Lost your password?

Need help? Check out our Support site, then


WordPress.com Forums » Support

how to add a paypal donation button to my widget

  1. fanocp
    Member

    hi all , l have a question.
    i have a wordpress and would like to put a paypal donation button on the right side where my widgets are.
    ive seen a plugin for it here:
    http://www.thejackol.com/category/projects/
    many people replied positive comments so i guess its safe

    but my question is , how do l add the button , and also how do i install the plugin?
    ive read u need the latest wordpress edition
    that i have to download an FTP program to acces my site
    then go to plugins at admin panels and then activate it somehow.

    i guess once installed u have a wordpress folder where u can add the program u need to add a paypal donation button on ur widget.
    however i dont know if thats for wordpress.org or .com

    if anyone could help me with this i would very much apreciate it.
    thanks
    fano

  2. justjennifer
    Member

    Plugins are not available here at wordpress.com.

    After doing a quick search in the wordpress.com FAQ I found this
    http://faq.wordpress.com/?s=Paypal

    which led me to this
    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=6760&page&replies=28#post-44267

    Hope that helps

  3. fanocp
    Member

    thanks for ur fast comment.
    i looked at the page and i see that it is possible but
    its extremely difficult for someone like me who doesnt know html at all.
    if someone could help me with step by step it would help me alot

    i start with going to paypal , log in ,
    go to merchandise tools - choose donation
    then i fill in forms , donation name , id i leave empty.
    choose us dollars , country blank.
    after that i use the url of the image i uploaded at imageshack
    and choose use my image.
    then i have 2 options , 1 coded and 1 not coded.
    i tried them both and copy pasted it into my text widget but none worked.
    if someone can tell me what i do wrong , or what i have to change
    i will very much apreciate it
    thanks
    fano

  4. raincoaster
    Member

    Please be more specific about "none worked." What kind of failure notice did you get? What happened? What exact code were you trying to post?

  5. fanocp
    Member

    when i copied the code that were generated towards the info i entered
    i pasted it into my text widget.
    but when i went to my page it showed no image at all nor text.
    it was just empty and below at the bar it said an error of couldnt load the imageshack image.
    i used the http://(imageshack direct link url) when i added the info at my paypal account
    (choose my images / enter url )

    i also tried editing the code url by removing the http:// link
    and change it into the hotlink for websites url wich normaly shows the images directly.

    example <img src="http://the link " order="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack. us"/><br/>

    after l did that the image showed up but there was no link to my paypal account.

    i dont know if i can post the exact code , since it contains info

  6. raincoaster
    Member

    Yes, you're going to post it in your blog anyway, so it should be fine to post here. But you don't need to do that. Do this instead, it's easier (I hate working in HTML myself and I did this to add Paypal to my blog).

    You follow all the steps above to get the right link, and you save the Paypal button image you want however you usually save images...in your Wordpress account or in Photobucket or in Imageshack or whatever. And you make a draft post, just like a regular only you never post it, you just save it as a draft, never to go live. In it you put the image, then you click on it and hit the Link icon, and you add the right link into the popup box. Does that make sense? Basically you make a blog post featuring the image and the link together and tweak it however you want (centered, change the size, put your own picture in it, whatever you want). Then you click the Code tab...and that takes you to the code for that post. Copy all of it. Put that in your text widget. Save teh draft, in case you make a mistake and want to tweak it.

  7. fanocp
    Member

    woaa that looks difficult , but ill try it and let u know how lt turns out.
    thanks for ur help
    fano

  8. raincoaster
    Member

    You're welcome. It's much easier to do than explain. I'm sure you'll do fine. The basic idea is to use the Visual Editor tools to do all the heavy lifting for you. Then click the Code tab and steal the code and just paste it in. Let us know how it works for you.

  9. fanocp
    Member

    im trying it right now but l got a couple of questions.
    with a draft post u mean , go to write type text and press save but not publish.
    lf so then after that
    with the image i have to put there i think u mean the imageshack hotlink for websites
    that makes u see the images right away.
    then l go to link and l can add a url
    however l do not know what link to put there
    once i did that l go to code , and lt will come out like this
    example
    and instead of example it will be my paypal code.
    lf im doing it wrong please let me know.
    how i want it to look is a bit like this:
    http://www.theavatarportal.com/
    on the left side u see a custom made button ( picture )
    wich links u to paypal where u can donate an amount.
    l alrdy have the picture , thing is to get it working.
    once again thanks for ur help
    fano

  10. raincoaster
    Member

    The link that you want to use is the link that Paypal gives you, to the Paypal donation page. What you've got there is basically right. You know how to put an image in your post? Do that with the image you want to be your Paypal button (it's easiest to start with the standard one they give you on Paypal). You're doing it right, as far as I can tell.

    Try the suggestions in this thread, it's the easiest one there is:

    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=8411&page&replies=23#post-98534

  11. judyb12
    Member

    I don't know if this will help you at all, but here's what the code in your text widget should look like:
    <a href="https://YOUR_PAYPAL_LINK_HERE" title="Paypal button" target="_blank"><img src="http://YOUR_IMAGE_LINK_HERE" alt="paypal button" align="middle" /></a>
    (code stolen from Rain's site and modified)

    Substitute the real PayPal link and image link, of course

  12. raincoaster
    Member

    Well, you could have left my real donation code in and I wouldn't have gotten pissed off or anything.

