Paypal IPN and Payment Problems

HI There
Hope one of you Zen Gods can help me out!

I have set up a store and the store is working fine and passing through paypal and =returning back to the store

BUT

the orders are not recording in the store at all.

I have read the other threads (i can't download some documents one thread refers to?) and followed the instructions and still cant fathom it out!

Do i need to alter any PHP files directly (i haven't done)

in ADMIN side, I have gone to Modules>payment>paypal

and filled all the right settings out, but still no joy. Have even checked the case settings on the email and that, the payments are appearing in Paypal, but no record of the orders are in the shop

Please help! I would be so grateful (and will donate! :-) )

thanks

PS - i forgot to mention, i got the message about to use an identity token when setting up payment data transfer , but not sure how to do this (or what it means!)

PS - i forgot to mention, i got the message about to use an identity token when setting up payment data transfer , but not sure how to do this (or what it means!)

Huh? The Zen Cart PayPal IPN doesn't use any token transfers.

Go to http://YOUR_SITE.com/docs/readme_paypal_ipn.html Complete instructions are there.

HI Kim

re: token transfers.

I just reported the message which Paypal give me when I tried setting up the other settings!

Shall i just ignore this then?
I thought it could be a cause to my problem
Thanks so much for helping

I tried finding the docs directory but must have deleted it or something as it isn't there, is there a link on this site to the helpguide?

Thanks

DA

David-

May I suggest you reupload the docs directory from the original distribution? :smile:

Then go through the set up, step by step on both your web site and in the PayPal account area.

Hi there
Can you give me a link to where i can re-download this please?
i see some files are offline at present?

Thanks!

I get this on the downloads section where the documents should be:

Sorry, this is empty at the moment. Please try again later.

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=83781&package_id=171544

Got em!

I presume 3.readme_paypal_ipn.html

is the one i need?

Thanks so much

HI There
Still struggling I am afraid

I am guessing the problem must be in the paypal settings, but can't see where:

On the page for website settings there are all these options:

What do they need to be?

Website Payment Preferences Back to Profile Summary

Auto Return for Website Payments

Auto Return for Website Payments brings your buyers back to your website immediately after payment completion. Auto Return applies to PayPal Website Payments, including Buy Now, Donations, Subscriptions and Shopping Basket. Learn More

Auto Return:
On
Off

Return URL: Enter the URL that will be used to redirect your customers upon payment completion. This URL must meet the guidelines detailed below. Learn More

Return URL:

Return URL Requirements: The following items are required in order to set up Auto Return.

In accordance with the User Agreement, you must provide written information on the page displayed by the Return URL that will help the buyer understand that the payment has been made and that the transaction has been completed.
You must provide written information on the page displayed by the Return URL that explains that payment transaction details will be emailed to the buyer.
Example: Thank you for your payment. Your transaction has been completed, and a receipt for your purchase has been emailed to you. You may log into your account at https://www.paypal.com/uk to view details of this transaction.

Payment Data Transfer (optional)

Payment Data Transfer allows you to receive notification of successful payments as they are made. The use of Payment Data Transfer depends on your system configuration and your Return URL. Please note that to use Payment Data Transfer, you must turn on Auto Return.

Payment Data Transfer:
On
Off

Identity Token:
MMAMAM

Encrypted Website Payments

Using encryption enhances the security of website payments by decreasing the possibility that a third party could manipulate the data in your button code. If you plan on only using encrypted buttons you can block payments from non-encrypted ones.

Learn more about Encrypted Website Payments

Note: If you enable Encrypted Website Payments, all of your Buy Now, Donations, and Subscriptions buttons must be encrypted via one of the following methods:
Using the Button Factory with the security settings enabled.

Using your own code, you encrypt all website payments before sending them to PayPal.
By enabling this feature, any Buy Now, Donation, or Subscription button that is not encrypted will be rejected by PayPal.

Block Non-encrypted Website Payment:
On
Off

PayPal Account Optional

When this feature is turned on, your customers will go through an optimized checkout experience. This feature is available for Buy Now, Donations and Shopping Basket buttons, but not for Subscription buttons. Learn More

PayPal Account Optional:
On
Off

Contact Telephone Number

When you activate this option, your customers will be asked to include a Contact Telephone Number with their payment information. Learn More

Note: Selecting On (Required Field) could have a negative effect on buyer conversion.

Whats the recommended for these settings?

