- Mals: Check your setup at Mals:
- HTTP Call: The HTTP call must be set up in Mals for the inventory control and order tracking to work.
- URL: In the URL field, add website/go/finish.php (note: no http://).
- Method: Choose POST as the method if you have large orders that come through regularly, otherwise use GET.
- Debug: In the HTTP call area of Mals, check the 'debug' box only if you have problems with the inventory control and want to track whether Mals is processing the call.
- PayPal Setup: Make sure that you enter the PayPal email and then:
- Under 'Website Standard', select 'return the customer back to the cart. See the notes below...'.
- Select the IPN box. (If you do not, a customer can close the window and it won't post back.)
- HTTP Call: The HTTP call must be set up in Mals for the inventory control and order tracking to work.
- PayPal: Please note that if you want to use PayPal as a payment type, you must use a business account if you want to automate inventory control or log orders and sales. Personal accounts can be used with the cart, but the inventory control and order tracking will not work!
- Auto Return: If you are using PayPal as a payment type, you must turn the 'Auto Return' setting on. This automates the return back to Mals after a customer pays via PayPal. (If this setting is turned off, the cart will require the customer to push a button to go back to the cart, and not all customers will do this.)
- Thank You Page: The Auto Return setting requires a thank you page to return to after the payment is made. Mals creates a page automatically and submits it without any effort on your part. However, if you plan to use PayPal for any other reason, you will need to make a thank you page on your site. Create the page, following PayPal's thank you page rules (shown on the auto return setting page) and enter the URL in the space provided in PayPal
- Auto Return: If you are using PayPal as a payment type, you must turn the 'Auto Return' setting on. This automates the return back to Mals after a customer pays via PayPal. (If this setting is turned off, the cart will require the customer to push a button to go back to the cart, and not all customers will do this.)
- Limitations: Please note that our system's inventory control system decreases inventory automatically, if set up properly. It will also discourage a customer from ordering more than is available. However, it is not designed as a method to limit quantities for one of a kind items. Because the system uses a third party cart in Mals, we cannot guarantee that a customer will not try to change the quantity within Mals or otherwise try to order more than is available.
In addition, Mals does not support every payment processor, so it is possible that the http call system may not work properly with your payment processor. Please check the processor list at Mals to make sure inventory control will work on your site - if your processor does not have a check under 'HTTP Call', the inventory system will not work with that processor.
If you are still having problems with Paypal orders getting routed back to your website and decreasing your inventory after checking the above options please use these instructions. These seem to work best and route back the orders without any problems.
PayPal Setup
If you want to use PayPal with your Mals site and handle inventory control, use the following instructions.
1. Create a Thank You Page
- Create a web site page called "thankyou.php".
- On this page, type out the following text:
Thank you for your payment. Your transaction has been completed, and a receipt for your purchase has been emailed to you. You may log into your account at https://www.paypal.com to view details of this transaction.
- Save this page to your web site.
2. Update Your PayPal Account
- Access your PayPal account and select the My Account tab.
- Click the Profile subtab.
- Click the Website Payment Preferences link in the Selling Preferences column on the right.
- Click the Auto Return On radio button to turn on Auto Return
- In the "Return URL", enter the web site of the page you created in step #1. (Note: Mals does not require you to enter a thank you page here - but if you plan to use PayPal outside Mals, you will need to add this page.)
- Save the auto return variables.
3. Update Your Mals-E Account
- In your Mals-E account, select the "Cart Setup" link.
- Select the "PayPal" link under "Payments".
- Enter your PayPal email address under the account ID.
- Select the currency if needed.
- Under Thank you page, select "Return the customer to the cart's Thank you page. See the notes above...".
Once you have updated your accounts, when a customer makes a purchase and pays via PayPal, they will automatically be taken to the Mals-E cart finish page, or to your thank you page if they didn't go through Mals to purchase your products.
IMPORTANT: Make sure that in step #3 you have selected the "Return the customer to the cart's Thank you page. See the notes above..." link (the second radio button). Do not add the thank you page you created in step 1 or choose any other radio buttons. The "Thank You" page you created in step 1 is ONLY used for payments that go through PayPal but not through Mals.
Alternate PayPal Integration
NOTE: If your orders are not tracking properly, there may be a connection error. You can try this alternate method of taking PayPal orders to ensure that the system works with PayPal orders:
- First, take off your PayPal address in the "PayPal" setup through Mals.
- Go in to the "Payments" area of Mals, and set "PayPal" as an "OTHER NON-SECURE PAYMENT".
- Now access the "Currency and Cart Messages" area of Mals. Under "EXIT MESSAGE - UNSECURE PAYMENTS", type the following:
<a href="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=youraccount
&item_name=Order+{shopperid}&amount={amount}">Click to Complete Order</a>
where your account info is your PayPal email address and the @ is replaced by %40. For example, if your PayPal account is payments@mysite.com, you would use:
<a href="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=payments%40mysite.com
&item_name=Order+{shopperid}&amount={amount}">Click to Complete Order</a>
You can modify this link by replacing "Click to Complete Order" with other text as desired.
Note that this message will appear for any non-secure payment, such as a check or money order payment. If you accept other non-secure payment types, you may want to replace "Click to Complete Order" with "Click to Finish PayPal Orders".
