How to change landing page after Paypal payment

[pwallin]

Prior to rolling out our membership site, we asked some friends to go through the registration process. A few of them reported being confused when being brought to the home page after they've paid at Paypal. They click to log in, but don't have a password yet, because they haven't checked their email (which should contain a confirmation from our site, with username and password.)

Even though there is a statement on the membership options page (where they select their level of membership prior to going to Paypal) that they should look for this confirmation email with their username and password, some people don't remember that.

Therefore, after payment, I would like to send them to a custom landing page that tells them what to do next - i.e., look for the confirmation email with their username and password, AND an email from Aweber asking them to confirm that they want to be on our mailing list.

To customize the landing page, could I do that inside Paypal's website payment preferences by substituting the return URL from http://mysite.com/?s2member_paypal_return=1 to http://mysite.com/newlandingpage/?s2mem ... l_return=1 ?

[Cristián Lávaque]

Hi Pauline.

Does that happen with successful transactions that they get taken to the homepage? Normally they'd be taken to the registration page if they weren't logged in at the time of payment. Could you post the IPN log entry for those purchases please? Thanks!

[pwallin]

The computer may have been logged in - the new registrant was using a computer that belongs to my business partner. But she registered with her own name and email, and completed the transaction at Paypal in her own account.

In any case, we don't want people being sent to the registration page. We want them to go from Paypal to a "Thanks for your payment" page, where we will tell them to check their email for login info and for a confirmation request from Aweber.

As I said earlier, we do post this on the Membership Options page. But people don't seem to remember it.

An intermediate "Thanks for your payment" page also makes sense if people don't see the confirmation email because it ends up in their spam folder.

[pwallin]

Here is the IPN log:

!	( the image attachment here was removed, it contained personally identifiable information )

[Cristián Lávaque]

Got it.

I suggest you use the Pro-Form success attribute for that. WP Admin -> s2Member -> PayPal Pro-Forms -> Custom Return URLs on Success

Let me know if that helps.

[pwallin]

In the code that I submitted earlier, there is a line:
'custom' => 'thepracticeinstitute.com',

Isn't that the designated landing page? That's the return URL in the box at Paypal's Website Payment preferences.

If I can change it in Paypal that would resolve the issue, wouldn't it?

[Cristián Lávaque]

No, the custom value is not the return URL.

The return URL -I'm pretty sure- has to be the one given by s2Member here s2Member -> PayPal Options -> PayPal PDT/Auto-Return Integration. I'm asking Jason if that URL can be changed, though.

I know that to get someone to a custom URL after checkout, the success attribute in the Pro-Forms is what I saw Jason suggest, which is why I suggested it to you.

[Jason Caldwell]

Thanks for the excellent question.
~ and thanks for the heads up Cristián.

The return URL can be customized with s2Member Pro Forms. Using s2Member Pro Forms, you can add a success="" attribute to your Pro Form Shortcode, as detailed in the PayPal® Pro Forms panel under:
WP -> s2Member -> PayPal Pro Forms -> Shortcode Attributes ( Explained ).

It's also possible in the free version, by using the Full PayPal Button Code made available by s2Member's Button Generator. If you take the Full Button Code, you can change this manually:

Code: Select all

<input type="hidden" name="return" value="URL goes here" />

* But you'll have to use the Full Button Code, instead of the Shortcode. The Full Button Code should be integrated directly into a theme file. If you try to paste this into the Visual Editor for WordPress, it will corrupt the code snippet.

[Cristián Lávaque]

Jason, does the custom URL for the button need the ?s2member_paypal_return=1 at the end?

Pauline, keep in mind that using the full code will prevent you from having the form encrypted. You can also create your button over at PayPal and it'll encrypt it for you. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=309

[Jason Caldwell]

Jason, does the custom URL for the button need the ?s2member_paypal_return=1 at the end?

No, it can be any URL you like. By default, s2Member uses the ?s2member_paypal_return=1; which triggers s2Member's default Thank-You page handler; capable of handling dynamic redirections, based on what happened at PayPal ( i.e. it's capable of reading Auto-Return/PDT variables provided by PayPal after checkout ). However, it's NOT a required aspect of s2Member's integration. You can safely use any URL you like, and it does not need to include the ?s2member_paypal_return=1 parameter.

So something like this is perfectly OK:

Code: Select all

<input type="hidden" name="return" value="http://www.example.com/thank-you/" />

@TODO: I'll see if I can make the success="" attribute available for Button Shortcodes in the next release. That way this wouldn't require the Full Button Code. For now though, this is the only way.

Actually, there is another way.
Instead of changing the URL, leave it as-is and do this instead:
Create this directory and file:
/wp-content/mu-plugins/s2-hacks.php

Code: Select all

<?php
if(!empty($_GET["s2member_paypal_return"]))
    {
        header("Location: http://www.example.com/thank-you/");
        exit();
    }
?>

[pwallin]

Thanks for your help - now, previously and in the future.

I'm going to buy the Pro version. Just 2 questions first:

1. I read in your FAQs that we won't need to switch to Paypal Pro. We do have Enhanced Recurring billing set up within a regular Paypal merchant account, and would like to keep it that way. Will that be a problem when we upgrade to S2member Pro?

