Troubleshooting

I am trying to paste html into my web site but only the html is showing up. What am I doing wrong?

You need to paste html into the source of the page instead of the actual view of the page. To do this click the <> on the top bar of the html editor. Click the button and paste the html where you would like it displayed on the page.

Where Did My Site Go?

If you are seeing an unusual page or not finding your site at all, it's very likely that your domain name has expired.

If you did not register your domain with Merchant Moms, check where you registered it and renew it promptly.

If you aren't sure where you're registered, you might try this resource -

http://domaintools.com

Submit your domain name there and it will return the WHOIS information to you.

Only part of order is showing up in the "Orders" link in my store admin

Check to make sure you have POST set as the method in the HTTP Remote Call section:

Click the Cart Setup tab
Advanced Settings
Remote Call (IPN). Then in the drop down box select POST.
Click "Update Record" and save your changes.

Also, if you're seeing this and use Paypal as your payment method you might need to check the Paypal setting in Mals, and choose the first (just the words...)

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
The cart transfers the customer over to PayPal to pay for the entire cart contents as a single item. You can choose the way the description is set:
Just the words: Order number: XXXX
Try to push all the products into the description. It will be cut off at 127 chars.

I can receive but can't send email

More and more ISPs are requiring their customers to use their outgoing mail server instead of your domain's SMTP server. This is an attempt to fight against spam, which has been increasing. Hopefully if your ISP adopts this policy you'll be notified, but that isn't always the case. So if your email suddenly stops sending it's possible they've blocked the use of any SMTP server other than their own. This is normally port 25. You can try changing the outgoing port in your email client ( Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora..etc ) to port 225 to see is that helps, but if not you'll need to change your settings to use your ISP's SMTP server. A link to instructions on how to change these settings in Outlook 2003 and Outlook Express is below.

If you experience problems sending email, please contact your ISP to determine if it requires different SMTP server settings and what those are.

Configuring Outlook 2003 and Outlook Express to use our ISP's SMTP server

Here's a partial list of ISPs that require you use their SMTP server:

MSN
BellSouth
Verizon
Earthlink
Comcast

I can't send Email, but I can receive it okay

The most common cause is your ISP. More and more ISPs are starting to restrict email sent out of their connection through any outgoing mail server but theirs. So it's very possible that your email set up in Outlook or Outlook Express will work perfectly, then all of a sudden you can't send mail.

You can try changing the SMTP port to 225, if that doesn't work you'll have to change your outgoing mailserver to the ISP's outgoing mailserver. This will not change your MM email address, in fact they'll never know how you send mail through, they only see your return address.

Use the following to set your Outgoing Mail (SMTP) to your ISPs:

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Click on Tools
3. Click on Accounts
4. Click on the Mail tab
5. Click on the account name
6. Click on Properties
7. Click on the Servers tab
8. Insert the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP Server). This should be set to SMTP server of your ISP ( example: mail.bellsouth.com but you'll have to check with the ISP to make sure)
9. Then down under "Out Going Mail Server" put a check in the box ( if it's not there already )
10. Click the "Settings" button next to it
11. In "Logon Information" check the " Log on Using" radio button and put your ISP user name and password in the fields available.
12. Put a check in "Remember my password"
13. Click OK
14. Click OK again ( on the remaining open window )
15. Then close the remaining window ( if it allows you to click ok or apply do that first )

Orders not making it back to storeadmin

Check your setup at Mals:

HTTP Call: The HTTP call must be set up in Mals for the inventory control and order tracking to work. Go to Cart Setup, then Remote Calls.
- URL: In the URL field, add yourdomain.com/go/finish.php - Replace yourdomain.com with your site (note: no http://).
- Method: Choose POST as the method.
- Debug: In the HTTP call area of Mals, check the 'debug' box only if you have problems with the inventory control and want to track whether Mals is processing the call.
PayPal Setup: Make sure that you enter the PayPal email and select the option that returns the customer back to your cart after an order goes through.

PayPal: Please note that if you want to use PayPal as a payment type, you must use a business account if you want to automate inventory control or log orders and sales. Personal accounts can be used with the cart, but the inventory control and order tracking will not work!
- Auto Return: If you are using PayPal as a payment type, you must turn the 'Auto Return' setting on. This automates the return back to Mals after a customer pays via PayPal. (If this setting is turned off, the cart will require the customer to push a button to go back to the cart, and not all customers will do this.)
- Thank You Page: The Auto Return setting requires a thank you page to return to after the payment is made. Mals creates a page automatically and submits it without any effort on your part. However, if you plan to use PayPal for any other reason, you will need to make a thank you page on your site. Create the page, following PayPal's thank you page rules (shown on the auto return setting page) and enter the URL in the space provided in PayPal.
Limitations: Please note that the Merchantmoms system's inventory control system decreases inventory automatically, if set up properly. It will also discourage a customer from ordering more than is available. However, it is not designed as a method to limit quantities for one of a kind items. Because the system uses a third party cart in Mals, we cannot guarantee that a customer will not try to change the quantity within Mals or otherwise try to order more than is available.

