Migrating from Freemius Licensing to Update WP Full Pay

If you are on an older version of WP Full Pay tied to a legacy Freemius subscription, this guide explains how to migrate to the new licensing system so you can receive plugin updates and resolve Stripe payment errors.

Identify if you are on a legacy Freemius license

Legacy Freemius licensing was used in WP Full Pay versions below 8.x. If you are on one of these versions, auto-updates are blocked and certain Stripe payment features will not work correctly.

Check your plugin version:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins in the left-hand menu.
3. Find WP Full Pay in the list and look at the version number shown beneath the plugin name.

⚠️ Important: If your version number starts with 7 or lower (for example, 7.1.7), you are on a legacy version tied to Freemius licensing. You will need to migrate before you can update.

Signs that you are on a legacy Freemius license:

• The plugin's license screen shows Freemius branding or a Freemius-powered activation form.
• Attempting to auto-update the plugin produces the error: "An error occurred while updating WP Full Pay: Download failed. Unauthorized"
• Payment forms show a Stripe error containing "Missing required param: mandate_data"

📝 Note: If your version is already 8.x or higher, you are on the current licensing system. If you are still seeing update errors, see the Download failed. Unauthorized error message article instead.

Why legacy versions cause Stripe errors

Stripe introduced a required parameter called mandate_data for card updates and certain payment flows. This parameter is mandatory for all new Stripe API requests of this type.

WP Full Pay versions below 8.x were built before this Stripe requirement was added and do not include support for mandate_data. As a result, when a customer attempts to update their saved card or complete a payment that triggers this check, Stripe rejects the request and returns the following error:

"Missing required param: mandate_data"

This error cannot be resolved by adjusting your Stripe settings. The only fix is to update WP Full Pay to version 8.x or later, which includes full support for the mandate_data parameter.

⚠️ Important: Because legacy versions are tied to Freemius, the standard WordPress auto-update process will not work. You must migrate your license first, then manually install the new version.

Migrate to the new licensing system

Migrating your license is handled by the WP Full Pay support team. Follow the steps below to complete the process.

Step 1 — Contact support

Contact us via the pre-sales page or at friends@themeisle.com and include:

• The URL of your website where WP Full Pay is installed.
• Your license details (your original purchase email address or license key, if you have it).

The support team will migrate your license from Freemius to the new system and notify you once it is done.

💡 Tip: Check your original WP Full Pay purchase confirmation email for your license key or the email address used at purchase — this will help the support team locate your account quickly.

Step 2 — Download the new plugin version

Once the support team confirms your migration is complete:

1. Go to the WP Full Pay customer portal.
2. Log in using the credentials from your confirmation email.
3. Locate your WP Full Pay purchase and download the latest version as a .zip file.

Step 3 — Install the new version over the existing one

Because the legacy version cannot auto-update, you need to install the new version manually over the existing one. No payment data or form configurations will be lost during this process.

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Click Upload Plugin.
3. Click Choose File, select the .zip file you downloaded from the customer portal, then click Install Now.
4. When prompted, click Replace current with uploaded to overwrite the existing version.
5. When the installation finishes, click Activate Plugin.
6. Enter your new license key when prompted and activate it.

📝 Note: For detailed screenshots of each installation step, see the Installing WP Full Pay guide.

Verify the fix

After installing the new version, confirm that everything is working correctly.

Check the plugin version:

1. Go to Plugins in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Confirm that the WP Full Pay version number now shows 8.x or higher.

Troubleshooting

Still seeing "Download failed. Unauthorized" after migration

If you receive the "Download failed. Unauthorized" error after your license has been migrated, try the following:

• Clear your browser and WordPress caches. Cached license data can sometimes cause the old status to persist.
• Deactivate and reactivate your license. Go to the WP Full Pay license settings screen, deactivate your current license key, then re-enter and reactivate it.
• Check that the migration is complete. Confirm with the support team that the migration on their end has been finalized before attempting an update.
• Install manually. Even after a successful migration, the first update to version 8.x may need to be done manually (see Step 3 above). Auto-updates should work normally for all future updates once version 8.x is installed.

If you are still experiencing issues after following these steps, contact us via the pre-sales page or at friends@themeisle.com with your site URL and a description of the error.

📝 Note: For more detail on the "Unauthorized" error in other contexts, see the Download failed. Unauthorized error message article.