Tracking payment amounts

[MPDev]

By default, vBulletin has an amount and currency column in it's paymenttransaction table, but these fields are not used (reported as a "bug", was told these would be removed in future version).

However, a couple simple lines and with PayPal you can record both of these fields. This is critical for me as it allows me to track who paid how much.

In includes/paymentapi/class_paypal.php, find:

$this->transaction_id = $this->registry->GPC['txn_id'];

and after add:

// MDP
$this->transaction_amt = $this->registry->GPC['mc_gross'];
$this->transaction_cur = $this->registry->GPC['mc_currency'];

then in ./payment_gateway.php find:

$trans['state'] = $apiobj->type;

and after add:

// MDP
$trans['amount'] = $apiobj->transaction_amt;
$trans['currency'] = $apiobj->transaction_cur;

That's it! Now your paymenttransaction table will include the amount the user paid and the currency used.

This works with both 3.53 and the new 3.54 releases.

[MPDev]

Reserved.

[amykhar]

This, I think I shall like. Now, we just need to write up reports against the table and stick them in the admincp stats section.

[MPDev]

Exactly! I sent these small code changes into vB, but they responded that they would rather remove the columns in an update. Personally, this is a big deal for my site - we get tens of thousands of dollars in "donations" a year and knowing who gave how much is how we rate our members. It's also how I can track how much we've taken in versus how much we've spent.

Tracking amounts opens up a whole new area of reporting, tracking and promotions.

[amykhar]

I think they're making a big mistake dropping those columns. Also, it might be better if we rename them and rename them in your code to prevent legacy data from being dropped in an upgrade.

[MorrisMcD]

I think they're making a big mistake dropping those columns. Also, it might be better if we rename them and rename them in your code to prevent legacy data from being dropped in an upgrade.


I agree with this

[Reeve of shinra]

I agree with all points in this thread

[MPDev]

Good idea, Amy; I'll extend my instructions in the near future to do just that.