Uses for the Pro-form

Ok i finally have my Paypal Express checkout ENABLED, and the Paypal Optional on. Now, i am just trying to make sense of the possibilities (and limitations) of using the pro-form with express checkout. Now, with my pro-form…

1- i can use it for Buy now transactions,
2- i can use it for Buy now transactions with coupon
3- i can NOT use it for recurring membership payment
4- i can NOT use it for anything with a trial period

So now, i have a pro-form i can configure (with Paypal Pro-form button generator) that will have a recurring payment, but i cannot really use it?

So how do you recommend someone use a coupon (which requires a pro-form) for the trial period preceeding a recurring membership payment (which is not possible with Expres Checkout)????

Hello,

You can definitely use the s2Member Pro-Forms to accept subscriptions, even if you only have PayPal Express. Please see the following from Dashboard -› s2Member® -› PayPal® Pro Forms -› Quick Start Guide:

*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 -> API Access (or Request API Credentials). You’ll choose ( Request API Signature ). 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.

For details on using Pro-Coupon codes with the Initial/Trial period, please see the examples found in Dashboard -› s2Member® -› Pro Coupon Codes -› Coupon Code Configuration File. For example:

SAVE-10|10%||ta-only ( 10% off an Initial/Trial Amount; the ta=”” attribute in your Shortcode )

I am confused then.
If i want to use Express checkout with proform, i have to disable the credit cards (as stated above) but if i make paypal optional (in express checkout), how can do so as only paypal is left?

Then

Starting with s2Member Pro v120608:
http://www.s2member.com/changelog/#s2-changes-v120608
It became possible for customers to checkout through PayPal Express Checkout, with ONLY a credit card, so long as the purchase does NOT include a trial period, or any recurring charges. In other words, it works with “Buy Now” purchases only.

So, what can be done if i want
1- use the pro-form (so i can use coupon)
2- use Express Checkout (dont want to pay for Paypal Pro… yet)
3- make Paypal optional (some countries cannot have paypal)
4- use it for a subscription payment (recurring)

Once it is clear in my head, it will be fine, but it still has to get to that point first!

Cassel, with Express Checkout the limitations are similar to the Standard Button: the user isn’t required to have a PayPal account if it’s a Buy Now (one-time) transaction, but will be required to login to a PayPal account if it’s a Subscription (recurring).

Does that help? :)

Yes and no.

1- Do i still have to remove the mention of the other credit cards as stated in the text above “*PayPal® Pro is NOT Absolutely Required*…..?

2- Can i still use the pro-form “as is” with a coupon, even if i sell a subscription with recurring payment if i dont have paypal pro but only paypal express checkout?

Maybe i am confusing myself by reading every detail!

1- Do i still have to remove the mention of the other credit cards as stated in the text above “*PayPal® Pro is NOT Absolutely Required*…..?

If you don’t remove the other credit cards, then someone might click one of those and try to checkout. Since you don’t have PayPal Pro, they will get an error. If you don’t have PayPal Pro, you should disable the credit cards to prevent confusion for your customers (since they can’t use those options on your Pro-Form anyway).

2- Can i still use the pro-form “as is” with a coupon, even if i sell a subscription with recurring payment if i dont have paypal pro but only paypal express checkout?

Yes, the Pro Coupon codes are applied by s2Member on the Pro-Form, so PayPal doesn’t even know about the coupon (PayPal just receives the final checkout amount, after the coupon was applied).

f you don’t remove the other credit cards, then someone might click one of those and try to checkout. Since you don’t have PayPal Pro, they will get an error. If you don’t have PayPal Pro, you should disable the credit cards to prevent confusion for your customers (since they can’t use those options on your Pro-Form anyway).

With the regular button, the client can still use a credit card without having a paypal account. Express checkout USED to require a paypal account even if the client wanted to use a credit card. Now with the Paypal optional funtionality, i figured they could use credit cards without a paypal account, but now, if i disable the credit cards to prevent confusion, am i not going against the very reason i am using the “express checkout with paypal optional”?

Also, if i disable those credit cards, they still show up, in faint colors, isn’t that going to confuse the client who wants to use a credit card? (even though, maybe they can use the credit card when arriving on the paypal site)

Really, the only reason i want to use the pro-form is the ability to use coupons, which i cannot do just like that, with the buttons.

Sorry to be confused.

If you disable every option but Express Checkout, the person will still be able to pay the Buy Now with a card over at PayPal. Your attribute in the shortcode is only saying what you can accept in the pro-form. If you accept Visa, for example, then it’d be active to charge a Visa card in your site with the pro-form, which requires PayPal Pro.

