The setup wizard, step by step
The setup wizard opens automatically the first time you open SSA after activating it. It walks you through connecting Stripe, two optional preferences, and starting your first sync.
Step 1: Connect Stripe
This is always the first step, and there is no Back button on it. Paste your Secret key and SSA detects Test mode or Live mode from its prefix as you type, then checks the key against Stripe before saving it (encrypted) when you click Continue.
| Field | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Secret key | Your Stripe secret (or restricted) key. SSA needs read access to customers, subscriptions, charges, invoices, and products and prices. On screen: "sk_live_…" Must match the shape of a Stripe key: sk_test_, sk_live_, rk_test_, or rk_live_ followed by 20 or more characters. | (empty) |
If you use a restricted key and it is missing a required permission, SSA tells you exactly which resource to grant read access to rather than a generic failure. Saving is refused if your site is missing the WordPress security keys SSA needs to encrypt the key; the error names them.
Step 2: Which roles are trial members? (optional)
This step only appears if your site has at least one WordPress role that is not an administrative one. Tick the Trial roles chips for whichever role(s) represent a free or trial member on your site; they power the trial-to-paid conversion metric.
| Field | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Trial roles | Which WordPress role(s) count as a trial or free member. A fresh install pre-ticks Subscriber if that role exists and qualifies. Only roles without administrative capabilities are offered; leaving every chip unticked is allowed. | Subscriber (when eligible) |
Step 3: Set a monthly revenue target (optional)
Type a Monthly target if you have one in mind. SSA shows the gap between this figure and your live MRR on the Dashboard; you can change or clear it any time from Settings or from the Dashboard itself.
| Field | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly target | The monthly recurring revenue you are aiming for, in your own currency's major units. On screen: "Enter the amount in your own currency. Leave it blank (or 0) and skip if you would rather not set one now." Digits with optional comma thousands separators and an optional decimal point, for example 1500 or 1,500.00. Leaving it blank, or entering 0, means no target. | (empty, meaning no target) |
Step 4: Initial sync
The last step names how much history SSA is about to pull from Stripe and lets you change it before starting. The wording nearby says this takes "2 to 10 minutes depending on volume"; that figure is fixed copy, not a live estimate, so treat it as a rough guide.
| Field | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Historical window | How far back this first sync reaches for customers, charges and invoices. Subscriptions are always imported in full no matter what you choose here. One of 3, 6, 12, 18 or 24 months. | 24 months |
| Send anonymized error reports to help improve the beta. You can change this later in Settings, then Diagnostics. | An optional checkbox, shown only while this build has beta error reporting available, that opts you in or out of sending anonymized error reports. Only appears on beta builds; safe to leave as-is either way. | Ticked, matching your current Diagnostics setting |
Clicking Start initial sync saves these choices first, then starts a full sync for every connected provider and switches this step to a progress view: a spinner, a status line, a records counter and a percentage. You can click Close & open dashboard at any point; the sync keeps running in the background and the header's sync pill picks up where the wizard left off.
Skipping and coming back
On the two optional steps, Skip for now marks that step handled and moves you on without closing the wizard. Closing the wizard itself, whether with the × button, the dark backdrop, or the Escape key, only remembers not to auto-open it again for the rest of your current login; it does not mark anything as done.
That matters because nothing about your progress is stored as a simple checklist. SSA works out which steps are finished by looking at your site directly: is a Stripe key saved and working, has a sync actually completed, and were the two optional steps saved or skipped. So the wizard reopens automatically on your next login until every step is genuinely done, however many times you dismissed it before.
A pill-shaped Setup Wizard button stays in the header, showing a caption like "2 of 4 steps done", and reopens the wizard on whichever step you left off at, any time, even after you dismissed it earlier.
What the wizard does not ask
The wizard never asks for a license key. A license-activation step exists in the plugin's code, but it only switches on when a particular internal class is present, and the plugin you install does not ship one, so that step never appears.
It also never offers a choice of payment provider. SSA connects to Stripe only at this stage; a Paid Memberships Pro connector or manually recorded payments can be added afterwards from Settings, but the wizard is deliberately silent about them.