Shane's Paypal Tools for the Paypal Shopping Cart System.
Notice: Paypal Tools is now completely FREEWARE. However, donations are gladly accepted and appreciated.
Shane's Paypal Tools allows you to create links and forms for your website that work with Paypal's Shopping Cart system. You do not have to be online, or visit Paypal's website to use the software. Simply create your HTML code with the application, and paste it into your HTML editor.
The first time you start Paypal Tools, you will be prompted to fill in your basic information:
The only box that
must be filled in on this page is 'e-mail'.
This is for the e-mail address you use with paypal.
The other boxes are:
Store Logo Image Location:
Optional, this is the logo that will appear on the upper left hand corner of
the shopping cart when an item is added. If left blank, your name will be shown
in text instead. You should use a secure ("https://") link for this
value.
Button Image Location: Optional, this is the image that you will be using
for the 'add to cart' button. If left blank, the paypal default button will
be used.
Purchase Successful URL: Optional, this is the url of the page that your
customer will be taken back to after the purchase is complete
Purchase Cancelled URL: Optional, this is the url of the page that your
customer will be taken back to if the purchase is cancelled during checkout.
Once you have finished with the options page, click 'Save and Close'. Your options will be saved, and you will not be asked for them again.
This is the screen you will see after completing the options dialog:
The two main things that Paypal Tools is designed to do are:
-Make Link
URL's for use with buttons/images/text located on your website.
-Make Forms which contain buttons and options to be placed on your website.
You
should use a Link if:
You
are not using options and you want to add links to buttons/text that is
on your site. The most useful example of this feature is found when you want
to use rollover buttons on your site. The Form option will not allow rollover
buttons, but this option will. If you do not know what a rollover is, then you
should probably just use the 'Make a Button/Form' feature.
You
should use a Button/Form if:
You need a complete set of html codes that will constitute
a link; or, if you are selling an item that has 'options.' For example, perhaps
you are selling T-shirts that come in Small, Medium, and Large. With the Button/Form
feature, your customer can specify sizes (or any other option you can think
of).
Filling in the rest of the boxes and options:
There are only two boxes that must be filled in for your code to work, these are Item Name and Price.
•Item Name:
Required; The name of the item you are selling.
•Item ID: Optional; This can be used as a special code to help identify
an item.
•Price: Required; The price of the item.
•Shipping (1st): Optional; This box will override Paypal's flat
shipping-amount settings (see note below). If this box is filled in, the customer
will be charged for this amount for shipping. If this box is filled in, and
the 'Shipping (add. items)' box is not filled in, the customer will be charged
this amount regardless of the quantity ordered.
•Shipping (add. items): Optional; This box will
override Paypal's flat shipping-amount settings (see note below). The cost of
shipping additional items after the first item.
Note about Shipping Costs: Paypal has recently
made a move toward 'flat amount' shipping. This system bases shipping charges
on the dollar amount spent, rather than charging for each item. Therefore, the
Shipping boxes on Paypal Tools is not used very often. However, if you want
to override Paypal's flat amount shipping scheme you can; However, you must
set this up on the paypal website.
•Buyer provide shipping address at checkout: If
checked, customer will be prompted for shipping address at checkout.
•Buyer include note at checkout: If checked, customer will be prompted
for a note at checkout.
•Note Title: If 'Buyer include note at checkout' is checked, this
will be the prompt she receives for the note.
Option Sets 1 and 2: (note: you cannot make a 'Link' that contains options; Options work only with 'Button/Form')
To use an option set, you must first check the box marked 'Use this option set.'
You may choose 'Drop Down Menu' or 'Text Box'
When to use a 'Drop Down Menu': Drop down menus are useful when you want to present the customer with a choice of several options and make him choose one. For example, you are selling t-shirts and have them in sizes small, medium, and large only. You can use a drop down menu to give your customer these choices.
When to use a 'Text Box': Text Boxes are good when you want your customer to personalize an item or give special instructions that would not be possible in a drop down menu. For instance, you are selling autographed copies of your book, and you personalize each copy by signing "To: *customer*", your customer can input her name and you will know who to sign the book to.
•To use a Drop Down Menu: click the Drop Down Menu radio button. Fill in the name of the option in the box marked 'Name' (for example: "Size"). Fill in the options in boxes 1 through 10. You can have up to 10 options.
•To use a Text Box: click the Text Box radio button. Fill in the name of the option in the box marked 'Name' (for example: "Your Name").
At this point, you have all of your information filled in and are ready to create your HTML code. Click either 'Make a Link' or 'Make a Button / Form' and your HTML code will appear in the white box on the right side of the window. It will also be copied directly to the Windows Clipboard. You can now paste the HTML code directly into your HTML editor.
Saving/Opening files:
Shane's Paypal tools the unique functionality of saving and retrieving your items. This can be particularly useful if you have many different items that would be difficult to manage or tedious to re-enter. It is very simple to save and retrieve your items.
•To
Save an item: Fill out your item's
information, click 'File'..'Save this Item as...' type in a name for your file,
and save it.
•To
Open a saved item: Click 'File'...'Open
an Item' Select your file and click 'Open'.
Questions? feedback? send it to: dev@shanes.net