In addition, Mals does not support every payment processor, so it is possible that the http call system may not work properly with your payment processor. Please check the processor list at Mals to make sure inventory control will work on your site - if your processor does not have a check under 'HTTP Call', the inventory system will not work with that processor.

Why doesn't the item get removed from Inventory when its sold?

When an item isn't removed from the inventory it usually means the remote calls at Mal's aren't setup correctly.

1. Log in to Mals http://mals-e.com

2. Click "Cart Setup"

3. Choose the "Remote Calls" link right hand column

4. Make sure the box reads: server_ip_address/~username/go/finish.php

(Note: be sure to use YOUR server IP address and YOUR CPanel username, refer to your welcome letter for this information)

5. Set the Method to POST

6. Click "Update Records"

7. Go back to Cart Setup and find the PayPal link under Payments

8. Tick the option for the IPN return

9. Click Update Settings

10. Log into your PayPal account, click on Profiles the find:

Website Payment Preferences to set up, then go to Instant Payment Notification and set that up as well.

Contact Form

Click Site Settings (lower right menu)

Check that your email address is in the Admin Email slot. This is the email address that communications get sent to when you use the "Forgot Password" feature.

It is recommended that you use your domain email, and appears much more professional. If you opt for yahoo, aol, etc., you may have problems with spam catchers grabbing your forms before you do.

If none of the above solutions work for you, do feel free to submit a support request at the help desk

Can't access forum

You will need to sign up for a forum account at http://merchantmoms.com/forums. We do have to manually approve all accounts, but you will get an email when this has been done.

I have lost my welcome (new account activation) email. How can I get a new one?

Log into your user account.

https://merchantmoms.com/billing/clientarea.php (the Client Login on the left at the MerchantMoms.com site)

Choose My Emails and find the Welcome Email there

I can't add anything to my cart. I get this error message: ERROR: Link verification failed.

You need to go into your Mals account to Cart Setup. There is a link for Link Verification. You want to make certain that the checkbox is UNCHECKED. Then click Update Record.

Why aren't my orders coming into my store admin?

When an order isn't posted in the store admin area, it usually means the remote calls at Mal's aren't setup correctly.

1. Log in to Mals http://mals-e.com

2. Click "Cart Setup"

3. Choose the "Remote Calls" link right hand column

4. Make sure the box reads: yourdomain.com/go/finish.php

(Note: be sure to what your site actually is for 'yourdomain.com' refer to your welcome letter for this information)

5. Set the Method to POST

6. Click "Update Records"

7. Go back to Cart Setup and find the PayPal link under Payments

8. Tick the option for the IPN return

9. Click Update Settings

Can't Delete Category

If your category won't delete, check to see if the name has an apostrophe or other character in it. If yes, rename and retry deleting.

I don't have an add to cart button.

1. Log in to your store admin to see if it set up completely

2. Click catalog setup, lower right hand menu

3. Put the user ID in the ID slot. This is the user ID that you were given when you signed up for your Mals account

3. Check the Mals Server box as well to see that you've input the server. (The box should only contain two letters and one number, example ww9, ww10 - without the period after the number)

4. Add an item to your cart and verify it works correctly.

Error: Userid not found

You get this error if the Mals ID and Mal's Server fields haven't been filled in, or are incorrect, in the Catalog Setup area of your storeadmin. Once you fill them in ( the info is in the welcome letter you get from Mal's ) remember to click the "UPDATE VARIABLES" button at the bottom of the page.

Where is my space going ?!

Are you saving mail on the server? If you are forwarding mail, be sure that it's not set to both forward and save a copy on the server. Be sure you've dumped your trash, too, if the webmail isn't set to do it automatically.

Locked OUT

You can't see your site but others can?

Most likely you're locked out from too many *failed* attempts to login. Please do not guess at your username and password combiniation, try very hard to take it easy and make sure you are typing it correctly.

When you are locked out, you will be asked to send us your IP address -- go to http://myipaddress.com and give us the numerical address it tells you is yours.

