Idiots' Guide to PayPal

Discussion in 'aMember Pro v.3' started by quirk, Apr 17, 2012.

  1. quirk

    quirk Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2011
    Messages:
    76
    Nowhere can I find a simple step by step, jargon free guide to setting up PayPal!

    I have read the forums from cover to cover, examined every manual you have pointed me at, set APIs, IPNs, played in the sandbox.... and all I get is
    "Access to this membership area is not allowed. Please go to "Membership information page" to renew or add subscription" and a load of PayPal warnings.

    Please would someone kindly produce a simple list of settings....?

    Thanks
  2. thehpmc

    thehpmc Member

    Joined:
    Aug 24, 2006
    Messages:
    901
    A screen shot of the settings you currently have in the PayPal plugin might help.

    Also when do you get the above message?
  3. quirk

    quirk Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2011
    Messages:
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    Hello and thanks for responding.

    1. PayPal settings:

    [​IMG]

    After person signs up and pays through paypal (currently sandbox) they are directed back to thanks.php which shows:

    [​IMG]

    then when they log in and go to the product they've just paid for they get

    [​IMG]

    In the error log there is the same message repeated several times:

    Code:
    paypal_r DEBUG:
    transaction_subject => somesite Subscription Level 1
    txn_type => web_accept
    payment_date => 13:43:26 Apr 17, 2012 PDT
    last_name => User
    residence_country => GB
    pending_reason => unilateral
    item_name => somesite Subscription Level 1
    payment_gross =>
    mc_currency => GBP
    payment_type => instant
    protection_eligibility => Ineligible
    verify_sign => ALIypwK-koPlRbjd-8.hgC2ObmnZAlTONEX.-ZHjs.wSbmfphiRq3Kg1
    payer_status => verified
    test_ipn => 1
    tax => 0.02
    payer_email => buyer_1296487273_per@somesite.co.uk
    txn_id => 5DA31424AG727153Y
    quantity => 1
    receiver_email => paypal@somesite.co.uk
    first_name => Test
    invoice => 153-OGG
    payer_id => RXXMZHVMUS63Y
    item_number =>
    handling_amount => 0.00
    payment_status => Pending
    shipping => 0.00
    mc_gross => 0.12
    custom =>
    charset => windows-1252
    notify_version => 3.4
    ipn_track_id => bedc6e50b2fa1
    
  4. thehpmc

    thehpmc Member

    Joined:
    Aug 24, 2006
    Messages:
    901
    As it says under 'Resend Postback' DO NOT enter URL of aMember PayPal script.

    Clear box and leave empty and try.
  5. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2003
    Messages:
    6,279
    Also, please check folder protection settings in aMember CP -> protect Folders and make sure that you have added all necessary products to folder access list.
  6. quirk

    quirk Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2011
    Messages:
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    I have followed all suggestions and now when user tries to signup the redirect to paypal returns

    400
    Bad Request

    Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
    Size of a request header field exceeds server limit.
    I'm lost!!
  7. quirk

    quirk Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2011
    Messages:
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    I don't understand this instruction:

    For PayPal to process payments correctly and pass the relevant information back to aMember, you need to set the PayPal IPN (Instant Payment Notification) URL.



    HTML:
    <pimg src="paypal_r-00.jpg" width="200" align="left" /> <pimg src="paypal_r-01.jpg" width="200" align="left" /> <pimg src="paypal_r-02.jpg" width="200" align="left" />

    Is this what I put in the paypal IPN box? And how does this fit with
    Code:
     [URL]http://www.yoursite.int/amember/plugins/payment/paypal_r/ipn.php[/URL]
    ???

    Pardon me if I am missing something very simple here!
  8. thehpmc

    thehpmc Member

    Joined:
    Aug 24, 2006
    Messages:
    901
    You tell aMember where to send the details of your PayPal account by entering your PRIMARY PayPal email address in the Merchant ID box which you have done.

    You could have entered there your PayPal User ID. Log into PayPal > Profile > My Business Details and listed at bottom is your Merchant ID.

