Question   Can we offer a free trial?

A. Under advanced features change "Software Is Free" to No. 
Then, on the join page (/join), you can either enter the email addresses of the people you want to give free accounts to on the right form
OR fill out the left form to create a free account.
Also, you can import several members at once from .csv file using the import members section.

A. You can do it either way.  By default it asks for their payment information upfront.  So they enter their card details (or go to PayPal) but are not billed until 14 days later.

A. Yes, during a trial someone is still able to qualify for commission.

A. When logged in as the admin go to create a Member.
Then, on the right side enter the email address of the Member you want to give the free account to.
It will send them an email inviting them to signup for free.

A. Create a membership then go back to edit it and select free when editing the membership.  Leave it as paid under advanced features and leave all other memberships as paid.