CCBill payment

I'm new to Dolphin and just installed D7.

However, does anyone has a mod that adds CCBill as a payment option for D7

...or does anyone has a copy of D6.x.x that they can send me?

Thanks

I too would like to see an alternative to PayPal.

Yes.

Is there anyone out there that knows how to do this?

There must be a lot of people who already do this, no? (since PayPal can't do recurring billing [right?] and they don't like anything even semi-adult)

I've been asking Boonex, but I guess only one of their guys knows about this and he must be swamped. It's the final major brick in making my site a go. I'm at the point where I'd pay someone for this info (or to do it, or to sell me a mod for it, or whatever)...not that this is the marketplace, but hey, if this is you, message me!

Or if that one Boonex guy can get a moment away from his duties to contact me, boy would it be great.

If it could be done for D6, then the knowledge is there, and it could be done for D7. Who has that knowledge? Come forth...please!! Thanks.

VictorT says ccbil support is coming to D7.  No time frame yet.

http://www.boonex.com/unity/blog/entry/More_payment_providers_coming_up_in_Dolphin_7

Thank you for the info, Leather. I was told the same thing, but the problem is time.

Since there is no timeline for this, I don't know if it will take them a few days, or a few weeks. So I'm STILL hoping either somebody will come forward who can just do this (and I'll pay them), or that one of the Boonex guys takes some time right now and cranks this fix out without waiting for a new 'version' release.

To me, it seems that there were two major holes in D7 'stable', that I was surprised weren't fixed while being called 'stable'. I would have thought that (a) the searching issue (which has now been solved), and (b) the payment processor issue (that we're talking about here) would be integral and top priority. After all, a social network's PURPOSE is to search for people, essentially...and most of us DO this because we're hoping to get some subscription income.

So if just ONE payment processor can be added, whoever it is...one that ALLOWS adult content...then at least we would all have someone to use ('cause though PayPal has its issues, at least non-adult sites have 'something'!).

Okay? I'll be home from traveling in a few days, so I'd appreciate it if this solution could be waiting for me when I get home!!  LOL  

I am also willing to pay for a quality CCBill module.

Double so if it integrates with CCBills affiliate system.

you have to just go strait to CC bill and they will help you set up every thing,

NOW! when you do this, you will go through the whole signup process and then here comes the visa fee of 750.00!

but if you are willing to pay the one time fee, cc bill is great, has every thing, so if you have multiple sites, then its worth it.

ccbill.com

Derrick

The Visa fee is only if you have to accept Visa. If you can make do with MasterCard and Discover then you do not need to pay it.

Are you saying CCBill has a confirmed working solution for Dolphin 7?

I know they have two basic authentication methods. Updating a .htaccess file with usernames and passwords, and they can also update a MySQL database with username and passwords.

So sandalsonly says we can do this ourselves now? That would be cool. But maybe there is more to it than that. Maybe the CC processors can help you set it up for a simple html site where you just need a username/password, but our users already have a username/password, so it has to interface with Dolphin and have it adjust the membership info in your Dolphin account, or interact with the Store, and tell the admin that somebody purchased a product so we can know to ship it to them. This would mean the CC processor has to know Dolphin…I’m not sure that’s gonna be the case.

Okay, let's look at this. What would have to be done:

(1) The routing would need to be changed, so that when a person goes to My Account > My Membership, adds a membership to their cart and clicks 'Checkout' (or adds a product from the Store, and clicks checkout) then instead of going to PayPal as it does now, it goes to the appropriate CC Processor (to whatever URL the CC Processor give us), then that's one part of it.

Currently, as far as I can tell, the 'Payment' module can be configured only for PayPal (under Payment Details there is only one option - a single drop down button labeled 'PayPal'). Even if somebody added a second option (a second drop down) called 'Other' or 'Generic' or something, that had a drop-down that has fields that you could fill in, the first one being the URL the CC Processor gives us, that would be step one. Even if Boonex didn't create options for SPECIFIC processors, couldn't we just have a generic one that we could fill in with the right info? (and that's a question, not a statement, 'cause I don't know...it just seems like it would be). If so, then I could see being able to just have the CC Processor help give us that info. OR at the very least, while we're waiting for that to be added, there could be instructions for going into the PHP file where that link is specified and do it there...but it would be very nice to have it right there in the Payment module, as that is the place for it.

