Frequently Asked QuestionsQ. Is this script compatible with Paypal?Q. Is this script compatible with a payment processor like Clickbank? Q. Given that this is a PHP script, does the page extension need to be changed to .php? Q. Does this script rely on cookies, and what if they are disabled in a visitor's browser? Q. Why doesn't your script use a MySQL database? Q. Given that you don't need a database, how is the data stored? Q. Is this script compatible with Paypal? Yes. For example, if you wanted to increase the price over time (using personal or fixed deadlines) you could create several Paypal "buttons" for each price point (using Paypal's "button factory"). Paypal generates HTML code for each button, and instead of putting this code directly onto your site, you simply insert it into the required element from within the script's Admin Panel, using Paypal's button code HTML for each relevant price point. For quantity deadlines, you would need to make sure that the customer returns to some kind of a "thank you" page after purchase, so that the script can set an "action" cookie. I can specify a thank-you page for each Paypal button on Page 2 of Paypal's "Buy Now Buttons" options, under "Customise your donor's experience (optional)". Please note that, because there are so many different vendor types, options and countries for Paypal, the procedure for specifying the location of a thank-you page for each button may differ for you. However, you will need some kind of a "thank you" page that the customer visits once they have completed their action (such as a purchase), in order to use quantity deadlines effectively. Q. Is this compatible with a payment processor like Clickbank? As long as you have the ability to charge different price points with your payment processor, and to send the customer to a "thank you" page once they have purchased, then it is compatible. With Clickbank, for example, you can sell multiple products from a single site, and this also means you can sell the same product at different price points, so you'd need to set up Clickbank links for each price point. And Clickbank require you to have a "thank you" page for each product anyway. So for quantity deadlines, you'd put a snippet of code given to you by this script, to put on your "thank you" page to keep count of your sales. Q. Given that this is a PHP script, does the page extension need to be changed from .html to .php on a page with Dynamic Deadlines? A page on which you wish to use Dynamic Deadlines needs to be PHP enabled in order to display Dynamic Deadlines, which normally means changing the page extension from .html to .php (i.e. simply renaming the page from page.html to page.php... and this includes the "thank you" page for quantity deadlines). However, instructions are provided for how to change your .htaccess file to enable pages ending in .html to still process PHP, meaning it is possible to leave a page with its .html extension. However, the easiest way of enabling PHP on page.html will always be to rename it page.php and this would save you having to change the .htaccess file, which is more technical. Q. Does this script rely on cookies, and what if they are disabled in a visitor's browser? Although the script uses cookies, it isn't entirely reliant on them. However, longer personal deadlines are more effective with cookies enabled in a visitor's browser. Most people have cookies enabled in their browser by default. However, there is an optional facility (called the "cookie alert" feature), where the script can detect whether cookies can be set, warn a visitor if it can't set them, and act as if the last deadline has passed until a cookie is successfully set. This is particularly useful if you'd like to deliver a timed sequence of messages on your site, which would require that the script is able to "remember" which sequence a visitor is on. Q. Why doesn't your script use a MySQL database? I chose not to use a MySQL database for two main reasons: (a) creating a database is quite technical for many customers, and I wanted to make my script as easy to install as possible; and (b) some people do not have access to, or only have a limited number of, MySQL databases from their hosting provider. Q. Given that you don't need a database, how is the data stored? The installation script creates a public directory on your site for you to put the script files, and it also creates a "data" sub-directory within this public directory in which it stores the data. This sub-directory is given a random name, such as data1827209472, making it extremely unlikely that a member of the public would be able to find it. For more technically minded people, you are free to move this "data" directory to a location outside of the public directory, as long as you manually edit the script generated configuration file to reflect the new location. |