Transition To Payplans 4

Transition from 3.7.1 to 4.0

This document contains some information about the changes and transition of PayPlans from version 3.7.1 to 4.0. In PayPlans 4.0, we have massively revamped the code structure and workflow to simplify the extension in general.

The major changes done on PayPlan's workflow are as follow

1. Previously it was confusing to edit User Preferences. In PayPlans 4.0, a new user preferences page is introduced so users can update their details at one place.

2. Redefined User Experience: We introduced a new UI for backend administrator section and single click updater to simplify future updating process for PayPlans 4.0.

3. Order Management: PayPlans 4.0 is ready with e-commerce essentials, ranging from managing subscriptions, plans, invoices and transactions.

4. Automation Scripts: We categorised some apps into this section according to their uses for example, Plan assignment to users and rest api calls. With these automation scripts or some would call them "Macros", you can almost integrate PayPlans with an infinite number of web services out there.

5. Improved Statistics and charts: In PayPlans 4, we introduced new charts for statistics and also improved the calculations of statistics.

6. Notification & Email Template Editor: In PayPlans 4, we introduced the notification section into the core. Here you can setup email notifications per the subscription status. Apart from having the ability to create custom notification rules for certain events in PayPlans 4.0, you're also able to manage the notification templates directly from the back-end.

7. Performance Improvements: In PayPlans 3.x, the page load generally takes around 600 - 900ms. With PayPlans 4, we have reduced this by a whopping 60%. This was made possible by reducing the total number of dependent scripts that needs to be loaded on page load.

8. Simplified Checkout Process: We introduced new a checkout page, where we simplified the checkout process with minimum steps, shaving off the three-step checkout page down to just a two-step. Narrowing down the purchasing process for PayPlans 4.0, thus making it a lot quicker, simpler and more straightforward.

Reintroducing Core Apps

The following list of apps were converted into core features for PayPlans 4.0

• Assign plan
• Profile Based Plan
• Subscription Approval
• Auto Login
• Limit Subscription
• Fixed Date Expiration
• Notification Emailer
• Skip Free Invoice Plugin
• User Detail
• Parent Child
• Renewal
• Plan Addon
• Advance Pricing
• Upgrade
• ProDiscount
• Plan Dynamic Modifier
• Referral
• PDF Invoice
• Export
• User Preference
• MySQL Query

We have deprecated a couple of payment gateways, 3rd party integrations and other apps from PayPlans 3.7.1, which were mostly obsolete or no longer used.

Deprecated Payment Gateways

Deprecated 3rd Party Integrations

Deprecated PayPlans Apps

Before Upgrading to PayPlans 4.x

Please backup your entire site before performing this major upgrade so that you are able to restore the site should anything unforseen occur.

1. Check the Minimum requirements

2. Check the table below for the compatibility with Joomla versions:

   PayPlans Version	Joomla Version
   PayPlans 4.0 and above	3.9, 3.8, 3.7 and earlier 3.x version
   PayPlans 3.7.1	3.9, 3.8, 3.7 and earlier 3.x version
   PayPlans 3.6.3	3.8 and earlier 3.x version
   PayPlans 3.5.5	3.8 and earlier 3.x version

3. Make sure PayPlans is updated to version 3.7.1. If you are using a version older than 3.7, you need to first upgrade to 3.7 before upgrading to 4.0.
   Example: If you are using version 3.5 then you need to upgrade accordingly with the following sequence
   3.5 >> 3.6 >> 3.7 >> 4.0

1. If the installation/upgrade failed, what should I do?
   If that is the case, write to us on our support forum with the backend as well as FTP details. We will try our best to assist you with the installation/upgrade.
   Refer to this documentation for the installation guide.

2. Are there any apps or payment methods deprecated in PayPlans 4?
   Yes and they are properly listed above. If you are using any of them at your site, we strongly advice against upgrading to 4.0. What you can do for now is to remain on version 3.7, but at the same time, do provide us the sandbox merchant accounts for the payment methods, so we can add those payment methods back. Once all that is done, you may then perform the upgrade.

3. If any kind of customization works that were previously done in the core, apps and templates, please make backups of those changes. Don't forget to get in touch with us before upgrading to PayPlans 4 as well. Since we have made huge changes to the workflow and UI, we will need to first check the possibility of porting over your customization works into PayPlans 4.

4. If you are using any custom app which is not added into PayPlans, they will not work in PayPlans 4. Most likely it will require a significant amount of changes to make it compatible with PayPlans 4. If you're still keen to upgrade to PayPlans 4, you will need to disable those custom apps first.

   Finally, if you require us to make your custom app compatible with PayPlans 4.0. Please consider sending us a customization request here so we can evaluate it and then issue you an official quote for this.