[SOLVED] What triggers the creation of a basket item?

As a basket item is an invoice, it makes sense that a new (non-free) subscription generates a corresponding basket item.

1) Am I correct to say that a new free subscription does not generate a basket item (although there could be a requirement for a zero-amount invoice by some people)? Likewise an upgrade to a free plan?

2) What about renewals which are not free? Does it depend on whether the subscription has auto-recurring renewals?

3) What about upgrades to a different plan? We sometimes upgrade someone from free to paid but this does not seem to result in an invoice being generated.

Most of our subscriptions are paid via the PayPal payment gateway online when first taken out or on renewal (recurring PayPal payment is the payment method offered online, every other one is Offline Payment). However, a large proportion of the membership pay by bank transfer, PayPal 'Send Money', cheque or cash and these subscriptions/renewals are recorded in the back-end. However, there does not always seem to be a basket item to go with these subscription/renewal payments.

I would appreciate some clarification as to what situations result in a basket item being generated so that I can explain it to those responsible for recording the receipt of payments.

Thank you.

1) Am I correct to say that a new free subscription does not generate a basket item (although there could be a requirement for a zero-amount invoice by some people)? Likewise an upgrade to a free plan?

Any plan that requires a payment will generate a basket. Free plans will not generate a basket and should become active immediately.

2) What about renewals which are not free? Does it depend on whether the subscription has auto-recurring renewals?

If the renewal requires a payment and is a manual renewal then it will generate a basket. Free renewals don't require payment so they won't generate a basket. Auto-recurring renewals do not generate new baskets, but they do generate new payment rows (for Payment History page).

3) What about upgrades to a different plan? We sometimes upgrade someone from free to paid but this does not seem to result in an invoice being generated.

If the upgrade requires a payment it will generate a basket. Free upgrades do not require a payment so they won't generate a basket.

However, there does not always seem to be a basket item to go with these subscription/renewal payments.

That would depend entirely on how you are handling those. If you're receiving an offline payment and just giving them a subscription from backend then no there won't be a basket. For those you should use the Offline payment gateway and properly record the payment. There will then be a basket for those payments.

Thank you very much for clarifying this - this information is extremely helpful