Option to pay by credit card not available with trial period

[PinnacleWebDesign]

I'm currently running WP 2.9.2 with v3.0.9 of s2Member and I have found this to be intuitive and straightforward to set up, however I do have one query.

I'd like to be able to offer subscribers who sign up before a certain date extra 'free' months as a bonus so I generated my PayPal button as: 'x weeks free trial' and 'one time (for 1 year access, non-recurring)'. However, if I go to the PayPal page I don't get the option to pay by credit card.

If I don't do the trial and set it to 'one time (for one year access, non-recurring, no trial)' then I do get the option to pay by credit card.

Is there a reason for this?

I know that I can manually change the expiry date for subscribers' membership but this is not really practical so is there a way I can get around this?

Is there a way I can give subscribers 57 weeks access (for example) or can I force all subscriptions to expire from 31 December 2011?

Would it work if I change the section of the shortcode to tp="0" tt="D" ra="0.01" rp="57" rt="W" rr="BN"

TIA

Cheers,
Mick

[Jason Caldwell]

Thanks for the great question.

Would it work if I change the section of the shortcode to tp="0" tt="D" ra="0.01" rp="57" rt="W" rr="BN"

Yes, that will work fine. But just to note ( for other readers ), this ONLY works in this particular case, because the rr="BN" attribute is set to BN ( "Buy Now" ), with NON-recurring access. So s2Member will force a specific EOT Time after checkout is completed, thereby... bypassing the limitations set forth by PayPal, as documented here ( https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd= ... 8A6HI00JQU ).

In summary, this will work fine, but only with rr="BN". PayPal Standard integration, by itself, will not support this. PayPal needs s2Member to assist with this.

No worries though.. you're good. Please let us know if you encounter any trouble.

[PinnacleWebDesign]

Hi Jason

Thanks for your reply. I've implemented this and it all looks good.

Thanks for your help and for a great plugin

Cheers,
Mick

[Jason Caldwell]

I should also note this.

The "PayPal account required" issue, is a long standing issue that is a result of "Subscription" functionality. Anytime you create a PayPal Button that includes a trial period, recurring charges, and/or other functionality that will require the use of a PayPal Subscription... PayPal will "require" the Customer to either have an existing PayPal account, or to create a new one during the checkout process.

The solution to this issue, is PayPal Pro integration, with s2Member Pro. The s2Member Pro Module bypasses this, by integrating the entire checkout experience into your site. Even recurring billing, with trial periods is possible; and without forcing the Customer to create a PayPal account. In fact, they can just use their Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover, Maestro, or Solo card instead. PayPal is still an option, but NOT required. [ see: video demo ]