CCAPS not always automatically set

I often have issues with ccaps not be automatically set up if the user is already registered when they make the purchase of a package that includes ccaps (which is basically ALL my products). Sometimes they will be set automatically, sometimes not.

Luckily (or not), i do not have tons of customers so i can still manage the manual settings when i see a new purchase go through. I can live with it for now (although i hope to get more customer than i can manually handle!) but i was wondering if this is supposed to be addressed in the next major release?

The next major release will immensely improve this.

I’m not sure what the problem you’re having right now is, though. Have you kept logging on and looked at the entries to see if there’s something there that could tell what the problem is?

I would not be able to make sense of what shows in the log. Do you want to look at it and see if something stands out?

Sure, please put the log files in a zip file and send it by email. Let me know which transactions had the problem too, so I know which ones to look at. Thanks!

Got your email with the logs and went through them:

Andreja:
The entry about he $60 purchase mentions registration, so it seems he wasn’t logged in to his account when he made that payment, which is why the ccaps weren’t added to it.

0 => 'IPN received on: Fri May 25, 2012 7:43:23 am UTC',
1 => 's2Member POST vars verified through a POST back to PayPal®.',
2 => 's2Member originating domain ( `$_SERVER["HTTP_HOST"]` ) validated.',
3 => 's2Member `txn_type` identified as ( `web_accept|subscr_signup` ).',
4 => 's2Member `txn_type` identified as ( `web_accept|subscr_signup` ) w/o update vars.',
5 => 'Signup Confirmation Email sent to: "Andreja xxxx" <xxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com>.',
6 => 'Storing `payment` for Subscription via ( `web_accept` ).',
7 => 'Creating an IPN response for `subscr_payment`. This will go into a Transient Queue; and be processed during registration.',
8 => 'Storing IPN signup vars into a Transient Queue. These will be processed on registration.',

Sheila:
I found a transaction from the May 20, the previous one is Mar 5. The May 20th one is for $19.99 and also mentions registration, so I think she wasn’t logged in either.

Bernice:
Same.

Karen:
If you look at her entry for the $60 purchase that added the ccaps fine, you’ll notice how the entry is different than the problem ones for the other users.

0 => 'IPN received on: Sun May 6, 2012 1:52:07 am UTC',
1 => 's2Member POST vars verified through a POST back to PayPal®.',
2 => 's2Member originating domain ( `$_SERVER["HTTP_HOST"]` ) validated.',
3 => 's2Member `txn_type` identified as ( `web_accept|subscr_signup` ).',
4 => 's2Member `txn_type` identified as ( `web_accept|subscr_signup` ) w/ update vars.',
5 => 's2Member Level/Capabilities updated w/ advanced update routines.',
6 => 'Modification Confirmation Email sent to Customer, with a URL that provides them with a way to log back in.',
7 => 'User exists. Handling `payment` for Subscription via ( `web_accept` ).',
8 => 'Payment Notification URLs have been processed.',
9 => 'Storing IPN signup vars now. These are associated with a User\'s account record; for future reference.',

So, basically, make sure that if they have an account, to be logged in to it before paying for more access, or the payment will expect a new account. You can have a message were you sell access to new people, saying that if he has an account already, he should login first, and give him a link to the the login form, or point to the login widget to use it.

I hope that helps!

Ohhh… i sure can add a little mention where the Buy Now button is about this, although i hope this wont be necessary in the next version. I find it will add extra steps for the user if they have to always be logged in if they want to make a purchase (if they already registered). Can you confirm that this will be addressed in the next version??

Login to have the new purchases added to an existing account will still be needed.

We are, though, looking at how to have a purchase while logged out and then relate it to an existing account, but there are several things to consider and we haven’t decided the best approach yet.

I’m adding your request as a vote for this. :)

Definitely so, Cristian. Add my vote for that. Since my site (and probably most sites too) has content that is also accessible to non-registered members, there is really no need for the current customers to always be logged in, especially to have them make a purchase that is also offered to all viewers.

Maybe it can work a bit like when you go to a store, make a purchase, and THEN, they ask you if you have an Air Miles card, or whatever. The customer is not required to get it out BEFORE they reach the checkout! ;)

Out of curiosity, would it still be the same “problem” if using the pro-form?

Yeah, the same is true with the pro-form, since the pro-form will register the person too unless he’s logged in.

Added your request, and this is something I want to see happen too.

