Answers.Body: <p>To make it even more confusing -> installments = 0 actually means unlimited/open-ended recurring contributions in CiviCRM. </p>
  
  <p><strong>Your options:</strong></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Do not expose the installments field (that will then be = 0 or NULL
  by default > so open-ended). </p></li>
  <li><p>Add some jQuery to check the value of that field give the user a
  notice that it can not be = 1. How to add jQuery - there are a number
  of ways to do this - depending on the CMS that you use.</p></li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-07-31T23:14:14.363Z
Answers.Text: Thanks, I had a feeling that 0 was used for Ongoing. Makes sense in the database -- not so much to the user! I can add jQuery. CMS is WordPress.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Mark Westergaard
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-07-31T21:03:38.847Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-07-31T21:03:38.847Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: KarinG - Semper IT
Body: <p>I recently launched a new donation page that allows recurring payments via PayPal Standard. I noticed a couple of recurring contributions had a status of "Pending (Incomplete Transaction)". It turns out both donors had entered "1" in the Installments field. I expect that would either be considered an input error or perhaps it would simply process it like a single payment. I tried it myself and found that the donation page will submit, but PayPal then displays an error: </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>The link you have used to enter the PayPal system is invalid. Please
    review the link and try again</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>I assume the donors simply gave up at that point. I've reached out to both to find out. I suspect they thought the option for a recurring payment was actually a directive, and they entered "1" to ensure they were making a one-time donation.</p>
  
  <p>Is there an option to force the Installments field to accept only values greater than 1?</p>
  
  <p>While I was at it, I decided to try entering a zero in the Installments field. This makes no sense, but you never know what people will try. It actually processed the transaction with a payment. When I look at the transaction on "Find Contributions", it shows it as "Installments: (ongoing)". When I follow the link that is provided in the receipt to update the recurring contribution, it shows "Number of Installments 0".</p>
  
Tags: <civicontribute><paypal><recurring-contributions>
Title: Error on recurring payment with one installment
ThreadText: # Error on recurring payment with one installment
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-31)
  
  I recently launched a new donation page that allows recurring payments via PayPal Standard. I noticed a couple of recurring contributions had a status of "Pending (Incomplete Transaction)". It turns out both donors had entered "1" in the Installments field. I expect that would either be considered an input error or perhaps it would simply process it like a single payment. I tried it myself and found that the donation page will submit, but PayPal then displays an error:
  
  > The link you have used to enter the PayPal system is invalid. Please
  > review the link and try again
  
  I assume the donors simply gave up at that point. I've reached out to both to find out. I suspect they thought the option for a recurring payment was actually a directive, and they entered "1" to ensure they were making a one-time donation.
  
  Is there an option to force the Installments field to accept only values greater than 1?
  
  While I was at it, I decided to try entering a zero in the Installments field. This makes no sense, but you never know what people will try. It actually processed the transaction with a payment. When I look at the transaction on "Find Contributions", it shows it as "Installments: (ongoing)". When I follow the link that is provided in the receipt to update the recurring contribution, it shows "Number of Installments 0".
  
  **Tags:** civicontribute, paypal, recurring-contributions
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-31. Score: 1
  
  To make it even more confusing -> installments = 0 actually means unlimited/open-ended recurring contributions in CiviCRM.
  
  **Your options:**
  
  * Do not expose the installments field (that will then be = 0 or NULL
    by default > so open-ended).
  * Add some jQuery to check the value of that field give the user a
    notice that it can not be = 1. How to add jQuery - there are a number
    of ways to do this - depending on the CMS that you use.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thanks, I had a feeling that 0 was used for Ongoing. Makes sense in the database -- not so much to the user! I can add jQuery. CMS is WordPress.  
  
  ---
  
  