Setting Up PayPal Standard (Free) As The Payment Gateway

Link: https://support.brilliantdirectories.com/support/solutions/articles/12000015920-setting-up-paypal-standard-free-as-the-payment-gateway

For the best results, it is recommended to use the payment gateway, Stripe.


However, if it is preferred to use PayPal Standard (Free) as the payment gateway, please follow the steps below after entering the payment gateway credentials.  

For help finding PayPal's API Username, API Password, and API Signature, please see the documentation on this topic provided by PayPal.


IMPORTANT: This guide will work for PayPal Standard (Free). If the Paypal being used is a "business account" that requires a monthly fee, please check out this guide instead.


Instant Notification (IPN) URL


Once PayPal Standard has been activated as the payment gateway of the site, the IPN URL for the website can be found on the "Payment Gateways" page in the Admin of the site.


If having trouble finding the IPN URL here, please use the following formula to create the IPN URL:


Start with the following URL, replacing "www.domain.com" with the domain of the website: 


http://www.domain.com/checkout/notifications/paypalipn


For example, if the domain of the website is www.marys-website.com then enter the following URL into this field:


http://www.marys-website.com/checkout/notifications/paypalipn


Setup the Instant Notification Settings


NOTE: PayPal has several different account layouts, so the screenshots and steps below may not apply to specific PayPal accounts.  if the account layout is other than the one shown below, please contact PayPal and ask for assistance to enable IPN notifications to the URL described above.

The following screenshots and steps were taken in the 4th quarter of 2016 with a USA PayPal Standard (Free) account:

  1. After logging into PayPal's account, click on "Seller Preferences" in the left sidebar:



    Alternatively, navigate directly to this URL:

    https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_profile-display-handler&tab_id=SELLER_PREFERENCES


  2. Click on the "Update" link for Instant Payment Notifications:




  3. Click the "Choose IPN Settings" button:



  4. 1) Enter the IPN URL in the "Notification URL" field

    2) Select "Receive IPN messages"

    3) Click on "Save":