Thanks

ONLY the return needs to be on and then right under that defined

the only other thing that you might want to use is account optional...

leave everything else to OFF.

HI There
OK, set that up and still not processing

I was wondering whether this could be a permissions thing?

My ipn_main_handler.php file is set to 644

If that could be it?

Also, my other worries were:

the TWO trailing slashes before ipn_main_handler.php

eg, mydomain:

https://web22.secure-server.com/mydomain.com/mydirectory//ipn_main_handler.php

OR
is it because my secure settings are conflicting with paypals?

Thanks SO much for your help/advice etc!

PS

add:

when it returns to the Order acknowledgement page from the paypal payment screen, there is no order number.

its just not writing ANYTHING back to the store, even thought the URL's are working

Did you ever get this figured out? (Cause I have the same problem, and have read everything and tried everything I can possibly think of, with no success.)

As far as your specific question about having "TWO trailing slashes before ipn_main_handler.php", I would certainly presume that is wrong.

But beyond that, please let me know if you got your PayPal sales to show up -- cause I sure can't -- and how you got it to work.

I have triple-checked all my PayPal settings (matching, lower-case email address set to primary, IPN on, IPN url set to http://store.zippermosaics.com/ipn_main_handler.php , Automatic Return URL set to http://store.zippermosaics.com/index.php?main_page=checkout_process , etc.).

I have checked with my hosting company, on advice from the wiki ( http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/PayPal ), to make sure that the proper ports are "open for bidrectional communication" and requisite IP numbers are not blocked or behind a firewall or whatever, etc.

I have made sure there is no CUSTOM folder in /includes/languages/ or in /includes/languages/english/

I have replaced my "ipn_main_handler.php" file from the install folder. I have tried changing the few lines of code in this file, as suggested by sokhapkin in this thread:

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31593&page=2

I have installed Shoetrick's patch -- from this thread:

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32302

That works, if you want to manually "push" each and every sale to force it to go where it's supposed to. (And in the meantime, hope no one else buys the same item, since it still appears in your inventory...)

. . . . . . . .

At this point my only guess is that it has something to do with "Payment Data Transfer" (in PayPal preferences). This is seldom mentioned in any of the ZenCart documentation, but when it is mentioned instructions are to set it to OFF -- I have tried both ways, makes no difference.

(Using most recent version of ZenCart - 1.3.5 -- fresh install.)

Thanks very much.

dustin

Has anyone asked paypal to tset the IPN system.

there are way to many folks having issues now.

and Yes I know you get an email from paypal but have them test the IPN system
thats what talks back to your site and makes sure its OK to create the order

Thank you for the speedy response.

I read through the HELP section on the PayPal site, and didn't figure anything out. So I emailed their SUPPORT and asked if they could test to make sure IPN is working properly.

I will post their reply.

Thanks.

Well, until this paypal issue is resolved, is there any way to find out what my customers bought so that I can process the order? I installed that old version of "View paypal stuck orders" but I couldn't make sense of what it spat out. I'm running 1.3.5 and this is what it says:

.
.
.
cart => Object
observers => Array
contents => Array
254 => Array
qty => 1
240 => Array
qty => 1
21 => Array
qty => 1
.
.
.

Does that mean my customer bought item id's 254, 240, 21? That doesn't make much sense to me b/c those are id numbers of categories.

Anybody have a good solution?

Well, until this paypal issue is resolved, is there any way to find out what my customers bought so that I can process the order? I installed that old version of "View paypal stuck orders" but I couldn't make sense of what it spat out. I'm running 1.3.5 and this is what it says:

.
.
.
cart => Object
observers => Array
contents => Array
254 => Array
qty => 1
240 => Array
qty => 1
21 => Array
qty => 1
.
.
.

Does that mean my customer bought item id's 254, 240, 21? That doesn't make much sense to me b/c those are id numbers of categories.

Anybody have a good solution?

never mind... found and downloaded the Version 2 modified of DrByte's View Stuck orders and got it to push the order into the database. works with 1.3.5

My fix for not receiving paypal notifications is at
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpost.php?p=277922&postcount=6

Here is what I got back from PayPal Merchant Tech Support (note: the link they refer to which "appears to have been updated with a fix" is this very thread) :

"
IPN is still POSTing normally. Also the link you have included Appears to have been updated with a fix. If the issue persists I have included the most common problems affecting developers when working with IPN.

