Coupon, Countdown and PayPal Button widget settings

Three widgets help a business sell. Coupon (Add > Business) is a printable offer with an optional expiry date. Countdown (Add > Basic) counts down live to a date and time. PayPal Button (Add > Business) is a Buy Now or Donate button that sends the money to a PayPal account.

Each Design panel ends with Spacing and Animations & Effects, explained in Widget design panel basics and Animations and effects. The text sections use the standard text controls explained there.

Coupon

How to add it

1. Click Add, open Business, and drag Coupon onto the page.
2. Click Edit Coupon.
3. Choose Build a coupon to type the offer, or Coupon image to use a ready-made coupon picture.
4. Fill in the offer and click Save.

Edit Coupon

• Build a coupon (default) or Coupon image.
• Title and Show: default "Get a Coupon!", shown.
• Offer (Build): "Short and big, e.g. "$5 OFF" or "20%"." Default "$5 OFF".
• Main message and Terms & Conditions (Build).
• Coupon image (Image): pick it, Replace it, and describe the offer in the alt text box.
• Text on button: default "Click to use coupon". The button prints the coupon. On a phone it shows the coupon full screen.
• Show share buttons: Facebook, X, LinkedIn and email share links. On by default.
• Expiration (optional): a date and time. From then on the coupon shows "Expired" instead of the button and share links. Mention the date in the terms to warn visitors.
• Coupon name (for analytics — visitors don't see it): an internal name for this offer.

Layout

• Offer position: Beside details (default) or Above details.
• Button style (from the site theme): Primary (default) or Secondary.

Frame

• Background: none by default.
• Border: 0 to 6 px. Default 1.
• Border color: shows when the border is above 0. Default dark gray.
• Dashed ("cut here") border: shows when the border is above 0. Off by default.
• Corners: 0 to 32 px. Default 8.

Coupon Title, Offer, Main Message and Terms & Conditions

All start closed. Text controls for each part: Coupon Title up to 60 px (default 30 bold, centered), Offer up to 120 px (default 56 desktop, 44 phone, bold serif), Main Message up to 32 px (default 17), Terms & Conditions up to 20 px (default 12, gray).

When Zeus fills a template, the coupon takes the client's active offer from Business extras. See Fill a template with Zeus. To show a coupon in a popup, drag a Coupon widget into the popup (the Offer / Coupon popup preset is built from text and a button, not this widget). See Popups.

Countdown

A live countdown in days, hours, minutes and seconds. It ticks in the editor too.

How to add it

1. Drag Countdown from Basic onto the page.
2. Click Manage Countdown.
3. Set the date, time and time zone, and click Save.

Manage Countdown

• Countdown ends on: a Date and Time. A new countdown ends a week from today at midnight.
• Time zone: the zone that date and time are in. Default the time zone of the computer you added it on.
• Time's up message: shown when it ends. Default "Countdown finished!"
• When the countdown ends: Show the counter at 00 and the message beneath (default) or Remove the counter and show only the message.
• Show title: off by default. Then type the title (default "Offer ends in").
• Labels: the words under each number. Default Days, Hours, Minutes and Seconds. On a site with other languages, the labels and numbers follow each language.

Layout

• The style: Thin rings (default), Thick rings, Filled circles, Boxes or Numbers only.
• Circle size (or Box size for Boxes): 40 to 240 px, per screen size. Default 110. Not shown for Numbers only.
• Space between items: up to 80 px, per screen size. Default 12.
• Colors, which change with the style:
  • Rings: Time remaining circle and Time expired circle.
  • Filled circles: Circle color.
  • Boxes: Box color.
  • Numbers only: none (use the Numbers text color).

Numbers, Labels, Title and Time's Up Message

All start closed. Text controls for the numbers (up to 120 px), the labels (up to 40 px), the title (shown when the title is on) and the message ("Shown when the countdown ends").

PayPal Button

A PayPal Buy Now or Donate button. Visitors pay on PayPal, and the money goes to the account email you enter. It needs no keys or connection, just the email.

How to add it

1. Drag PayPal Button from Business onto the page.
2. Click Edit PayPal.
3. Enter the PayPal account email and the item, price and currency. Click Save.

Edit PayPal

• PayPal account email: "Payments go to this PayPal account." The button is hidden on the live site until this is filled in.
• Type of transaction: Buy (default) or Donate.
• Item name (Buy) or What the donation is for (Donate).
• Price (Buy) or Amount (blank = donor chooses) (Donate).
• Currency: USD (default), CAD, EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, JPY, CHF, SEK, NOK, DKK, PLN, MXN, BRL, HKD, SGD or ILS.
• Shipping cost and Tax %: Buy only.
• Button style: Large (default), Large with card logos or Small.
• Alignment: Left (default), Center or Right.

Design

The PayPal Button's Design panel has only Spacing and Animations & Effects. Its look comes from PayPal's own button styles, set in Button style above.

Examples

• A pizza shop: Coupon with "$5 OFF", terms "Lunch menu only", and an expiry at the end of the month.
• A Black Friday sale: Countdown with Boxes, title "Sale ends in", and Remove the counter and show only the message set to "The sale is over — see you next year".
• A charity: PayPal Button set to Donate with the amount blank, so donors choose.
• A photographer selling a print: PayPal Button set to Buy, $40, with $5 shipping.

Limits and what it can't do

• Coupon doesn't track who used it. There's no code checking or redemption count.
• Countdown counts to one date. It doesn't restart on its own.
• PayPal Button sells one item at a set price (or a donor-chosen amount). It's not a cart or a store, and it doesn't record orders in ContentForge.
• None of these can be connected with Connect to Data.

Who can use it

Anyone with the Mount Olympus tool. Client people need Editor to add these widgets or change their design, and Widget content to change the offer, the date or the PayPal details.

Troubleshooting

• "Add the PayPal account email (Edit PayPal) — the button is hidden on the live site until then.": open Edit PayPal and fill in PayPal account email, then republish.
• The coupon says "Expired": the Expiration date has passed. Change or clear it in Edit Coupon.
• No share buttons on the coupon: turn on Show share buttons. They also hide once the coupon expires.
• The countdown ends at the wrong hour: check Time zone in Manage Countdown. It's the zone the end time is in, not the visitor's.
• The countdown shows 00 everywhere: the end date has passed. Set a new one.
• The countdown color won't change: the color rows change with the style. Boxes only has Box color; for Numbers only, change the color in Numbers.