Subsbase Tech Glossary
This Tech Glossary serves as a quick reference guide, introducing users to business and technology terms associated with Subsbase.
Admin Portal
Customers
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Add Plan | The process of adding a new plan to a customer's subscription. |
| Available Balance | The current amount of money in the customer's account. |
| Bulk Add | The action of selecting multiple customers and adding them to a specific plan in bulk. |
| Bulk Change | The action of selecting multiple customers within a specific plan and applying a bulk change action to them. |
| Change Plan | The process of changing a customer's current plan to a different plan. |
| Customer Profiles | Detailed information about individual customers, including their balance, transactions, invoices, and subscription status. |
| Customers | Individuals or entities who have subscribed to your plans and are tracked within the Subsbase platform. |
| Manual Usage Entry | The ability for admins to manually add or delete usage data within a billing cycle. |
| Payment Methods | The payment methods associated with the customer's profile. |
| Subscription | A subscription is used for modeling the bundle of items subscribed to by a customer. |
| Subscription Status | The current state of a subscription, indicating whether it's active, canceled, in trial, changing, etc. |
| Surcharge | An extra fee within a billing cycle that covers specific costs or expenses associated with services or products. |
| Taxes | Additional charges imposed on services or products, often related to government regulations. |
| Usage Query | The process of retrieving usage data for a specific billing cycle. |
Invoicing
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Attachments | Files attached to an invoice, supporting documents or additional information related to the transaction. |
| Auto-Generated Invoice | An invoice that is automatically generated by Subsbase based on specific triggers like new subscriptions, updates to existing subscriptions, or future renewal billing. |
| Draft Invoice | An invoice that is in draft mode and can be freely edited until validated. |
| Invoice Narrative | Additional text or messages included in invoices, such as headers, comments, and footers. |
| Invoice Statuses | The current state of an invoice, indicating whether it's open, overdue, paid, partially paid, processing, refunded, void, or voiding. |
| Invoices | Documents that detail transactions between you and your customers, including the services provided, costs, and payment status. |
| Manage Discount | The action of managing and applying discounts to invoices. |
| Manually Created Invoice | An invoice that is created manually by an admin and requires validation before becoming an "Open" invoice. |
| Mark as Paid | The action of marking an invoice as paid, indicating that the payment has been made. |
| Request Payment | The action of charging the invoice amount using the customer's default payment method. |
| Send Payment Link | The action of sending an email with the invoice payment link to the customer. |
| Validate Invoice | The action of validating a draft invoice to transition it into an "Open" invoice. |
Transactions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Transactions | Records of payment-related operations on invoices, including authorization, capture, refund, failure, and pending statuses. |
| Transaction Statuses | The current state of a transaction, indicating whether it's authorized, captured, failed, pending, or refunded. |
| Transaction Id | A unique identifier for each transaction. |
| Payment Gateway Ref. Number | A reference number provided by the payment gateway for tracking purposes. |
Coupons
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Code (Prefix) | Unique identifier for a coupon, case-sensitive. |
| Coupon Accounting | Application of coupons to the next invoice after redemption, with details on discounts, taxes, and fees. |
| Coupon Info | Details required to create a coupon, including Name (Coupon Name), Code (Prefix), Type, Value, and Quantity. |
| Coupon Rules | Start/End Date, Redemption Limit, and Plan Code settings defining coupon validity, usage limits, and applicable plans. |
| Coupon Settings | Edit and Delete options for managing coupons, with restrictions on editable attributes after creation. |
| Coupons | Codes created to provide discounts to customers on subscriptions. |
| Name (Coupon Name) | Internal name for a coupon campaign, not shown to customers. |
| Quantity | Number of coupon codes created in a campaign. |
| Type | Two types of discounts: fixed amount and percentage. |
| Usage Rules | Usage Limit setting indicating how many times a coupon is used for renewals. |
| Value | Amount or percentage of discount applied. |
Plans
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Addon | Defines a service or item that's being offered in addition to the plan on a recurring or non-recurring basis. |
| Billing Model | Defines how customers are charged for products or services: Prepaid or Postpaid. |
| Dunning | Automated process for handling failed payments and retries. |
| Plan | Defines a set of features for your product/service, the frequency of billing and amount to be charged for it on a recurring basis. |
| Pricing Model | Determines the pricing structure for plans: Free, Fixed, Per Unit, Tiered, Volume, Stair Step. |
| Setup Cost | One-time transaction charged at the beginning of a subscription billing cycle. |
| Term Limit | Specifies if the subscription will be automatically renewed or canceled after a certain period. |
| Trial Settings | Provides customers with a customizable trial period before the paid subscription begins. |
| Usage Query | Method to collect data for usage calculations, either Manual, Automatic, or Both. |
Schedules
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Attachments | Files attached to a payment schedule for additional information. |
| Batch Add | Efficient creation of multiple repetitive scheduled payments. |
| Currency | The currency in which payments are processed for the payment schedule. |
| Dunning Profiles | Profiles used to recover failed payments, including existing ones or creating new profiles. |