To send a dummy post, you can use http://paypaltech.com/Stephen/test/ipntest.htm

If you are having trouble with a program designed to work with PayPal, such as an IPN script, try some of these debugging techniques:

• Look at your system logs to figure out if PayPal is posting to your URL. For example, if you have a PHP script running in conjunction with your Apache Web server, look at the Apache logs to see if Apache is logging attempts by PayPal to post to your site. Since the information is being recorded chances are PayPal will be seen

• Try a simpler script. If your script has a lot of functions, try replacing it (temporarily) with a stripped-down version that just does the basics. Once the simple script is working as you expect, add in features such as writing to a database or sending an email message. You could try one of our basic scripts generated at http://www.paypaltech.com/SG2

• Output raw, rather than processed, data. For example, instead of parsing the data your script receives into pieces for easy logging, have your script write the raw data to a log file or email it to your email address.

• Add logging of output for inspection. For example, if your script puts together a string that should be posted back to PayPal, write a copy of this string to a log file just before posting it.

• Design manual testing into your script. Even if your script is intended to be hit by the PayPal server, build it to work properly when you open its URL in your Web browser.

• Test in the Sandbox. The PayPal Sandbox (see https://developer.paypal.com) lets you simulate the live production site. For example, you can trigger IPNs for shopping cart purchases, donations, or expiring subscriptions.

• Are you using ASP.NET? If so, try enabling tracing and examining the file "trace.axd" on your site. 500 errors should be captured there, as well as all of the posted form information.

REASONS FOR INVALID

• Make sure you are posting back ALL variables/values.

For PayPal to return VERIFIED, your IPN script needs to post back ALL the variables that were posted to it in the first place. In other words, if your script only needs to manipulate 1 or 2 variables, it is not enough to post back to PayPal only the variables/values your script is concerned with. Your script should post back EVERYTHING that was initially posted to it from PayPal. This is the only way PayPal will return VERIFIED

• Make sure you are not posting back to the wrong URL.

If you are testing in the Sandbox, you need to ensure your script posts back to https://www.sandbox.paypal.com. If you are on the live site, the script should post back to https://www.paypal.com. You will receive INVALID if you are testing in the Sandbox and your script posts back to the live site (or vice versa)

• Encoding

PayPal's IPN server expects that your script will POST back all variables that were posted to it and more importantly, that they are encoded the same way as they were sent to your script. If your script inadvertently changed the encoding of a character or interprets an encoded character as another character and POSTs back, you will likely see INVALID. This can happen sporadically and tends to occur, for example, when a payment is received and the buyer may have an accented character in their name or the order is for some item with a non-standard character in the item name. These instances are tricky to troubleshoot but it is listed here as it can cause INVALID when you would expect VERIFIED. Look for this issue when you are seeing that certain IPNs are INVALID and all the rest are VERIFIED.
"

Havent' yet had time to explore their suggestions. I'm afraid it's a bit too technical for me, in any case. But maybe some of you coders out there can make sense of it.

Please?? . . .

Thanks,

dustin

I too seem to be having the same issues w/Paypal as many others here.

My site just had Zen Cart installed on it 1 month ago, so I believe we have the most updated version. We just went live yesterday.

My cousin told me she bought some products from my site. She advised she received no order number on the "checkout success" page. Also, there is no order summary she could look back when she views her account (as the checkout success page had advised her). Also, she received no email confirmation from Zen cart from her order. Just the Paypal confirmation which does NOT show what products she ordered.

I did a test myself and came up with the same findings as her AFTER I checked all the info with Paypal IPN ( which is all correct).
My web designer added the module so we could "view stuck orders"--which is basically useless to me--as I can not see what the customer has ordered.
I have no orders showing thru Paypal. She seems to be just as baffled as I am, and unfortunately, she can not come up with a solid fix for this.

Does anyone know how to contact the folks who run Zen Cart?
I have never come across a product where so many people are having the same issues and there doesn't seem to be any solid fixes around.

I have gone back on threads from April and have not been able to come up with anything that works.

If anyone can help, I would GREATLY appreciate it. I just got my website up and I hate to start having to call people to ask them what they ordered--very unprofessional indeed. :no:
If necessary, I can pay someone--I don't have much, but I can give something.

If you can help, please email me at mealster*earthlink.net.

Thank You,
Camille

ww.mdherbal.com