Milo Scheduled Start Dates

Let customers or store owners pick a future activation date for a subscription: it is created at checkout, waits in Pending, and activates itself on the day.

Installation

1. Install and activate the free Milo Subscriptions plugin (WooCommerce required).
2. Upload and activate Milo Scheduled Start Dates (Plugins → Add New → Upload).
3. Enter your license key under Subscriptions → Licenses to enable updates.

Configuration

Under Subscriptions → Settings → Checkout & Payments → Scheduled Start Dates:

Setting	Description
Enable scheduled start dates	On/off switch (on by default). Allow products to offer customer-selected or fixed future start dates.

Product setup

Edit a subscription product and find the Scheduled Start Dates section in the subscription product panel:

Field	Description
Customer chooses start date	Enables the start date field on this product’s page.
Fixed start mode	None, Day of month, or Specific date.
Day of month (1-28)	For Day of month mode. The next occurrence of that day is used (this month if still ahead, otherwise next month).
Specific start date	For Specific date mode. Used only while it is still in the future.

With mode None, customers get a date picker. With a fixed mode, the picker is replaced by a read-only “Starts on” date that everyone gets. For variable products, each variation has its own “Customer chooses start date” checkbox.

What the customer sees

• On the product page, a Start date picker (earliest selectable date is tomorrow), or the read-only fixed date.
• Leaving the picker empty means the subscription starts immediately, as usual.
• The cart and checkout show a “Starts on” line for the item.
• After purchase, the subscription page in My Account → Subscriptions shows a “Scheduled start” notice with the date and a reminder that activation is automatic.

What happens at checkout

1. The chosen date is saved on the order line item and copied to the new subscription.
2. The subscription’s start date and next payment date are shifted to the scheduled date, and a note is added to its history.
3. When payment completes, the add-on intercepts the usual activation: the subscription is kept in Pending and no renewal events are scheduled yet.
4. A single Action Scheduler task (milo_scheduled_start_activate) is queued for the scheduled date. You can see it under Tools → Scheduled Actions.

Activation day

When the date arrives, the task activates the subscription through the normal status flow: the start date is stamped, renewals are scheduled, and all the usual activation hooks and emails fire. If the subscription (or its parent order) is cancelled before then, the queued activation is removed.

Admins can also activate early: manually switching the subscription to Active after the scheduled date has passed proceeds normally.

The confirmation email

A Scheduled Start Confirmation email is sent to the customer when their subscription is deferred. It supports the {site_title}, {order_number}, and {start_date} placeholders, and its subject, heading, and additional content can be customised like any WooCommerce email under WooCommerce → Settings → Emails.

In the admin, pending scheduled subscriptions show a Scheduled Start panel with the date in the subscription detail sidebar.

FAQ

• The date picker does not show up. Check that the global toggle is on and that “Customer chooses start date” is checked on the product (or the variation, for variable products).
• The customer picked no date. The subscription activates immediately; the add-on only steps in for future dates.
• A past fixed date? A “Specific date” in the past is ignored and the field falls back to the customer date picker.

Billing modes

Works in WooCommerce mode only; it requires WooCommerce and is not available for standalone (Stripe-driven) subscriptions.