PayPal Donations For vBulletin 3.5.0

Sorry Guys...I have disappeared from vB coding completely for the time being...RL is paying me $35/hour to ignore it lol. Hope you understand why I haven't been around...

Paypal Donations For vBulletin 3.5
Version 2.02b

Hack Provided and coded by )O( Cloudrunner )O( of The Noble Pagan.
Release version: 2.02b
Release Date: 03 July 2005

Change Log

Paypal Donations 2.02

• Fixed Bug introduced with the installer for the tables from 2.01
• Added Who's Online Support Plugins For Donations Script

Paypal Donations 2.01

• Fixed a small bug in the display of the top / last donors on the donate page.

Paypal Donations 2.00

• Ported system over to vBulletin 3.50
• Added ability for the installer to install template edits automatically
• System installs plugins automatically
• Fixed some minor bugs that were present in 1.07 of the 3.0.7 vBulletin donations system.

Special Thanks

Special Thanks goes to the following people, without their support, this would never have happened:

dsboyce8624
guvner
SLeeeper
And all of the Alpha Testers that helped out with this Hack!

I couldn't have done it without you all, Thank you!

)O( Cloudrunner )O(

What Paypal Donations Is:

Paypal Donations is a complete system that controls donations and how they are received via backend interfacing between your vBulletin server and Paypal's payment gateway server. The beauty of this marriage of servers is quite simply automation of the donation process as well as security of the transactions for both you, the administrator, and your users. With the Paypal donations system installed on your forums, you will be able to bring in that much needed income to not only keep your forums alive, but also to help defer costs of doing so to the users of your site without having to bug everyone and beg for money.

This seamless integration of Paypal as your backend payment processor not only provides your user with a well known and safe payment processor, but you are saved the hassle of opening a merchant account with your banking institution as well as saves you time in the process as it takes only a few short minutes to sign up with Paypal if you are not already an account holder there.

System Requirements

OS: vBulletin 3.5 (if you are running this already, then your server has the required installation, GD libraries are required, as well as CURL capabilities for this system to work)

Things To Do Before Installation

Direct File Edits To vB Resident Files: 1 (needed to group templates in AdminCP)
File Uploads: 34 (Of which 18 will be deleted after installation, leaving a total of 16 Files on your server)
Direct Database Queries: None, the installer does these for you
Direct Plugin Installation: None, the installer does these for you
Direct Template Modification: None, the installer installs all new templates, and modifies the resident templates as needed

The uninstaller will remove all modifications (to include the templates) should you decide to remove the system from your server.

How To Install / Upgrade Paypal Donations

Installation and Upgrading are as easy as a human like me could make it. Simply upload all the files from the archive to your server keeping the folder hierarchy intact and then point your browser to the installation file. On most servers it will be one of the following:

• http://www.yourdomain.com/admincp/donations_install.php
• http://www.yourdomain.com/forum/admi...ns_install.php

Just follow the prompts from there folks, the installer does all the database, template, plugin, phrasing, and settings automatically for you!

If you ever decide to remove the system, just upload the install files and folder again and run the installer and choose uninstall. The uninstaller will remove any and all modifications that it did to your files, database, and templates automatically as well. Its as easy as you can get!

Time to install: less than five minutes depending on your upload speed.

Steps To Perform After Installation

1. You must make sure that you have either a Business or Premiere account with Paypal.
   1. If you do not, then you will need to upgrade your Paypal account to that level before this system will work.
2. You must have Paypal's IPN (Instant Payment Notification) turned on in your Paypal Profile.
   1. You do not need to have it pointing at any particular file for this system to work as the system will tell Paypal where to send the IPN to credit your users and notify you of the transaction.
3. You will need to run through the donations settings at the end of the installer and make sure that you have all the required information in there.
4. Please note that this system can be placed into test mode (default setting is ON when system is first installed).
   1. This setting tells the system whether to speak with the real Paypal Server for transactions or with Paypal's Sandbox (testing) server. If you wish to test the system before going live you will need to have access to Paypal's Sandbox server, you can sign up for access there at: http://developer.paypal.com.
5. You will need to input your Paypal Account Email into the settings
6. You will need to input the full URL to your donate.php file so that your users can make it back to your site after payment
7. You will need to input the full URL to your ppverify.php file so that Paypal can send your IPNs to you and your system can process the information and give your users credit for the donation

