Author

Topic: Best way to Accept BTC via Wordpress Store? (Read 7893 times)

legendary
Activity: 980
Merit: 1003
I'm not just any shaman, I'm a Sha256man
April 06, 2012, 10:40:56 AM
#26
No, the tricky part is associating the right bitcoin address with the right order in a human readable and manageable interface. So far I haven't found a plugin that does it even though it seems simple enough on the surface:

  • Customer A places an order.
  • Plugin pulls unique BTC address from database and presents it upon checkout.
  • Customer A sends bitcoins.
  • Plugin enters that address into a field along with name, email, shipping address, etc.
  • You watch the blockchain or your wallet for the payment and send the goods once payment has been received.

Wow, this turned out to be way beyond me. Is it really that difficult to pull a bitcoin address from a database and associate it with a specific order?

Its actually really easy to do my 214 lines of PHP code will generate addresses with the associating user id into the database with one function call.
https://github.com/Xenland/BitcoinRetail-Lite

The only thing you have to do is make a cronjob(example included) to update the BTC address, which only requires one simple to use function call.
I'm leaving you a message on skype let me know if you need help integrating or would like to chat about all the possible options.
legendary
Activity: 980
Merit: 1003
I'm not just any shaman, I'm a Sha256man
How come no one notified me of the lack of a wordpress shopping cart plugin? Huh
legendary
Activity: 968
Merit: 1000
einc.io
What about an address for every second, or minute that rotates?  Or a preset number of address that flag and unflag after use so they don't get used twice?


I guess the part that is the biggest hurdle for me, is how difficult the code would be that 1, generates a address to send to the customer, and two checks back every 5-10 minutes until it sees that address contain a balance that matches the request.  Then upon 'seeing' the balance validate with say (5 checks) it notifies me via email?  Or a dashboard screen?

I believe those details can be handled by another party like bitcoinnotify.

If I know what address has been associated with an order, I don't mind generating the addresses and checking blockexplorer.
edd
donator
Activity: 1414
Merit: 1002
I guess the part that is the biggest hurdle for me, is how difficult the code would be that 1, generates a address to send to the customer, and two checks back every 5-10 minutes until it sees that address contain a balance that matches the request.  Then upon 'seeing' the balance validate with say (5 checks) it notifies me via email?  Or a dashboard screen?

I believe those details can be handled by another party like bitcoinnotify.

If I know what address has been associated with an order, I don't mind generating the addresses and checking blockexplorer.
legendary
Activity: 968
Merit: 1000
einc.io
I guess the part that is the biggest hurdle for me, is how difficult the code would be that 1, generates a address to send to the customer, and two checks back every 5-10 minutes until it sees that address contain a balance that matches the request.  Then upon 'seeing' the balance validate with say (5 checks) it notifies me via email?  Or a dashboard screen?

Gah I haven't had any coffee yet!





linking the order number with the rest of the order details in another table.

This is the part that's giving me difficulty.
edd
donator
Activity: 1414
Merit: 1002
linking the order number with the rest of the order details in another table.

This is the part that's giving me difficulty.
rjk
sr. member
Activity: 448
Merit: 250
1ngldh
No, the tricky part is associating the right bitcoin address with the right order in a human readable and manageable interface. So far I haven't found a plugin that does it even though it seems simple enough on the surface:

  • Customer A places an order.
  • Plugin pulls unique BTC address from database and presents it upon checkout.
  • Customer A sends bitcoins.
  • Plugin enters that address into a field along with name, email, shipping address, etc.
  • You watch the blockchain or your wallet for the payment and send the goods once payment has been received.

Wow, this turned out to be way beyond me. Is it really that difficult to pull a bitcoin address from a database and associate it with a specific order?

Why shouldn't the software be as simple as a red light / green light indicator telling you whether funds have been received and confirmed (so you don't have to do all kinds of manual transaction checking)

You should be able to populate a database with a list of addresses, and then once one is used, mark it with a unique order number. Then you can do some fancy SQL magic to refer to it in the future, linking the order number with the rest of the order details in another table. Hmm, I am not a software designer, but this seems like a way it could be done.
edd
donator
Activity: 1414
Merit: 1002
No, the tricky part is associating the right bitcoin address with the right order in a human readable and manageable interface. So far I haven't found a plugin that does it even though it seems simple enough on the surface:

  • Customer A places an order.
  • Plugin pulls unique BTC address from database and presents it upon checkout.
  • Customer A sends bitcoins.
  • Plugin enters that address into a field along with name, email, shipping address, etc.
  • You watch the blockchain or your wallet for the payment and send the goods once payment has been received.

