Payment Notification URL won't fire with a 'buy now' button

[mycodetree]

I used the PAyPal button generator in s2member to generate a 'buy now' button for a restricted page. The transaction process works and returns to the correct page after proccessing BUT it doesn't fire the payment notification urls.

I have only tested this under the 'buy now' scenario and not with 'subscription'.

[mycodetree]

I have the solution ... and it isn't a fix to anything that is or was wrong ... just my misunderstanding how s2member works. I'm leaving this thread here however; with the solution posted. I figure if I fell down this rabbit hole others may too.

In s2member~>API / Notifications you'll see several options; one of which is called payment notifications. Now I won't beat s2member up too much on it's documentation but the first sentence in the description of payment notifications;

If you use affiliate software, or have back-office routines that need to be notified whenever payment transactions take place, and/or for recurring payments, you'll want to read this section.

indicates to me that the payment notification section applies to all payment transactions. This is actually a misnomer; the payment notification section only applies to subscription payment transactions rather than all payment transactions.

If, like me, you are looking for a way to have notifications when non subscription payment transactions (i.e Buy Now) are processed, you need to look a little further down for something called, Specific Post/Page Access Notification URLs.

I can't really say this is an s2member issue, the answer was staring at me the whole time; I just read the payment notifications description and thought that was all I needed.

If to offer something constructive to s2member in this regard; adjust the description to strengthen the clarification in the difference between payment notifications and Specific Post/Page Access Notification URLs.

Ryan - 0 (I still love ya tho)
s2member - 1

[Jason Caldwell]

If to offer something constructive to s2member in this regard; adjust the description to strengthen the clarification in the difference between payment notifications and Specific Post/Page Access Notification URLs.

Hi Ryan. Thanks for the great suggestion.

Just to clarify. s2Member's "Payment" Notifications are sent in the following cases:
For any type of transaction that is related to Membership Level Access.
- including Subscription payments
- including Buy Now payments.

Specific Post/Page Access is a separate layer of functionality, and you are correct. Payment Notifications will NOT be received for transacations that are processed for Specific Post/Page Access. These are handled by a separate API Notification which is designed to work independently from Membership Level Access. See: s2Member -> API Notifications -> Specific Post/Page Sales.

@TODO :: update documentation on this topic in the API Notifications panel for s2Member.