How do I set up my PayPal account in WebCATS for use on eCenter?
eCenter Global Configuration
Before you can configure WebCATS with your PayPal information you must first create your PayPal account. PayPal offers a number of different products and services. You should decide the best PayPal service for your operations but you should keep in mind that you will need to create a business account, not a personal account.
Once you have created your PayPal account then you can configure your PayPal information in the eCenter Global Configuration screen in WebCATS. Only WebCATS system administrators can edit this information.
In WebCATS expand the “Manage” menu selection and choose “eCenter Configuration”. This menu selection is only available to system administrators and it manages all global settings for eCenter across all centers.
To avoid errors or even fraud, it is important for system administrators to carefully manage the conference payee information entered into WebCATS. Only valid email addresses that are associated with a center’s PayPal account should be entered. If a regional center wants to add their PayPal account to the list, they will need to contact the system administrator to add their account to the list.
From the drop down the system administrator will select “PayPal” to configure the PayPal account. You can choose “Other” if you are using a payment service other than PayPal. In this FAQ we will not address the configuration of other payment methods.
In the email address field you will enter your PayPal email address. This email address must be the same email address that was used to create your PayPal account.
These two simple steps complete the setup for a new PayPal account. Every payee entered here in the eCenter global configuration is visible and available for any conference of any center.
Conference Configuration
When you create a conference record and you want to accept online payment for the event then you will want to associate a payee with a conference record so that prospective attendees can pay for the event using their credit card on eCenterDirect.
To associate a payment system with your conference event, you will need to edit the conference record and update the online payment information. In each conference record you will see all PayPal accounts that have been configured under the eCenter Global Configuration by the system administrator and you will need to select the correct PayPal account that is appropriate for this event.
In addition to adding the PayPal account it is important to note that the conference must be open for registration. If the event is full and you allow a wait list then the waitlisted users will not be presented with the online payment option. The conference must of course also be posted on eCenter and must be publicly available, and you must expose the fee on eCenter.
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