Service Visibility & Status

Service visibility and status settings control whether services appear on your public site and how they're displayed. Understanding these settings helps you manage what customers see and when services become available for purchase.

Understanding Service Status

Every service has a status that determines its availability:

Active

Active status means your service is live on your public subscription page where customers can view it and purchase immediately (subscribe or make one-off purchase if enabled).

✅ This is your goal: Active services make money. All published services should be Active once Stripe is connected.

Pending

Pending status means your service is created but not yet live, hidden from public view on your subscription page, and cannot accept customer purchases (subscriptions or one-off) while waiting for requirements to be met.

Common reasons for Pending:

• Stripe account not connected yet

• Service saved as draft

• Awaiting activation

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Pending services don't generate revenue. They're invisible to customers and can't accept any purchases (subscriptions or one-off) until activated.

Draft

Draft status means your service is saved but not published yet—it's a work in progress that's not visible to customers while you continue editing and refining the details before making it live.

How to publish:

1. Edit the draft service

2. Complete any missing information

3. Click Publish instead of "Save as Draft"

4. Service moves to Active (if Stripe connected) or Pending

✍️ TIP: Use Draft status when building services over multiple sessions. Save progress without making the service public.

Archived/Deleted

Archived or deleted status means your service is removed from active offerings and no longer visible to customers, though existing subscription customers typically remain unaffected and continue their subscriptions.

What happens with existing customers:

• Subscription customers: Continue receiving service at their original terms

• One-off purchases: Already completed transactions remain in records

• New purchases: Not available (service is archived/deleted)

⚠️ IMPORTANT: You cannot delete a service with active subscribers.

Service Visibility Controls

Show on Live Site

Control whether your service appears to potential customers on your public subscription page.

Location: Settings tab > Service Visibility section

Default setting: Checked (enabled by default)

When checked (ON): Service appears on your live subscription site, customers can view details and purchase (subscribe or one-off), service is listed in your public catalog, and begins generating revenue from new customers.

When unchecked (OFF): Service is hidden from customer view on your public site, new customers cannot find or purchase it (subscriptions or one-off), existing subscription customers remain unaffected and continue service normally.

Important: A service can be active (accepting payments, generating schedules for existing subscribers) but hidden from your live site. Unchecking this option only controls public visibility—it doesn't deactivate the service or affect existing subscribers.

✅ BEST PRACTICE: Keep this checked for all services you want customers to see. Uncheck only when hiding old pricing versions, or during testing.

Subscriber Limits and Visibility

Subscriber limits affect when subscription signups become unavailable:

Setting Subscriber Limits

Location: Settings tab > Subscriber Limits

1. Check Limit number of subscribers

2. Enter maximum number (e.g., 30)

3. Save service

What happens at limit:

• New subscriptions blocked

• One-off purchases remain available (if enabled)

• Existing subscribers unaffected

Important: Subscriber limits only apply to subscription purchases, not one-off purchases. If you have both purchase options enabled:

• At subscriber limit: Subscriptions unavailable, one-off purchases still available

• Below subscriber limit: Both subscriptions and one-off purchases available

Example:

• Service set to 30 subscriber limit

• Currently have 30 active subscribers

• New customers cannot subscribe (limit reached)

• New customers can still make one-off purchases at regular price

✅ BEST PRACTICE: Use subscriber limits to manage committed, recurring workload while still accepting occasional one-off requests. This balances capacity control with revenue opportunities.

What Happens to Existing Subscribers

Understanding how service visibility changes affect your current customers helps you manage services confidently without disrupting existing relationships.

Unchecking "Show on Live Site"

When you uncheck "Show on live site" to hide a service from your public page:

Existing subscription customers:

• Keep their active subscriptions unchanged

• Continue receiving service on schedule

• Billing continues normally at their original price

• No disruption to their service delivery

• Can still access and manage their subscription in customer portal

Existing one-off purchase customers:

• Already completed their transaction

• Service delivery continues as scheduled

• No impact on past purchases

New customers:

• Cannot find or purchase this service (subscriptions or one-off)

• Service doesn't appear on your public subscription page

• Must wait for you to make it visible again

• Can only subscribe if you send them a direct invitation

• Cannot make one-off purchases (visibility setting affects all purchase types)

Use case: This is perfect for managing multiple pricing versions. Hide the old service from new customers while existing subscribers continue at their original rate.

Deleting a Service

⚠️ WARNING: Deleting a service is permanent and cannot be undone.

What happens when you delete a service:

If service has NO subscribers or one-off purchases:

• Service is permanently removed from your account

• No impact on customers (there are none)

• Service disappears from your services list

If service HAS active subscribers:

• You cannot delete the service

• System prevents deletion to protect active subscriptions

• You must cancel all subscriptions first, then delete the service

If service has completed one-off purchases:

• Past one-off purchases remain in transaction history

• Service can be deleted if no active subscribers exist

• Historical records are preserved

Recommended approach instead of deleting:

1. Uncheck "Show on live site" to hide from new customers

2. Keep existing subscribers on the service

3. Create a new service with updated details/pricing for new customers

4. Never delete services with active subscribers

✍️ TIP: Hiding services is almost always better than deleting them. Hidden services preserve your existing customer relationships and historical data while preventing new signups.

Best Practices for Service Changes

✅ Before making major changes:

• Review how many active subscribers will be affected

• Check if there are completed one-off purchases in the service history

• Consider if you need to communicate changes to subscription customers

• Decide if hiding (not deleting) is more appropriate

• Plan migration strategy if retiring a service completely

✅ When hiding a service:

• No communication needed—existing subscribers unaffected

• One-off purchases already completed—no impact on past customers

• Perfect for phasing out old pricing while keeping existing customers happy

• New version can coexist with hidden old version

• Both subscription and one-off purchase options become unavailable to new customers

✅ When retiring a service entirely:

1. Stop accepting new customers (uncheck "Show on live site")

2. Communicate with existing subscribers about the change

3. Give advance notice (30+ days recommended)

4. Offer alternatives or migration to a different service

5. Only delete after all subscriptions are cancelled

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Always prioritize existing customer experience. Sudden changes or deletions can damage customer trust and create service disruptions. Existing subscribers have ongoing relationships to protect, while past one-off purchase customers have completed their transactions.

✍️ TIP: Instead of deleting services with old pricing, keep them hidden. This maintains existing subscribers at their original rate while you offer new pricing to new customers (both subscriptions and one-off purchases) through a separate, visible service.