Getting Started with PayPal Pro

A PayPal Pro account allows you to accept donations via credit card directly on your website. In order to accept payments with PayPal Pro using GiveWP you will need to have an active PayPal Pro account, the PayPal Pro Add-on, and the core GiveWP plugin installed and activated. See here for instructions on installing and activating GiveWP Add-ons.

Understanding PayPal Account Types

PayPal has gone under some major revisions of their core products over the past few years. These changes have caused users and developers a lot of confusion. Not all features are available for all account types. Here’s a quick description of different types:

• PayPal Payments Pro — this is the current PayPal offering. If you started a new PayPal account today this is what you would be signing up for. PayPal Payments Pro allows you to collect donations directly on your website and has a monthly fee which varies based on which country you are located in. This account type supports Recurring Donations without any additional setup or need to call and request.
• PayPal Website Payments Pro — this is the PayPal’s legacy product. If you’ve been on PayPal for a few years you most likely are on this account. Out of the box, this account type does not support recurring donations. You have to call PayPal Support and ask them to enable DPRP (Direct Payments Recurring Payments) for your account or upgrade to PayPal Payments Pro.

The confusion between these two is common and felt throughout the PayPal user community. This forum ticket goes into detail on how this confusion can be problematic for users and developers alike. Further, this helpful article goes into the history of PayPal’s varying account types.

Configuring Your Gateway

Now that you know which type of account you have, it’s time to configure your gateway with GiveWP.

After your PayPal Pro Add-on is activated, go to Donations > Settings and click on the Payment Gateways tab. There you will see the default Payment Gateways (PayPal Standard, Test Payment, and Offline Donations). You should also see three additional PayPal options available.

GiveWP has three integrations available for PayPal Pro:

Click on the appropriate link above to view how to integrate the gateway with GiveWP. If you’re not sure which applies to your, click here for tips to find out.