This article lists the most frequently reported issues in WP SmartPay and how to resolve them quickly.
"No gateway selected" at Checkout
Symptom: The checkout form appears but there is no payment button or gateway selector.
Cause: No gateway is enabled in SmartPay settings, or the form does not have a gateway assigned.
Fix:
- Go to SmartPay → Settings → Payment Gateways.
- Enable at least one gateway (Test Payment is always available for quick testing).
- Open the form in the editor and confirm the Payment sidebar panel shows an active gateway.
Stripe Webhook Signature Failure
Symptom: Stripe payments complete on Stripe's side but stay Pending in SmartPay. The debug log shows "webhook signature verification failed".
Fix:
- Go to your Stripe Dashboard → Developers → Webhooks.
- Click the webhook endpoint to see its details.
- Copy the Signing Secret (starts with
whsec_). - Paste it into the Webhook Secret field in SmartPay's Stripe gateway settings.
- Save and test with a new payment.
License Key Not Activating
Symptom: Clicking "Activate License" shows an error or the status stays Inactive.
Fixes:
- Double-check the key for extra spaces or line breaks when pasting.
- Confirm you have not exceeded the activation limit for your license plan — deactivate on an unused site first.
- Check that your server can make outbound HTTPS requests to the licensing server (some firewalls block external connections). Ask your host to confirm.
- Try deactivating and reactivating: clear the existing key, save, then re-enter and activate.
Currency Mismatch Error
Symptom: Gateway declines the payment with a currency-related error.
Cause: The currency set in SmartPay General Settings is not supported by your gateway account, or the gateway is not configured to accept that currency.
Fix:
- Check your gateway dashboard to see which currencies your account supports.
- Go to SmartPay → Settings → General and update the currency to match a supported one.
- For Stripe: confirm the currency is enabled in your Stripe account settings.
Missing Receipt Page / 404 After Payment
Symptom: After a successful payment, the customer sees a 404 or blank page instead of the receipt.
Fix:
- Create a WordPress page with the
[smartpay_payment_receipt]shortcode. - Go to SmartPay → Settings → General.
- Set the Payment Success Page field to that page.
- Save settings.
Payments Stuck at Pending
This is the most common issue and is almost always caused by webhooks not reaching your site. See Payment Not Completing for a full troubleshooting checklist.
Donor Wall Is Empty
Symptom: The campaign page shows no donors, or a donor's comment is missing.
Cause: The campaign's donor list is Private, or comments are held for approval.
Fix: Set Donor list to Public in Campaign → Settings, or click Approve in the campaign's Donors tab. See Donor Wall.
Can't Attach a Form to a Campaign
Symptom: A form is not offered in Attach existing.
Cause: It is a legacy form. Only forms built with the form builder can join a campaign.
Fix: Click Migrate to join a campaign under Legacy forms on the campaign's Forms tab.
Recurring Option Missing Beside the Custom Amount
Symptom: Donors cannot choose how often to give a custom amount.
Cause: Pro is not active, or Billing for custom amount is set to One time only.
Fix: Activate Pro and set Billing for custom amount to Let donor choose in the pricing block's Custom Amount panel.
Campaign Page Says "This campaign has ended"
Symptom: The campaign page hides the form and shows an ended message.
Cause: The campaign's end date has passed.
Fix: Change or clear the End date in Campaign → Settings.
Form's Own Goal Not Working
Symptom: A form's Goal tab shows a notice instead of its settings.
Cause: The form is in a campaign, so the campaign goal applies.
Fix: Detach the form from the campaign to use its own goal. See Form Goals.
Forms Appear Blank on Frontend
Symptom: The shortcode or block is on the page but nothing renders.
Fixes:
- Confirm the free SmartPay plugin is active — Pro alone will not render forms.
- Check for JavaScript errors in the browser console (press F12). JS errors from other plugins can break SmartPay's checkout rendering.
- Deactivate other plugins one by one to identify a conflict.
- Switch to a default WordPress theme temporarily to rule out a theme conflict.