Important PayPal Code Change

navaldesign · #1 03-18-2008, 06:17 PM

As of some days back, PayPal has changed, without any prior notice, the way they process the "Add to Cart" buttons code.
Specifically, in the Add to Cart code, you can include a field named "image_url". The value of this field is the URL of your Cart Header Image. So if you wanted to "show" PayPal where to get this image (Logo) from, you could include the URL as value of this field. This line of code looked like this:

<input type="hidden" name="image_url" value="">

BlueVoda PayPal Button Generator never made use of this field. However, it included it in the code, with NULL value.

This was ok up to some days ago. PayPal would process the code ignoring this field since it's value was null.

This in not true any more. PayPal will display an Error Message saying "Some required information is missing or incomplete. Please correct your entries and try again."

The only way to avoid this, is to change the Add to Cart button code.

The BlueVoda Team is preparing a BV update that will solve the problem. You only need to open your pages in BV and then publish them again. It is advisable that you check the settings to make sure they are correct.

Until this update is ready, a solution could be to re-create the buttons in PayPal's site and replace the BlueVoda Add to Cart buttons, with html boxes where you will paste the code created in PayPal.

Another simple solution: whilst you are in BV, right click the Add to Cart image. Select HTML, and view the code. Copy it, and paste it in the html box. Delete the ENTIRE "image_url" line. Save and publish.

The estimated time for the BV update is 24 - 48 hrs.

HumBird · #2 03-19-2008, 03:14 AM

I'm so glad this will be updated! Thanks for being on top of it! Please let us know when the change is made.

I tried copying the code from the button, pasting and removing the bad code, but I'm unsure if it should go in the Before Tag, Inside Tag or After tag window. It looks like it's just adding the new copy to the old in the Generated HTML box on top. At any rate it doesn't work for me.

navaldesign · #3 03-19-2008, 07:45 AM

You do NOT copy / paste the code in it's own html.
Copy the code. Insert a html box in your page. Double click it and when the html window opens, paste the code you copied. Delete the line that needs to be deleted.
Close this window. Make the html box the same size as the button image. Delete the button. Move the html box in the position where the button was.

HumBird · #4 03-19-2008, 10:08 PM

AH! paste it into a new HTML box!
Did it- it worked and I am grateful for the support and patience. Hopefully many others out there will now have functioning buttons as well.
Looking forward to the fix, but so good to have this info in the meantime.
L

LadyEye · #5 03-20-2008, 03:09 PM

Hi Naval ... GREAT POST btw ..

Any idea if we are near the update yet? Can you let us know ...

thanks so much!

jmitchell1972 · #6 03-20-2008, 03:58 PM

a tutorial on how to do this until problem is fixed would be great.
I am still trying to figre this out, not to mention I have over 100 buttons so this is gonna be time consuming if I can finally figure out.

navaldesign · #7 03-20-2008, 04:59 PM

Thnak you Lady,

Only VodaHost can inform us, but we sould be near now.

Jmitchell1972: the instructions are above, in my original post. They are very simple, maybe you just misread them. Please read them again, it is just a few clicks.

VodaHost · #8 03-20-2008, 05:41 PM

The update will be released first thing in the morning...

LadyEye · #9 03-20-2008, 11:06 PM

Thank you both ..

So it is my understanding once the update has been released those using the blue voda paypal buttons will simply just need to republish their pages .. this is good news ..

but in the meantime if I gather the html code from each addtocart button and find this line of code and remove it,

<input type="hidden" name="image_url" value="">

then republish my page, this would work immediately, and I could do this by right clicking my add to cart image on my blue voda page to gather the html to make the adjustments there..

Thank you.

