Use Featured, Sample / No Checkout, and Plan Badge Options
QCMM has three separate Plan presentation options that are easy to confuse: Featured, Sample / demo plan, and the small Plan badge. Only Sample / demo changes whether ordinary checkout can create a membership.
Featured and badge settings are visual cues. They do not grant access, change price, change the membership term, bypass Plan gating, or alter a customer’s entitlement.
Current Plan Options
| Option | What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|
| Featured plan | Adds the featured visual treatment to the Plan card. | Does not reorder the Plan, discount it, or change access. |
| Sample / demo plan | Keeps the Plan visible as a demonstration while disabling real checkout. | Does not create a free membership. |
| Show a small badge | Displays the saved Badge text on normal Plan cards/details when text is present. | Does not make the Plan featured and does not affect checkout or entitlement. |
Create a Demonstration Plan Safely
- Edit the Plan and enable Sample / demo plan.
- Configure the card, features, price example, and Plan Details content you want to demonstrate.
- Save the Plan and view it on the frontend.
- Confirm it is labeled as a Sample Plan and that no live checkout action is offered.
Direct Checkout Is Also Blocked for Samples
The Sample flag is enforced server-side. If someone opens a direct checkout URL for a Sample Plan, QCMM returns a Checkout disabled state explaining that the sample cannot create a real membership or payment. Hiding the button is not the security boundary.
Convert a Sample into a Live Plan
- Review the Plan’s actual price, Membership Currency, term, Joomla group assignment, visibility/subscription audience, Custom Fields, resources, and Scheduling settings.
- Clear Sample / demo plan.
- Confirm the Plan and its Plan Group are published.
- Save the Plan.
- Run a controlled frontend checkout as a normal eligible user before advertising the Plan publicly.
Use Featured Carefully
Featured adds the current is-featured card presentation and uses the site’s frontend accent styling. Use it to call attention to a preferred option, not to encode a business rule. A non-featured Plan can have identical price/access, and a featured Plan is still subject to every normal view, subscribe, tier, Sample, and checkout rule.
Use Badge Text as a Label
Enable Show a small badge and enter concise Badge text such as “Recommended”, “Most Popular”, or “Best for Teams”. The current Plan editor exposes the badge as a small text label. Keep the label descriptive; do not use it to imply a discount or entitlement that the Plan configuration does not actually provide.
Verify Each State Separately
- Featured-only Plan: normal checkout still works if otherwise eligible.
- Badge-only Plan: badge is visible, but business behavior is unchanged.
- Sample Plan: card/details can be viewed, but checkout is disabled even through a direct URL.
- Free live Plan: price can be 0.00 and still create a real membership; this is not the same as Sample.
Community Discussion
Want to compare QCMM workflows or discuss how other Joomla site owners use this feature? Visit the QC Memberships & Meetings Community. For private support, account-specific entitlement or billing issues, or bug reports, use the QuantaCade support system.