How to Setup Gravity Forms PayPal Standard Add-On

With Gravity Forms, integration with PayPal is much more powerful (and easier) than creating individual PayPal buttons. You can collect any information you wish, calculate various prices or types of payment, and then send the visitor to PayPal to complete their transaction before coming back to your site. This is done using a plugin called the Gravity Forms PayPal Standard Add-On, which extends the capability of Gravity Forms.

Note: you do not need HTTPS activated to use this PayPal method, since visitors will be sent to PayPal for payment. To collect payment without leaving the site, contact us about our other PayPal options or Stripe integration.

Let’s walk through setting up PayPal to interact with your form.

Step 1: Activate Gravity Forms Paypal Standard Add-On

Ensure the Gravity Forms PayPal Standard Add-On is enabled by logging into your site and clicking Plugins. If activated, it will have a light blue background and will not show an “Activation” link. If it is not activated, click “Activate”.

Step 2: Configure IPN

The PayPal Payments Standard Add-On uses IPN to receive notifications from PayPal that a payment has been successfully completed. You will need to configure the IPN within PayPal. If you’re not sure how to do that, review the step-by-step instructions from Gravity Forms.

To confirm IPN is set up, simply select the checkbox labeled “PayPal IPN Setting”, and click the “Update Settings” button.

Step 3: Create Form

Create a new form and add any fields you need. Remember to make it easy on your visitors by only collecting the information needed—if you ask for too much, they may not complete it!

The only truly required item is a field that determines the total due. Gravity Forms offers a series of Pricing Fields that help you calculate exactly what you need while allowing the visitor to make their choices clearly.

Example: User-Defined, One-Time Donation Amount

A common need for nonprofits is to allow donations of any amount. This is easy for you to setup!

Below, you can see where we’ve dragged and dropped fields you might need for something like this. Although the total due is all that’s technically required to make PayPal process the transaction, nonprofits often need to keep some information on record to send tax receipts. You can see Name, Address, Email, Phone, and Donation Amount have been added.

The donation amount was included by navigating to the Pricing Fields and selecting “Product”. When expanded, the Product form section looks like the image below. Note that:

• Field Label was changed from “Product” to “Donation Amount”
• “User Defined Price” was selected as the Field Type
• Required box was checked

Once this is done, you’re ready to add a feed! You can explore other options inside the Field Type of the “Product” Pricing Field to see other ways of presenting a product or service to your visitor. For full documentation, review Gravity Forms’ listing of all Pricing Fields.

Step 4: Create Feed

You will need to create a feed for your form submissions to be processed by PayPal. Follow Gravity Forms’ step-by-step instructions on setting up a feed (start with step #3). Again, ensure you follow the instructions based on whether you’re collecting one-time payments (products and services or donations) vs. starting subscriptions. Subscriptions require a little more setup.

 

Step 5: Test and Complete

Finally, test! Preview your form or visit the page where you’ve embedded your form, and complete a transaction for a small amount to ensure everything’s working as expected.