(2) Once the purchase has been made, then wouldn’t there still need to be some communication back to Dolphin (like there is for PayPal currently, with the return path). But rather than give the user a new username/password, like the standard CC setup would be, it would instead need to send to Dolphin the confirmation of payment (which product: membership or store product, and that they have paid for it), right? The CC Processor would need this info. Can we use the same return path that we use for PayPal, and will that properly credit things (Do all processors use the same format for return data, or does there need to be a separate return path for each processor, that will interpret that particular processor's return data) and credit the membership level or buy the Store product? Since Dolphin would have to distinguish which item it is (a store product or a membership level - and WHICH product or WHICH membership level) this may be something that has to be added to Dolphin, or instructions given by Boonex, since it’s very specific to Dolphin. ??

(3) Then there is the issue of recurring billing, I suppose. You'd have product purchases that would NOT be recurring (from the store), and membership purchases which COULD be recurring.

So that’s why I’m not sure the CC Processors would have the complete solution. I’m thinking somebody needs to quickly add that second processor interface, and instructions on exactly how to set it up.

By all means educate me if I’m wrong, but it just seems that to be seamless, and work with Dolphin’s existing membership module, this would all need to be worked out, and BY a Dolphin person. I don’t think it would be a big deal, for those who know all of the software, and so that’s why I hope somebody will step up and finish that quickly.

(and yeah, Leather, I'm ready to pay the Visa fee!...but only when I'm sure Dolphin is ready to roll with payments)

I'm talking to some people over at CCBill.  They say they can provide the required information for upgrading an existing membership.

I guess I am working on a CCBill module now. Wish me luck!

I'm talking to some people over at CCBill.  They say they can provide the required information for upgrading an existing membership.

I guess I am working on a CCBill module now. Wish me luck!

Good luck!

Is this only going to be for memberships? Will it also allow you to set up products to be purchased from the store? I'd hate to have to go through this all again to find a solution for the products sales! If CCBill only does memberships maybe you should choose one that does it all. ?

It's a shame that you'd have to write this mod, since it's such a basic functionality (in my opinion). If Boonex could give us a timeline, and if they could commit to just doing it quickly, I'm sure an experienced mod writer would be able to knock this out. Not saying anything about your skills, though (!) and maybe you'll be a hero!

Just so you know... allot of people here are willing to pay any price for that kind of module...

Just lettin' ya' know.

ccBill, in my long experience with them, has no knowledge of working with Dolphin.  Their workers will send you pdf's of passback variables, but ultimately, it's going to come down to coding.

After you get ccBill working independently of Dolphin, the issue I've come across is

1.  The memberships do not auto upgrade.  These can be done manually thru the Finance page in Admin, but this is not effective.

2. The memberships are reflected as an upgrade in Admin but do not revert back to Standard when a membership expires.

3.  The membership may be reflected, but the amount of days is incorrect.  For example, a 30 days membership reflects in Admin as 630 days (again, my experience), and Admin will not allow or recognize any adjustment to this.

I've approached every person I could on this site to get it fixed, and thus far, no one has been able to get it working properly or accurately.  Unfortunately, it'd held up the launch of my site for months, and a big waste of the $750 I paid to Visa.

It really sucks that ccBill was offered in 6.1.6 as a payment option when no one seems to have gotten it to work.  It seems like very false advertising on Boonex's part to advertise their software with this as a payment option when it obviously is not.  I do hope that those using 7.0 will have better luck.

I'm curious if anyone reading this has had a different experience or inaccuracies.

Recurring payment mods are available -- I got mine on Expertzzz months ago, so search for ccBill.

Well...I hope it's not ANY price!   LOL

I think the higher the price that a third party charges to write in this basic core functionality (which should be part of a Final Stable version) the more angry those who paid for Dolphin will be. That's why it would be smart for Boonex to get somebody to write this quickly...and communicate to us that this is so. Mods should be for extending the product into new places, not adding core functionality or fixing problems. I'm just saying 'should'...I know people need to do what they have to do...but I wouldn't want to use a third-party core-functionality mod, then Boonex comes out with one, and when I try to switch over Boonex gets mad at me for using a third-party mod and changing the code. So I am trying to urge Boonex to do this quickly, because I want to get along, and it's a new version so I'm trying to keep it as 'clean' as possible (made by core Boonex people), but I do want to point out these things.

