. If you want to collect the user's address during check-out, click open the Address requirements section. Check the option Billing Address.

   5. Check the option Active (if it is not checked) to make the offer group active.

   Note:

   • In Additional options > Payment Method, the "Comp Subscription" checkbox, which was present in previous versions, has been disabled and hidden via configurations since it is not relevant for Comp Subscriptions. Even if it is enabled on the UI, it will remain unchecked. Added on 10-Oct-2023.

     
8. Click Publish if you are creating a new offer group. Click Save as new or Update if you are editing an existing offer group. The option 'Save as new' will create a new offer group from the current offer group whereas the option 'Update' will save the changes to the current offer group.

9. Click Clear Cache button at the top right panel of the SolCon. Click Sync button next to Clear Cache if you are creating a new offer group. This action will sync the new offer group with the CMS.

CMS Presentation Setup

Added on 10-Oct-2023

1. Previously, the Comp presentation for Digital Zip-Only subscriptions required both a Payment Method and a Bill Me component. Payment Method and Bill Me components are no longer valid for Comp presentation, and Independent Address Component should be used instead.

   

2. For Print Comp Subscriptions, the Billing Address and Delivery Address Components should be added with the Address fields enabled. The Address Requirements: Billing Address and Delivery Address checkboxes must be selected at the Offer level in SolCon.

   

As the majority of complimentary subscriptions don't have print products, we recommend using ZIP-only start.

Implementation

The Comp option is Configurable from MG2control or Support Viewer. A new property ('OfferGroupAdditionalOptionIsCompFlag') is introduced in the App setting. Follow the steps explained at the top of this page to configure the Comp option.

Matrix specific

For Matrix we are calculating the expected end date based on the complimentary days set up in Solicitor Concierge.

Before you start

For this feature to be implemented for the Matrix circ system the following prerequisites must be met:

• The minimum Subscribe version is 3.14.1 and the minimum circ version is 38.00.034 P4

• The client must be on the latest subscribe extracts that include demographics data

Solicitor Concierge setup

To set up a Free-of-charge offer with an end date in Solicitor Concierge please perform the following steps:

1. Select Offer Groups from the left sidebar.

2. Select an offer group from the list or create a new offer group.

3. Set the Price as $0. Please note that even if you set the Price >0, then it won't be charged anyway but dependent on the presentation setup might be displayed on UI during checkout.

4. In the Complimentary section check "Enable" and enter the number of free days that are offered (please note that you can enter up to 10 digits). Note: Offer group cannot be saved without the number of free days entered. Once the offer group is published the number of free days cannot be edited.

5. Select the Additional options category, then select the Payment Method section and select the Billed checkbox.

6. In the Additional options category go to EZPay section and select No EZPay option.

7. Select the Coding category, then select the Billing systems code drop-down menu.

   1. for the fixed term Complimentary offer: set the Rate code to IEDGPRM_TR. This code is set up in Matrix to NOT renew the subscription at 0 cost. Then define source code, reason code, and paper code.

   2. for the unlimited term Complimentary offer: Set the Rate code to IEDIGPRMFR. This code is set up in Matrix to bill 0 dollars forever. Then define source code, reason code, and paper code.

8. Select Update or Save as new.

CMS Setup

Some additional CMS setup is required for this method to work as expected.

Under the Payment Methods V3 component, you will need to add Bill Me V3 as a child component.