Do you want to test Stripe transactions before accepting real payments in WPForms? You can make trial purchases using test credit card numbers on your site and analyze the transactions by logging in to your Stripe account.
In this article, we’ll show you how to perform test Stripe transactions on your site.
- Enabling Stripe Test Mode
- Creating a Form to Test Stripe Payments
- Enabling Stripe Payments
- Publishing Your Form and Performing the Test
- Viewing Test Transactions in Your Stripe Account
- Switching to Live Mode
Requirements: You will need a Pro license level or higher to access the Stripe Addon.
Before you get started, be sure to install WPForms on your WordPress site and verify your license. Then, you’ll need to install the Stripe Addon to test Stripe payments on your site.
Note: Stripe applies a 3% transaction fee to each payment processed through their platform if your WPForms license is inactive. However, this fee doesn’t apply to test transactions.
1. Enabling Stripe Test Mode
When testing your payment form, you’ll need to ensure that no real transactions are made in the process. To do so, navigate to WPForms » Settings and go to the Payments tab.
Here, scroll to the Stripe section and select the Test Mode checkbox.
You should also check that there’s a green checkbox for the Connection Status. This lets you know that your site has been successfully connected to your Stripe account.
Note: If you haven’t already connected your site to your Stripe account, you’ll be reminded to set up Stripe Connect. This will let your site send payment data to your Stripe account, and must be configured separately for live and test payments.
After you’ve checked that Stripe is connected and test payments are enabled, click the Save Settings button.
2. Creating a Form to Test Stripe Payments
Next, you’ll either need to create a new form or edit an existing one with WPForms. If you’re building a new form to use for Stripe payment testing, you might want to consider using our Billing/Order Form template.
Note: Want to learn more about the Billing/Order Form template? See our tutorial on using templates in WPForms for all the details.
You can customize your form however you like, but be sure to add a payment item field such as the Single Item or Multiple Items field.
You’ll also need to include the Stripe Credit Card field.
This will add subfields to your form into which you can enter test credit card details.
3. Enabling Stripe Payments
Once you’ve added the fields you’d like to use to your form, you’ll need to allow Stripe payments in the form by going to Payments » Stripe and selecting the checkbox next to Enable Stripe payments.
The other settings here are optional for testing purposes. You can fill them out or leave them blank for now.
Note: For more details on configuring Stripe payments settings in your forms, check out our guide to using the Stripe Addon.
The Stripe Credit Card field also requires your form to use AJAX submissions. This is when your form submits without requiring the page to refresh.
AJAX submissions are enabled by default in WPForms. You can double-check that this option is turned on by going to Settings » General in the form builder. Then click on the Advanced section to expand it.
Here, make sure the setting labeled Enable AJAX form submission is toggled to the “on” position.
Once this is all set, don’t forget to save your form.
4. Publishing Your Form and Performing the Test
Once you’ve set up your form, you can test payments with it on the frontend of your site. To do this without publishing the form to a live page, you can use the form preview option in WPForms, or create a private page or post.
Since you can’t use genuine card information in the Stripe Credit Card field when the addon is in test mode, enter any test card numbers listed in Stripe’s testing doc when filling out your form for testing.
5. Viewing Test Transactions in Your Stripe Account
Stripe does not send payment receipts in test mode so you won’t receive any Stripe payment notifications automatically. To view or send receipts manually, you can check your Stripe Dashboard.
To begin, you’ll need to log in to your Stripe account. Then click on Payments in the menu at the top of the screen.
Next, near the top right corner of the screen, toggle on the Test Mode option.
This will show you an overview of the test payments you’ve received in your Stripe account.
If you’d like, you can view more details for an individual payment. To do so, go to the row for that entry and click on the three dots to see more options. Then, select View payment details.
On the individual payment details page, you can see more information and options for your specific test payment.
6. Switching to Live Mode
When you’re done testing, remember to deactivate Test Mode in Stripe before allowing users to submit payments in your form. You can do this by going to WPForms » Settings » Payments, as in the previous step.
To enable Live Mode, scroll to the Stripe section and deselect the Test Mode checkbox.
You’ll then need to reconnect WPForms to Stripe by clicking on the Connect with Stripe button. Don’t forget to save your settings as well.
Note: For more details on how to connect your site to Stripe in Live Mode, see our guide to using the Stripe Addon.
That’s it! You can now test Stripe payments in your forms.
Next, do you want to set up automatic form notifications so you can receive submitted entries via email? Be sure to check out our guide on how to set up form notifications emails for all the details.
