Gossamer Links Help


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Payments Help

The Payments menu allows you to configure your Gossamer Links installation to accept payments from your users for listing their links for defined periods of time. Paid links will be displayed above unpaid links in your directory. Three different types of payment terms can be created: display terms, in which users pay for a link to be displayed for a set period of time, renewal terms, which allow users to renew their listings after making an initial display payment, and recurring terms, which will automatically charge users at set intervals. Discounts can also be created, giving users reduced costs on listings after they have listed a set number of links ("buy two, get the third 50% off"). Payments can be accepted by configuring payment methods: currently, methods can be configured for PayPal, Moneris, Authorize.net, 2CheckOut and Worldpay accounts. Logs of all payments are stored and can be viewed from the Payments menu.

Payment Setup
The Payment Setup menu is your primary tool for managing Gossamer Links payments. From this menu payments can be enabled and disabled, and payment levels can be configured.

  • Choose whether or not to enable payments.
  • Set when to send a renewal notice to users whose links are almost expired in the "Expiry Notify" field. The notice will be sent the number of days you enter before expiry. You will also have to set up a cron job. From shell, type:

    crontab -e

    and adding the following line (if it doesn't already exist from a previous installation), and save it:

    0 2 * * * /full/path/to/admin/cron/expiry_notify.pl

  • Choose whether payments should by default be optional, required, or not accepted for new links. Note that this option only defines the global directory payment settings; individual categories within your directory can be configured separately.
  • Choose whether or not all links that have been paid for will automatically be validated, or whether to have them manually validated by admins and editors.
  • You can enter a brief description of your payment system that will appear above the list of payment options users can choose from. This page will be shown when users try to add a link in a category that requires or offers payments.
  • Existing default payment terms that you have configured for your installation will be listed, with the cost and duration of the term displayed. These terms are organized into display, renewal and recurring terms. Any of these existing terms can be deleted by checking the "Delete" box beside the desired term(s) and clicking the "Save Changes" button.
  • New payment terms can also be configured from this menu. Enter a payment cost, choose what type of payment term you wish to create (single, renewal, recurring), and duration of the payment (enter a numeral in the field and choose a period of time from the drop-down menu).
  • Existing payment discounts that you have configured for your installation will be listed, with the number of links at which users will begin to receive the discount, the percentage that will be deducted from payment costs, and any description you've defined for that discount.
  • New discounts can also be configured from this menu. Enter the number of links at which the user will begin to receive the discount. This is inclusive, so a discount with 4 entered in the number of links means that the user will receive the discount when they go to pay for their fourth link. Enter a percentage for the discount; this percentage will apply to single and recurring payments only. You can enter a custom description for the discount that will appear when the user is selecting a payment term. If you do not enter a description, the default description will be displayed: "Payment costs have been discounted by X% for this link."
  • Click the "Save Changes" button to confirm your changes.

Payment Methods
The menus listed under "Payment Methods" allow you to configure all options regarding how payments made by your users will be processed. Payment methods can currently be configured for PayPal, Moneris, Authorize.net, 2CheckOut and Worldpay accounts. The following information will help you configure your accounts to best suit receiving payments through Gossamer Links.

  • PayPal: It is required that you configure your "Instant Payment Notification Preferences", found in your Account Profile on the PayPal website. Enter the location of your postback.cgi in the field provided and check the IPN box. If you are using multiple IPN-aware applications, you should enter the URL to the postback.cgi (as defined in the db_cgi_url option in the "Paths and URLs" section of the Setup menu) in the "Payment IPN URL" field while setting up PayPal to override the default URL.
  • Moneris: You will need to generate an account token.
  • Authorize.net: You will need to generate a Transaction Key. Click on "Obtain Transaction Key" in the Settings menu. This key will be required when configuring your Authorize.net settings in Gossamer Links.
  • 2CheckOut: You should configure the settings in the "cartpurchase.2c Passback Parameters" section of the "Return" menu (found under the "Account Details" heading). Set the "Return to a routine on your site after credit card processed?" option to "Yes". Provide the URL of your postback.cgi (as defined in the db_cgi_url option in the "Paths and URLs" section of the Setup menu). If you are accepting cheques through your 2CheckOut account, set the "Return to a routine on your site after a check is processed?" option to "Yes". Define a "Secret Word" in the Overall Passback Parameters section (just below the "cartpurchase.2c" section).
  • WorldPay: In your Installation Configuration menu, you should set the "Callback URL" field to contain your postback.cgi (as defined in the db_cgi_url option in the "Paths and URLs" section of the Setup menu). The "Callback enabled" checkbox must be checked. The "FuturePay callback Enabled" checkbox must be checked if you are going to be using your WorldPay account for recurring payments. If the "Use callback response" checkbox is checked, the user will be shown the worldpay_receipt.html template on WorldPay's site upon completion of a payment. If the checkbox is not checked, WorldPay will direct the user elsewhere upon completion of a payment (this location can be defined in the Payment Page Editor section.

