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Author: Kristenson, Joel
Last Updated: 2018-05-10
Overview
This article walks through the steps to setup, and activate Authorize.Net as your merchant gateway for your Trail Blazer database, including the generation of the API signature credentials, and the silent post recurring URL.
The final section of the article walks through the steps on how to manually enable recurring donations within a single contribution record card (this is more common if you’ve already been using authorize.net in a previous system that has recurring donors, if you’re just starting out with a new accounts it’s not as likely you’ll need to go through this part of the article).
IMPORTANT: If you are *banking* with authorize.net (which is rare but does still come up) you will need to contact them to allow Amex and Discover credit cards to be accepted through our donation form.
NOTE: Authorize.Net is one of the 4 gateways Trail Blazer has integrated with (as of the time I put this article together). To see the full list of merchant gateway options follow this link: http://trailblz.com/Credit-Card-Payment-Merchant-Gateway/default.aspx?source=non-profit-manager
Outline
#1 – Setting Up your Online Authorize.Net Account
#2 – Enabling the API Signature Credentials in Authorize.Net and add them into your Trail Blazer ‘Payment Gateway’ Location
#3 – Generate the Silent Post Recurring URL in your Database and Copy-and-Paste it into your Authorize.Net Online Account
#4 – Enable Recurring Donations within a Single Donation Record
#5 – Related Resources
Tip: Use the Ctrl+F hot key to jump to different sections of this article (example: “#1”, “#2” or “Related Resources”.
#1 – Setting Up your Online Authorize.Net Account
Important: You’ll need appropriate security access to complete these administrative tasks.
If you decide that Authorize.Net is the best option for your organization you can follow this link to start getting your account setup with them: http://www.authorize.net/
Once your online account is setup and activated you can follow the steps below to finish the process and/or call our support team for assistance with activating the gateway in your database if necessary (1-866-909-8700).
#2 – Enabling the API Signature Credentials in your Online Authorize.Net Account and add them into your Trail Blazer ‘Payment Gateway’ Location
To enable the Transaction Details API:
1) Log into the ‘Merchant’ Interface at https://account.authorize.net.
Enter your Login ID and Password (which you will receive after purchasing your authorize.net account in section #1).
2) *If you get the blue message at the top of the screen regarding the setup of your API, follow that link (shown below), otherwise click on the Account tab, and select [Settings] in the main menu on the left. In my example I clicked the link at the top in the blue section to begin the process.
3) When you get the blue popup screen called ‘Get Started Accepting Payments’ click the link on the right for ‘Required for API’ (shown below). If you don’t have the blue pop-up screen, look for the Security Settings section, and click the [Transaction Details API] link, and the Transaction Details API screen will open.
4) If you haven’t already enabled the Transaction Details API, enter the answer to your Secret Question, and then click the [Submit] button.
5) When you have successfully enabled the Transaction Details API, the Settings page will displays. The image below is an example set of API Login ID and Transaction Key credentials – they’ve been partially redacted for security purposes.
6) You’ll want to store these two pieces of information in a safe location, and then proceed to the next step which will be pasting them into your database. It’s not a bad idea to keep this webpage open so you can just copy-and-paste the credentials instead of re-typing them in which will make it less likely for user error to occur.
7) Log into your Trail Blazer database and navigate to the Payment Gateway screen by following Application Menu > System Manager > Settings > Payment Gateway.
8) Select the Authorize.Net radio button in the top-left, copy-and-paste the credentials for Login ID and Transaction Key, record a brief note about who setup the account, and then click [Save and Close].
That completes the steps for configuring the API signature credentials, continue reading to finish the next steps for adding the silent post recurring URL from your database into your auth.net account. Don’t skip the next step if you plan on having recurring donation options available for your donors.
#3 – Generate the Silent Post Recurring URL in your Database and Copy-and-Paste the URL into your Authorize.Net Online Account
1) From Trail Blazer, open the Website Configuration screen by following Application Menu > System Manager > Settings > Website Configuration. Then navigate to Donations > Page Setup.
3) In the lower-left of the screen click the [Copy to Clipboard] button next to the AuthNet Post Url textbox.
4) Click [OK] after being prompted that the silent post URL is copied to your clipboard.
5) Navigate back to your online Authorize.Net online account. Click on the Account tab in the top-right, the Settings link in the top-left, and then click on the link in the first column called ‘Silent Post URL’.
6) Paste the URL string in the textbox (see images below), and then click [Submit].
Img 1 of 3 – Copy and Paste in the Recurring URL
Img 2 of 3 – Click [Submit]
Img 3 of 3 – You’ll be Prompted if it was Successful or Not
7) You can verify the steps are complete by going back to the authorize.net home screen, and clicking the new link in the blue message at the top (shown below).
Img 1 of 2 – From the Authorize.Net Home Screen Click the Link in the Blue Message at the Top
Img 2 of 2 – Verify that the Authorize.Net API is Activated
8) Last but not least, navigate back to Trail Blazer > Website Configuration and click the blue hyperlink in the top-right to refresh your website settings.
You are now ready to run a test donation of $5.00 or more through your Trail Blazer donation form hosted at (https://www.trailblz.info/YourDatabaseName/Donations.aspx). If the donation fails please contact our live tech support so we can help troubleshoot your configuration.
The Related Resources below provide a lot of information on related topics such as how to embed our secure donation iFrame form into your existing website, and how to create a thank-you email-responder.
#5 – Related Resources
Article: Configure Website
Article: Linking your Website to your Trail Blazer Database with Configurable Online Forms
Article: How to Put your Trail Blazer Donation Form on your Facebook Page
Video: Iframes
Video: Donation Auto Responders with Merge Fields
Video: Thank you’s using mass email
Trail Blazer Website Link: List of Merchant Gateway Options Supported by Trail Blazer
Trail Blazer Website Link: Recurring Donations with Authorize.Net
3rd Party Resource (Video): How Payment Processing Works
3rd Party Resource (Article): Silent Post URL
3rd Party Resource (Article): Authorize.Net KB on Setting Up Silent Post URL
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