Using the Authorize.Net Sandbox

Before accepting real payments on your website, it’s essential to test your checkout process and payment gateway setup. You want to make sure transactions go through correctly, settings are configured properly, and learners can complete purchases without issues – all without risking real charges or failed customer payments.

The Authorize.Net Sandbox provides a safe way to do this.

It lets you test the LifterLMS Authorize.Net Payment Gateway using a simulated payment environment where no real money changes hands. This allows you to experience how Authorize.Net works in a realistic setting, verify your configuration, and test checkout behavior before going live.

You’ll need to create an Authorize.Net developer account before you can begin testing.

1. Open your web browser and visit https://developer.authorize.net/hello_world/sandbox.html
2. Fill out the form provided on the page to create your free sandbox account.
3. Log in to your new sandbox account at https://sandbox.authorize.net/

You’ll also need to create API keys to connect your sandbox account to your WordPress website.

1. Open your Authorize.Net dashboard and navigate to Account > Account and API Settings
2. Click on the link for “API Credentials and Keys“

3. Locate your “API Login ID” on this screen.
4. Copy your “API Login ID” so you can paste it into the LifterLMS settings later.
5. After this, click “Generate new transaction key” to create a new transaction key.

Note: If you are prompted with a security question, type the word “Simon” as the answer. Simon is the universal answer for all Authorize.Net sandbox accounts.

6. Click the Submit button.
7. Copy your new transaction key from the confirmation screen.

Warning: Authorize.Net displays your transaction key only once for security purposes. Please copy it immediately. If you lose this key, you’ll need to repeat the previous steps to generate a brand new one.

You’ll need one additional key to complete your setup.

1. On the same page, scroll down to the “Public Client Key” section.
2. Here, you can either copy your existing client key or generate a new one.
3. Copy your “Public Client Key” and store it in a safe place.

Now that you have your keys, add them to your website and activate testing mode.

1. Open your WordPress dashboard and navigate to LifterLMS > Settings > Checkout
2. Select “Authorize.Net” from your list of payment gateways.
3. On this screen, make sure to check the box next to “Enable Authorize.Net”

4. Next, scroll down and check the box next to the “Enable Authorize.Net Sandbox” option.
5. After that, scroll down to the Sandbox API Credentials section and paste your API Login ID, Transaction Key, and Public Client Key into their respective fields.
6. Click the Save Changes button to activate this payment gateway.

After enabling the sandbox payment gateway, you will see a “test card” modal on the LifterLMS checkout page. Here, you can click the “Use Card” button to complete the transaction with test cards.

For more information on testing different payment scenarios, we highly recommend the official Authorize.Net testing guide.