| Invoicing | Options for generating invoices, including No Invoicing, Collective Invoice, and Per Payment Invoice. |
| Payment Method | The method chosen for processing payments, including existing methods or creating new ones. |
| Payment Schedule | A customized billing frequency and payment plan for customers, including billing dates and amounts. |
| Product | Refers to the product or service associated with the payment schedule. |
| Schedule Name | The name given to a payment schedule for identification purposes. |
| Schedule Rules | Rules governing the payment schedule, excluding the customer and payment method fields. |
| Scheduled Payments | Payments scheduled according to the payment schedule, with different statuses based on their progress. |
| Use Template | Creating scheduled payments based on pre-made templates. |
One-Time Payments
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| One-Time Payments | One-Time Payments offer a convenient way to bill customers for non-recurring purchases, including immediate purchases or cases where a customer is not associated with a specific plan subscription. |
| On-Session Payment | On-session payment refers to a payment processing flow where the customer's card information is not stored or tokenized for future use, used only for the specific transaction. |
Customer Portal
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Customer Portal | A platform within Subsbase that stores and manages all customer/subscriber details, including subscriptions, payment history, payment schedules, payment methods, and contact information. |
| Embedding Customer Portal via API | Integrating the Customer Portal into your site or application using Subsbase's API. |
| Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) | An additional security measure that requires customers to enter a One-Time Password (OTP) during login, enhancing account security. |
| OTP (One-Time Password) | A temporary password sent to customers via email during the login process for Multi-Factor Authentication. |
| Single Sign-On (SSO) | A method for providing seamless access to the Customer Portal through integration with Subsbase's API. |
| Subscriptions | Services or products that customers are subscribed to, which can be viewed, added, changed, or canceled through the Customer Portal. |
| Theme Settings | Configuration options for customizing the appearance and branding of the Customer Portal, accessible in the Admin Portal. |
Integration
Embedding Checkout
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Attach Plan | Integrating subscription plans into clickable elements on your website, allowing customers to select plans directly from these elements. |
| Callback | An optional action triggered after a specific event, such as signup completion, allowing communication with your backend or performing redirections. |
| Checkout Version | The version of the checkout experience you want to use, such as Checkout Version 2 (v2), offering different features or improvements compared to the default version (Version 1). |
| Customer Identifiers | Pre-setting customer identifiers (customerId) to match existing info in your system or follow a certain convention, ensuring accurate customer identification and data management during checkout. |
| Embedding Checkout | Integrating Subsbase's checkout experience into your website using an integration script to provide a seamless payment process for customers without redirection. |
| Embedding Options | Customizable operations within the embedding script to configure various aspects of the checkout experience, such as initializing the site ID, customizing the theme, adding callbacks, specifying checkout version, attaching plans to clickable elements or inline containers, setting redirections, pre-filling info fields and custom fields, allowing geolocation, and setting customer identifiers. |
| Geolocation | Allowing access to the user's geolocation information within the checkout experience, if required for specific functionalities. |
| Inline Plan | Integrating subscription plans inline within container elements on your website, providing a seamless checkout experience within your page. |
| Integration Script | A script provided by Subsbase that enables the seamless integration of the checkout experience into your website, facilitating secure and efficient payment processing for customers. |
| Pre-filling Info Fields | Pre-filling information fields in the checkout experience with predefined values or attaching custom fields visible in the Subsbase Admin Portal to checking out clients. |
| Query Param | A parameter used in the embedding script to specify various configurations, such as redirects, pre-filling fields, disabling info fields, and setting customer identifiers, among others, providing flexibility and customization options for the checkout experience. |
| Redirection after Successful Payment | Automatically redirecting users to your website after a successful payment, improving user flow and completing the checkout process. |
| Redirection for Successful Checkout | Automatically redirecting users to your website after a successful checkout process, enhancing user experience and completing the transaction flow. |
| Site Id | A unique identifier representing your Subsbase site, required for initializing the embedding script to link your plans and configurations to the checkout experience on your website. |
| Theme Customization | Customizing the primary color used in the checkout experience to match your branding, enhancing the visual appeal of the checkout process for customers. |
Embedding Plan Picker
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Attach Plan Picker | The operation to create and display a button on the web page, attaching the Plan Picker to it upon click, allowing customers to view and select subscription plans. |
| Configuration Object | Properties used to configure both the Plan Picker button and the Plan Picker itself, including text, shape, icon, colors, positioning, alignment, visibility on mobile devices, delays, and settings related to grouping, display, expansion, collapsibility, sorting, and default sorting of plans in the Plan Picker. |
