Documentation
Frontdesk Installation, Setup, and Use
PayPal
Overview
Note: This section of the support guide is useful only to Frontdesk users that require their visitors to pay via PayPal before gaining access to their members area.
How the process works:
- Users complete a Frontdesk registration form on your site to create an inactive members account.
- Users are redirected to PayPal's site once they submit the form. When their payment is accepted, their inactive members account is automatically activated so they can log in.
- Users click the "Continue" button PayPal displays and are redirected to a login form on your site.
- When a user's account comes to the end of its term (i.e., the number of days they paid for have passed), Frontdesk automatically deactivates their account.
Payment verification
Frontdesk uses PayPal's Instant Payment Notification (IPN) feature to ensure only paying customers are allowed to create an active members account.
IPN is also used to automatically deactivate a member's account when they cancel their subscription and it reaches the end of its term.
Registration forms
Use the sample PayPal registration forms on paypal_register_onetime.php or register_paypal_subscription.php to create your own.
With register_paypal_onetime.php, the customer is billed just once. register_paypal_subscription.php creates an ongoing subscription where members are automatically re-billed each month.
The hidden "return" field should be present on every registration form you create:
<input type="hidden" name="return" value="URL TO LOGIN FORM" />
Both registration forms contain hidden PayPal-specific fields that determine the details of the transaction (e.g., how much the user should be charged, how often they should be re-billed, etc.). Visit the page below for details on these fields: