Memberships & renewals
How membership types, a household's membership, renewals and the volunteer rate fit together.
Membership types are templates
A membership type defines the deal: how long it lasts (duration), max concurrent loans, the loan period and max renewals, the membership fee, an optional one-off joining fee, and optionally volunteer sessions required. You can offer several (e.g. Standard, Concession, Volunteer rate, Short-term). Editing a type creates a new version, so existing members keep the terms they signed up under until they renew.
A household's membership
When a household joins on a type, their membership starts that day and expires after the type's duration. They stay active right up to the expiry date, and renewing extends from the expiry (not the renewal day) — so nothing is lost by renewing early.
Fees
The membership fee is charged each period; the joining fee is a one-off the first time a household joins. Concession types offer a reduced rate. Recording and refunding these is covered in Fees & payments.
The volunteer rate
A type can require volunteer sessions — a discounted rate in exchange for helping out N times. That's an obligation tracked against the membership; it's separate from whether the person can volunteer, which is set by their role. See Roles, members & volunteers.
Member statuses & the lifecycle
A household carries two statuses that are easy to confuse — keep them apart:
Account status — the state of the household's account:
- Active — everything normal.
- Suspended — a temporary hold. They can't borrow, but the membership keeps running (the expiry date doesn't pause) and any balance or held bond is untouched. Reverse it with Reactivate account.
- Cancelled — the account has been ended (see End membership below).
Membership status — derived from the membership's dates:
- Active — valid right now (shown green, with the "valid to" date).
- Expired — the term has run out (shown in amber so it's never mistaken for current). The member can't borrow until they renew.
- Starts soon — a membership with a future start date.
The actions on the member page
- Reactivate account — lifts a suspension/cancellation and restores access. It does not renew an expired membership.
- Enrol / Re-enrol — starts a new paid membership period (charges the fee, plus joining fee/bond if the type has them) and sets a fresh expiry. This is how you renew a lapsed member.
- Suspend account — the temporary hold described above.
- End membership — closes the current membership today (they can no longer borrow) and cancels the account. Balance and bond remain until you settle them; borrowing again needs a fresh re-enrolment.
The short version: Reactivate fixes access; Re-enrol fixes membership. An expired member usually needs Re-enrol, not Reactivate.