Docs / Using the plugin / Overview tab
Overview tab
Read your key subscription and membership numbers, compare them with the previous period and chart them over time.
After this page, you will be able to read the Overview numbers, change the period, compare periods and chart any number.
The Overview tab shows key subscription and membership numbers for the selected period. Open it from WooCommerce → Recurring Reports. It is the first tab.
The numbers
By default the Overview shows six numbers. Each one reads subscription data unless you change its data source (see Choose which numbers to show).
Number | What it counts |
|---|---|
Active subscribers | Records with the Active status at the end of the period. |
New subscribers | Records whose start date falls in the period. |
Cancelled | Records cancelled in the period. Subscriptions in Pending Cancellation count too. |
Expired | Records that reached their end date in the period and now have the Expired status. |
Total renewals value | The total of renewal orders created in the period, for orders in Processing or Completed. |
Churn rate | Cancelled in the period, as a percentage of the records active at the start of the period. |
For memberships, Total renewals value counts later shop orders that granted access to an existing membership. Subscription renewal orders are never counted twice on a store that uses both plugins.
For exact definitions, see Metrics reference.
Under each number you see the change from the previous period and the period name. Green means the change is good for your store. For example, a rise in Cancelled shows as bad. Churn rate changes are shown in percentage points (pts).
Change the period
Before you start
- You can open WooCommerce → Recurring Reports. See Permissions.
Steps
- In Date range, select a period: This month, Last month, Half Yearly, Quarterly, Year, Last year or Custom.
- If you chose Half Yearly, pick 1st Half or 2nd Half in the dropdown next to the range.
- If you chose Quarterly, pick Q1, Q2, Q3 or Q4 in the dropdown.
- If you chose Custom, pick a start day and an end day in the calendar, then select Apply range.
What you should see
- The numbers, the chart and the period label update.
- Half and quarter dropdowns only list periods of the current year that have started. If only one period has started, no dropdown appears.
- A period that is still running ends today. For example, Year covers 1 January to today.
How each period is compared
Period | Compared with |
|---|---|
This month | The whole previous month |
Last month | The month before it |
Quarterly | The whole previous quarter |
Half Yearly | The whole previous half year |
Year | The whole previous year |
Last year | The year before it |
Custom | The same number of days just before your range |
Read the chart
- Select a number card. A bar in your admin color marks the selected card.
- The chart below shows that number across the period.
- In Chart type, choose Line, Bar or Pie.
The chart groups by day for This month, Last month and custom ranges of up to 45 days. Longer periods group by month. The chart reads the same data source as the selected card.
Choose which numbers to show
- Select Summary at the top right of the Overview.
- Tick or untick a number to show or hide its card. At least one card must stay visible.
- Drag a row to change the card order.
- On a store with both plugins, use Data source on a row to switch that card between Subscriptions and Memberships.
- Select Reset to go back to the default six cards.
The list also holds Upcoming recurring value, which is hidden by default.
Your card choices, period and chart type are saved in your browser. They do not follow you to another browser or computer.
Add your own number
- Select Summary, then Add metric.
- Type a Metric name. It becomes the card title.
- Pick a Measure: Count of records, Sum of a field, Average of a field or Percentage of total.
- Pick a Data source: Subscriptions or Memberships.
- Under Condition, pick Status or Event, then is or is not, then a value. Select Add condition to add more.
- Leave Compare with previous period ticked to show the change under the number.
- Check the Preview, then select Add metric.
Condition field | Values | How it is counted |
|---|---|---|
Status | Active, Pending cancel, On hold, Cancelled, Expired | Checked at the end of the period |
Event | Started, Cancelled, Expired, Renewed | Counted within the period |
Sum of a field and Average of a field use renewal order totals.
To change or delete a card, select Summary, then use the pencil (Edit) or x (Remove) on its row. Removing a built-in card only hides it. Removing a card you added deletes it.
Recent activity
Recent activity lists the five newest events. These include finished exports and recent subscription and membership changes, such as cancelled, expired, pending cancellation or payment failed. An active subscription that was updated recently shows as renewed. Select View all to open the Reports tab.
Recent activity is read live each time the page loads. It does not wait for the background refresh.
Why the numbers are prepared in the background
Counting every subscription each time you open a page would slow down a large store. Instead, Recurring Reports prepares daily totals in the background and saves them. The Overview then reads those saved totals, so it loads fast.
When | What is refreshed |
|---|---|
First activation | All days in the stored history |
Every hour | The last 3 days |
Once a day | All days in the stored history |
A subscription, order or membership changes status | The last few days, shortly after |
You open the Overview and the totals are over an hour old | The last few days, in the background |
The stored history covers about the last 400 days. Periods older than that show zero.
On a new install, the cards show a loading state until the first build finishes. The page checks again every few seconds.
If the numbers look stale
- Wait a minute, then reload the page. Your browser keeps results for about a minute.
- Make sure WP-Cron runs on your site. Refreshes are scheduled through WooCommerce’s scheduled actions or WP-Cron.
- Go to WooCommerce → Status → Scheduled Actions. Search for
rrpt_rebuild_overview. Pending actions that never run point to a cron problem. - If nothing helps, see Troubleshooting.