IPN custom fields error

[Rick-J]

When the redesign of the payments UI and email notifications was introduced recently, it also introduced an error in the IPNs of custom fields (option_selection1 etc).

This error doesn't happen in the sandbox, as it still uses the old style UI etc., which makes testing somewhat difficult.

The error is only apparent if a user leaves a custom field blank. E.g. if the payments form has fields os1, os3, & os4, then the IPN message contains option_selection1 (os1), option_selection2 (os3), & option_selection3 (os4). In the sandbox, and under the old UI, this mapping is the same regardless of whether the fields are filled or blank.

With the new UI, if a field is blank it is not included in the message, and the option_selection values are re-assigned. E.g. if in the above scenario the user leaves os1 blank, the IPN message contains option_selection1 (os3) &  option_selection2 (os4). If os3 is blank, the message contains option_selection1 (os1), option_selection2 (os4).

This makes it impossible to process the IPN in code in a consistent manner. Added to which it's an undocumented change, and different from the sandbox. I presume this change was unintentional and is a bug.

A side issue is that the custom fields are no longer included in the email notification, which makes manual verification much more difficult.

I would like to report this to PayPal tech support, but I can no longer find any way to raise support tickets. Can anyone tell me how to expedite this with PayPal?

[Rick-J]

A quick update - I've just run another sandbox test and I see the sandbox has been update to the same as the live pages - and now exhibits the same bug. 😞

[RandKirbyM]

My custom field information is no longer shared in the emails I receive, nor on the PayPal website. It had done so in the past, so I suspect it relates to this problem. I didn't write the script, so I'm a little frustrated. Any suggestions as to how I might resolve this?

[Rick-J]

I agree, the amount of information in the standard email has been drastically reduced - not helpful. I've compensated by emailing myself a notification from the IPN script. A bit tough if you can't modify the script, maybe try to work with whoever is responsible for it. It's pretty obvious PayPal are not interested in helping. The only way I could deal with my original problem was add more script complexity to analyse the results. I don't think PayPal have anyone who actually implements solutions using their APIs, so they don't have a clue what the impact of these things is.

[RandKirbyM]

I can report that as of today I am now seeing custom field information on the transaction on the web site activity log. I did nothing different, and don't believe I missed it in the past (but it is possible). So now, I can at least see the information I need when someone sets up a new subscription/ongoing payment. I sure wish the custom field info was included in the email as it was in the past, but I can live with this until we overhaul the whole system.