Wow, this turned out to be way beyond me. Is it really that difficult to pull a bitcoin address from a database and associate it with a specific order?
sr. member
Activity: 261
Merit: 250
Interesting.....
I like the ideas being presented here.

Maybe I can piece together an alpha but there will still be a manual component to it.

Keep the ideas coming.

-Shaded
legendary
Activity: 968
Merit: 1000
einc.io
So what we do?!   Wink


I think I can do this if I can pull together enough pieces.    Edd is correct, it sounds really easy.  I'm not a PHP programmer but I can hack it pretty good.   And I understand what I'm trying to do.   Edd is also right that I don't need any BTC stored on the server,  I wouldn't want that.   I'd prefer it being transferred to semi-offline locations like a local Wallet with some type of backup.

But the trick is to verifiy who made the payment and that it cleared.   What Im really afraid of is having to do this whole thing manually, and constantly parse a huge database of addresses for validated payments and then backtrack through orders to see whom I sent that address too. gah,  for only a couple dollars profit per transaction total, adding this step to the step of printing/handling shipping and labels would really make it a hard sell for me.


 
sr. member
Activity: 350
Merit: 250
+1 for just filling your database full of pre generated addresses and using a generic wordpress payment module
Can also try the new Okpay merchant plugin, they probably have an API to do this

Then you can accept everything including bitcoins
edd
donator
Activity: 1414
Merit: 1002
This is true Edd,  I guess I should put down any fears of running out of addresses huh? Wink

The trick would be managing what could be a growing repository of addresses and figuring out how to move the BTC out without having to do it manually.  Although if that was the hardest part I would survive.  Just have to assume if my store does well it could be dozens, wow maybe a hundred sales a day!   I would get carpel tunnel ha!

So would the plugin, keep the wallet stored locally on the site, or would it have to hit a client machine where a wallet was stored... ah.. the details..


You'll be selling physical goods, right? You can pre-populate the plugin database with thousands of pre-generated BTC addresses that go straight to your wallet.

The only reason to hold bitcoins on the server that's running your website would be if you had to receive and send bitcoins to visitors automatically, like with a gambling/game site or exchange.

No, the tricky part is associating the right bitcoin address with the right order in a human readable and manageable interface. So far I haven't found a plugin that does it even though it seems simple enough on the surface:

  • Customer A places an order.
  • Plugin pulls unique BTC address from database and presents it upon checkout.
  • Customer A sends bitcoins.
  • Plugin enters that address into a field along with name, email, shipping address, etc.
  • You watch the blockchain or your wallet for the payment and send the goods once payment has been received.

Ideally, it would be great if a plugin could also watch the blockchain for you and just send you a notification that the payment has been made, but I think that's probably too much to ask unless there is a separate service it ties into, like an e-wallet API.
legendary
Activity: 968
Merit: 1000
einc.io
This is true Edd,  I guess I should put down any fears of running out of addresses huh? Wink

The trick would be managing what could be a growing repository of addresses and figuring out how to move the BTC out without having to do it manually.  Although if that was the hardest part I would survive.  Just have to assume if my store does well it could be dozens, wow maybe a hundred sales a day!   I would get carpel tunnel ha!

So would the plugin, keep the wallet stored locally on the site, or would it have to hit a client machine where a wallet was stored... ah.. the details..
edd
donator
Activity: 1414
Merit: 1002
@Fordy,  I would "LOVE" to see what you could come up with.  Honestly I don't even mind something that is slow and cumbersome, so long as it keeps track of who made a payment, how much it was and what it was for.  I think the validation is the hard part.  At what point does a payment "post"?  and how can the plugin/software see it?   I feel like there has to be a more elegant solution than creating a new bit-coin address everytime you need to get a BTC.

 


I might be able to help you out. I've been doing a few bitcoin things for WordPress, and a payment/shopping plugin is something that I would be interested in putting together.

Actually, creating a new address for each transaction is the most reliable and verifiable way of recording your sales. It'a a built in unique receipt of payment for you and your customers that can't be disputed.
legendary
Activity: 968
Merit: 1000
einc.io
@Fordy,  I would "LOVE" to see what you could come up with.  Honestly I don't even mind something that is slow and cumbersome, so long as it keeps track of who made a payment, how much it was and what it was for.  I think the validation is the hard part.  At what point does a payment "post"?  and how can the plugin/software see it?   I feel like there has to be a more elegant solution than creating a new bit-coin address everytime you need to get a BTC.

