Just wondering... Would others want an add-on so you can easily add Pay Pal SubScriptions and stuff?? Just wondering cause I am adding it to my system...

that sounds cool to me, I look forward to it

Have you got a php script to use Curl to do the posting of the data back to PayPal? I want to work on an automated subscription feature for my site as well but haven't gotten around to it. If you have already done this I would be very interested in it as well.

If not I'll post what ever it is I come up with when I make it. I didn't want to use the cgi script they provide but rather wish to keep everything php.

I am trying to write a PHP Script that interfaces with UBBT... However it is very long and drawn out... Trying to figure out what information I want/need for user subscriptions and all that stuff...

Oh ok. I was wondering if you had ported their cgi script over to php. I intend to kick this around some this next week or two. I know I need the Curl library loaded in order for php to do the posting of the subscriber's information back to the paypal site for authorization and was hoping this was ground you may have already covered.

I'm going over all of the information again and I see what I was refering to is their IPN (instant payment notification) script. What this cgi script does is update an .htaccess file so that subscribers are instantly added to the calling site's subscription area. What I want to create is a php script that would follow through on their authentication from paypal and then adjust what ever in the .threads user's table.

Have you created such a script or is the IPN not something you were going to impliment?

I would love this as well.

Even the ability to add people who "subscribed" through paypal to a group for a certain period of time. I guess you could write a script and a cron job to remove them from a group after their subscription runs out.

I have been using iBill for member access. Both iBill and CCBill want a $750 fee to Visa.... to continue to accept Visa through these services. So I am actively seeking another solution.

Adding users to a specific group automaticly via paypal is basicly what I'm after too along with an expire time. The removal of expired subscriptions would be best handled via a cron script and perhaps a page for admins to view expired accounts for the day and remove them manually. Right now my problem is I don't have the needed php library to send the http post data back to paypal for verification. I'm sending my host an email asking them to install it. They may not though as this library allows for many other things to be done as well. This is basicly why I have let my account laps back to a month to month basis. I may have to move...

perhaps somebody should talk the folks at MacFixit or Version tracker they have a payment system hookedup and you can't search the forum unless you are a paid member.

Is it via PayPal and is it PHP? That's what I'm specificly for myself.

here is a class
This class is usefull to process Instant Payment Notification (IPN) from Paypal. See www.paypal.com for more information about IPN.
It requires cURL PHP module.

Heheh I take a break to do a play for the local theater guild and look what you all do & find... heheh now I am going to look at this code and see what I can do to it :-P You all move faster then I can and I don't have time

Is anything new developing with this? I would really like to see it so that members would have to pay a nominal fee to register 5.00 and 3 per month to maintain a second level of member ship and have more options e.g have a signatire, upload pictures have more access to more forums etc.

Thanks

Stan
www.clubadventist.com

Not lately... Not enough time to even go to the bathroom right now Sometimes I really hate the holidays

I'm late to this thread...it's exactly what we're working on right this sec. It's a vexing topic for too many reasons to explain here, but those looking into this know what I mean (the interface with UBBT is only part of the problem; there's accounting, SSL certificates, storage of credit card numbers, emailing of opt-out notices on recurring subscriptions, etc etc etc).

But good news....check out this link: http://cgi-central.net/scripts/amember

we've only done preliminary digging around on their site, but it looks like a godsend. I think it may make a lot of you very happy indeed. Developer is willing to tweak/customize for $30/hour(!!). If anyone wants to discuss the issue with me, drop an email to [][email protected];[/] no need for us all to independently invent the wheel.

Hey dave, were you looking for some php code for using cURL to send data to an external source? If so I may be able to dig up some code, as I use some commercial software for billing of customers that uses cURL.

Thanks msula but I already have my paypal solution figured out. Datal may want it though.

Any chance I could see that in action?

Thanks

Stan

I've developed a working solution that currently runs under these conditions:


[:"red"]*[/] Ubbthreads 6.1 - I'm sure it will work for 6.2 but I haven't upgraded yet.
[:"red"]*[/] .htaccess type authentication (apache unix/linux) - This could probably be ported to IIS authentication if needed. The system could also be changed to simply use the UBBT authentication without much trouble but since I offer other content besides a forum profile, I require the server authentication layer.
[:"red"]*[/] Netbilling solution provider - Ibill also works and I just downloaded the paypal pdf tonight regarding their membership billing system. Looks like it may work with a little shoehorning.
[/b]

Essentially a user clicks the join button, picks a username and password, pays the membership fee (credit card/debit/online check processed securely on Netbilling's side) and the account is automatically created both for access into the "/login" area on the server and in the UBBT database.

To make sure the user only needed to authenticate once, I had to do some heavy tweaking of UBBT and the perl scripts supplied by Netbilling which reside on my server. I also created custom scripts to handle account removal when a user expires from the billing system. Everything is working smoothly and I recently added a secondary (free) signup system that gives users an account on the forum with more restrictions on file type/size posting, forum access etc.

I don't have a manual for setting this up and to do so would require a fairly advanced understanding of perl/php programming, MySQL, unix/linux systems running apache and of course, experience with the billing solution provider systems. I can tell you however, that it works nicely and allows me to gather revenue without resorting to commercials or relying on donations.

With a big enough user database and traffic flow a membership system can generate revenue for years to come while saving bandwidth costs by adjusting content for pay/free users. Just 500 paying subscribers at $5 a month (roughly the cost of a magazine subscription) equal $2500 a month or 30k a year.

If anyone is interested, I am available for consultation and custom programming. This is a very advanced 'hack' and cannot be done in just a few minutes. My fee will be adjusted accordingly. I can be contacted here (private message me) or at [][email protected].[/]


[:"red"]- Simon[/]