Introduction
Membership renewal forms can look very similar to the original membership joining form, but with a few nuances that are appropriate to renewal. This means that both forms typically share:
Same fields for contact information,
Same membership levels/types,
Same optional add-ons (e.g., newsletters, event registrations),
Same payment processor and flow.
Follow the instructions for creating a membership signup webform here, but note the differences in the section below
Note: If you are using the "My Memberships" feature in the Self Service Portal then most of the renewal process is provided out of the box, including the option to switch payment types. View the articles here to see how this can to be set up.
Differences between a membership renewal and signup form
Contact Matching - Typically a new joiner form triggers deduplication rules, whereas in a renewal the contact already exists in CiviPlus and so you should make sure that the existing contact is renewed by checking the "Existing Contact" option in the CiviCRM processing tab for the form, as shown below. This will make sure that the appropriate membership is extended or updated.
Form Labelling - within the webform change the labelling so that it is clear that this is a renewal, as shown below.
Automatic form completion - because the renewal is being undertaken by an existing member you can prefill many of the fields. This can be done to remind the member what they have previously entered, but you can also allow the user to update these fields as part of the renewal process. Make it clear to the user that if they change any of their values at renewal these will be stored back into CiviPlus.
Pricing differences - you can decide to change the way that pricing works for renewals compared to a new member.