  13. judyb12
    Member

    but it would have been confusing. You just want more donations ;)

  14. fanocp
    Member

    well i tried to upload my image , then go to link and add the url.
    that still linked my to imageshack , however
    i changed the imageshack into my paypal link by editing the imageshack.us part , and now it does link me to it aswel as shows the image.
    i didnt need to use the code button.
    my question is tho , when i click on it it brings me to my paypal donation page with the whole link:

    ht tps://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=( my email ) %2ecom&item_name= ( the name )

    however when i go to theavatarportal.com website and click on their donation button
    it links me to their paypal donation page and shows only the link
    https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
    no further information at all
    am i doing something wrong?

    also paypal didnt gave me a link to the page , but only a code
    i just copied pasted the first part of my code wich was

    ht tps://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=( my email ) %2ecom&item_name= ( the name )

    thanks again for all ur help , i really apreciate it

  15. raincoaster
    Member

    As long as it goes to a page on Paypal that they can donate to you from, all is good.

    Congratulations.

    Mine is like yours: it goes to:
    https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=raincoaster%40gmail%2ecom&item_name=raincoaster&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_code=CAD&lc=CA&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8

  16. fanocp
    Member

    cool , thanks alot everyone for your help ,
    my last question however is , when i go to my paypal it shows the language in dutch.
    but when i go to urs or others its in english.
    does paypal automaticly translates my page in dutch only for me or did i put it wrong?
    thanks again everyone , l would like to help u back but unless u need a picture to be edited , theres not much i can do xd
    thanks and cheers
    fano

  17. judyb12
    Member

    are you Dutch? PayPal uses your IP to decide where you are and what language you probably want to read.

  18. fanocp
    Member

    ahh ok , that explains it , thanks very much again
    and yea im dutch , feel free to visit me
    we have wooden shoes , windmills and cows flying at this time of the year :P

  19. fanocp
    Member

    im sorry to disturb again but a friend of mine says he knew someone who also had a donation button on his wordpress and got deleted.
    i doubt thats possible unless its illegal to put a donation button on a widget
    but i dont think that is.
    so is my wordpress safe while having the button on?
    thanks
    fano

  20. justjennifer
    Member

    fanocp-if you are within the wordpress.com TOS, I don't think you have anything to worry about. When we signed up for WP.com, we agreed to those TOS, which is why eventually you might see a PayPal donation button on my site, but never a link to my CafePress shop. :) If you need a review of the TOS, the link is at the bottom of this page.

  21. fanocp
    Member

    thanks , it made alot more clear.
    i just have a donation button , but i dont sell anything
    nor link them to something like that.
    i guess i dont have to worry then
    my site is still about what it is , lt just has an donation option added
    thank you for ur reply jennifer
    cheers
    fano

  22. barbararaisbeck
    Member

    i've been trying for soooo long to make this work, to no avail. i've tried every suggestion over and over, but still, no go.

    i am trying to embed my own custom button with a link to paypal (so have been trying 'raincoaster's tips), but cannot get it to work arghh!

  23. raincoaster
    Member

    Can you be more specific about the nature of the failures?

  24. barbararaisbeck
    Member

    i follow this method per your advice:

    make a draft post, just like a regular only you never post it, you just save it as a draft, never to go live. In it you put the image, then you click on it and hit the Link icon, and you add the right link into the popup box. Does that make sense? Basically you make a blog post featuring the image and the link together and tweak it however you want (centered, change the size, put your own picture in it, whatever you want). Then you click the Code tab...and that takes you to the code for that post. Copy all of it. Put that in your text widget.

    when i publish the widget, i get my image with the address for paypal beneath it, that's it. so i'm not linking it properly, somewhere...?

  25. barbararaisbeck
    Member

    i finally figured out how to do this, and posted a detailed post on exactly what i did to make it work. if you follow the directions to a T it should work.

    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=17818&page&replies=5

  26. scholarpreneur
    Member

    I had a bunch of trouble finding a plugin too! I finally ended up making my own, which was VERY easy. You just copy and paste some simple html. Here's a short guide I wrote up on how to do it: http://www.scholarpreneur.com/2007/11/17/the-easiest-way-to-make-a-paypal-donate-button-or-widget/

  27. options
    Inactive

    > I finally ended up making my own, which was VERY easy.

    congratulations, but... unfortunately, forms are banned on .com, so you have to get by with a mere link.

  28. scholarpreneur
    Member

    I'm not sure what you mean. It works fine in my .com website. Let me know if you have any problems though.

  29. ellaella
    Member

    @scholarpreneur - If the .com site you mean is scholarpreneur.com, that is a wordpress.org blog. The free blogs hosted at wordpress.com are the ones options meant. (Sorry to confuse you!)

  30. scholarpreneur
    Member

    Oooh. I see. Thanks for clearing that up.

Topic Closed

This topic has been closed to new replies.


About this Topic

Tags