[Theforum] note from Nick Bradbury

[William Anderson]

Marlene Bruce wrote:
> [snip]
>
> > See what the Blogger/MovableType folks do on their site? Instead of
> > "recently updated weblogs", we make a "evolt.org supporters" roll with
> > the names/userid of the last 10 donors, with hyperlinks to their sites
> > if necessary. On the main page.
>
> Not a bad idea, only personal URLs aren't included in the PayPal info
> I receive. Still, listing people is a good idea. But how will we know
> if someone wants to remain anonymous?

Then what we do is replace the direct link to PayPal with a form on
evolt.org which takes in their email address, the amount they wish to
donate, a tick box to say anonymous or not, and if they like their website
URL.

This can then be munged by a script/cgi on the server to redirect as a GET
HTTPS request to paypal.com, and the specific info can be passed and locked
into the 'payment for' field, which currently says "evolt.org's shameless
tin cup", so that it reads something like

  Your donation details for our records - we will use these responsibly
  ( email=colin.groz at foo ; weburl=http://www.foo/ ; anonymous=no )

very straight forward to do, as I've done it already :)

We can also use this opportunity to start accepting donations in other
currencies (paypal now accepts payments in US Dollars, Canadian Dollars, UK
Sterling, Japanese Yen and Euros), which a cgi form would allow us to do.
If you like, I can mock up a demo ...

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