2. Is the upgrade seamless - i.e., do we need to change any settings after upgrading? Or does the upgrade simply add a wider variety of options?

[Cristián Lávaque]

Brilliant, Jason. Thanks.

Pauline, PayPal Standard + ERP is fine, you don't need to change it to use s2Member Pro, and the upgrade is seamless, it just adds more options, it doesn't change what's in the free version.

[pwallin]

OK, I purchased and installed S2memberPro.

I read the instructions under PayPal Pro-Forms -> Custom Return URLs on Success

To designate a different landing page, where do I insert
success="/my-thank-you-page/" ?

[Cristián Lávaque]

To your pro-form shortcode.

[pwallin]

Where will I find the pro-form shortcode?

[Cristián Lávaque]

It's generated in the same page you read about the success attribute: WP Admin -> s2Member -> PayPal Pro-Forms. You have pro-form generators for the different levels, free registrations, modification, etc.

[pwallin]

Thanks. One clarification here - I am not using Paypal Pro, just the regular Paypal with the recurring billing option.

If I create the Pro-form at level 1, it generates a form that looks like it uses Paypal Pro.

My subscribers will be going to the Paypal site. All I want to do is change where they go next - not to the S2member registration page, but an intermediate page where I can post what happens next; i.e., to watch for emails from S2member and from Aweber.

Then there will be a link to go to the registration page.

[Cristián Lávaque]

I understand. Well, you can use pro-forms with PayPal Standard, you don't need PayPal Pro. Here's a bit from the documentation:

*PayPal® Pro is NOT Absolutely Required* s2Member is very flexible. It is now possible to integrate Pro Forms without a PayPal® Pro account, whereby the enhanced Form Shortcodes that s2Member provides can be integrated ONLY with PayPal® Express Checkout. In other words, if you get declined for PayPal® Pro service, you can still use s2Member Pro Forms. Ask PayPal® to activate Express Checkout for you. ( it's free ). Once Express Checkout is enabled, you will have access to your PayPal® API Credentials. Log into your PayPal® account, and navigate to Profile -> Request API Credentials. You'll choose ( PayPal® API ), and then choose ( Create Your Own ). Now ... here is the tricky part; whenever you generate a Pro Form Shortcode with s2Member, be sure to change accept="paypal,visa,mastercard,amex,discover,maestro,solo" to just accept="paypal"; thereby excluding the on-site credit card processing functionality; which is available only with PayPal® Pro.

I hope that helps.

[Jason Caldwell]

Quick FYI: In the development release, we are adding a new Shortcode Attribute for this. It will work for regular Paypal Buttons too. We start private beta testing tomorrow on the development version. Once it's released publicly, you can use Shortcode Attribute: success=""

Code: Select all

[s2Member-PayPal-Button ... success="http://my/custom/thank-you/page" ... /]

* In the new release, you'll find this documented under: s2Member -> PayPal Buttons -> Shortcode Attributes Explained. Should be available publicly in just a few short days.

[Cristián Lávaque]

Great!

Will it only work with full URLs or also URIs (e.g. /custom-thankyou)?

[rossagrant]

Hey guys,

I had somehow completely missed the ability to use Pro Forms with a standard Express account.

Will members still stay on the WP site with a Pro form and can things such as discount codes thus be used with just an express account?

I presumed it was only pro accounts that could use the pro forms, so I've never looked into it.

Still going through the Beta release Jason. All looking great so far!

[Cristián Lávaque]

Coupon codes will work with pro-forms, whether the gateway is PayPal Pro or Standard.

I'm not sure about being sent to PayPal or staying on the website, though, but I'm guessing that you get sent to PayPal since staying on the website is a PayPal Pro feature.

[Jason Caldwell]

Great!

Will it only work with full URLs or also URIs (e.g. /custom-thankyou)?

Yes, only with full URLs, because the redirect occurs from PayPal back to your site, so it has to be provided as a full URL, starting with http:// or https://.

[Jason Caldwell]

@Ross

Coupon codes will work with pro-forms, whether the gateway is PayPal Pro or Standard.

I'm not sure about being sent to PayPal or staying on the website, though, but I'm guessing that you get sent to PayPal since staying on the website is a PayPal Pro feature.

Cristián is correct. All aspects of s2Member Pro Forms will work with PayPal Express Checkout too. *Except*, all payments are actually processed at PayPal Express Checkout, and NOT directly on your site. In other words, you can't process credit cards "on-site" without a PayPal Pro account. Everything ultimately goes through PayPal Express Checkout. But, everything else works fine, which is much better than standard PayPal Buttons ( in my opinion ).

There is some additional detail in part (2) of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... 37203C11ED

[pwallin]

I am using Paypal standard. I called Paypal and asked about Express Checkout - they told me that it is for people who definitely choose to pay with their Paypal account rather than other payment options.

I'm not sure I need Express checkout - it would not add anything, and may deter subscribers without Paypal accounts, who now have the option of using their credit cards at Paypal.

If I don't have Express checkout, can I still use the S2memberPro forms?