Didion Website Issues & Payment Integration Migration

Overview

During a working session focused primarily on PLMA trade show booth design, Diana Henry (Didion) flagged two related website issues that need resolution: active 500 errors on the Didion website, and a pending migration from Square to PayPal for online payment processing. The payment migration is becoming urgent as a golf outing sponsor is already trying to sign up for next year.

See also: ^[1] | ^[2]

Issue 1: Website 500 Errors

Symptoms

• The Didion website is returning HTTP 500 error responses
• At least two distinct error messages were observed (a 500 and a separate error type)
• The errors were flagged to an internal contact (Chris) who had not yet responded at the time of the call

Status

• Unresolved as of the meeting date
• Root cause unknown; requires a technical SME to investigate
• Diana noted the errors may be related to or compounded by the Square integration still being present

Next Steps

• Assign a technical SME (not Melissa) to investigate and diagnose the 500 errors
• Determine whether removing the Square plugin contributes to or resolves any errors
• Coordinate timing with the PayPal migration below

Issue 2: Square → PayPal Payment Migration

Background

Didion switched from Square to PayPal as their online payment platform in August (prior to this meeting). However, the website's payment integration was never updated to reflect this change. The Square integration remains embedded in the site.

Affected Pages

• Golf outing sponsorship page — primary urgency; a sponsor is actively trying to register and pay for next year's event
• Any other pages using Square for payment acceptance

Technical Context

• The site runs on WordPress
• Migration requires replacing the Square payment plugin/integration with a PayPal equivalent
• Diana had begun researching "PayPal integration plugin for WordPress" but had not yet identified a solution

Business Urgency

• A sponsor is ready to purchase a golf outing sponsorship now and cannot complete the transaction
• Diana had originally planned to address this in December or January but the active sponsor interest has elevated priority

Next Steps

• Identify the appropriate WordPress PayPal plugin (e.g., WooCommerce PayPal Payments, PayPal for WooCommerce, or similar)
• Remove or deactivate the Square plugin
• Update the golf outing sponsorship page with the new PayPal payment flow
• Test end-to-end payment acceptance before going live
• Coordinate with the 500 error investigation — resolving both together may be more efficient

Coordination Notes

Diana suggested that fixing the website errors and completing the PayPal migration may be related and could potentially be addressed together in a single technical pass. The team agreed to assign the right subject matter expert rather than have non-technical team members attempt the fix.

Key constraint: Diana is out the week of the 20th. Any work requiring her review or approval should be scoped around that availability window.

Related

• ^[1]
• ^[2]
• ^[3]