Tips and Tricks WP eCommerce

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Enabling PayPal Smart Button Checkout – Setup and Configuration

Note: PayPal has deprecated the Smart Checkout feature. Switch to using the PayPal Commerce Platform (new API) which replaces the Smart Checkout option.

The PayPal Smart Checkout is an option you can enable in your WP Simple Cart Plugin. The Smart Checkout Button provides your customers with an alternative checkout method. The PayPal Smart Button Checkout contains a number of buttons that allow your customers to checkout using their PayPal Account, their credit card (Visa, Mastercard), Buy Now Pay Later or PayPal credit.

The checkout form is displayed to the customer in a popup window.

smart-paypal-checkout

Checkout Demo Video

The following video shows how a checkout works with PayPal smart button (from a customers point of view):

Configuring PayPal Smart Checkout Button

Step 1) Ensure you have the latest version of the WP Simple PayPal Shopping Cart Plugin installed and activated on your WordPress site.

Step 2) Click on the Settings menu under Simple Cart.

Step 3) Choose the Advanced Settings tab.

Step 4) You will now see a section titled PayPal Smart Checkout Settings.

Step 5) Mark the checkbox next to Enable PayPal Smart Checkout.

paypal-smart-button-configuration

Step 6) To set up this feature you will now need to Log in to your PayPal Developer Account to locate your API details. You will need a PayPal Business Account.

Step 7) Click on the My Apps & Credentials menu within your PayPal Developer Account.

Step 8) Scroll down to the Rest API Apps section.

Step 9) Click the Create App button.

Step 10) Give your app a name that relates to it’s intended use.

Step 11) Click the Create App button.

Step 12) You will now see your Sandbox Client ID and your Sandbox Secret Key (once you click the ‘show’ button).

Step 13) Click the Live button in the left hand corner to show your Live API Keys.

configuring-paypal-smart-button-wordpress

Step 14) Copy and paste both your Live and Test Client ID’s and your Live and Test Secret Keys from your PayPal account into the settings menu of your WP PayPal Shopping Cart. Ensure you paste them in the correct fields.

Step 15) If you would only like to offer Smart PayPal Checkout, mark the checkbox next to Disable Standard PayPal Checkout. Alternatively, you can choose to offer both at once by leaving this box unmarked.

Step 15) Click the Update Options button. You have now completed the setting configuration for PayPal Smart Checkout.

Step 16) Your Simple PayPal Shopping Cart Products will now be able to be purchased through this PayPal checkout method.

Purchasing a Product via PayPal Smart Checkout

A customer can add an item to your Simple PayPal Shopping Cart. Once the item appears in the cart, the customer can go ahead and checkout using PayPal Smart Checkout. They can click the button that applies to them.

For example, in the following example, the customer clicks the PayPal button because they wish to pay directly from their PayPal account.

Once a customer clicks on one of the PayPal Smart Checkout buttons, a popup appears where they can complete the checkout process by entering in the appropriate details.

paypal-smart-checkout-product
paypal-smart-checkout-popup

Customizing the Smart Checkout Buttons

Read our documentation on smart checkout buttons customization.

PayPal’s Pay In 4 (Buy Now Pay Later Option)

Read our PayPal’s buy now pay later documentation to learn more about it.

Simple Shopping Cart – Adding Extra PayPal Input Fields

The simple shopping cart plugin has a filter that you can use to add extra input fields that will get sent to PayPal as part of the checkout.

Code Example

The following code example shows how you can append extra fields to the checkout form (add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin).

It will add the language code field to force a specific language on the PayPal checkout page.

add_filter('wspsc_cart_extra_paypal_fields', 'append_extra_fields');
function append_extra_fields($output)
{
    //Add the PayPal language code field
    $output = '<input name="lc" type="hidden" value="US" />';
    return $output;
}

Simple Shopping Cart – Adding Values to PayPal Custom Field

The simple shopping cart plugin has a filter that you can use to add extra data to the PayPal custom field.