About the other options being greyed out, you can use this in your theme’s style.css file to remove the hide the whole section:
[hilite pre_code]
div.s2member-pro-paypal-form-billing-method-section {display: none;}
[/hilite]

I hope that helps. :)

So, the Paypal option visible in the pro-form is the express checkout which will go to paypal whether one has a paypal account or not?

In light of this:

Starting with s2Member Pro v120608:
http://www.s2member.com/changelog/#s2-changes-v120608
It became possible for customers to checkout through PayPal Express Checkout, with ONLY a credit card, so long as the purchase does NOT include a trial period, or any recurring charges. In other words, it works with “Buy Now” purchases only.

..can i use that pro-form with Express Checout for subscription/trial period too?? If not, how can i use a coupon for that?

And while asking about the pro-form, will this “solve” the problem of a registered member not getting the ccaps automatically set if they are making a purchase without being already logged in? Will their email and username be checked against those in the database to apply the correct ccaps to the member (while now, i have to do those manually)?

..can i use that pro-form with Express Checout for subscription/trial period too?? If not, how can i use a coupon for that?

Yes, you can use the pro-form for subscriptions and have the coupons work too. Since they’re subscriptions, the user will be required to have a PayPal account, though, just like with the PayPal Standard buttons.

And while asking about the pro-form, will this “solve” the problem of a registered member not getting the ccaps automatically set if they are making a purchase without being already logged in? Will their email and username be checked against those in the database to apply the correct ccaps to the member (while now, i have to do those manually)?

No, in order to upgrade or add a ccap to his account, the user has to be logged into his account when he starts the order. That doesn’t change using pro-forms, it’s like with buttons.

No, in order to upgrade or add a ccap to his account, the user has to be logged into his account when he starts the order. That doesn’t change using pro-forms, it’s like with buttons.

Too bad.

Thanks for your patience. Now it is clearer and i will be able to use the pro-form woohoo!!

Here are additional questions:

– in the pro-form, if i remove the credit card “pictures” with the css coding, doesn’t it become redundant to have the radio button under ONLY Paypal, and then a button with Checkout with Paypal?

– can the Checkout with Paypal button be changed to a custom button in a pro-form like it can be done for a button?

– in the pro-form, if i remove the credit card “pictures” with the css coding, doesn’t it become redundant to have the radio button under ONLY Paypal, and then a button with Checkout with Paypal?

You’d only have the button to submit the form, the one with the radio button won’t be visible, that whole section would be hidden with the style I gave you above.

– can the Checkout with Paypal button be changed to a custom button in a pro-form like it can be done for a button?

No, this is required by PayPal in their terms when using Express Checkout.

Thanks for your patience. Now it is clearer and i will be able to use the pro-form woohoo!!

Great! :)

You’d only have the button to submit the form, the one with the radio button won’t be visible, that whole section would be hidden with the style I gave you above.

Oh ok…. i thought it was going to hide the greyed out images only. I had not tried it yet. Thanks.

No problem. :)

And while asking about the pro-form, will this “solve” the problem of a registered member not getting the ccaps automatically set if they are making a purchase without being already logged in? Will their email and username be checked against those in the database to apply the correct ccaps to the member (while now, i have to do those manually)?

No, in order to upgrade or add a ccap to his account, the user has to be logged into his account when he starts the order. That doesn’t change using pro-forms, it’s like with buttons.

I wonder if in a future version this could be used. Since the user is entering email and username, if they are new, nothing in the database would match but if they are existing member, then, it would be easy to compare (i say it is easy but i am not the coder). Unless something else is in the making for the next version to address this (any closer to the next version?)

Yeah, we’re looking at how to make something like this possible in the new s2Member.

Yes, we are very much closer, but still not at release stage. You’ll be one of the first I’ll let know about it. ;)

An additional quick question here. In the pro-form, at the bottom, it has a checkbox with “Yes, I want to receive updates via email. ” What does it do? Does it add to my Mail Chimp list if they check it and NOT add it if it is unchecked?

Since everywhere else in the site, through s2M, whenever one would make a purchase, the name would be automatically added to the MC list, is there a particular reason to give the choice in the pro-form? If not, can it be removed?

(ok that was more than one question)

It’s there to give the user a choice to be added or not to the email list.

You can control that checkbox from [hilite path]Dashboard -› s2Member® -› API / List Servers -› Registration Double Opt-In Box[/hilite]

Oh i see. Thanks!

:)