Consider putting all of your usernames and passwords in a text file you can refer to easily

I am trying to paste html into my web site but only the html is showing up. What am I doing wrong? You need to paste html into the source of the page instead of the actual view of the page. To do this click the <> on the top bar of the html editor. Click the button and paste the html where you would like it displayed on the page.

Where Did My Site Go? If you are seeing an unusual page or not finding your site at all, it's very likely that your domain name has expired. If you did not register your domain with Merchant Moms, check where you registered it and renew it promptly. If you aren't sure where you're registered, you might try this resource - http://domaintools.com Submit your domain name there and it will return the WHOIS information to you.

Only part of order is showing up in the "Orders" link in my store admin Check to make sure you have POST set as the method in the HTTP Remote Call section: Click the Cart Setup tab Advanced Settings Remote Call (IPN). Then in the drop down box select POST. Click "Update Record" and save your changes. Also, if you're seeing this and use Paypal as your payment method you might need to check the Paypal setting in Mals, and choose the first (just the words...) PRODUCT DESCRIPTION The cart transfers the customer over to PayPal to pay for the entire cart contents as a single item. You can choose the way the description is set: Just the words: Order number: XXXX Try to push all the products into the description. It will be cut off at 127 chars.

I can receive but can't send email More and more ISPs are requiring their customers to use their outgoing mail server instead of your domain's SMTP server. This is an attempt to fight against spam, which has been increasing. Hopefully if your ISP adopts this policy you'll be notified, but that isn't always the case. So if your email suddenly stops sending it's possible they've blocked the use of any SMTP server other than their own. This is normally port 25. You can try changing the outgoing port in your email client ( Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora..etc ) to port 225 to see is that helps, but if not you'll need to change your settings to use your ISP's SMTP server. A link to instructions on how to change these settings in Outlook 2003 and Outlook Express is below. If you experience problems sending email, please contact your ISP to determine if it requires different SMTP server settings and what those are. Configuring Outlook 2003 and Outlook Express to use our ISP's SMTP server Here's a partial list of ISPs that require you use their SMTP server: MSN BellSouth Verizon Earthlink Comcast

I can't send Email, but I can receive it okay The most common cause is your ISP. More and more ISPs are starting to restrict email sent out of their connection through any outgoing mail server but theirs. So it's very possible that your email set up in Outlook or Outlook Express will work perfectly, then all of a sudden you can't send mail. You can try changing the SMTP port to 225, if that doesn't work you'll have to change your outgoing mailserver to the ISP's outgoing mailserver. This will not change your MM email address, in fact they'll never know how you send mail through, they only see your return address. Use the following to set your Outgoing Mail (SMTP) to your ISPs: 1. Open Outlook Express 2. Click on Tools 3. Click on Accounts 4. Click on the Mail tab 5. Click on the account name 6. Click on Properties 7. Click on the Servers tab 8. Insert the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP Server). This should be set to SMTP server of your ISP ( example: mail.bellsouth.com but you'll have to check with the ISP to make sure) 9. Then down under "Out Going Mail Server" put a check in the box ( if it's not there already ) 10. Click the "Settings" button next to it 11. In "Logon Information" check the " Log on Using" radio button and put your ISP user name and password in the fields available. 12. Put a check in "Remember my password" 13. Click OK 14. Click OK again ( on the remaining open window ) 15. Then close the remaining window ( if it allows you to click ok or apply do that first )

Orders not making it back to storeadmin Check your setup at Mals: HTTP Call: The HTTP call must be set up in Mals for the inventory control and order tracking to work. Go to Cart Setup, then Remote Calls. URL: In the URL field, add yourdomain.com/go/finish.php - Replace yourdomain.com with your site (note: no http://). Method: Choose POST as the method. Debug: In the HTTP call area of Mals, check the 'debug' box only if you have problems with the inventory control and want to track whether Mals is processing the call. PayPal Setup: Make sure that you enter the PayPal email and select the option that returns the customer back to your cart after an order goes through. PayPal: Please note that if you want to use PayPal as a payment type, you must use a business account if you want to automate inventory control or log orders and sales. Personal accounts can be used with the cart, but the inventory control and order tracking will not work! Auto Return: If you are using PayPal as a payment type, you must turn the 'Auto Return' setting on. This automates the return back to Mals after a customer pays via PayPal. (If this setting is turned off, the cart will require the customer to push a button to go back to the cart, and not all customers will do this.) Thank You Page: The Auto Return setting requires a thank you page to return to after the payment is made. Mals creates a page automatically and submits it without any effort on your part. However, if you plan to use PayPal for any other reason, you will need to make a thank you page on your site. Create the page, following PayPal's thank you page rules (shown on the auto return setting page) and enter the URL in the space provided in PayPal. Limitations: Please note that the Merchantmoms system's inventory control system decreases inventory automatically, if set up properly. It will also discourage a customer from ordering more than is available. However, it is not designed as a method to limit quantities for one of a kind items. Because the system uses a third party cart in Mals, we cannot guarantee that a customer will not try to change the quantity within Mals or otherwise try to order more than is available. In addition, Mals does not support every payment processor, so it is possible that the http call system may not work properly with your payment processor. Please check the processor list at Mals to make sure inventory control will work on your site - if your processor does not have a check under 'HTTP Call', the inventory system will not work with that processor.

