paid subscriptions option

[rtburk]

I operate a forum that is running vb 3.7.4 and I have never used the option "paid subscriptions".

I was hoping you all could provide me with some answers to a few questions and provide me with input as far as the pros and cons and limitations of how it operates.

Ideally I see that using paypal in the drop down is an option but I am unsure if they are the best one to use. I do not know anything about the others.

This is my plan so please let me know if it is able to be set up this way or not. If a new version of VB will better fit my needs I am not opposed to upgrading if needed.

I plan to create a special forum on my board that members would have to pay an additional fee through the paid subscription to access. Through this option would be additional benefits that a member can receive by selecting what could be one or several options.

So my first couple of questions to start are:

1. Can you make a special forum that only allows paid members to access opposed to other registered members on the board?

2. Can I assign what might be different amounts to each member. Lets say I choose benefit options and my fees come to $43.45 a month and another person selects benefits and their fees come to $22.50 a month and so forth and so on from member to member they select varying amounts can I assign those members that amount to subscribe to the paid forum option?

3. Can these be set up on a monthly reoccurring bill and payment through the system?

If the above three are possible where I can assign a paid subscription forum not accessible to unpaid registered members and I can also assign what might be different amounts to each paying member to be paid monthly, it will lead me to have to have an easy method to reconcile my monthly billing.

My next question is:

4. Is there a way to assign an account number or some indicator through paypal or in the VB system to compare who has paid and who has not? For example lets say the person registers under a screen name that is not their legal given name or they use someone else's paypal account to make payment. How would I or the VB system know to assign that particular payment to that account?