I'm building a database to be used to help monitor a small business (specific industry). I plan to put my database out there for others to use. I also decided to charge a meager fee (like $5 a month) for it's use (obviously to pay me for my time for development and updating it)... but also to keep others from copying my database file and selling it to others. I figure that is going to be worth it for my time developing it and to keep it updated and to continue to develop it as the industry changes.
What is the best way to confirm that users have paid up in a subscription service. This is what I was thinking... let me know your thoughts.
I was going to create a Patreon Acct and charge $5 per month to be a member. Membership will give you access to download the file. I will keep an simple MySQL database on my GoDaddy server. A very simple table with:
Oh, I forgot about people still sharing their login creds for their friends or selling that as well... so I was thinking of adding IPADDRESS as a field and checking to see a LOGIN was being used from multiple IP addresses... in this industry... there would very very little need for it (homebased business) - multiple computers yes... but not too many different addresses... 2 at most (home/warehouse).
Then I would login and change the MONTHENDING for anyone who has paid for the month to month service or put them out to December if they have paid up thru the year. Then use code on opening the program to check that database against their acct to see if they are actively subscribed... if so - continue to open... if not - bring up a reminder form to update subscription and close the program.
I've never done anything like this before... but I know there are people in this industry who will try to make money on my product if I don't do it. Not everyone but there are some unscrupulous people in this industry.
Please let me know if you can think of anything easier. Thanks for your time.
What is the best way to confirm that users have paid up in a subscription service. This is what I was thinking... let me know your thoughts.
I was going to create a Patreon Acct and charge $5 per month to be a member. Membership will give you access to download the file. I will keep an simple MySQL database on my GoDaddy server. A very simple table with:
Code:
FIRSTNAME
LASTNAME
EMAILADDRESS
MONTHSTARTED
MONTHENDINGOh, I forgot about people still sharing their login creds for their friends or selling that as well... so I was thinking of adding IPADDRESS as a field and checking to see a LOGIN was being used from multiple IP addresses... in this industry... there would very very little need for it (homebased business) - multiple computers yes... but not too many different addresses... 2 at most (home/warehouse).
Then I would login and change the MONTHENDING for anyone who has paid for the month to month service or put them out to December if they have paid up thru the year. Then use code on opening the program to check that database against their acct to see if they are actively subscribed... if so - continue to open... if not - bring up a reminder form to update subscription and close the program.
I've never done anything like this before... but I know there are people in this industry who will try to make money on my product if I don't do it. Not everyone but there are some unscrupulous people in this industry.
Please let me know if you can think of anything easier. Thanks for your time.
