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Ecommerce Templates > PHP Version Help > Payment Processors > PayPal Payments Standard
PayPal Payments Standard and Ecommerce Templates
Click here to create an account with PayPal.
Once you have created your account, you need to setup the instant
payment notification. This is necessary so that sales are automatically
validated. To do this log into your PayPal account and click on
the "Profile" tab. Now click on the link instant payment
notification preferences link. The URL that you want to enter is
the one to the file ppconfirm.php in your vsadmin directory. So
for instance it might be
http://www.yourstore.com/vsadmin/ppconfirm.php
After entering this URL, just click the checkbox to activate instant payment notification and you're all done.
You now just need to go to the Edit Payment Providers link on your store admin, chose Modify for PayPal and enter the email address that is associated with your PayPal account.
Testing with the PayPal sandbox
Version 4.9.0 saw the introduction of a demo mode for PayPal testing. To use this feature, check the "Sandbox" box in the payment provider admin page for PayPal and then sign up for a developer account at https://developer.paypal.com/ so you can use their sandbox feature.
Troubleshooting
PayPal has introduced a new Merchant Tools feature called “Auto Return”. If you select this option in your account, PayPal has you add in the URL you would like your customers to return to on your website. What actually happens is that you are directed to the Thank You page that gives an error message “Sorry there has been an error”. You will also not receive order confirmation.
The Auto Return feature can be used though in conjunction with PDT - Payment Data Transfer (Version 5.1.0 minimum required). You will need to add your PDT key to the admin payment provider PayPal page. Implementing this will allow customers to return to your store without clicking on the "Return to Merchant" link from PayPal. Godaddy hosting customers only will require this addition to vsadmin/includes.php
If in your admin orders page your PayPal payments are showing with a status of "Pending: unilateral" then you will need a verified Premier or Business account for PayPal IPN. The message of Pending: unilateral comes up when the account isn't verified. The solution is to check again that you have completed all the verification steps for your account and that it is a Premier or Business account.
If the shipping cost is not being passed on to PayPal even though
this is showing correctly in the cart then go to this URL when
logged in to your PayPal account . . .
https://www.paypal.com/en/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_profile-shipping
Then check the setting of . . .
Click here to allow transaction-based shipping values to override
the profile shipping settings listed above (if profile settings
are enabled).
You will also need to add this parameter to vsadmin/includes.php
$splitpaypalshipping=TRUE;
AVS and CVV Checking and codes
In the orders admin page you should see something like the following after a successful PayPal order.
The AVS column refers to whether the PayPal address is verified (Y) or unverified (N). The CVV column refers to whether the PayPal account is verified (Y) or not (N).
In the first example above payment was received from a non-verified address but a verified account. In the second example both the account and address are verified and in the third neither.
Adding extra parameters
PayPal offer a range of extra parameters that some may find useful. The list is available here. So that you can include these without your changes being overwritten by updaters we set up a system in Version 6.1.4 where these can be added to your vsadmin/includes.php file.
For example, if you want to change the text for the "Return to Merchant" link, you'll see from PayPal guide that uses the "cbt" variable. The line you would add to vsadmin/includes.php for this example would be
$payprovextraparams1='<input type="hidden" name="cbt" value= "Your return message goes here">';
...where $payprovextraparams1 defines the payment provider (in your payment provider admin page you'll see the identifier for PayPal is 1 but this can be used for other processors too), cbt is the variable available from PayPal and the Value is the text you want to appear as the link customers click on to go back to your store following payment.
Please do read our guide here on credit card fraud.
That's all there is to it really - any comments on the set up can be posted on our Support Forum.