| Default Configuration Object | The default settings for the Plan Picker button and the Plan Picker itself, including default text, shape, icon, colors, positioning, alignment, visibility, delays, and default configuration of plan grouping, display, expansion, collapsibility, sorting, and default sorting order of plans. |
| Embedding Options | Customizable operations within the embedding script to configure the Plan Picker button and the Plan Picker itself, including text, shape, icon, colors, positioning, alignment, visibility on mobile devices, delay settings, and configuration of the Plan Picker. |
| Embedding Plan Picker | Integrating Subsbase's Plan Picker on your website using an integration script to allow customers to select subscription plans easily. |
| Hide Plan Picker on Mobile Devices | A flag or boolean value (true or false) used to specify whether to hide the Plan Picker on mobile devices, providing flexibility in displaying the Plan Picker based on the device screen size and user experience considerations. |
| Initializing the SiteId | A required operation to initialize the embedding script by specifying the "Site Id" associated with your Subsbase account, which contains the plans you want to attach to the Plan Picker. |
| Mobile Configuration | Additional configuration specific to mobile devices, used when the screen width is lower than 1024px, allowing customization of the Plan Picker's appearance and behavior on smaller screens. |
Embedding Customer Portal
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Container Element | The HTML element where the iframe is injected, and the iframe will fill the entire container based on the specified width and height. |
| Customer Portal URL | The URL of your Subsbase Customer Portal, provided by Subsbase within the Admin Portal under Settings > Customer Portal Settings > Site URL. |
| Customer Portal Version | The version of the Customer Portal (e.g., Version 1 or Version 2) that you want to use for embedding. |
| Customer Token | A token specific to each customer, used for embedding the Customer Portal on a per-customer basis. |
| Default Configuration | The default settings for the embedded Customer Portal, including the default URL, token parameters, page visibility, and dimensions of the iframe. |
| Embedding Customer Portal | Integrating Subsbase's Customer Portal inside your website or web application through the use of an iframe, allowing customers to manage their subscriptions, payment methods, profile, and other related actions without leaving your platform. |
| iframe | An HTML element used to embed content from another website or web application within your own. |
| Server Token | A secure token obtained from Subsbase that grants access to your Subsbase account's functionality. It should not be exposed to the front-end as it provides full access to your account. |
| Show/Hide | Optional parameters used to specify whether to show or hide specific pages in the embedded Customer Portal, such as 'subscriptions', 'paymentmethods', 'paymenthistory', 'info', 'dashboard', 'schedules', 'profile', etc. Multiple pages can be shown or hidden by passing a comma-separated list without spaces. |
| Version Specification | The process of specifying the Customer Portal version (e.g., Version 1 or Version 2) to be used for embedding, ensuring compatibility and access to specific features based on the chosen version. |
| Width and Height | Dimensions specified for the iframe element to control its size within your webpage. |
Event Notifications
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Actions | Responses triggered by events, such as sending webhooks, emails, SMS, or messages. Multiple actions can be selected to occur when an event is triggered. |
| Available Placeholders | Variables that can be used in email bodies or webhook payloads, enclosed in double curly brackets (null), and replaced with actual values during event triggering. The available placeholders depend on the type of event being triggered. |
| Conditions | Additional criteria used for filtering events to trigger specific actions. Event notifications matching conditions trigger actions, while those not meeting conditions do not. This allows for configuring complex event notifications based on specific attributes or conditions. |
| Delay | An option to delay sending event notifications to customers/subscribers, with choices like After a specified duration (days, weeks, months, years), On a specific date, or On a specific day of the week. |
| Email Template | A configured email format used for sending email notifications, treated as a template where placeholders are replaced with actual values before sending. |
| Endpoint | The URL where webhooks send their payloads upon event triggering. |
| Event Notifications | A service that informs you about critical events on your Subsbase site, allowing you to automate actions via webhooks, emails, SMS, and messages. It captures system changes related to customers, subscriptions, plans, and invoices. |
| HTML Email | Email bodies formatted in HTML for visually appealing and customizable email notifications. |
| Placeholders | Variables used in email templates or webhook payloads that are replaced with actual values during event triggering. They are enclosed in double curly brackets (null) and can be used in various fields like email bodies or webhook payloads. |
| Request Method | The method used for sending webhook payloads, such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc. |
| Send Email | Action to send an email notification, with placeholders replaced by actual values in email templates. |
| Send Message | Action to send a message when integration is available. |
| Send SMS | Action to send an SMS notification when integration is available. |
| Send Webhook | Action to trigger a webhook, sending a payload to a specified URL upon event occurrence. |
| Trigger | A specific event that occurs, such as "Subscription is renewed," which initiates an automated action, like sending an email to the customer. |
| Webhooks | Automated event-driven messages sent from one system to another, triggered by specific events. They immediately send a payload to a specified URL upon event occurrence. You can customize the request method and payload using placeholders. |
API and Webhooks
API
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| API | Application Programming Interface; a set of rules and protocols for building and interacting with software applications. |
