Typically, the plugin automatically manages membership renewals and updates member profiles as needed. However, there may be situations where you need to manually activate an expired account or extend a member’s access. This documentation outlines the correct steps to achieve this.
Table of Contents
- Factors Influencing Membership Expiry
- Steps to Reactivate an Expired Member Account
- Extending a Member’s Access
- Useful Bulk Update Options
- Additional Related Documentation
Factors Influencing Membership Expiry
Several factors can influence the expiry date of a member’s account, primarily the Access Starts date (set automatically upon joining or payment) and the Access Duration configured in the assigned membership level. These elements determine how long a member retains access, with options including no expiry (indefinite access), expiry after a fixed interval (e.g., days, weeks, months, or years from the start date), or expiry on a specific fixed date.
For a detailed explanation of these variables, including how expiry is calculated for different membership types and subscription scenarios, refer to our documentation on adding membership access levels. We recommend reviewing it in full to gain a clear understanding of how membership level settings impact expiry before making any changes.
Steps to Reactivate an Expired Member Account
The expiry of a member’s account is determined by the assigned membership level. When manually activating an expired account, pay close attention to the following two items in the member’s profile:
- The membership level assigned to the member.
- The “Access Starts” date set in the profile.
Check the Access Duration value of the membership level in question and then do the following according to the access duration.
1) No Expiry Access Duration
If the membership level of the member has “No Expiry” duration, then you can just change the account status to “Active” and save the profile.
2) Expire After Access Duration
If the membership level of the member has “Expire After” duration, then update the “Access Starts” date value to the current date so the plugin doesn’t think that the membership has run its course and revert it back to expired.
Change the account status to “Active” and update the “Access Starts” date to current date then save the profile.
3) Fixed Date Expiry Access Duration
If the membership level of the member has a “Fixed Date Expiry” duration, then check to make sure the current date is not past that expiry date already.
- Past the expiry date – then changing the account status to “active” won’t help since the membership level is still expired. You may want to switch the member to a new membership level in this case.
- Expiry date is still in the future – then you can just change the account status to “Active” and save the profile.
4) Annual Expiration Date Memberships
If the member belongs to a membership level that uses the Annual Expiration Date access option, you do not need to manually calculate or enter a future expiry date. When you manually activate (or re-activate) the member’s account, the plugin will automatically assign the correct expiry date based on the annual configuration of that membership level.
The system determines whether the member’s access should expire in the current year or roll over to the following year by checking the Annual Expiration Date and the optional Minimum Period of Days setting. This ensures that members always receive the correct annual access period, even when their account is manually activated close to the annual expiry date.
Extending a Member’s Access
In some cases, you may want to extend the member’s access for a certain period. This can be useful if you want to grant a grace period, honor a special request, or provide additional access without changing the member’s overall membership level.
You can extend access by adjusting key fields in the member’s profile, taking into account the membership level’s access duration type. This ensures the changes align with the plugin’s automated expiry logic and prevents unintended reversions.
- Expire After (Duration-Based Levels): Update the Access Starts date in the member’s profile to reflect the new start point (for example, shifting it forward by the desired number of days, weeks, or months). Then confirm the account status is set to Active and save the changes.
- No Expiry Levels: Typically, only the account status needs to be updated to Active.
- Fixed Date Expiry Levels: Since expiry is tied to a set calendar date, the only way to extend access is to switch the member to another level with the appropriate expiry configuration.
- Annual Expiry Levels: Since expiry is tied to a set annual date, the only way to extend is to switch the member to another level with the appropriate expiry configuration.
Before making any adjustments, always review the membership level settings as explained in the Adding Membership Access Levels documentation, to ensure the extension is calculated correctly.
Useful Bulk Update Options
The ‘Members -> Bulk Operation‘ menu tab offers bulk update options that can be useful for modifying the account status and access start date of all members within a specific level.
Additional Related Documentation
The related documents listed below will be very beneficial for you to read and learn about the Simple Membership system.
Creating Membership Renewal Payment Buttons
If you want to learn how to create renewal payment buttons, read this documentation.
Membership Upgrade Payment Buttons
To learn more about how the plugin handles membership upgrade payments, please refer to this documentation.
What Happens if a Subscription Payment is Cancelled
If you are using a recurring payment model for your memberships, then refer to this documentation to learn more about what happens when a subscription payment is cancelled.