Adding Methods Payment methods can be either direct or remote. Direct payment methods store users' payment information on your SSL-enabled site, allowing you to customize the appearance of the page where payment information (such as credit card numbers) will be transferred. Be sure to define the location of your SSL page in the db_cgi_url_https option in the "Paths and URLs" section of the Setup menu if you add any direct payment methods. Remote payment methods allow you to process payments if you do not have an SSL-enabled site. Remote method payments are handled on the payment provider's website (https://www.paypal.com, for example). Users will be able to configure their payment from your site, but they will have to actually confirm the payment on the remote site, which you will not be able to customize. See below for details on configuration options for specific methods.

  • PayPal: You will need to enter the email address used on your PayPal account. Choose the currency in which payments will be processed. If you do not define a currency here, the currency selected in your Moneris account configuration will be used. Choose the buttons that users will click on to make signup payments or donations. Choose from the default buttons provided, or provide an https:// URL of another desired image. You can specify an image (such as a company or site logo) that will appear on the PayPal page users make payments on in the "Image URL" field. If you are using multiple IPN-aware applications (such as running Gossamer Links and Gossamer Forum simultaneously), you should enter the Gossamer Links postback.cgi (as defined in the db_cgi_url option in the "Paths and URLs" section of the Setup menu) in the "Payment IPN URL" field to override the default URL. If you want users to be able to include comments or other text with their payments; enter a title for a text field that will appear on the PayPal payments page. If you do not provide a title, no text field will be provided. Choose a background colour for the PayPal payments page. If you want a PayPal account other than your primary one to receive the actual payments made by users, enter that address in the "PayPal Recipient E-Mail" field.
  • Moneris: You will need to enter the account token generated from your Moneris account, as well as the eSelect Store ID for your account. You can enable a test mode which allows you to test your direct payment support. When the test mode is enabled, live credit card transactions cannot be processed. You will need to change your account token and store ID as well as use a special credit card number for testing. For more information, refer to this document on the Moneris site.
  • Authorize.net: You will need to provide your Login ID and the Transaction Key generated from your Authorize.net account. You can choose which currency payments will be processed in. If you do not define a currency here, the currency selected in your Authorize.net account configuration will be used. You can configure your Authorize.net password. It is recommended that you do not enter any value in this field unless you are unable to obtain a transaction key. Entering a password here is strongly discouraged. You can specify a "Merchant Confirmation Email", which will receive payment information in addition to the address configured in your Merchant account. You can choose whether or not users will receive email from Authorize.net informing them of their payments. You can toggle Test Mode on and off. Test mode allows you to ensure that payments via Authorize.net are functional without actually processing payments.
  • 2CheckOut: You will have to provide your 2CheckOut Seller ID as well as your 2CheckOut Secret Word.
  • WorldPay: You will have to provide your WorldPay Installation ID and password. You will have to provide the MD5 password used by your WorldPay account to verify orders. You can choose the currency in which payments will be processed. If you do not define a currency here, the currency selected in your Authorize.net account configuration will be used. You can toggle Test Mode on and off. If you choose to enable Test Mode, you will be able to either have WorldPay approve or decline your credit card. Test Mode will still catch any errors in payments, regardless of which option you choose.

Payment Logs
The payment logs allow you to review all payments that Gossamer Links has processed. Details of the payment or the user who made the payment can be viewed.

Payment Details
You can use the "Payment Details" field to search for a specific payment record by ID. Simply enter the ID of the payment you wish to view and click "Go". The payment's detail record will be displayed in full, just as if you were viewing it in the logs.

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