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Giftflowv1.0.1

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How to configure Stripe payment gateway (Sandbox / Test Mode)

How to configure Stripe payment gateway (Sandbox / Test Mode)

Giftflow PayPal Settings Example

This guide walks you through configuring Stripe Test Mode (sandbox) for Giftflow: creating test API keys, connecting them to Giftflow, and enabling the required webhook events:

  • payment_intent.succeeded
  • payment_intent.payment_failed
  • charge.refunded

Prerequisites

  • A Stripe account
  • Admin access to your WordPress site running Giftflow
  • The Stripe webhook URL from Giftflow (usually shown in Giftflow’s Stripe settings screen)

Step 1: Create a Stripe account and switch to Test Mode

  1. Go to the Stripe Dashboard: https://dashboard.stripe.com/
  2. Sign in (or create an account).
  3. Turn on Test mode (Stripe shows a toggle like “Test mode / Live mode”).

Step 2: Create API keys (Test Mode)

  1. In Stripe Dashboard, go to Developers → API keys.
  2. Make sure you are still in Test mode.
  3. Copy these values:
    • Publishable key (starts with pk_test_...)
    • Secret key (starts with sk_test_...)

Add the keys to Giftflow

In your WordPress Admin:

  1. Open Giftflow → Settings → Payments → Stripe (or the Stripe settings screen in your Giftflow plugin).
  2. Set Environment to Sandbox / Test.
  3. Paste:
    • Stripe Publishable Key = pk_test_...
    • Stripe Secret Key = sk_test_...
  4. Save changes.

Step 3: Create a Stripe webhook endpoint

Giftflow relies on Stripe webhooks so the system can update donation statuses even if the donor closes the browser.

  1. In Stripe Dashboard, go to Developers → Webhooks.
  2. Make sure you’re still in Test mode.
  3. Click Add endpoint.
  4. For Endpoint URL, paste the webhook URL shown in Giftflow’s Stripe settings (example format: https://your-domain.com/...).
  5. Under Select events, enable:
    • payment_intent.succeeded
    • payment_intent.payment_failed
    • charge.refunded
  6. Click Add endpoint.

Step 4: Test the sandbox flow

1) Make a test donation

  1. Open a campaign donation form on your site.
  2. Choose Stripe and complete a donation using a Stripe test card.

2) Confirm Stripe events were delivered

  1. In Stripe Dashboard, go to Developers → Webhooks.
  2. Click your endpoint.
  3. Open Event deliveries and confirm you see:
    • payment_intent.succeeded for a successful donation
    • payment_intent.payment_failed for a failed donation attempt (optional test)

3) Test refund handling (optional)

  1. In Stripe Dashboard, find the test payment.
  2. Create a refund.
  3. Confirm your webhook endpoint receives charge.refunded.

What each webhook event does in Giftflow (expected behavior)

  • payment_intent.succeeded: mark the Donation as Paid (and trigger confirmation emails if configured).
  • payment_intent.payment_failed: mark the Donation as Failed (and optionally notify admin).
  • charge.refunded: mark the Donation as Refunded (or update status/metadata to reflect the refund).

Common issues

  • No webhook deliveries: double-check the endpoint URL, and ensure you created the webhook in Test mode (not Live).
  • Signature verification failed: confirm the whsec_... secret matches the endpoint you created.
  • Donation marked paid in Stripe but not in Giftflow: verify the webhook is enabled and that Giftflow’s endpoint is reachable from the public internet.