confirmation email still not coming from s2m

I am now testing in Paypal mode, not Sandbox. I have set up all the Acct Details, IPN, PDT, confirm emails, etc. correctly – everything under “s2Member® PayPal® Options” is set up properly.

I am receiving 2 confirmation emails from Paypal to me as a purchaser and also as the merchant. This part is working fine.

You then have to click the link supplied by Paypal to proceed back to my site, it doesn’t take you there automatically – this seems to be standard.

Upon clicking the link and coming back to the return URL, it is now a default Apache page due to the fact of the extra variable string shown.

During a test run prior to setting up PDT the return URL worked correctly since there wasn’t any variable string. But in either case, I am not getting any email from s2member about a purchase or how to register!

Suggestions please ???

You then have to click the link supplied by Paypal to proceed back to my site, it doesn’t take you there automatically – this seems to be standard.

If you’re not automatically transferred back to your site after making a payment on PayPal, then something else is wrong with your s2Member and/or PayPal configuration. After someone clicks an s2Member-generated button, they should be transferred to PayPal where they can make a payment. Once the payment is made, they are transferred back to your website. If that’s not happening, I suggest double-checking all of your PayPal configuration and regenerating your PayPal buttons in Dashboard -› s2Member® -› PayPal® Buttons.

Upon clicking the link and coming back to the return URL, it is now a default Apache page due to the fact of the extra variable string shown.

I’m not sure what you’re referring to here. If you’re seeing a default Apache page, then something is wrong with your web server configuration.

Hello Raam,

Thanks for writing back. I’m sure we’ll solve this issue very soon.

Under ‘s2Member® PayPal® Options’, the return URL is
http://premiumadultwebsites.com/?s2member_paypal_return=1

During the 1st real time test, I did not have the PayPal® PDT Identity Token set up, so this return URL displayed the default text:

————
Thank you! ( you MUST check your email before proceeding ).

* Note: It can take ( up to 15 minutes ) for Email Confirmation with important details. If you don’t receive email confirmation in the next 15 minutes, please contact Support.
———-

BUT since I added the PDT token, there now is a string of variables after “?s2member_paypal_return=1” and that same page now shows as a default Apache page.

I added an additional fake variable. This demonstrates what I mean.
http://premiumadultwebsites.com/?s2member_paypal_return=1&1=1

So I can’t figure out where this issue needs to be fixed.

Regarding the first issue, in Paypal:
Website Payment Preferences -> Auto Return for Website Payments
I do have the correct return URL listed as http://premiumadultwebsites.com/?s2member_paypal_return=1 and turned ON yet Paypal does not return automatically after the purchase.

Thank you,
Rick Horvath

Hi Rick,

That default Apache page tells me there is something wrong with your Apache configuration. You should contact your web host to resolve that problem.

Another thing worth mentioning is that when you visit the return URL (/?s2member_paypal_return=1), you should actually see a blank page. That URL is not designed to be accessed by a web browser… it’s specifically designed to receive communication from PayPal.

If everything is configured correctly on your server, visiting that URL should return a blank page. However, since it’s returning an Apache Test page, that tells me something is not configured properly on your server and that’s why PayPal is having trouble communicating with your site and redirecting after payment.

I’ve never had problems using another program to pay via Paypal and have it send back to a return URL, send an email, etc. So I’m not convinced it’s an Apache issue.

I have access to my domain manager so if there’s anything I can change, please give me some direction.

As far as contacting the company I purchase server space from, I would have no idea how to even approach this issue with them. What would I ask them to look at??

the only thing I can think of which could be causing an issue with the return URL actually returning is that I am already logged in as admin, go to a draft page with the .01 transaction button and proceed to check-out.

On button page, I viewed source code and I can verify that the hidden variable exists. here is the code:

Seems s2member is adding what you see even though Resulting PayPal® Button Code shows just the first variable and value combo.

On order summary page I viewed source code and there is no hidden variable called return, so this could be an issue.

It could be that s2member is not creating the button correctly.

seems I can’t post the button code..

I regenerated the button, but the source code of the button is consistant. the source code of the paypal landing page does not show and hidden variable with a return url

Rick,

These buttons have been thoroughly tested and are being used on hundreds of websites, including my own. I’m not sure what’s wrong with the buttons you’re generating, but I can tell you that if you’re testing the buttons, you need be logged out of WordPress. You should also clear your browser cache so that there’s no confusion on s2Member’s side.

Have you double-checked all your PayPal configuration in s2Member?

Dashboard -› s2Member® -› PayPal® Options -› Account Details
Dashboard -› s2Member® -› PayPal® Options -› PayPal® IPN Integration
Dashboard -› s2Member® -› PayPal® Options -› PayPal® PDT Integration

tried testing using another browser, but can not.

Every email I use gives me the same message:

You cannot use an e-mail address or card number that belongs to an existing PayPal account. If you have a PayPal account, please log in. If you don’t, please change the e-mail address or card number and try again.

I have even set up a brand new email account on my server, but receive the same message.

When I trie d testing from Firefox (where I’m logged in as admin) I’d see a completely different Paypal payment screen!

That error message is coming from PayPal, not s2Member.

Pease download this Server Check Tool, upload the PHP file to your WordPress directory, and then load the URL to the file in your browser. It will run a bunch of tests to determine if there’s anything amiss on the server-side that might be causing problems with s2Member.

Will check that, thanks.

I thought my error was caused by the credit card I am using , which is already tied in to Paypal.

I do not have another card for testing, so there needs to be another option.

Only error I got was:

[ERROR] Temporary Files Directory
Unable to find a readable/writable temporary files directory. The system’s default temp directory is either non-existent, NOT yet configured, or is NOT readable/writable by PHP. Please review this article covering PHP’s sys_get_temp_dir() function, or configure your PHP installation with a secure upload_tmp_dir. See this article for further details. In some cases, you might need to consult with your web hosting company about this message.

And a warning because the wp-config.php file was not writable, which I fixed, ran the update and set back the permissions as before

Not sure where this directory should be, I’ve looked at other WordPress installs and don’t see anything obvious.

Hello Rick,

This directory is not a WordPress thing, this directory has something to do with your server host, I recommend you contact them and ask them to give you read&write access for it, and also to WordPress.

– Eduan

Your web host should be able to help you configure PHP properly so that it has access to a readable/writeable temporary files directory.

I’m the web host. I have control on setting permissions.

Where should this writable temp directory reside within the directory structure? As I mentioned I do not see a temp folder on any other WordPress installs.

It’s not a directory for WordPress. It’s a directory for PHP itself. You’ll need to specify a temporary files path for upload_tmp_dir in your php.ini file.

I think we need to come up with a different approach. This temp folder idea doesn’t make sense to me since it should already be available to php. Let’s think logically for a moment.

Why are the check-out experiences different when logged in as admin and when not? That is my concern.

As I mentioned it could be that I am using a credit card already on file in my Paypal account, that is not letting me check-out when not logged in as admin.

yes, the reason is indeed that:

as new user I am using a credit card number already associated with my Paypal account. I tried a visa gift/credit card – but it has expired so this confirms that I need to use a credit card not associated w/ my PP acct.

– therefore I have no way of testing in the real world if a confirmation email does indeed get generated.

I’ll have to get some sort of gift credit card and use it just for testing.