How to Enable Time-Limited Simulation Trials

This feature is available in Broadcast Pro and Broadcast Enterprise only.

Forio Broadcast allows you to set up a simulation so that users can access it for a limited time without logging in as a registered user.    This permits users to try out a simulation before they license it.  

Specifically, a new user of a simulation will be allowed to access the simulation for a specified number of days.  A cookie is stored on the harddrive of the user indicating that they have started a trial.  During that time the user can do as many simulation runs as desired.  At the end of the trial, if the user tries to go to a simulation page they will be automatically redirected to a "Trial Expired" page.  This can be a special page giving license and pricing info for the simulation or can simply be the standard login prompt for username and password.

As a side note, Forio Broadcast's trial system is not perfect due to the use of a cookie on the hard drive of the end user.  Cookies are required in order to run a Forio Broadcast simulation in general, so in the rare case the user refuses to store cookies the simulation will not work in general.  If the user erases all cookies from their hard drive, he or she will start a new trial the next time they use simulation.  However, if you keep track of ongoing trials in the simulation usage reports it's usually possible to spot someone from the same hostname or IP (Internet Protocol) address repeatedly accessing the simulation.

There are four steps you will need to take in order to turn on the time-limited simulation trial:

1. Create a password protected simulation

2. Set the simulation access to "Trial period without a password".

3. Create a "Trial Start" link

4. Create a "Trial Expired" page

5. Tell the user about their trial with the $Trial reference.

The following sections provide more detail on each of these steps.

Create a Password Protected Simulation

You will need to create a password protected simulation with a login page.

You can read more about this step here:

How to Create a Password Protected Simulation

Set the Simulation Access to Trial

Select Account  » Simulation Settings from the Broadcast Pro or Enterprise menubar.

Under Access Control, set Simulation Access to Accessible for a trial period without a password.

Click the Change Settings button at the bottom of the page

Create a Trial Start Link

In order for a user to access your simulation, the user must click a link containing the action parameter "start_trial".  This link may go to any page in the simulation. An example URL to start a trial might look like this.

This action parameter "start_trial" puts the simulation into trial mode and allows the user to access the simulation pages without logging in.  A cookie is stored on the user's hard drive the first time this link is clicked.  When the time-limited trial is over, the user will be denied access to the simulation and forwarded to the "Trial Expired" page.

While this is not required, you may want to create a special trial launch page for your simulation with information aimed at the trial user.  You can do this by creating a public web page that is accessible without logging in.  The web page should contain a link similar to the one above to start the actual trial.

Create a page that includes the following and name it "trial_start.htm".

You can tell Forio Broadcast to allow anyone access to this particular page by listing it as a public page.

Select Account  » Page Settings from the Broadcast menubar.

Enter login.htm in the category "Trial expired".

Click the Save Pages button at the bottom of the page

Create a Trial Expired Page

If a user logs in after the trial is expired, they will be redirected to a special "Trial Expired" page.  In this example, we will simply redirect the user to the login screen.   In other cases, you may wish to specify a special page that gives simulation license information (such as pricing and terms).
 

Open the source to login.htm, and verify that it contains the following.  Note that if the parameter "FD_message" is set to "trialexpired", a special message will appear.  This parameter will be added to the URL automatically by Forio Broadcast when the trial is expired.

Select Account  » Page Settings from the Broadcast menubar.

Enter login.htm in the category "Trial expired".

Click the Save Pages button at the bottom of the page

Tell the User about Their Trial

The reference $Trial contains information relevant to the user's trial subscription.  If this reference is defined, a trial is underway.  If this reference is not defined, then the a registered user is logged in.

Typically, you will want to put the following line at the top of every page.

This will display something similar to the following: