Benefits, services and add-ons
Short answer: a benefit is something a site gets, like a number of backups or permission to use a custom domain. A service is a paid extra customers can buy on top of their plan. The Add-ons tab is something else: a catalog of GrabWP plugins (such as the Stripe add-on) that you download and install.
Needs: Pro + WaaS
How it fits together
- You create benefits once, then give each plan a value for each benefit (for example Backup Quota 3 on one plan, 10 on another).
- You create services with their own price and the benefits they add. Customers buy them at signup (Optional Services step) or later on the dashboard Service tab.
- Customers see their benefits on the dashboard Benefit tab, each marked Included or Locked.
Benefits
Go to Waas > Settings > Benefits.
The list columns are Benefit, Slug, Type, Default Value, Status, Order and Actions. Edit opens the benefit. Delete asks Delete this benefit? System benefits show a System badge and cannot be deleted.
Add a benefit
- Click Add New.
- Fill the form below.
- Click Create Benefit. The notice Benefit saved. appears and the row is on the list.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| System Capability | Custom benefit... or one of the built-in capabilities below. Shown only when creating. Choosing one fills the slug and locks the type. A capability that already exists is left out of the list. |
| Slug | Lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens. Read-only after save. |
| Name | The label customers and plan forms use. |
| Description | Shown on the customer Benefit tab. |
| Type | Quota, Flag or Custom HTML. Locked for a system capability. |
| Default Value | Quota: a number. Flag: Enabled by default. Custom HTML: the visual editor. |
| Sort Order | Whole number, 0 or more. Lower numbers are listed first. |
| Active | Benefit is active. Inactive benefits are left out of plan and service forms. |
| Show On Dashboard | Show in tenant dashboard Benefit tab. |
| Upsell Message | Text shown when the benefit is locked. Leave it empty to show no message. |
Edit a benefit
Click the benefit name or the edit icon. Slug is read-only, and on a system benefit Type is locked. Click Save Benefit, or Cancel to go back.
Benefit types
| Type | What you store | What the customer sees when it is included |
|---|---|---|
| Quota | A number | A limit. Backup Quota and Storage (MB) also show usage, as "3 of 10 used". Other quotas show "10 included". |
| Flag | On or off | Included when the value is on. For the system flags, the related tools open inside the benefit panel. |
| Custom HTML | HTML from the editor | That HTML, when the site's value is not empty. |
System capabilities
| Name | Slug | Type | What the customer panel shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backup Quota | max_backups | Quota | Backup tools, with usage against the quota. |
| Storage (MB) | storage_mb | Quota | Storage usage in megabytes. |
| Custom Domains | allow_custom_domain | Flag | Custom domain tools when the flag is on. |
Services
Go to Waas > Settings > Services. Services are separate from the Add-ons plugin catalog.
The columns are Name, Slug, Charge Type, Price, Status, Sort Order and Actions. A recurring price shows as monthly and yearly amounts. Click the name to edit. Delete asks Are you sure you want to delete this service? If the service is in use, the notice is Failed to delete service. It may be in use.
Add a service
Click Add New. The form has three tabs: Name and price, Benefits and Display & Availability. Click Create Service (or Save Service when editing). The notice Service saved. appears and the row shows the charge type and Active or Inactive.
Name and price
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Customer-facing name. |
| Slug | Leave empty to generate it from the name. Lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens. Read-only after save. |
| Charge Type | One Time, Non-Recurring or Recurring. |
| Price | For One Time and Non-Recurring. Not billed on a renewal cycle. |
| Monthly Price, Yearly Price | For Recurring. In your primary currency; a secondary-currency estimate shows when one is set. |
| Billing Cycle | Monthly or Yearly, for Recurring. This is the service's own cycle. |
For a Recurring service, a payment provider that needs its own IDs adds a section under the prices. With Stripe, the heading is Stripe Configuration, with Resync, Monthly Price ID, Yearly Price ID and Find existing. Leave an ID blank and WaaS creates it on save when Stripe is configured, or paste your own.
Benefits
The intro line is Specify which benefits this service provides. Quotas take a number, flags take None, Yes or No, and custom benefits use the editor. The same table is on Edit Service.
Display & Availability
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Description | Shown on service cards. |
| Sort Order | Whole number, 0 or more. Lower numbers are listed first. |
| Status | Active. Inactive services are not offered. |
| Plan Availability | Check the plans that may sell this service. Leave every box unchecked to offer it on all plans. |
Attach benefits and services to a plan
- Open Waas > Settings > Plans and edit a plan (or click Add New).
- Open Benefits & Services.
- Under Benefits, set a value for each active benefit: a number for a quota, Enabled for a flag, the editor for custom HTML.
- Under Available Services, check the services this plan may sell. Leave every box unchecked to allow all services (the same rule as Plan Availability on the service).
- Save the plan, then reopen the tab to confirm the values stayed.
More plan fields are on Plans.
What customers see
On the customer dashboard, the tabs are Benefit and Service.
Benefit lists benefits that have Show On Dashboard checked, each Included or Locked.
- Included Backup Quota, Storage (MB) and Custom Domains show their tools in the panel.
- A Manage link shows when a benefit points at Plan & Billing, Overview or Service.
- A locked benefit shows Locked and your Upsell Message, if set. If a service the customer can still buy grants that benefit, the button is Buy Service. Otherwise the link is Plan & Billing.
- With nothing to show, the tab says No benefits are available for this site yet.
Service has two sections:
- Active Services. Recurring ones show a Recurring badge and Renews or Ends with a date. Cancel asks Cancel this service? It will keep working until the end of your current billing period, then stop. The confirm button is Cancel service.
- Available Services. Cards show the description, price (or Free) and Buy. A recurring service with both prices shows Billing cycle with Monthly and Yearly.
With nothing in either section, the tab says No services are active or available for your plan.
At signup, services show on the Optional Services step. Card text follows that step's Details setting (Description or Benefits). See Signup flow.
Add-ons tab
Waas > Settings > Add-ons lists GrabWP plugins you can install, grouped by category. It does not create services. Each card shows the name, a badge, a short description and a version.
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Available | Not installed. The card has Download ZIP. |
| Installed | Installed but not active. |
| Active | The plugin is active. |
| Update available | Shown next to the state badge when a newer version is out. |
| Requires WaaS Update | The add-on needs a newer WaaS. The card shows the WaaS version it needs and offers no download. |
To install an add-on
- Activate your Pro license under Tenancy > License. Downloads need it, and you need permission to install plugins.
- Click Download ZIP on the card.
- Install it with Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, then activate it. The card badge changes to Active.
To update an add-on, click Update now on its card. It needs an active license; without one, the card links to Activate your license to update. Check for updates at the top of the tab refreshes the catalog.
If the catalog is empty, the tab says No add-ons available right now.
Add-ons with their own help page: Custom fields at signup (GrabWP Tenancy Custom Fields, needs WaaS 1.1.25 or later) and the payment add-ons on Payments.