License

Originally Posted by Brandon J. Briggs aka. Cloudrunner

As the original author of the Paypal Hacks for vBulletin 3.0.x and 3.5.x I give full authorization to modify, recode, compile and/or reverse engineer the paypal donation hacks to any and all fully licensed members of vBulletin.org. I also give permission to fully distribute any derivative works that are created due to this authorization without need of providing credit or other means of recompense.

I am releasing this authorization in the hopes that someone will be able to carry on the work that was begun.

Final words

You will need to add a link somewhere in your navigation system for vBulletin pointing your users to the donations page (if you installed the vBadvanced Module then you have a link on the home page, but you might want to add one in the nav bar as well), as well as setting up your paypal account to give IPN responses to you, you can do this in your Paypal Profile under Instant Payment Notification.

To play in PayPal's Sandbox you will need to be registered with their developer network and setup a few sandbox accounts to play with the sandbox properly. I have throughly tested the sandbox functionality, and it is working until they decide to change coding standards again.

I sincerely hope that you enjoy this hack, Please feel free to send feedback to tnp@noblepagan.com !

Thank you!

)O( Cloudrunner )O(

P.s. Should you feel the need to donate to me in thanks, I will not stop you , in fact I will say thank you and that your support is greatly appreciated. If you do donate to me for this hack, I will give the recognition here as well as on The Noble Pagan. You can find my donations page here (also works as a demo site should you feel the need to check it out):

The Noble Pagan Donation Page

[SCRIPT3R]

Originally Posted by iguanairs

That means that DURING DEVELOPMENT of this modification, those users helped out with the core code of the modifications and reported errors that had been corrected for the version of VB that the mod was written for.

and where do newbies find such information that THAT is in fact what it means? i already know this, but to a lot of newbies, this little bit of information could help as it's not easily found within this forum.

This is NOT confusding. BETA is NOT checked because this modification was not a beta WHEN IT WAS RELEASED! When this modification was released, it worked fine. The only thing you needed to change was the vBulletin to read vbulletin in the xml. When this modification was released, it was for vB Version: 3.5.0 Beta 4 and it wasn't a beta. Everything worked for that version!

first of all, it DID NOT work "fine" for 3.5.0 Beta 4 as you claim. there were some of the same errors people are seeing now. if this is not confusing as you say, then why are there soo many post questing soo many things about this hack? everything about this particular hack is confusing to soo many people... hence all the posting - duh.

It doesn't matter how many coders actually click the supported box. If it is not checked, they have stated that they do not intend on supporting the modification. If they have time, and they do still support the mod, that is a bonus. If life happens, and they walk away from the mod leaving it unsupported, they are not doing anything they didn't already say they would do.

as i've already said... i know this, but many newbies do not as they can jump from thread to thread and get help from the coders instantly although soo many hacks are ticked as unsupported. again, another confusing aspect not made clear here.

I don't know cloudrunner, so I am not trying to defend his actions on a personal level. I am however pretty tired of coming to vb.org and seeing people talk trash when the version of vb they are running is not the version the mod was written for and the mod is listed as unsupported.

so why do you still come into this thread if it bothers you soo much? i think by now it's obvious that this hack is no longer in development and unsupported as you've said, so no reason to come back and check for updates or to read all the comments from other users... right? did you ever hear the statement about the guy that went to the doctor and told the doctor that his arm hurt when he moved it? the doctor replied to the man - don't move your arm then.

Look under my name, I am a member. I am not a coder on the level that a lot of these people are. I myself have helped in this thread several times. I would love to see this mod updated to 3.5.2 but I am not expecting it to be because it is listed as unsupported.