| API Secret | A unique key used for authenticating API requests to ensure security and access control. |
| API Integration | The process of connecting and integrating different software systems or applications using APIs to share data and functionality. |
| Authentication | The process of verifying the identity of a user or application to ensure authorized access to resources and data. |
| Base URL | The starting point or root address of an API endpoint, used to construct API requests and access different resources. |
| Data Access Rules | Rules that define how data can be accessed and manipulated within a system, often based on user roles and permissions. |
| Event Notifications | Automated notifications triggered by specific events in a system, often used to inform external systems about changes or actions. |
| GraphQL | A query language for APIs that provides a complete and understandable description of data and allows precise data retrieval. |
| GraphQL Client | A software library or tool used to interact with GraphQL APIs, making it easier to send queries and mutations and handle responses. |
| Mutation | In GraphQL, a mutation is used to modify data on the server, such as creating, updating, or deleting records. |
| Query | In GraphQL, a query is a request for specific data from a server. It specifies the fields to be retrieved and their structure. |
| RESTful | Representational State Transfer; an architectural style for designing networked applications using HTTP methods for CRUD operations. |
| Runtime | The environment where software applications run and execute code, including the processes and resources available during execution. |
| SSL | Secure Sockets Layer; a security protocol that establishes an encrypted link between a web server and a browser, ensuring data security during transmission. |
| Webhook Secret | A secret key used to validate incoming webhook requests, ensuring that they originate from a trusted source and are not tampered with. |
| Webhooks | Automated notifications sent by a server to a client application in response to specific events, enabling real-time communication between systems. |
Webhooks
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Custom Headers | Additional headers included in the webhook HTTP request for information or authorization purposes. |
| Endpoint | The URL where the webhook sends its HTTP requests. |
| HMAC Hash | A cryptographic hash calculated using the HMAC algorithm for validating webhook payloads. |
| Hash Verification | The process of verifying the calculated hash against the received signature to authenticate webhook payloads. |
| HTTP Status Code | A numeric code indicating the success or failure of an HTTP request (e.g., 200 for success). |
| Payload | The data sent in the webhook's HTTP request body, typically in JSON format. |
| Regenerate Webhook Secret | The process of generating a new webhook secret key to maintain security if the current key is compromised. |
| Request Method | The HTTP method used for webhook requests, such as PUT, POST, or PATCH. |
| Retry Mechanism | The process of retrying webhook requests if initial requests fail, with incremental delays between retries. |
| Signature Header | A header in the webhook request containing the HMAC hash for payload validation. |
| Webhook | A callback mechanism that triggers HTTP requests to a specified endpoint based on configured events. |
| Webhook Secret | A secret key used in conjunction with HMAC to authenticate webhook payloads and prevent tampering. |
Authentication
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| API Secret | A secret key used to request server tokens and authenticate API requests, akin to a password and kept confidential. |
| Authentication Flow | The sequence of steps involved in verifying and granting access to Subsbase resources using tokens. |
| Authorization Header | An HTTP header used to include the JWT token in requests, typically preceded by the keyword "Bearer". |
| Customer Token | A token used to authenticate a specific customer, allowing actions on that customer's data only. |
| JWT | JSON Web Token, a compact and self-contained way for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object. |
| Regenerate Secret | The process of generating a new API secret key to maintain security if the current key is compromised. |
| Server Token | A token used for backend-to-backend communication, providing full access to Subsbase account operations. |
| Site ID | The unique identifier for a Subsbase site, used in API requests and configurations. |
| Success Field | A field in API responses indicating the success or failure of an operation, typically returning true or false. |
| Value Field | A field in API responses containing the actual token value or relevant data after a successful operation. |
Reports
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cart Abandonment | Occurs when a customer leaves the Checkout page without completing the purchase by providing a valid payment method. The Cart Abandonment report records checkout attempts with session IDs, codes, and dates, providing insights into customer behavior during the checkout process. |
| MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) | A metric that calculates the average revenue generated from each customer on a monthly basis. It includes revenue from active prepaid recurring plan subscriptions and addons subscriptions, helping in financial planning and customer-focused strategies. |
| MRR per Customer | The Monthly Recurring Revenue per Customer is calculated by summing the monthly revenue from active prepaid recurring plans and addons subscriptions for each customer, providing an overview of revenue generation from subscribers. |
| Reports | The Reports page on the Admin Portal provides insights and analysis for Cart Abandonment, MRR per Customer, and Term Limits, aiding in strategic decision-making and performance evaluation. |
| Term Limits | Governs automatic subscription renewals or cancelations based on specified billing cycle or term durations. Setting term limits for plans helps determine whether subscriptions should automatically renew or end after the current billing cycle or term. |