Removing Fields from the Pro Forms

I’d like to know if it’s possible to remove the address, city, zip code, etc. fields from the Pro Forms sign-up (using Paypal Pro).

Would I need to modify the template as outlined here, or is there a simpler way? Or are those fields required by Paypal?

Hi Sacha.

Well, those fields are not for the profile, they’re required to process the payment. In a registration form you don’t get those, unless you add them with custom fields.

You’re right, I wasn’t clear. I was referring to the payment form.

I understand that they’re used to process the payment, but I thought I saw an option somewhere in Paypal to specify which fields are required for payments. Will that option affect the form on my site (doesn’t seem like it so far)? Or is there any other way to get rid of those fields, either on the s2member side or in Paypal?

Not on s2Member’s side, but you can ask PayPal support if there’s a way. I’m not sure how, though, if they are needed to get the payment. The only way you wouldn’t need them is with Express Checkout, because then the user would have to login to his PayPal account, which already has the stuff they need for funds.

What would happen if I simply removed them? For example, the “State/Region” field is really only applicable to the US, address in other countries don’t have it.

And here’s the relevant Paypal settings page: http://cl.ly/G2at

(“Paypal Integral Evolution” is just the french name of Paypal Pro)

Are those settings taken into account by s2member?

I’ll have to ask Jason about this one. I’m emailing him now, I hope he gets to it soon. Thanks for your patience! :)

Thanks a lot!

Thanks for the heads up on this thread.

In the case of s2Member Pro Forms, we integrate with the PayPal Pro API, and these basic address fields are required by the PayPal Pro API. Therefore, removing them would prevent transactions from being completed successfully under this type of integration.

The address fields in s2Member Pro Forms are also used in any tax calculations that you may or may not configure. For merchants using fraud protection, address fields also allow you to deny/allow transactions based on the AVS report (i.e. address verification), which can be configured from within your PayPal account.

Conclusion. It’s not possible to remove the default billing address fields without causing problems.

Thanks for replying. The only thing I’m not quite clear about is that if those fields are required by Paypal, why does Paypal itself have the option to disable them?

Also, those default fields are specific to the US, the “state” field does not apply in most other countries (or is pretty much useless), it would’ve been nice to be able to remove at least this one, or at least make it non-mandatory.

Hi Sacha. Thanks for the follow-up.

I’m not quite sure either. PayPal’s API really dictates this for us though. I suppose it’s mostly geared toward fraud screening on their end. The PayPal Pro API gives a merchant quite a bit of freedom to do what they like. PayPal though, is ultimately responsible for all incoming transactions. I think it’s good for PayPal to have address information from paying customers, even if you (as the site owner) are not concerned about collecting it for any specific purpose, it helps in almost every financial review process that exists today.

Regarding the “state” field. I believe that reads “State/Province”, with province being a secondary term, used mostly in Canada, but also helps to further clarify the meaning of the field internationally. Most online payment forms collect similar details, and just about anywhere you live in the world, you’re going to have something that needs to fill this field (a province, state, region, something usually).

If you’re ever interested in translating your Pro Form (and the wording of this particular area), you could use the gettext Filters made possible by WordPress, making plugin translation (for plugins that support translation), fairly simple. s2Member and s2Member both support plugin translations.

Pre Sale FAQs » Can s2Member® be translated into other languages?

I understand the fraud prevention aspect, my point was more that if the Paypal admin itself provides a setting to remove those fields, there might be a way to make that setting work through the API as well (but then again, knowing Paypal, maybe not).

And I know about translating, I’ve already translated quite a few fields, thanks :)