Recurring Payments with Gravity Forms

This guide describes the use of recurring payments with Gravity Forms via the Pronamic Pay plugin. This assumes that a working payment provider configuration has been created in WordPress. Consult first Pronamic Pay – Getting Started if there is no configuration yet Payment » Configurations is made.

Requirements

To be able to use recurring payments with Gravity Forms, the following things are important:

• Mollie is the only supported payment provider
  Recurring payments are only possible with the payment provider Mollie;
• There must be an 'Email Address' field in the form
  An 'Email Address' field must be added to the form and set to 'Email' on the 'Fields' tab in the payment feed or the form will only be completed by logged in users (if no email is available). email address is available for payment, the error message will appear “A customer is required for this recurring type” shown when submitting the form);
• Product fields determine the total amount
  Amounts for form submissions are built using one or more 'Product' fields (from the 'Price Fields' section when editing the form);
• Restricted payment methods for recurring payments
  The 'Payment method' field (from the 'Payment fields' section when editing the form) must be added to the form, starting a new subscription is possible with the following payment methods (payment methods can be enabled by checking them in the field settings):
  • Credit Card
  • Direct debit (authorization via Bancontact)
  • Direct debit (authorization via iDEAL)
  • Direct debit (authorization via Sofort

When using the direct debit payment methods, the SEPA direct debit payment method must also be activated in the Mollie dashboard.

Add Gravity Forms Payment Feed

In order to be able to pay for form submissions via a created configuration, a so-called payment feed to be created in the settings of the form. Follow these steps to create a payment feed:

1. go to WordPress dashboard » Forms » [Choose form] » Settings » Payment;
2. Press the button 'Add new' to add a new payment feed;
3. select at the field 'Configuration' the desired configuration;
4. optionally set a submission ID prefix, for example 2 or 3 letters;
5. provide a transaction description, for example 'Submission {entry_id}‘;
6. select on the tab Status pages the desired status pages, which are the pages to which the visitor will return after a completed or failed payment. Through WordPress dashboard » Payment » Settings these pages can also be easily generated, in which case they do not have to be set up again in the payment feed.

Consult the manual if necessary Connect Pronamic Pay to Gravity Forms for advanced payment feed options. Setting up recurring payments is done via the tab 'Subscription' in the payment feed settings:

1. choose at 'Recurring amount' the amount to be collected periodically, there are several options to set a value:
   • Form total — if the amount for the periodic payments is equal to the total amount of the form submission;
   • Form field — if the amount for the first payment is not equal to the periodic payments, this option allows to select a specific product field whose value will be used for the periodic payments;
2. choose at 'Interval' the time after a payment before a follow-up payment must be made, there are several options for setting a value:
   • Fixed — if the time between payments is the same for all form submissions (for example, if only a monthly subscription is offered via the form);
   • Form field — if the time between payments must be set based on choices made on the form, the value (in number of days) of a form field can be used as an interval;
3. choose at 'Frequency' the number of payments in total (including first payment) to be initiated for the form submission, there are several options to set a value:
   • Unlimited — follow-up payments are initiated until the subscription is manually canceled;
   • Fixed — if the number of payments to be made is the same for all form submissions;
   • Form field — if the number of payments to be made based on choices made on the form has to be set, the value of a form field can be used as the frequency.

Synchronized payment date

When a fixed interval is chosen, it is possible to specify a synchronized payment date. With a synchronized payment date, except for the first payment, the subsequent payment is always made at a fixed time (for example, every Monday of the week or every 10th of the month). If an interval from the first payment date is not chosen, the option Recalculate amount pro rata for first payment available. This means that the first amount is 'recalculated', so that you do not pay more in the first period than in the next period.

View subscriptions and payments

In addition to updating the subscription status of form submissions in Gravity Forms, all subscriptions created via our plugin can also be consulted via WordPress dashboard » Payment » Subscriptions. All payments – including follow-up payments – can be consulted via WordPress dashboard » Payment » Payments and have an extra icon in that overview if they are related to a subscription:

• on first payments initiated by users;
• for follow-up payments that are automatically created.

When viewing a subscription, all payments made for that specific subscription are also shown. In the event of any problems with a payment, the payment can be viewed and is 'Log' may provide an explanation for the status of the payment.

Set up Gravity Forms notifications

Messages (notifications) can be set in the settings of the form. The Pronamic Pay plugin adds a number of so-called events from which to choose when setting up a notification. The notification is then sent when the relevant event occurs. The following notifications are specific to recurring payments:

• Subscription created — is sent when creating a subscription;
• Subscription cancelled — is sent as soon as a subscription is cancelled;
• Subscription expired — is sent as soon as a subscription is completed (the number of payments that was set as frequency has been made and the last period has expired);
• Subscription Renewal Notification — is sent 1 week before making a payment;
• Subscription payment created — will be sent once a follow-up payment has been successfully completed;
• Subscription payment failed — is sent if a follow-up payment has failed.

In the subscription notifications, the following Merge Tags (Merge Tags) being used:

• {pronamic_subscription_cancel_url} — URL that allows the submitter to terminate the subscription, then no further payments will be made for the subscription;
• {pronamic_subscription_renew_url} — URL that allows the entrant to reactivate a canceled subscription;
• {pronamic_subscription_renewal_date} — date of the next scheduled payment (the actual debit from the account takes place a few days later by the payment provider).

Set trial period

To set up a trial period, your form must be set up with a product field for your subscription, a (discount) product field for the trial period and optionally one total price field.

• In the form, make sure you have a product option or a product field that allows you to set the amount of the trial period.
  • For a 'free' trial period, make sure that the (discount) product field is equal to the subscription amount (or with a difference of 1 cent)
  • For a trial period with a discount, make sure that this discount is entered in the (discount) product field.
  • For a promotional period of, for example, 1+1 free, no discount field needs to be added. It is sufficient that the standard subscription is paid. In the subscription form settings, make sure that the trial period is equal to the interval of the regular subscription.
• Activate the 'trial period' option under the 'Subscription' tab in the form settings
• Under 'Length', choose how long the trial period should last, for example 1 week.