ReCurr Plus Tutorial Series — Part 8: Troubleshooting Variable Subscriptions

ReCurr Plus feature (v2.8.0) — Companion to Plus Tutorial 7: Variable Subscription Products.

This page lists what you can meet while setting up and selling variable subscription products: every message ReCurr shows, what causes it, and what to do. It ends with a short routine of what to look for after a test purchase and after a renewal.

Each message is quoted as it appears on screen; (product) stands for the product or option name ReCurr fills in.

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First: Four Quick Checks

Most questions are answered by one of these:

1. The setting is on. Subscriptions > Settings > General > Variable subscription products — On, and saved.
2. The licence is Plus or Pro. WooCommerce > ReCurr License. On Standard, variable subscription products are not sold (see On ReCurr Standard below).
3. The product is a Variable product whose attributes are ticked Used for variations, and every variation has a Regular price.
4. The parent product’s Billing Cycle Toggle is off. A variable product offers its billing cycles as variations.

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In the Product Editor

A variation has no “ReCurr subscription” block

What you see	Why	What to do
Nothing of ReCurr’s on the variation	Variable subscription products is off	Turn it on (Subscriptions > Settings > General) and reload the product
“ReCurr subscription — Variable subscriptions are available on ReCurr Plus and above. Existing subscriptions keep renewing.” and Upgrade to Plus	The licence is Standard	Upgrade to Plus. Subscriptions already sold keep renewing meanwhile
“Subscription — Not set per variation while the billing cycle toggle is on for the parent product. Turn the toggle off on the parent to give each variation its own subscription terms.”	The parent has the Billing Cycle Toggle on	Open the parent’s General tab, untick Enable Billing Cycle Toggle, update the product
Nothing shown yet	The variation is collapsed	Click the variation to expand it

The parent’s General tab has no subscription fields

• The setting is off: ReCurr’s fields then show on simple products only. Turn Variable subscription products on.
• On Standard: the tab shows one note — “ReCurr subscription … Upgrade to Plus” — instead of the fields.

Some fields are missing from a variation

That is by design — the block follows the option’s effective settings (its own, or the parent’s where it uses Same as parent):

• The billing fields appear only when the option is a subscription (Subscription is Yes, or Same as parent and the parent has Enable Subscription ticked)
• The annual fields appear only when the option bills Year(s); the quarterly fields only for Quarter(s)
• Free Trial and Trial Duration sit in the row of checkboxes near the top of the variation, not in the ReCurr block
• Plan Rank appears only on licences with plan switching
• Billing Cycle Toggle, Available billing cycles and Plan Group are never per variation — set them on the parent

“Stored value: (empty)” beside a field

The option has its own saved setting, and it is empty (typically from an import). An empty own setting takes the place of the parent’s, so the option does not use the parent’s value for it. Leave the field on Same as parent and click Save changes — ReCurr removes the empty value, and the option uses the parent’s again.

Messages after “Save changes” or “Update”

ReCurr names the product or option, saves nothing for the setting it refuses, and leaves the stored value as it was.

Message	Why	What to do
“ReCurr: the free trial was not enabled on “(product)”. A 21-day trial is longer than the shortest billing period this product can be bought on (every 2 weeks), which would give the customer more than one period free. The maximum trial for that term is 14 days.”	The trial is longer than one billing period of that option	Choose a shorter trial, or a longer billing period
“ReCurr: “(setting)” for “(option)” was not saved: “(value)” is not a valid value. The stored setting was left as it was.”	A value outside what the field accepts reached the server	Pick the value from the field again and save
“ReCurr: the subscription settings for “(option)” were not saved. Its parent product has the billing cycle toggle on, …”	Terms per option cannot be combined with the toggle	Turn the toggle off on the parent, then set the option’s terms
“ReCurr: the billing cycle toggle was turned off on “(product)”. A variable product offers its billing cycles as variations, so the toggle does not apply to it. …”	The toggle was on when the product became variable	Nothing — this is expected. Give each variation its own Billing Period (Plus Tutorial 7, Example 2)
“ReCurr: “Billing cycle toggle” for “(option)” was ignored. It is set on the parent product, not per variation.” (also Available billing cycles, Plan group)	Parent-only settings cannot be set on an option	Set them on the parent
“ReCurr: the subscription settings for “(option)” were not saved. Variable subscriptions are available on ReCurr Plus and above.”	The licence is Standard (for example, an edit screen opened before the licence changed)	Upgrade to Plus; the stored settings are untouched

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On the Product Page, Cart and Checkout

What the customer sees	Why	What to do
“Sorry, “(product)” cannot be bought on this store at the moment.” (or, from the cart: “… Please remove it from your cart to continue.”)	Variable subscription products is off, and the product (or the chosen option) is marked as a subscription	Turn the setting on (Plus) — or, to sell the product once-off, see A variable product converted from a simple subscription product below
“Sorry, “(product)” cannot be bought as a subscription on this store at the moment.” (or “… Please remove it from your cart to continue.”)	The licence is Standard (or a Plus licence lapsed)	Upgrade to Plus. Already-sold subscriptions keep renewing
“Sorry, this product is unavailable. Please choose a different combination.” and a greyed-out button	The same two causes, shown on the product page (classic and Divi themes) — or an option with no Regular price, or out of stock	Check the setting and licence; give the option a price or stock
“Please choose product options …”	The product was added to the cart without choosing an option (e.g., from a shop-page link)	Nothing — WooCommerce’s normal behaviour. The customer chooses on the product page
“Subscriptions in one order share one renewal schedule. Your cart already holds a subscription that renews every month, and this one renews every year. …”	Two options on different schedules in one cart	Expected. The customer orders them separately
The option shows a price with no period and checks out as a normal product	The option is not a subscription: Subscription is No, or Same as parent with the parent’s Enable Subscription unticked	Set Subscription: Yes on the option, or tick Enable Subscription on the parent
The price range looks “wrong way round” (a R1,000 option at the low end)	The range compares price per month: R1,000 a year is R83.33 a month, cheaper than R110 a month. Each end shows its own period	Nothing — choosing an option shows its own price
The option’s price is 12 times too high or too low	The Regular price rule: a yearly option with no discount charges its Regular price once a year as entered; with Annual Discount on, the Regular price is the monthly base	Enter the yearly price, or switch Annual Discount on and enter the monthly price (Plus Tutorial 7, What each option charges)
On a block theme the button stays active and the refusal appears on click	A limitation of the Add to Cart with Options block	Nothing — the order is still refused