Note: The plugin already uses the PayPal custom field to pass some parameters to PayPal. So you should append your data to this custom field (to make sure you don’t erase the custom data added by this plugin)

Code Example

The following code example shows how you can append data to the custom field (add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin).

add_filter('wpspc_cart_custom_field_value', 'append_my_custom_data');
function append_my_custom_data($custom_value)
{
    //Append my data using query parameter
    $custom_value = $custom_value . '&my_data=XYZ';
    return $custom_value;
}

This will pass your data along with the cart’s custom data to the PayPal’s custom field.

Make Credit Card the Default Checkout Option for PayPal Standard

When your customers checkout using the standard PayPal checkout option in eStore, PayPal figures out (using a cookie) if the user has PayPal account or not. Then it presents the checkout option (Paypal account or Credit card) accordingly. The customers can always switch between the checkout options from this page and make the payment.

If you want to force the credit card checkout option to be the default option, then use this addon plugin on your site. When the customers land on the PayPal checkout page, the credit card payment option will be open by default.

Note: You need to have a PayPal business or premiere account to accept credit card from your customers.

credit-card-default-paypal-checkout-option

Installing the Addon

You can install this addon the same way you install any WordPress plugin:

  • Go to the “Add New” plugins screen in your WordPress admin area
  • Click the “upload” tab
  • Browse for the addon file (estore-card-default-paypal-checkout-option.zip)
  • Click “Install Now” and then activate the plugin

Using the Addon

You just have to keep this addon active.

Download the Addon

You can download this addon from the addon download area of our customer only support forum.

How to Receive Buyer’s Phone Number from PayPal

To receive contact phone number of buyers, you will need to enable an option in your PayPal merchant account.

Step 1) Log into your PayPal account

Step 2) Go to Profile -> My Selling Tools -> Website preferences

It should be at this page in your PayPal account.

Note: PayPal changes their website interface frequently so you may have to look for it a bit.

Step 3) Set Contact Telephone to On (Required Field)

screenshot showing how to accept buyer phone number with a paypal order

Step 4) Save your settings

Automatically Return Customers from PayPal to Your Thank You Page

The “Return URL” setting in the Shopping Cart plugin allows you to redirect customers to a “Thank You” page following a transaction. To set this up:

  1. Access the Settings menu of the plugin.
  2. Locate the “Return URL” field.
  3. Enter the desired URL where you want customers to be redirected post-transaction.
  4. Ensure to save your changes by clicking on the “Save” button in the Settings menu.

With this configuration, customers will automatically be directed to the specified “Return URL” after completing their transaction, enhancing their shopping experience.

How to Setup PayPal IPN Notification

Instant Payment Notification (IPN) allows you to integrate your PayPal payments with your website’s back-end operations, so you get immediate notification and authentication of the PayPal payments you receive.

Note: This is not needed for the PayPal Commerce Platform (PayPal’s New API).

Video Tutorial on PayPal IPN Setup

Written Instruction

Do the following to enable IPN in your PayPal account:

locating-IPN-new-PayPal
  1. Log into your PayPal account.
  2. Click on the “cog” icon in the right hand corner and then on “Account Settings“.
  3. Under “Solutions and Services” click on “Website Payments“.
  4. Look for an option labelled “Instant Payment Notification“. Click on the update button for that option.
  5. Click “Choose IPN Settings“.
  6. Enter the URL of your website and hit “Save“.
enable-paypal-ipn-in-your-profile

Resend PayPal IPN Message

Read the how to Resend PayPal IPN message tutorial.

PayPal Beginner Video Tutorials

The PayPal beginner video tutorials is a good resource to check if you are new to PayPal as a merchant.

How to Enable PayPal API Access and Get the API Details

The following steps (with screenshots) show you how you can enable API access in your PayPal account and get the API details to use in your shopping cart admin/configuration screen:

  • Log in to your PayPal Business account.
  • Make sure your PayPal account is verified (you need to verify your account before requesting API credentials).
  • Click on the My Account tab (if you are not there already)
  • Click on the Profile link.
  • Click on the My Selling Tools link

paypal-my-selling-tools-link

  • Click on the update button in the API Access row

paypal-api-access-link

  • Click Request API credentials link.

paypal-request-api-access-screen

  • Select the Request API signature radio box.
  • Click Agree and Submit.

api-request-agreement-screen

  • Copy and paste the API username, password, and signature into your shopping cart’s configuration or administration screen.

You can also check this page on PayPal for instruction on how to get your API details.