My plan is to bypass the Boonex store / cart / payment stuff and just have an upgrade page.

The upgrade page would have an iFrame that pulls the CCBill form (CCBill insists on hosting the form) from a URL that can be entered in the modules admin page (you would get the URL from CCBill).

There is a trick to pass some custom vars to CCBill, this will be done when the iFrame is loaded.

Then CCBill will post back some information, that can hopefully be used to update the sys_acl_levels_members table.

Dose that sound like it would work for most people? Please keep in mind this is a very basic, simplified explanation.

Dose anyone really want to use the store / cart / payment / evil paypal supporting boonex stuff?

sounds like it could work but is only good for one membership level ccbill is no good if you have more then one payment option or level unless you want to make a ccbill account for each one....then ccbill will send the user to your membership area once they have paid. sounds good if you have a porn site no real use for a dating site....

if my missus saw a ccbill on my credit card she would be more then suss

If your membership levels each has a different price from the other, you can setup CCBill to process the payment of each membership level within the same CCBill account.  I'm doing it now using another social networking script.

Dose anyone really want to use the store / cart / payment / evil paypal supporting boonex stuff?

Hmmm, well you lumped several things in there together. As for the "store"...YES, I do want to use that. I want to have a place where my users can go to buy products (not subscriptions, but real tangible physical objects). And I do want it to be seamless, so YES the "cart" would be perfect, because you can add a subscription to a cart, and then add a product to a cart, and check out and pay for both. This is how it is laid out in Dolphin, and while they released the 'stable' version without that working (??) it was in there...so I expect that they would fix that immediately to avoid feeling shameful about such an oversight, especially given the number of people with sites being held up by this. As far as "evil paypal supporting boonex", I'm not sure what you mean. If you just mean that PayPal is not an honest payment processor, and so we shouldn't use them, then okay, I'm with you on that. NO, I don't want anything evil (!), and for those with adult sites PayPal is NOT a solution, and so another solution needs to be worked out with a payment processor that can handle:

(1) recurring transactions, (2) adult content, and (3) tangible/physical products that you ship to people

It's really not rocket science...just those three things above, integrated into Dolphin.

Whatever payment processor that can do those things above, and has fair practices, is fine with me.

If your membership levels each has a different price from the other, you can setup CCBill to process the payment of each membership level within the same CCBill account.  I'm doing it now using another social networking script.

Well, see? If another script can do it, then it's possible...so Boonex can do it. But the processor not only needs to be able to handle different prices for different membership levels, but also handle different tangile/physical products that you can add and remove as they become available (in the processor's admin area as well as in Dolphin's admin area). Each product or membership should just cost a different amount, and you tell the processor ahead of time which ones are recurring and which are not, and the processor sends back some code that tells Dolphin which item it is, and if it's a membership then it automatically upgrades the membership (and if they cancel it sends Dolphin another code and Dolphin sets the membership to expire) and if it's a physical product then the code tells Dolphin which item so that the admin can ship the item to the user. Something like that anyway.

This stuff happens on the internet all day long, so it can be done. Please have somebody at Boonex take responsibility and make it happen. I don't want to have to become an expert at this and build it myself!

CCBill is not for tangile/physical products.

According to CCBills T&C, the billing is for subscriptions only.

From one of the FAQs:

I would recommend using the Boonex store / payment module (and thus PayPal) for any tangible goods, and a CCBill module for upgrading memberships.

And how exactly does one sell tangible goods through the dolphin store? I'm working on it for two days now and can't figure it out.

And how exactly does one sell tangible goods through the dolphin store?

