Although this process can be extremely useful and powerful, it can also be misunderstood by someone who does not have all of the available information. This article contains detailed information about the Direct Return process, and is moderate to very technical in design. The target audience of this article is most likely web developers and suppliers who are developing their own custom scripts or configuring a third party solution. Also, throughout this article the phrase “return URL” is used to collectively refer to the approved URL, configurable within your 2Checkout account.

Choosing the Return URLs

To start off, keep in mind that ALL of the methods outlined in this section are optional. If return URLs are not configured for a particular method, Direct Return will skip it and move to the next. If NO return URLs are specified anywhere, the customer will end their purchasing experience on 2Checkout’s Order Processed page (basically, a sales receipt). There are three methods that can be used to specify a return URL (where customers will be directed after a sale has been made):

The first method that will be processed is the “x_receipt_link_url” parameter. This parameter can be used to specify an approved URL on-the-fly, but is limited to the same domain that is used for your 2Checkout account, otherwise it will fail. If the parameter method fails for this or any other reason, the next successful method will be used to determine the return URL instead. This parameter is special in the sense that the general warnings you may have seen that advise not to mix parameter sets do not apply. Click here for more information on using the “x_receipt_link_url” parameter.

The second method is done by setting the return URL on the product level. This URL can be set per-product during creation or by editing an existing product. If multiple products using this method are ordered at the same time, the customer will be taken to our Order Processed page with “Click Here” links next to each item. These links will open a new browser window/tab so that the customer can return to the order processed page and follow the links for each product ordered. This method is most common for non-dynamic sites that offer downloadable products as a way to take the customer directly to the item ordered. It’s important to note that, if multiple products are ordered, parameters will be converted from POST to GET for this method. So, if the return URL used here is a script it should be able to handle both methods without breaking.

The third method is the general return URL specified in the Site Management page of your 2Checkout account. This URL will be used for all orders that do not utilize one of the previous mentioned methods, and is typically the choice of suppliers and web developers familiar with scripting. The reason for this is that it allows all of the information for every order to be received at one location, which reduces the time and effort needed to develop individual pages for each product or relying on individual product-level return URLs and “Click Here” links. At the least, it can be used to avoid entering the same URL for each product.

Automatic or Manual

After Direct Return selects the best return URL from the logic above, it will then direct the customer to your site in one of two ways:

With Direct Return disabled (set to “Given links back to my website” on your account’s Site Management page), the customer will then be taken to our Order Processed page after completing a successful purchase. This page will now feature a button at the top with the text “Click Here to Finalize Your Order”. When this button is clicked the customer, and the collected sale parameters, will be directed to the appropriate return URL. No domain masking will be used for this method.

Keep in mind, having Direct Return disabled relies heavily on user input as no parameters will be posted to the return URL if the customer does not click this button. For this reason, many suppliers that make use of third party order tracking (such as their own shopping cart) prefer to set Direct Return to “Immediately returned to my website”. If a supplier is using the 2Checkout Plug-n-Play cart, or records necessary parameters at the beginning of a sale before sending the customer to 2Checkout’s purchase page and does not require that the customer return to their page after a sale has completed, this can be a viable option.

With Direct Return enabled (set to “Immediately returned to my website” on your account’s Site Management page), the page to be used for the return URL will have the sale parameters posted to it automatically while fetched by our server and displayed to the customer.

Keep in mind, enabling Direct Return has the effect of masking the URL used so that the customer appears to still be on the 2Checkout domain. This method can be used with redirects as long as each page outputs content (specifically, more then 255 characters) to the browser. If Direct Return encounters a page that redirects without outputting content–usually a header redirect or content less then 255 characters–then the process will fail and the customer will be sent to our standard Order Processed page. This is a common issue as many developers will set their return URLs to a script that processes the returned sale parameters, then silently forward the customer to another page (usually a “thank you for purchasing” page or a page featuring download links in the case that an intangible product has been ordered). The best solution to this is to handle all post-order processing on the page set as your return URL, including the “thank you” message.

It is also important to note that if no redirects are used, meaning the URL will be masked by our servers, then relative links will no longer point to the correct location. This can be corrected by using absolute links on the page used for the return URL or by simply using a “base” tag in the head of the document to provide a reference for the relative paths. Click here for more detailed information on using the HTML base tag.

To fix this, you will need to specify a base URI for your Approved URL. This can be accomplished by inserting the following line between the <HEAD> tag of your page:

<base href=”http://www.example.com/pathto/approved.html”/>

The URL specified after ‘href=’ should be changed to your Approved URL.