Helping in the thread as members is great, but leave the trash talk about the author out. Its old and tiring to read people saying someone abandoned a mod when it is clearly listed as unsupported and was written for a version that is several versions old now.

i agree that the trash talking should be left out... but as i've pointed out several times already, everything about this hack is confusing on soo many levels.

Before anyone comments on a mod, they need to read and see what version of VB the mod is for and if it is listed as supported. If it is for a different version of Vb and is listed as "unsupported", there is nothing to complain about. This mod WASN"T abandoned. It is several versions old and listed as unsupported.

i agree... to a point. developing a product for a beta release of anything is incomplete no matter what anyone thinks IMO! sure it may work for a beta release, but you have clear advanced knowledge that said product WILL eventually go GOLD and your hack may then become obsolete... perhaps within hours or even minutes until a next beta release or GOLD release. if you develop with the intention to only develop for BETA releases, this should also be stated... which clearly isn't in this case.

[Rich]

Hello,

and where do newbies find such information that THAT is in fact what it means? i already know this, but to a lot of newbies, this little bit of information could help as it's not easily found within this forum.

I guess the first post isn't easy enough to read? This is from the release post. The one at the top of every page:

Special Thanks


Special Thanks goes to the following people, without their support, this would never have happened:

dsboyce8624
guvner
SLeeeper
And all of the Alpha Testers that helped out with this Hack!

I couldn't have done it without you all, Thank you!

That seems pretty clear to me.

first of all, it DID NOT work "fine" for 3.5.0 Beta 4 as you claim. there were some of the same errors people are seeing now. if this is not confusing as you say, then why are there soo many post questing soo many things about this hack? everything about this particular hack is confusing to soo many people... hence all the posting - duh.

The only consistent error was the "capital B in vbulletin". That has been addressed several times throughout this thread. I myself have addressed that several times.

as i've already said... i know this, but many newbies do not as they can jump from thread to thread and get help from the coders instantly although soo many hacks are ticked as unsupported. again, another confusing aspect not made clear here.

What part of "If the check box beside the Supported box at the top is not marked, it isn't supported" is not clear? When you look at a modification and see the checkbox cleared beside that, you assume there is NO support. If you happen to get support, then you lucked out. That is not confusing. That is as clear as it gets bro.

so why do you still come into this thread if it bothers you soo much? i think by now it's obvious that this hack is no longer in development and unsupported as you've said, so no reason to come back and check for updates or to read all the comments from other users... right? did you ever hear the statement about the guy that went to the doctor and told the doctor that his arm hurt when he moved it? the doctor replied to the man - don't move your arm then.

I visit this thread to see if a MEMBER posts THEIR working version that they may have worked out. Just because a modification isn't supported doesn't mean that another coder won't stop in and add a file that they corrected on THEIR version which is 3.5.2 compatible. So I am not visiting this thread to see what BS is spewing from someones mouth, I am hoping someone has a file correction for the ppverify.

i agree that the trash talking should be left out... but as i've pointed out several times already, everything about this hack is confusing on soo many levels.

If the concept of those boxes at the top are so confusing to people, they shouldn't be installing this modification in the first place as they are certainly going to get lost. Like I said, I am not a coder like these people are and I understand clearly that if it shows "unsupported", I can not expect support. I can post questions hoping someone else has the answer, but I do not anticipate support. Its seems very clear to me. I don't understand how that confuses anyone though.

i agree... to a point. developing a product for a beta release of anything is incomplete no matter what anyone thinks IMO! sure it may work for a beta release, but you have clear advanced knowledge that said product WILL eventually go GOLD and your hack may then become obsolete... perhaps within hours or even minutes until a next beta release or GOLD release. if you develop with the intention to only develop for BETA releases, this should also be stated... which clearly isn't in this case.

Show me where it says that a mod release for a version of VB will be upgraded when the version is upgraded? There is no advanced knowledge of this. In fact, there are a ton of mods that haven't been ported over to 3.5.0 yet and some never will. They are not obligated to upgrade any script.