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Subscriptions > Add New (Manual EFT)

What you see	Why	What to do
“Please choose a variation of this product that is offered as a subscription.”	A variable product was chosen without choosing its option (or the option is not a subscription)	Choose the option in the Variation dropdown
“Variable subscription products are switched off (Subscriptions → Settings → General), so “(product)” cannot be added as a subscription at the moment.”	The setting is off	Turn it on (Plus), or choose a simple subscription product
“”(product)” has no price, so it cannot be added as a subscription. …”	The product or option has no Regular price	Enter a price on it (Products → Edit product) and try again
The subscription records Size: S but no colour	The option leaves Colour as Any …, and this screen has no field for it	Expected in this version. Use an option with the colour set, if the colour matters on the invoice
A variable product is missing from the Product list	The setting is off, or none of its options is a subscription	Turn the setting on; set Subscription: Yes on at least one option

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Renewals and My Account

What you see	Why	What to do
A renewal order names the parent product, with an order note that the option no longer exists	The variation was deleted after the customer subscribed	The subscription keeps renewing at its recorded price. In future, don’t delete an option that has subscribers
Renewal orders name the parent without the chosen options, and stock comes off the parent	Variable subscription products was turned off after variable subscriptions were sold	Turn it back on; renewals from then on name the option again
My Account shows the product without its options	The same — the setting is off	Turn it back on
A customer asks to move to another option (e.g., S to M)	Changing option is not available yet	Cancel the subscription and subscribe again on the new option

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A Variable Product Converted from a Simple Subscription Product

A product that was a simple subscription product and was then changed to Variable product keeps its Enable Subscription setting. With Variable subscription products off, it cannot be bought — customers see “Sorry, “(product)” cannot be bought on this store at the moment.” — even if you have never turned the setting on. The subscription fields are hidden on a variable product while the setting is off, so:

• To sell it once-off: change the product type back to Simple product, untick Enable Subscription, click Update, then change it back to Variable product and update again
• To sell it as a subscription: turn Variable subscription products on (ReCurr Plus or higher) and set up its variations (Plus Tutorial 7)

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On ReCurr Standard

• A subscription option’s variation row, and a variable product’s General tab, show “Variable subscriptions are available on ReCurr Plus and above. Existing subscriptions keep renewing.” with Upgrade to Plus — no fields
• A plain variable product (no subscription settings) shows nothing on its variations and saves no subscription setting
• Customers cannot buy a variable subscription product; once-off options, simple, grouped and external products sell as usual
• Every subscription already sold keeps renewing — a licence change never stops a renewal

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What to Look For After a Test Purchase

Run this in PayFast sandbox (or on a staging copy) for each new variable subscription product:

1. The product page — before choosing: the range with each end’s period. After choosing: that option’s price and period.
2. The order (WooCommerce > Orders) — the line is the option (Hoodie – S) with its attributes printed under it (Size: S, Colour: Pink).
3. The subscription (Subscriptions > All Subscriptions) — one subscription at the option’s price and period. Never R0.00, never the parent’s figure.
4. My Account > Subscriptions (as the customer) — the option’s name and its attributes, in the list and on the subscription.
5. The first renewal — the renewal order names the same option and attributes at the same price, and the next payment date moves on by one period. Where the option’s stock is managed, its stock drops by one with WooCommerce’s “Stock levels reduced” order note — the option’s stock, not the parent’s.

If any of these differs, note the order number, the subscription number and the message you saw, and contact support with them.

For developers: where the data is

Table / place	What it holds for a variable subscription
wp_crb_subscription_items	One row per line: product_id is the parent, variation_id the option
wp_crb_subscription_itemmeta	One attribute_… row per attribute of the line — the value the customer chose, “Any” attributes included
The parent product’s meta	_crb_has_subscription_variations = yes when at least one option is a subscription
A variation’s meta	Its own _crb_… settings — only those set on the option; Same as parent stores nothing

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Need Help?

• Email: [email protected]
• Support Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM (SAST)
  Friday, 09:00 AM – 12:00 PM (SAST)
• Website: cyberdummies.co.za/recurr

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This is Part 8 of the ReCurr Plus Tutorial Series.

Tutorial	Topic
Plus 1. Billing Cycle Toggle	Monthly/annual toggle on one product
Plus 2. Flexible Trials	7/14/21/28-day trial options
Plus 3. Quarterly Discounts	Configuring quarterly pricing and discounts
Plus 4. Plan Switching	Plan groups, customer upgrades and downgrades
Plus 5. Cancellation, Refund & Retention	Pro-rata refunds on cancel + retention save flow
Plus 6. Pause & Resume	Freeze a subscription and resume later
Plus 7. Variable Subscription Products	Sizes, plans and buy-once-or-subscribe as subscription options
Plus 8. Troubleshooting Variable Subscriptions	Every message, what causes it, where to look (you are here)