2Checkout can return the customer to an Approved or Pending URL after a sale. If we can immediately verify the availability of funds, then the customer is sent to the Approved URL. If we are not able to do this, then they will go to the Pending URL. For example, a digital check would always be sent to the Pending URL because we can not immediately verify the availability of funds. A confirmation email is sent out when the check clears, but no pass back ever occurs after the initial sale. Another way of saying this is that if the credit_card_processed parameter is “Y”, then the customer goes to the Approved URL, but if it is “K” then they will go to the Pending URL.

You may also specify the Approved and Pending URL on the product level in the Classic Sellers Area as well as the new Vendors Administration Area. Any URL set here over-rides the main ones set on the Look and Feel settings page.

The terms pass back URL and return URL generally mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably. However, pass back refers to the information or parameters that we send back to your site after a sale. Return refers to the actual process of sending the customer there. Pass back URL and return URL are the same because in this context it simply means “where do you want return/pass back to go to?”

Additionally, the x_receipt_link_url parameter can be used to specify the return URL on the fly. If you take this approach, this parameter will over-ride any URL set on the Look and Feel settings page. You may use this parameter to have a specific button or link use a return URL that is different than the ones set on the Look and Feel page. If you do this, your return script would need to check the value of the credit_card_processed parameter itself to determine what the appropriate course of action should be. Another way of saying this is that, since this parameter only allows you to specify one return URL rather than both the Approved and Pending URLs, whatever script it is returning the customer to will need to check the value of the credit_card_processed parameter to determine whether they should provide the customer with a “Thank You for Ordering! / Here is Your Download!” page, or a “You will receive more information when your payment is approved” screen.

It is also important to note that if x_receipt_link_url is used, then the return page must match the domain on the account. If the URL is saved on the Look and Feel page or the product level, then we can return them anywhere. In short, if the URL is in our database we can return them there. If not, then it must match for security reasons.

2Checkout.com will also POST the information to your return URL in all cases, regardless of whether Direct Return is enabled or disabled. It is important to note that we will not allow a mix of GET and POST in the return process. If you are trying to return the customer to “http://www.yoursite.com/your_script.php?param=value” then we actually return the customer to “http://www.yoursite.com/your_script.php” and the ‘param=value’ will be returned as POST information with the rest of the sales information that we normally pass back.

You must also have a script set up as the return URL if you wish to receive the pass back information. If you would like this information returned to you, make sure that your return URL ends in the extension of a script. If your return URL ends in any of the following extensions, then pass back will NOT occur, but the customer will still be returned there : .htm, .html, .com, .zip, .pdf, .rar, .doc

The order of precedence for return from highest to lowest is:

1. x_receipt_link_url
2. Product Level
3. Look and Feel page

The x_receipt_link_url will take precedence over all other return URLs, and the Look and Feel page will be used by default if the other two are absent.

The order process works in the following manner when direct return is set to “Yes“.

1. If no approved URL has been specified in your vendor account, the customers order will end at the 2checkout order confirmation screen. The vendor is then responsible for supplying the customer with the product.
2. If a single product is ordered, the direct return feature will return the customer to your specified return URL. This is only true if you have specified a return URL at the product section or the look and feel section of your account. The assigned URL’s at the product level will always override the URL’s set up at the look and feel section of your account. 2A. If multiple products are ordered, the direct return feature will work exactly the same as if a customer orders a single product. This is only true if you have specified a return URL in the look and feel section of your account.
3. If the customer orders a single product and you have specified the return URL at the product level, the customer will be returned to the URL indicated at the product level. 3A. If multiple products are ordered and you have set up approved URLs at the product level, the order process ends at the 2checkout confirmation order page. At this page, there will be a “click here” link that is created for each product ordered on that page. The “click here” link will direct the customer to the approved URL for that product.

   Since the customer ordered multiple products, this page will not close until it is manually closed by the customer. This way the customer will receive all the downloads or will be forwarded to all the correct URLs to receive their downloads.

**Useful Info

To add an approved URL to the look and feel section of your account, you can click on “settings” under the “helpful links” section of your account homepage.

To add a approved URL to each of your products, you will need to click on option 4 (set up products) of your account homepage. You will then need to click on the “edit” link for the product you need to add the approved URL to. There will be a field to input your approved URL. Simply add your approved URL and click on the save changes button.