Introducing our new Download/Payment System

It has gone over one and a half year since we've started selling paid subscriptions for our extensions. We've tried different Joomla components for selling paid subscriptions/downloads and finally used VirtueMart, a popular e-commerce component, for over a year.

In the course of time we've faced a lot of problems; unending bugs of VirtueMart because of it's slow development, old/hacking style code base, very hard to manage/search orders, not able to define different limit for each and lack of lot of features etc. which has obligated us many times to modify the code ourself.

So one week ago we decided to fulfill our needs ourself and started to modify a living component (not virtueMart) according our needs. Let me summarize some of these improvements:

1. Single page checkout

In the new system you will be able to apply coupon codes, register, select the payment method and finally go to the payment site (like PayPal) and make the payment just from one page.

2. All subscriptions in one page

The previous system was really hard to use by users so this is one of the most important improvement we did. As you can see in the top of the page, in "Users Menu" there is a "My Subscriptions" link which points you to a page that lists all the subscriptions you've purchased, even the expired ones.



From this page you can see the Payment Date, Days Left, Download-ID of your subscriptions and also Download them directly. You can also renew your subscriptions from this page.

3. One download system

Previously we used VirtueMart for commercial extensions and RokDownloads for free extensions. In the new one, all free & commercial extensions are in one place. You can even download commercial extensions from the extensions list if you've purchased it, the "Add to cart" link will be changed to "Download". You can also download purchased extensions using the download link sent via e-mail after the payment.

4. Expire alerts

On of the most problematic issues of the previous system was that users were not aware of their subscription period has ended. Now you'll receive an e-mail 10 days before the subscription ends saying the your subscription period will expire soon and a second e-mail the day your subscription expires.

5. Download Limit

As you may know, previously we used to restrict subscriptions in 2 ways, download limit (30, 60, 90) and period (6, 12, 24 months). In the new system, we've removed the download limit so you can download the extension as much as you can during your subscription period.

6. Nothing for you (JoomAce)

Of course, we've made a very simply & powerful back-end interface which simplify the management of orders, extensions, users, files etc.

7. What next?

We've not implemented yet the Upgrade feature, i.e. upgrade from AceSEF Plus to Pro/VIP. Also, we're going to remove the Download-ID necessity for each extension so you'll be able to upgrade your extensions automatically from your site by just entering once your username and password you use on our site. These features will be implemented very soon.

This is a summary of the new system and I hope you'll like it. Feel free to post any comment about the system.