Log in as Admin through the regular login box (not the admin login page). Go to 'Store'. Click 'Add Product'. Fill in the information about the 'tangible product, upload a photo of it, then upload a "File" for each 'version' of the product. For example, if you have 3 sizes of something for sale then the ITEM is just "Item Name", but the individual files are "Small", "Medium", "Large", etc. Each can have its own name and price...if you only have one 'version' just upload one File. Try to ignore the fact that these are called "Files"...why? Because the developers narrowly assumed people would be selling computer files, since that's all they sell...this is obviously only one of many things you can sell, but they still call them 'files' and you have to sort of trick the system to do what you want it to do.  :/ Make sure the permissions are set in "Settings > Membership Levels" so that the users you want can view and buy things. If you don't want users to sell goods you can remove the Store from the main menu (and a few other places that shows up). Then you go to the area where you set up payments...this is NOT in admin (the payment area in admin is where you setup PayPal info for membership upgrades, not products)...but logged in as user 'Admin' go to the item under Dashboard called Payments and set up your PayPal information. How you do that can be found in various other forum posts...but for mine I have - Active is checked - Mode: Live - Business: <the email address of my PayPal account> - Process type: IPN - Connection type: SSL - Identity token: <a very long code given to me by PayPal, see below>. Go to PayPal and set up your Selling Preferences...to use Instant Payment Notification set the IPN to "on" and enter the Notification URL, which should be "http://your-site-url.com/sub-directory-path-if-any/m/payment/act_finalize_checkout/". There are more PayPal things to set up, but that's a good URL to know. Then somewhere PayPal has given you an 'identity token' (very long code) get this for your payment info in Dolphin. Now a user should be able to go to the Store, see your product, add it to their cart, checkout, enter their paypal info, and the money will be transferred to your paypal account, and both you and the buyer will receive an email confirming the purchase. You can then send the person the item. Unfortunately there is no place to put the shipping address!! What? I know, but once again, the developers ONLY imagined people would be selling downloadable items. So you either have to have shipping address fields on your join form (!) or find some other way for the person to get their shipping address to you. I mentioned this lack of shipping address info to Boonex and I was just told that it was originally meant for computer files, so there was no way to ask for a shipping address when checking out. ??? I don't want to add 'shipping address' to my profiles, 'cause people won't fill it out and then I'll have to email them and ask for their address anyway. There is one thing on PayPal that you can set, so that the user can click "gift message" to type in a message when they're buying a gift...I suppose you could turn that on, and then somehow explain on each item that they have to click "gift message" and enter their shipping info. But that's soooo lame. Maybe other payment processors offer a place during their checkout to enter this info...I'd bet they do (if they allow you to sell products). Or maybe there is a way to set up PayPal to ask that, but I couldn't find it.

ALL of this assumes that your site has no adult content in it...if it does, then never mind, because you can't use PayPal, and since that's currently the ONLY option, you're totally screwed. That's why it is important for Boonex to quickly add other options for payments (CCBill has been mentioned, but as 'LeatherSportB' mentioned above, they won't sell 'products' only 'subscriptions'). Since the 'memberships' payment info is entered through the admin area, and 'product' payment info is entered in the USER Admin payment info in Dashboard, you could set up CCBill to process your memberships and another processor to handle products...but if one can be found that does both, that would be far superior, of course.

Repeat...PayPal is NOT an option for EITHER products OR subscriptions for a HUGE percentage of Dolphin users...PLEASE help me (and many others) set up payment processing for memberships AND products. Every day that goes by while I wait for this core functionality to be finished is a missed opportunity for me and my site, and is another day I wait to launch the site. It has been 18 days already, just in THIS forum topic alone...so there should be some solution presented any time now...any day now...any minute now...right? Someone at Boonex is working on nothing but this 14 hours a day, every day, to get this oversight fixed...right? 

LOL

HAHAHA

<Takes a deep breath>

LMAO

Have you tried searching in the market place for the CCBill module by IgorL. I had it working like a charm in 7.0 and recently had issues with it after a move, and upgrade to 7.03, but it seems that IgorL has gotten it working again.

yes igor has a mod and its great and hes great too....and i know LOTS about ccbill. it's 750.00 to get to take visa the first year the 500 a year after that....so if you need to take visa and you have an adult site and you don;t want to spend 500 a year it is not for you. however ccbill is a great company...great customer serrvice  BUT they know nothing about dolphin...so if anything ever happened to igor my business would be in deep trouble.

we paid a developer to integrate ccbill for our dolphin site. we used their affiliate system though. this way, when members join from a members profile, that member will get paid a percentage of the monthly fee. we charge $19.99 per month and pay our affiliates 70%. this was not easy because we had to set up completely different account types for non affiliate users.

if anyone is interested in this type of set up, let me know and i will talk to my developer to see if we can sell these mods. please be aware, this was not cheap. we spent thousands of dollar for this.

also, i would definitely recommend that you pay the $750 for visa acceptance. at least 90% of people use visa.