You need to realize that these modifications are added to this site free of charge. the coder is not getting paid. If they are running a specific version of vb and they create a mod for their site and release it as UNSUPPORTED, they are doing all of us a favor in releasing it. They don't owe any of us a damn thing and they certainly are not obligated to upgrade the script because a bunch of non coders want them to. Do you follow me?

Everyone that visits this site that isn't a coder needs to step back and realize that THEY need this site. The coders don't need this site. lol They can just code up their own modifications. Anything you get off of vb.org is a gift and some gratitude should be displayed to the coders for releasing it in the first place.

My perception of those of you on the site that talk trash about modifications not working and how this was expected and that was expected is that you have no concept of how this site works.

Everyone DONATING their mods are utilizing THEIR time and efforts to help improve this community and everyone elses individual communities. They owe none of us anything and yet a handful of you seem to think they do indeed owe you something.

Those of you that are epecting things should take some initiative and learn to code. Some PHP and mysql knowledge will get you started. Once you know how to code, spend hours and hours writing up modifications for vb.org and then list them.

Now that they are up, wait 2-3 weeks and watch the ungrateful and inconsiderate non coders start making rude and disrespectful comments about your modifications because they can't get it to work. (Even though it works on your site and several other sites.) Let me know exactly how you feel about releasing your mods after a bunch of clowns start ripping into you.

Maybe then the concept of gratitude will be understood.

[SCRIPT3R]

Originally Posted by iguanairs

I guess the first post isn't easy enough to read? This is from the release post. The one at the top of every page:

That seems pretty clear to me.

that's EXACTLY my point... it clearly refers to additonal Supporters. i personally know that he's just referring to people who've helped get this hack going, but others might assume (and obviously they have) that there are actual "supporters" for this hack although the Support Box is not checked. again, as stated previously numerous times... a gross inconsistency among this forum.

The only consistent error was the "capital B in vbulletin". That has been addressed several times throughout this thread. I myself have addressed that several times.

so have i... and there are more "consistent" errors since the beta release. (ppverify, B in XML, sandbox config, template edit double-ups, etc.)

What part of "If the check box beside the Supported box at the top is not marked, it isn't supported" is not clear? When you look at a modification and see the checkbox cleared beside that, you assume there is NO support. If you happen to get support, then you lucked out. That is not confusing. That is as clear as it gets bro.

it's clear to me... but obviously not the majority of users who've complained in this thread. proof is in the pudding. i couldn't agree with you more, but this thread speaks for itself, don't ya think?

I visit this thread to see if a MEMBER posts THEIR working version that they may have worked out. Just because a modification isn't supported doesn't mean that another coder won't stop in and add a file that they corrected on THEIR version which is 3.5.2 compatible. So I am not visiting this thread to see what BS is spewing from someones mouth, I am hoping someone has a file correction for the ppverify.

me too.

If the concept of those boxes at the top are so confusing to people, they shouldn't be installing this modification in the first place as they are certainly going to get lost. Like I said, I am not a coder like these people are and I understand clearly that if it shows "unsupported", I can not expect support. I can post questions hoping someone else has the answer, but I do not anticipate support. Its seems very clear to me. I don't understand how that confuses anyone though.

i agree.

Show me where it says that a mod release for a version of VB will be upgraded when the version is upgraded? There is no advanced knowledge of this.

so you don't think there is advance knowledge that when vB releases a BETA version that they're going to release a GOLD version sooner or later?!?! i was talking about vB... not the hacks found here.

In fact, there are a ton of mods that haven't been ported over to 3.5.0 yet and some never will. They are not obligated to upgrade any script.

never said otherwise.

You need to realize that these modifications are added to this site free of charge. the coder is not getting paid. If they are running a specific version of vb and they create a mod for their site and release it as UNSUPPORTED, they are doing all of us a favor in releasing it. They don't owe any of us a damn thing and they certainly are not obligated to upgrade the script because a bunch of non coders want them to. Do you follow me?

of course i do... when did i ever say otherwise?

