WordPress Simple Membership plugin allows you to create Subscription/Recurring payment buttons for membership payment from the payments menu of the plugin.
Once you create the button in the plugin, you can add a shortcode to place the subscription payment button on your membership “Join Us” page.
Creating PayPal Subscription Button for Membership Payment
Step 1) Select PayPal Subscription Button
Go to Payments -> Create New Button interface from the admin side of this plugin. Then select the PayPal Subscription option (see image below):
Step 2) Configure the Subscription Payment Button Details
Enter the payment details and select your membership level for the button.
See screenshot below (this example is for creating an ongoing monthly subscription):
Step 3) Put the Subscription Button on a Page
You can now put this newly created button on your membership join us page so the visitors can pay you using this button.
The “Manage Payment Buttons” tab shows you the shortcode you need to use to put your payment button on a page.
The shortcode will create a subscribe now button (for the membership level you specified). It should look something like the following:
When visitors make payment using this button, they will be able to create accounts for the silver (in this example) membership access.
Customizing the Button
The look and feel of the button will depend on your theme’s style/CSS.
You can use a custom image for your button to customize it. Simply upload your button image to the media library then specify the URL of the image in the “Button Image URL” field (by editing the button).
You can also customize the button text by specifying the value in the shortcode using the “button_text” parameter. Below is an example shortcode that uses “Join Now” as the payment button text:
[swpm_payment_button id=75 button_text="Join Now"]
Open PayPal Payment Page in a New Window
You can also open the paypal payment page in a new window (when the membership payment button is clicked). Add the “new_window” parameter in the shortcode to do this.
Below is an example shortcode:
[swpm_payment_button id=75 button_text="Subscribe Now" new_window="1"]
PayPal IPN Feature
The plugin uses the PayPal IPN feature to receive notification from PayPal for membership payments. Read the Enabling PayPal IPN feature documentation to learn more.
Set UTF-8 Format for your PayPal IPN Message
If you are using a non-english language then you should setup your paypal account to send IPN message in UTF-8 format. Learn how to set UTF-8 message format in your paypal account.
What Happens After the Payment?
If this is a payment made by a NEW member then the user will receive an email that contains a “special” link to complete the registration. Read the registration process overview documentation to learn more.
If the payment is made by an EXISTING member then the membership level (associated with this payment button) is applied to the existing member’s profile.
Note: The member must be logged into the site as a member for this plugin to recognize the user and treat him/her as an existing member.
PayPal Premier or Business Account
PayPal does not offer the subscription option to merchants using the personal accounts. So you need to upgrade your merchant account to the premier or business account to use this feature.
Credit Card Payment for PayPal Subscription
By default, PayPal recurring payment checkout requires your customers to have a PayPal account. PayPal doesn’t offer direct credit card checkout for their standard PayPal subscription checkout. PayPal made it so merchants have to pay a little extra for accepting credit card for the standard PayPal subscription/recurring payment checkout. This has nothing to do with our plugin.
You need to activate a feature/service called “Enhanced Recurring Billing” in your PayPal account. You can do that from your PayPal account (or contact PayPal support). Once you activate that feature in your PayPal account, the credit card checkout option will be available when your customers try to pay you for a PayPal subscription.
What Happens When a Subscription is Cancelled?
Read the subscription cancellation documentation.
