DojoExpert can be integrated with your PayPal account so that you can collect payments from your students via this secure and reliable payment processor. This feature is available only in the DojoExpert PRO package, and here's how it works:
- 1. You enter your PayPal email address in DojoExpert and enable the feature (we don't need your PayPal password!)
- 2. Enter the IPN URL provided by DojoExpert in your PayPal account. IPN means "Instant Payment Notification". PayPal sends payment details such as the amount, payer name, and email address to this URL. The money goes directly to your PayPal account; DojoExpert receives only the payment information and uses it to mark the corresponding invoice as paid.
- 3. Monitor received IPN messages in DojoExpert. If a payment has not closed an invoice, use the IPN monitor to "resolve" it.
- 4. Students can log in to the member area to pay invoices. Each unpaid invoice has a "Pay with PayPal" button.
Here is how to set up your account to accept PayPal payments:
- 1. Go to "settings" and open the "PayPal" tab. Enter your PayPal email address and invoice currency (only supported currencies are listed). Select the "enable PayPal" checkbox and hit "save".
- 2. Copy your IPN notification URL
- 3. Log in to PayPal, click the settings icon, and select "account setting". In the left-hand menu, open "notifications" and select "Instant payment notification". Click "update", then "choose IPN settings". Paste the IPN URL, enable IPN messages, and click "save".
You are ready to receive payments! Check it out:
The PayPal button in the member area:
Clicking the button takes the student to PayPal's secure payment page for the selected invoice:
Once the payment has been made, the invoice in DojoExpert will be closed immediately. You can check this in "invoices" or in IPN monitor:
The IPN monitor shows who paid, their UID, the invoice number, and the payment status. A payment that successfully closes an invoice has the status "resolved". Open the invoice to see the payment and the TXN_ID (PayPal transaction ID) in its header:
The IPN URL receives notifications for all payments to your PayPal account. Some may be unrelated to invoices, or students may pay manually instead of using the member area button. If DojoExpert cannot identify the invoice, use the IPN monitor to "resolve" the payment and close the correct invoice.
Recurring payments
Collect recurring payments monthly, weekly, annually, or daily by enabling PayPal integration and creating a recurring payment invoice. Follow these steps:
1) Make sure you have set up the PayPal IPN link as described above
2) Open the student's profile and create a new recurring invoice manually:
Or go to "Invoices" and click "create new invoice".
3) In the invoice header set the recurring payment period. If you want to bill your student monthly, set it as in the screenshot below:
If you need to bill every 3 months, or 15 days, you can do this by entering the appropriate values in the fields above. Then click "create invoice".
4) Click "Add new blank item" to specify the amount to charge:
5) In the item description, explain what the charge is for and clearly state that it is recurring. This text appears in student login. For example, use "Recurring payment for monthly subscription". Enter a quantity of "1" and the amount, then click "update":
6) The invoice will be listed in "invoices" and in the student's profile (refresh the page to see it) and you will see an extra column for the recurring payment settings (this way you can recognize recurring payment invoices).
7) In student login, students click "pay with PayPal" to pay the invoice and create a recurring payment profile for future charges.
The first payment date determines future payment dates. For example, if a monthly invoice is first paid on June 6, the next payment is due on July 6. PayPal continues charging at the selected interval until you or the student cancels the recurring payment profile in PayPal. After each successful payment, the PayPal IPN creates an invoice in DojoExpert and marks it as paid, so you do not need to create invoices yourself.
PayPal recurring payments do not require a subscription package or manual or automatic invoice generation in DojoExpert. Create only the initial recurring invoice as described above; subsequent invoices are generated by PayPal IPN. Keep the initial invoice after it is paid and the recurring profile is created. Deleting it prevents IPN from generating subsequent invoices, leaving those payments unresolved in the IPN list.
To cancel recurring payments, find the profile in PayPal's "recurring payments" list and cancel it there. You cannot cancel it from DojoExpert. PayPal emails you if a student cancels a profile. If a payment fails, PayPal retries in 5 days or cancels the profile and notifies you by email.
To change the billing interval, cancel the existing recurring payment profile in PayPal and create a new recurring invoice in DojoExpert. Editing the previous invoice does not change the recurring payment configured in PayPal.
If you have some questions about this exciting feature please contact our support team.