Everyone that visits this site that isn't a coder needs to step back and realize that THEY need this site. The coders don't need this site. lol They can just code up their own modifications. Anything you get off of vb.org is a gift and some gratitude should be displayed to the coders for releasing it in the first place.

My perception of those of you on the site that talk trash about modifications not working and how this was expected and that was expected is that you have no concept of how this site works.

Everyone DONATING their mods are utilizing THEIR time and efforts to help improve this community and everyone elses individual communities. They owe none of us anything and yet a handful of you seem to think they do indeed owe you something.

Those of you that are epecting things should take some initiative and learn to code. Some PHP and mysql knowledge will get you started. Once you know how to code, spend hours and hours writing up modifications for vb.org and then list them.

Now that they are up, wait 2-3 weeks and watch the ungrateful and inconsiderate non coders start making rude and disrespectful comments about your modifications because they can't get it to work. (Even though it works on your site and several other sites.) Let me know exactly how you feel about releasing your mods after a bunch of clowns start ripping into you.

Maybe then the concept of gratitude will be understood.

i agree.

[Flow Fusion]

How would I change the link to paypal.com? For some reason I get https://www.sandbox.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr at my site.

[SCRIPT3R]

Originally Posted by Flow Fusion

How would I change the link to paypal.com? For some reason I get https://www.sandbox.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr at my site.

AdminCP >> PayPal Donations >> Donation Settings >> Set Donations to Test Only! (Select NO) and verify you have your correct PayPal email addy listed in the options further down.

[mackers8923]

I re-installed this afternoon and it has screwed up my template. I've attached a screen shot of what it has done and a uninstall has not solved the issue.

Anyone know what is causing this?

[SCRIPT3R]

Originally Posted by mackers8923

I re-installed this afternoon and it has screwed up my template. I've attached a screen shot of what it has done and a uninstall has not solved the issue.

Anyone know what is causing this?

i tried to go to your site to get a look at the code, but it doesn't load. i'll assume you took it offline maybe? i'm not sure what you're screenshot it showing in relation to this hack... and are those multiple windows a global problem or just donation-related pages?

[mackers8923]

Yes I have taken it offline, the screen shot shows what every thread appears like. Just window after window

[SCRIPT3R]

check your postbit template to see if any donation code is duplicated.

[SCRIPT3R]

Originally Posted by djsydeburnz

one last question. i tried using that fix for the postbit / postbit_legacy, but forums dont show the 'donor' button to siginify that particular member did donate. was that fix for this particular issue? or just for layout issues? ive put this code in several places tyring to get it to display the donor status of members with no luck:



last question as its the only thing left for me to fix

in postbit find:

<if condition="$show['reputation']"><if condition="$show['reppower']">$vbphrase[reppower]: $post[reppower] </if><div>$post[reputationdisplay]</div></if>
					<div>$post[icqicon] $post[aimicon] $post[msnicon] $post[yahooicon] $post[skypeicon]</div>

after, add in:

<!-- DONATIONS -->
<if condition="$post['donor'] == '1'"><if condition="$post['showdonor'] == '1'"><div><a href="$vboptions[bburl]/donate.php"><img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/donate_donor.gif" border="0"></a></div></if></if>
<!-- END DONATIONS -->

so it appears as:

					</div>
					<if condition="$show['reputation']"><if condition="$show['reppower']">$vbphrase[reppower]: $post[reppower] </if><div>$post[reputationdisplay]</div></if>
					<div>$post[icqicon] $post[aimicon] $post[msnicon] $post[yahooicon] $post[skypeicon]</div>
<!-- DONATIONS -->
<if condition="$post['donor'] == '1'"><if condition="$post['showdonor'] == '1'"><div><a href="$vboptions[bburl]/donate.php"><img src="$stylevar[imgdir_button]/donate_donor.gif" border="0"></a></div></if></if>
<!-- END DONATIONS -->
				</div>

that will bring up the $Donor icon in your users posts.