Why doesn't the item get removed from Inventory when its sold? When an item isn't removed from the inventory it usually means the remote calls at Mal's aren't setup correctly. 1. Log in to Mals http://mals-e.com 2. Click "Cart Setup" 3. Choose the "Remote Calls" link right hand column 4. Make sure the box reads: server_ip_address/~username/go/finish.php (Note: be sure to use YOUR server IP address and YOUR CPanel username, refer to your welcome letter for this information) 5. Set the Method to POST 6. Click "Update Records" 7. Go back to Cart Setup and find the PayPal link under Payments 8. Tick the option for the IPN return 9. Click Update Settings 10. Log into your PayPal account, click on Profiles the find: Website Payment Preferences to set up, then go to Instant Payment Notification and set that up as well.

Contact Form Login to your store administration http://yoursite.com/storeadmin Click Site Settings (lower right menu) Check that your email address is in the Admin Email slot. This is the email address that communications get sent to when you use the "Forgot Password" feature. It is recommended that you use your domain email, and appears much more professional. If you opt for yahoo, aol, etc., you may have problems with spam catchers grabbing your forms before you do. If none of the above solutions work for you, do feel free to submit a support request at the help desk

Can't access forum You will need to sign up for a forum account at http://merchantmoms.com/forums. We do have to manually approve all accounts, but you will get an email when this has been done.

I have lost my welcome (new account activation) email. How can I get a new one? Log into your user account. https://merchantmoms.com/billing/clientarea.php (the Client Login on the left at the MerchantMoms.com site) Choose My Emails and find the Welcome Email there

I can't add anything to my cart. I get this error message: ERROR: Link verification failed. You need to go into your Mals account to Cart Setup. There is a link for Link Verification. You want to make certain that the checkbox is UNCHECKED. Then click Update Record.

Why aren't my orders coming into my store admin? When an order isn't posted in the store admin area, it usually means the *remote calls* at Mal's aren't setup correctly. 1. Log in to Mals http://mals-e.com 2. Click "Cart Setup" 3. Choose the "Remote Calls" link right hand column 4. Make sure the box reads: yourdomain.com/go/finish.php (Note: be sure to what your site actually is for 'yourdomain.com' refer to your welcome letter for this information) 5. Set the Method to POST 6. Click "Update Records" 7. Go back to Cart Setup and find the PayPal link under Payments 8. Tick the option for the IPN return 9. Click Update Settings

Can't Delete Category If your category won't delete, check to see if the name has an apostrophe or other character in it. If yes, rename and retry deleting.

I don't have an add to cart button. 1. Log in to your store admin to see if it set up completely 2. Click catalog setup, lower right hand menu 3. Put the user ID in the ID slot. This is the user ID that you were given when you signed up for your Mals account 3. Check the Mals Server box as well to see that you've input the server. (The box should only contain two letters and one number, example ww9, ww10 - without the period after the number) 4. Add an item to your cart and verify it works correctly.

Error: Userid not found You get this error if the Mals ID and Mal's Server fields haven't been filled in, or are incorrect, in the Catalog Setup area of your storeadmin. Once you fill them in ( the info is in the welcome letter you get from Mal's ) remember to click the "UPDATE VARIABLES" button at the bottom of the page.

Where is my space going ?! Are you saving mail on the server? If you are forwarding mail, be sure that it's not set to both forward and save a copy on the server. Be sure you've dumped your trash, too, if the webmail isn't set to do it automatically.

Locked OUT You can't see your site but others can? Most likely you're locked out from too many failed attempts to login. Please do not guess at your username and password combiniation, try very hard to take it easy and make sure you are typing it correctly. When you are locked out, you will be asked to send us your IP address -- go to http://myipaddress.com and give us the numerical address it tells you is yours. Consider putting all of your usernames and passwords in a text file you can refer to easily