Below is a brief tutorial on how to set up Paypal`s IPN system:
» WHAT IS PAYPAL IPN?
Instant Payment Notification (IPN) is PayPal's interface for handling real-time purchase confirmation and server-to-server communications. IPN delivers immediate notification and confirmation of PayPal payments you receive and provides status and additional data on pending, cancelled, or failed transactions. For more information, click the following: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/xcl/rec/ipn-intro-outside
» IPN SETUP
1 => Log in to your Paypal account and click 'Profile' from the 'My Account' menu tab. 2 => Click 'Selling Preferences > 'Instant Payment Notification Preferences': 3 => On the next screen, click 'Edit' and you will see the screen shown below. Check the box to enable the IPN system and in the 'Notification URL' box, enter the full URL to your notification page. This is the url to your main gallery index.php file with the query string '?cmd=notify' attached. You can use 'https' if you have SSL enabled. Then click 'Save': ie: http://www.yoursite.com/gallery/index.php?cmd=notify NOTE:: If the system is already activated and using a URL from another script, leave this as it is. The gallery system will still work ok.
» PAYMENT RECEIVING PREFERENCES
From the 'Profile' tab, select 'Selling Preferences' > 'Payment Receiving Preferences': This page lists some options, which are hopefully self explanatory. Use the Paypal help links for information. For example here you can prevent anyone from sending you money using the 'Send Money' option if you only want to receive money through your website.
» WEBSITE PAYMENT PREFERENCES
From the 'Profile' tab, select 'Selling Preferences' > 'Website Payment Preferences': Again, here you are presented with a list of options. The URL for the auto return function would be as follows: ie: http://www.yoursite.com/gallery/index.php?cmd=thanks This is the url to your gallery index.php file with the '?cmd=thanks' query string attached.
» CUSTOM PAYMENT PAGES
From the 'Profile' tab, select 'Selling Preferences' > 'Custom Payment Pages'. You will see the screen shown above. Besides the default paypal style I have created one called 'MDream'. This function lets you set up your own page styles. For more information click on the 'Learn More' link at the top of the page Paypal page. Once you have created a page style, specify it in your Maian Music settings.
» SANDBOX TEST MODE
The really great thing about the IPN system is you can test it out to make sure it works without the worry of actually processing any payment. For this unique option you need to have a Sandbox account. This is free to web developers and can be found here:
https://developer.paypal.com
There are support forums for you to get help with the IPN system if you are experiencing problems. Once you have a Sandbox account set up you can enable this to test the script out. To enable the IPN system in the script go to your admin area and select 'Settings' from the drop down menu, then 'Shopping Cart'. Enable the cart.
» MORE INFORMATION
For a more advanced overview of the Paypal system, download the Paypal IPN manual: Paypal IPN Manual Images used on this page are screenshots from the Paypal website and are © Paypal.