    But you enter NOTHING in the 'Resend Postback' box it should be empty unless you need it for other purposes which would be unlikley if you are just setting things up.

    Now go to your PayPal account Profile > My Selling Preferences > Getting Paid and Managing Risk (3rd section down) > Instant Payment Notifications (2nd down in section) > (click) Update.

    Now enter in the box 'Notification URL' the IPN address given in the configuration area within the aMember plugin setup (Remember this will be unique to your installation). Now click on the box to enable IPN settings.

    Now it should work ok

    If you try entering the IPN address in browser it should give an access denied message. That is normal and correct.
  9. quirk

    quirk Member

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    Apr 1, 2011
    Messages:
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    Thankyou. I can confirm I have done everything you advise - the IPN Notification URL is

    http://www.mysite.co.uk/amember/plugins/payment/paypal_r/ipn.php

    Everything seems fine when user goes through PayPal, when they get back to my site they are a registered member but with no active subscriptions.

    The 400 Bad Request has gone away though!!
  10. quirk

    quirk Member

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    Apr 1, 2011
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  11. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    Ok. Check aMember CP -> Error Log, do you see any errors related to paypal here?
  12. quirk

    quirk Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2011
    Messages:
    76
    Yes....

    paypal_r ERROR: Paypal payment status is [Pending], IPN message will be ignored
    It is not an error or a problem, just a status message for your information
    transaction_subject => mysite Subscription Level 1
    txn_type => web_accept
    payment_date => 11:15:28 Apr 18, 2012 PDT
    last_name => User
    residence_country => GB
    pending_reason => unilateral
    item_name => mysite Subscription Level 1
    payment_gross =>
    mc_currency => GBP
    payment_type => instant
    protection_eligibility => Ineligible
    verify_sign => ARTurqJ0HS1PWAJv1wuv2jYTmZ8dA.08dDoFwOcCYiRVJEhvo98p1SmM
    payer_status => verified
    test_ipn => 1
    tax => 0.02
    payer_email => buyer_1296487273_per@mysite.co.uk
    txn_id => 5HS3575966503134A
    quantity => 1
    receiver_email => paypal@mysite.co.uk
    first_name => Test
    invoice => 167-ZTA
    payer_id => RXXMZHVMUS63Y
    item_number =>
    handling_amount => 0.00
    payment_status => Pending
    shipping => 0.00
    mc_gross => 0.12
    custom =>
    charset => windows-1252
    notify_version => 3.4
    ipn_track_id => f1140c6078a5a
  13. quirk

    quirk Member

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    Apr 1, 2011
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    And the URL is

    /amember/plugins/payment/paypal_r/ipnr.php

    not

    /amember/plugins/payment/paypal_r/ipn.php
  14. quirk

    quirk Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2011
    Messages:
    76
    Any thoughts yet please, chaps?
  15. alexander

    alexander Administrator Staff Member

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    Jan 8, 2003
    Messages:
    6,279
    Ok. Payment was not activated because it was not completed on paypal side and it status is pending.
    From above IPN message I see that paypal return pending_reason as unilateral which means:
    unilateral: The paymentis pending because it was made to an email address that is not yetregistered or confirmed.
  16. quirk

    quirk Member

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    "The payment is pending because it was made to an email address that is not yet registered or confirmed" - so it's my paypal account that needs registering / confirming?
  17. quirk

    quirk Member

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  18. quirk

    quirk Member

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    Apr 1, 2011
    Messages:
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    Right, I am gradually blundering my way through this thanks and despite not having resolved some of the issues above seem to have made it work.
  19. charac_1

    charac_1 New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2012
    Messages:
    19
    I am having the same problem. I'm using PayPal sandbox and none of the subscriptions are coming through as paid. The status reads pending. You mention above that the pending status is due to the email address not being registered or confirmed, but PayPal sandbox uses made-up email addresses. Is there something different that has to be done when testing the PayPal plugin using a sandbox account?
  20. charac_1

    charac_1 New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2012
    Messages:
    19
    Never mind! Sorry, I got it. I had something in my PayPal sandbox not set up correctly.

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