The way I’ve seen other sites do it, where you don’t have to login first, is when they have a cart where you add the products, but before the checkout they do ask you to login if you already have an account.

Could you give an example of a site that lets you purchase without logging in and then letting you add your purchased items to an existing account?

I think most online stores would work like you describe. I have a zencart store and that is exactly what it is. Basically, you have to log in or create an account BEFORE you can hit the final “Confirm” button. A bit like the store asks for your address before you complete the purchase, which makes sense: what if something happens between the checkout and the “registration/login”? We’d have an order in limbo, a Paypal transaction possibly going through for a customer we dont know. I guess that is why it runs that way.

I could see something like this:
– customer wants to make purchase (in s2M), and click the Buy Now button (or whatever it is)
– s2M sends the user to a special page with “Please log in or create an account” page
– and there would be a button for Complete the transaction (in whatever wording we want)

Maybe it can be done… indirectly, on my own??
– i can have my Buy now button linked to a “login/register” page with a conditional:
1- if the member is already logged in, skip to go straight to Paypal OR have an additional button to “Confirm purchase” to complete the transaction
2- if the member is not logged in, display the invitation to login or register
– make sure the member gets back to the exact same page after logging in or registering
– once the member is logged in, have the “Confirm purchase” button available to go to Paypal as expected

Do you think it is feasible? (even by me?)

• This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by  cassel.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by  cassel.

Right, it may be doable, but it’ll take a little work to get right.

Ideally, the person would not be taken off the checkout, cause each step will losses. That’s why having the registration after the payment is better. Logging in first is better because it makes sure the paid access gets added to his account.

One approach could be to have the order button with a couple of optional username and password fields, so if he has an account he logs in and starts checkout in one step, and if no login info is entered, then checks out and then registers.

That’s doable with the current s2. It’d be a two step process, although the user wouldn’t notice it. The button, instead of pointing to PayPal would point to the site, where some code you create for it checks the submitted form. If user and pass were entered, then log the user in, generate the PayPal link for that order and forward to PayPal. If the user and pass are empty, then just generate the link and forward to PayPal.

There’s also the case where the user entered a wrong password for that user, or a non-existent username, so that has to be taken care of as well.

Anyway, there are different things we can try, but we haven’t decided what yet. We are aware of the issue, so we’ll work on it. But thanks for the reminder. :)

Maybe the other solution would be in the coding side and have the Paypal account email checked against the users in the database. That would skip the double (or triple) steps added on the user end, and would accelerate the funnel by not dropping people in that middle part!

But that is totally out of league (but if you want to test something with my site… give me a call!)

We had thought about email matching, but so many have a different email address for PayPal than what they register with, that it’s not reliable.

Sure, I’ll let you know about testing. :)

Oh, right. I was thinking of matching Paypal for recurring customers, but of course, there are also the previously-registered ones who had not made a purchase. See why it is not MY department!

I do wonder, however, which one is loosing more:
– requiring extra middle step to make sure the user is registered/logged in before checkout
– getting customers to complete transaction and be stuck outside the ccaps until they contact the owner and get it changed manually

Hum…. you either get someone annoyed before checkout, or pissed after! That is the question!

Right. That’s why I’d like to find a way to let him finish purchasing and after checkout, instead of just letting him register, have the option to login and add the recent purchase to his account. With this, though, there’s the risk of a person not completing the login after checkout and someone else using the computer to login/register to that same site. It’s not the likeliest situation, but a popular site in a public computer could see that happen. Anyway, we’re looking at this option, since it has the same risk that the current registrations do.

The ideal would be for the customer to already be logged in when he gets to the page where the option to buy is, so this doesn’t become a problem, that’s why it’s advised to protect at Level 0 the upgrade buttons/pro-forms, but I understand it’s a problem when a user is browsing the site, forgetting to log back in, and sees the salespages for visitors to join, and them starting a checkout there as if they weren’t already registered members.

Oh, right. I was thinking of matching Paypal for recurring customers, but of course, there are also the previously-registered ones who had not made a purchase. See why it is not MY department!

And there are those that are registered, but with an email address that isn’t the one they use for PayPal, too.

Yeah, one has to see all possible scenarios when creating these things, that’s why it takes a little time to get it all right, but we’re getting there little by little. :)

Thanks a lot for your valuable input, you’re great. And I can’t tell you how we appreciate people like you helping others in the community when you can. Very appreciated. We’ll keep doing what we can to improve the plugin to meet the needs of all you guys.