 


I might be able to help you out. I've been doing a few bitcoin things for WordPress, and a payment/shopping plugin is something that I would be interested in putting together.
sr. member
Activity: 369
Merit: 250
There is a super easy plugin service. Its called Bitcoin Revolution or something. Really effective and works a charm. I tested it out but cnat rememeber site now.
edd
donator
Activity: 1414
Merit: 1002
I might be able to help you out. I've been doing a few bitcoin things for WordPress, and a payment/shopping plugin is something that I would be interested in putting together.

If you could create one that looked and worked well and made it available at wordpress.org, I bet you'd get a ton of BTC donations. I know I'd send some.
edd
donator
Activity: 1414
Merit: 1002
I'm setting up a Wordpress store-front for a new business I am starting, and I would LOVE to accept BTC as payment right off the bat.  That being said unlike the paypal payment gateway where its nearly completely automated.  I do not mind processing the BTC sales manually (meaning, Realize BTC payment, and issue a manual email response) But I would like some kind of a payment gateway that at least accepts the BTC, and the shipping information etc etc.

This is for a physical durable good product. 

Any ideas, I was currently looking at Bit-Ping but I'm not sure its going to do what I need.

I utilize wordpress on all my sites but I haven't come across anything that works without some pretty heavy hacking (heavy for me, anyway). What I currently use is a plugin that I modified slightly that notifies me by email when an order has been placed so that I can forward a BTC address. It's slow and cumbersome but I don't usually have more than one or two orders in a day.

I've got a few possibilities I'll be looking into and I'll let you know if any work out.
legendary
Activity: 1358
Merit: 1002
Damn dudes, the man was very specific when he said wordpress, why do you bother to give him answers he didn't ask for?

Here: https://github.com/mikegogulski/bitcoin-wp-e-commerce

Because that has been borked for about ten months now.
So, maybe someone should fix it... Wink It sure beats visiting 404's or coding from scratch... It's open source, after all.
legendary
Activity: 2506
Merit: 1010
Damn dudes, the man was very specific when he said wordpress, why do you bother to give him answers he didn't ask for?

Here: https://github.com/mikegogulski/bitcoin-wp-e-commerce

Because that has been borked for about ten months now.
legendary
Activity: 1358
Merit: 1002
Damn dudes, the man was very specific when he said wordpress, why do you bother to give him answers he didn't ask for?

Here: https://github.com/mikegogulski/bitcoin-wp-e-commerce
legendary
Activity: 2506
Merit: 1010
So as I feared,  besides personal email, BTC transactions such as selling you a GPU on here,  There isn't much I can do huh?

Sure there is ... there's Bit-Pay and carts that don't integrate natively with WordPress, such as the module for the OS Commerce cart.

Have you looked at http://Bit-Pay.com ?
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
See if the answer lies here: http://community.mybb.com/archive/index.php/thread-84084-14.html

Quote
Quote:Shopping Cart Interface (SCI) and HTML button code generator

Look for the following, there:

Just like many other popular payment systems; you can easily generate and paste HTML code onto your website to accept Bitcoin payments! No more messy programming, or other headaches. You'll have your website accepting Bitcoin in minutes!

~Bruno~
legendary
Activity: 968
Merit: 1000
einc.io
So as I feared,  besides personal email, BTC transactions such as selling you a GPU on here,  There isn't much I can do huh?
legendary
Activity: 2506
Merit: 1010
Dwolla has support using Shopp.  I wonder if that software vendor would consider adding Bitcoin:
 - http://shopplugin.net

And just recently WooCommerce for Dwolla as well:
 - http://www.woothemes.com/extension/dwolla

Maybe hitting this URL prods them into understanding that there is demand:
 - http://www.woothemes.com/extension/bitcoin
legendary
Activity: 968
Merit: 1000
einc.io
I'm setting up a Wordpress store-front for a new business I am starting, and I would LOVE to accept BTC as payment right off the bat.  That being said unlike the paypal payment gateway where its nearly completely automated.  I do not mind processing the BTC sales manually (meaning, Realize BTC payment, and issue a manual email response) But I would like some kind of a payment gateway that at least accepts the BTC, and the shipping information etc etc.

This is for a physical durable good product. 

Any ideas, I was currently looking at Bit-Ping but I'm not sure its going to do what I need.

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