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Troubleshooting paywall issues

The Arc XP Subscriptions paywall runs on the client side. Because of this, troubleshooting requires detailed reproductions teps and supporting data. Follow the steps in this document and send all requested information to Arc XP Customer Support to help us investigate and resolve the issue.

Confirm a paywall is deployed

You must have a paywall properly created and deployed in the Admin tool. To verfiy, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Subscriptions > Paywall > Rulesets. The Rulesets page opens, showing a list of existing rulesets.

  2. Create a ruleset and include all rules that will be part of the paywall. For more information, see Configuring rulesets.

  3. Click the Overview tab, create a paywall and start it. For more information, see Managing your paywalls.

  4. Confirm the paywall status shows as Active.

When a paywall is started, disabled, or enabled, the Retail API triggers the paywall deployer Lambda. This generates copies of p.js, p.min.js (minified), and p.html in S3. These files are hosted under your domain, for example:

https://subssinglesite-the-daily-intelligencer-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/arc/subs/p.js

Open the p.js file and check the first few lines:

  • var ArcPWPaused = false means the paywall is active.

  • var ArcPWPaused = true means the paywall is paused. Redeploy the paywall. If the issue persists, contact Arc XP Customer Support.

Confirm the paywall script loads

The p.js (or p.min.js) script must load on every page view. To verify, follow these steps:

  1. Open the page in Chrome and right-click > Inspect.

  2. Navigate to the Sources tab and confirm that p.js/p.min.js is present.

  3. In Local Storage > [your domain], check for the ArcP object.

The ArcP object contains the user's subscription state, rules, and article counts. It is updated on every new page view based on the deployed ruleset.

For details about the ArcP attributes, see Arc XP Subscriptions Paywall.

Note

If you want to use new paywall features, you must redeploy the paywall.

Investigate unexpected behavior

If the paywall behaved unexpected, follow these steps:

  1. Record the steps. Provide the URLs of each page visited, in order.

  2. Capture the ArcP object. Show how it changes as you navigate pages.

  3. Describe expected behavior. Explain what you expected to happen versus what occurred.

  4. Check entitlements calls:

    • On the first page view, when a user hits the paywall, of 24 hours after the last fetch, the script calls:

      /sales/public/v1/entitlements

    • This returns subscription and geolocation data that the paywall uses.

    • Export a .har file from the browser and confirm this requeste is included.

    Entitlements refresh behavior:

    • If a user has an active subscription, /entitlements is fetched every 24 hours.

    • If a subscription is canceled, the user retains access until the next entitlement refresh (up to 24 hours).

  5. Check IP-based access. Ensure the user's IP does not belong to a group package with alternate access rules.

Collect environment details

If the issue occurs only for some users, provide additional context:

  • Does it occur in all browsers on the same device?

  • Does it occur in icognito or private mode?

  • Does it occur on multiple devices for the same user?

  • Is an ad blocker or browser extension interfering with script execution?

  • Are cookies enabled in the browser?

Submit a complete report

When contact Arc XP Customer Support, include the following items:

  • Browser and OS version

  • Browser extension list

  • Browser settings (cookies, storage, and so on)

  • Screenshots or recordings of incorrect behavior

  • ArcP object snapshots

  • Exported .har files with entitlement requests

  • Code snippets or links showing how the paywall is implemented

Providing as much detail as possible helps us reproduce, diagnose, and resolve your issue more quickly.

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