In my PayPal Button plugin there are certain shortcode parameters that you can use to create a PayPal subscription button and accept recurring payments from your WordPress site.
PayPal Subscription Button Parameters
Before getting into adding a shortcode lets take a look at the parameters available for a subscription/recurring payment button.
Button
Type of payment button. For a subscription button you need to specify button=”subscribe”.
a3
Regular subscription price. This would be a numeric value.
p3
Regular subscription duration between each billing. This would be a numeric value based on t3.
t3
Regular subscription units of duration. Allowable values are:
- D – for days; allowable range for “p3” is 1 to 90.
- W – for weeks; allowable range for “p3” is 1 to 52.
- M – for months; allowable range for “p3” is 1 to 24.
- Y – for years; allowable range for “p3” is 1 to 5.
Src
Settings this value to 1 will make a subscription payment to recur. You don’t really have any reason to set this to 0. But if you do so the payment will not recur, which means it will be a one-time payment (like a buy button).
Srt
Number of times a subscription payment will recur. This would be a numeric value with a range of 2 to 52. You don’t need to specify it if you want the subscription to continue until cancelled.
Subscription with No Recurring Times
Example 1
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a3="2.99" p3="1" t3="M" src="1"]
If your currency is USD, It means $2.99 USD for each month. The subscription will continue to recur until cancelled.
Example 2
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a3="3.50" p3="2" t3="W" src="1"]
If your currency is USD, It means $3.50 USD for each two weeks. The subscription will continue to recur until cancelled.
Subscription with Recurring Times
Example 1
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a3="2.99" p3="1" t3="M" src="1" srt="4"]
It means $2.99 USD for each month, for 4 installments. After this the payment will not recur anymore.
Example 2
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a3="3.50" p3="2" t3="W" src="1" srt="6"]
It means $3.50 USD for each two weeks, for 6 installments. After this the payment will not recur anymore.
Subscription with Trial
You can use some additional parameters to offer a trial with your recurring/subscription payments.
a1
Trial period price (similar to a3 parameter). In order to offer a free trial you can specify 0.
p1
Trial period duration (similar to p3 parameter).
t1
Trial period units of duration (similar to t3 parameter).
Example 1
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a1="1.99" p1="10" t1="D" a3="2.99" p3="1" t3="M" src="1" srt="4"]
It means $1.99 USD for the first 10 days, then $2.99 USD for each month, for 4 installments. After this the payment will not recur anymore.
Example 2
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a1="1.49" p1="1" t1="M" a3="3.49" p3="1" t3="M" src="1"]
It means $1.49 USD for the first month, then $3.49 USD for each month. The subscription will continue to recur until cancelled.
Subscription with Free Trial
Example 1
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a1="0" p1="1" t1="M" a3="2.99" p3="1" t3="M" src="1"]
It means free for the first month, then $2.99 USD for each month. The subscription will continue to recur until cancelled.
Subscription with Trial 2
You can use some additional parameters to offer a trial 2 with your recurring/subscription payments.
a2
Trial period price (similar to a1 parameter). This parameter can only be specified if you also specify a1.
p2
Trial period duration (similar to p1 parameter).
t2
Trial period units of duration (similar to t1 parameter).
Example 1
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a1="1.99" p1="10" t1="D" a2="2.99" p2="1" t2="W" a3="3.99" p3="1" t3="M" src="1" srt="4"]
It means $1.99 USD for the first 10 days, then $2.99 USD for one week, then $3.99 USD for each month, for 4 installments. After this the payment will not recur anymore.
Example 2
[wp_paypal button="subscribe" name="My product" a1="1.49" p1="1" t1="M" a2="2.49" p2="1" t2="M" a3="3.49" p3="1" t3="M" src="1"]
It means $1.49 USD for the first month, then $2.49 USD for one month, then $3.49 USD for each month. The subscription will continue to recur until cancelled.
The subscription button can be customized further using the Variable Subscription extension. It can also be used to accept recurring donation payments.