VodaHost · #10 03-21-2008, 07:55 PM

fixed....Click the below to download 9.3

http://www.vodasupport.com/index.php...wnloaditemid=1

frictionmaster · #11 03-21-2008, 11:04 PM

Thanks for the upgrade. I wonder if there is anyway that you might have an early warning system or something to alert us to VH problems. If others are like me, we assume a glitch like Paypal uploads is due to something we messed up, then a crashing server as well. Some of us we spend a few days trying to correct "our" problem before asking for help. Perhaps an "alert" Forum or something. But thanks again.

navaldesign · #12 03-21-2008, 11:12 PM

Please note that this was a change in the way PayPal processes the code. There has been no warning or notification, so it was impossible for anyone to give an early warning. And it has been only thanks to reports from the users that we understood that something was wrong. Even debugging the problem took some time, since there has been absolutely no anouncement from PayPal.
VH's reaction time has been the shortest possible under these circumstances.

zenwarrior2003 · #13 03-24-2008, 06:07 PM

I downloaded new version, put up PayPal buttons, entered all info. published page. Worked fine...ONCE. Went back and tried it again, get same old message...information missing....there is nothing in the cart.
What now?

zenwarrior2003 · #14 03-24-2008, 07:51 PM

I called PayPal, they have no idea.

I RE-LOADED the new BV site, added all new buttons, cleaned the registry with 2 cleaners, re-booted...loaded a new button, still get the same old error message.

navaldesign · #15 03-24-2008, 09:19 PM

Please provide a link to your product page.

zenwarrior2003 · #16 03-24-2008, 09:48 PM

www.alpenakarate.com/club_merchandise

zenwarrior2003 · #17 03-24-2008, 09:51 PM

Go to www.alpenakarate.com after you ENTER, click on Northside Fight Club on the menu. Scroll down to "Buy Cool Stuff" and click.

navaldesign · #18 03-24-2008, 09:54 PM

I did find your page.

ALL your add to cart buttons code have the problematic line. Are you sure you edited/saved/published the updated version of the page? if you published it, are you sure you published it to the correct location / with the correct name ?

zenwarrior2003 · #19 03-25-2008, 12:08 AM

I downloaded the new version of BV to my desktop, even labeled it BVnew. I click on the icon and get my web site. I loaded all new buttons. What else can I do? Am I supposed to transfer my pages to the new web builder, or what?

navaldesign · #20 03-25-2008, 12:29 AM

You need to install the new version of BV, not simply download it. Once done, it will replace the old program.

Then, open your page (the one with the butons) in this new BV. Save the page and publish. Bv will now create the buttons code without the problematic line.

The new version does NOT include the problematic line in the generated page. If it has, it can ONLY mean that you have not used the new version but the old one.

zenwarrior2003 · #21 03-25-2008, 01:40 AM

I do install it.

zenwarrior2003 · #22 03-25-2008, 03:40 PM

I downloaded 9.3 Installed it. It is listed on my control panel (PC) as an installed program. I am still getting bad PayPal buttons.
alpenakarate.com

zenwarrior2003 · #23 03-25-2008, 04:07 PM

The strange thing is, they worked at some point, because I have a payment in my PayPal account!

zenwarrior2003 · #24 03-25-2008, 04:56 PM

I fixed it.

HumBird · #25 03-26-2008, 02:49 AM

How did you fix it? i went through the same thing- installed new BV, got new buttons- all worked great! But it does not work now and the code does not have the problem line so I can't even go back to the "create your own HTML button/delete the bad code" solution.
the page is http://humnew.com/blog-buy-menu.html
the last item "Pitchers with Cherry Trio" has the button that does not work. The painting just above it has a button I created after the new BV install.

HumBird · #26 03-26-2008, 03:07 AM

Actually the only button I made with the new BV button was "marigolds" on the left column. I just now copied the code from that HTML, put in the new title and price for the new item and made a new button. It worked fine. So why didn't the button I created off the icon work?

Just tested the BV button again and it worked this time. guess I'll just have to be careful to test each button...
I'd still like to know how ZenWarrior "fixed" it.

navaldesign · #27 03-26-2008, 07:45 AM

In both your case and in Zenwariors case it was probably a cache issue.
Your browser was (probably) still displaying the old code. You need to refresh your browser before testing the new buttons.

zenwarrior2003 · #28 03-26-2008, 03:17 PM

Even though I installed the new version of BV and would click on that icon, I was still getting the old version. I deleted the old version, everything works fine!
If a page does not publish ( replace the old page ) rapidly press F5 about a dozen times. When you stop, you should see the screen go blank, and then the new page will load. Running a CC or registry cleaner helps, then reboot.
I am no PC person, just learned this stuff from the great crew at BV!

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