What functions does the membership module add?

I added the payment module and the membership module and while I can see what the payment module adds; I see nothing new added for the membership module.  What exactly did adding the membership module accomplish? I see nothing new added to the Admin interface.

Under settings, you should see "Membership Levels".

Memberships have a list of "actions" users of said membership can do/interact with on the site. So you can create a new membership level (paid) , which have  more available actions than the standard membership.

Membership Levels existed on the installation before I installed the Membership module.  I assumed adding the membership module would add additional capabilities but I see nothing new that was added that was not there before I installed the module.  Is membership levels in 7.0.0 built in and the membership module is a left over from when it was not?

BTW: I just installed a fresh install of Dolphin as a test bed and without installing the membership module, membership levels exits in the settings list.

The membership module serves one purpose.

It integrates the standard membership system with the payment module. Without the membership module, your cannot do paid memberships. Thats pretty much all it's for.

 Thank you, that is exactly what I needed to know.  Yes, the site I am trying to build will have some paid membership levels.

I like the membership module and it's integration into the payment module.  As a test user, I can also see where to go for upgrading the membership (purchase a new level) but once there, I do not see any option for actually purchasing the new level.  Am I missing something?  I do have all caching off, as suggested in a different thread by Deano, while I am doing all the modifications and changes to the system.  I just do not see where I am overlooking a button or feature that would allow the Standard level user to purchase the new membership.

I am also confused by the fact that I notice in the system it looks like you should be able to limit certain actions (say forum posts) by a number of times or (say chat) by a number of minutes, but in the membership level actions you can only check or uncheck -- there is no place to put any actual variables or control it that deeply..

..anyone else experiencing the same?