Configuring the Stripe Payment Gateway #

The Stripe Payment Gateway extension (version 3.0.0) lets your directory accept card payments through Stripe Checkout, for one-time listing fees, featured upgrades, or Pricing Plans purchases, including recurring subscriptions with optional free trials. This guide walks through getting your Stripe API keys, activating the gateway, registering the webhook, and where orders show up afterward.

Prerequisites #

Before setting up the gateway, make sure your checkout pages are configured. Directorist needs these pages set correctly so it knows where to send a user during and after checkout. If you haven’t set them up yet, complete the setup process form Directorist > Settings > Site & Pages > Pages, then continue here.

You also need Monetization turned on, since the gateway only appears on the checkout page when monetization is active.

Path: WP Admin → Directorist → Settings → Monetization → Featured Listings

1. Go to Monetization Settings.
2. Set Enable Monetization Feature to Yes.
3. Save your changes.

Step 1 – Get Your Stripe API Keys #

1. Log in to your Stripe Dashboard.
2. Go to Developers → API keys.
3. Copy your Publishable Key and Secret Key. Stripe shows separate keys for Test mode and Live mode, you’ll need both if you plan to test before going live.

Step 2 – Activate Stripe in Gateway Settings #

Path: WP Admin → Directorist Listings → Directorist Settings → Monetization Settings → Gateway Settings

1. Open the Gateway Settings tab.
2. Under Active Gateways, check Stripe Gateway. This makes Stripe available as a payment option on the checkout page.
3. (Optional) To make Stripe the pre-selected option at checkout, choose Stripe Gateway from the Default Gateway dropdown.
4. Click Save.

Step 3 – Configure the Stripe Gateway Tab #

Path: WP Admin → Directorist Listings → Directorist Settings → Monetization Settings → Stripe Gateway

1. Open the Stripe Gateway tab.
2. To test the integration before going live, set Enable Test Mode to Yes. While test mode is on, Directorist uses your Test keys and no live transactions are processed. Set it back to No before collecting real payments, which switches Directorist to your Live keys.
3. Enter the text you want buyers to see at checkout in Gateway Title. This defaults to Stripe.
4. Enter a short explanation for buyers in Gateway Description. This defaults to “You can make payment using your credit card using stripe if you choose this payment gateway.”
5. Enter the keys from Step 1:
   • Live Publishable Key and Live Secret Key for real payments.
   • Test Publishable Key and Test Secret Key for testing.
6. Click Save. Remember to save after switching any option here, since the settings won’t take effect until you do.

Once saved, Stripe appears as a payment option on the checkout page using the title and description you set here.

Step 4 – Register the Webhook #

The webhook is how Stripe tells your directory that a payment or subscription event happened (checkout completed, invoice paid, subscription created, updated, or cancelled, and so on). Without it, orders won’t update automatically.

1. Still on the Stripe Gateway tab, find Live Webhook and Sandbox Webhook.
2. Click Register Live Webhook to register the webhook for real payments, and Register Sandbox Webhook to register it for testing. Register whichever mode you’re currently using (matching Enable Test Mode). Unlike some gateways, you don’t need to create anything manually on Stripe’s side, clicking this button creates the webhook endpoint directly in your Stripe account using your secret key.
3. If you need to remove a registered webhook later, click Unregister Live Webhook or Unregister Sandbox Webhook, which appears in place of the register button once a webhook is registered.

If a webhook isn’t registered for the mode you’re currently using, Directorist shows an admin notice reminding you to register it, with a link straight to this settings tab.

Managing Orders #

Every purchase made through Stripe, whether it’s a featured listing upgrade or a Pricing Plans purchase, creates an order in Directorist. Once a buyer completes checkout on Stripe’s hosted payment page, they’re redirected back to your directory, and the order updates to paid as soon as Stripe’s webhook confirms the transaction. For the full walkthrough of finding, reviewing, and managing these orders, see the Managing Orders guide.

Recurring Plan/Package Payments #

Recurring payments for a plan or package work through the Stripe gateway using Stripe Subscriptions. This requires the Directorist Pricing Plans extension (version 3.9.9 or later) with a plan that has subscription billing enabled. If that plan also has a trial period enabled, the buyer’s checkout starts a trial with no upfront charge, and Stripe bills them automatically once the trial ends and at the end of each plan term after that, with no manual renewal step needed from the buyer or from you. Canceling a subscription’s package in Directorist is reflected the next time Stripe sends a subscription-cancelled webhook event.