Phone Orders FAQ
Phone Orders for WooCommerce streamlines manual order entry, but you may run into specific questions about features, Pro vs. Free, troubleshooting, or integration. This FAQ brings together the most common issues and their solutions, from pricing rule application to customer creation errors and frontend mode limitations.
General
1. Can many operators use the same account to add orders?
It is not recommended. WooCommerce stores customer details and cart contents in the active session. If multiple agents share one account, they will overwrite each other’s work, mix cart data, and risk creating incorrect orders.
Solution
Create a separate WordPress user account for each operator and assign them the Shop Managerrole. For more granular control, use the User Role Editor plugin to add the necessary capabilities (manage_woocommerce_phone_orders and edit_shop_orders).
2. Does the plugin support multicurrency?
Yes. Phone Orders works with the WOOCS – Currency Switcher for WooCommerce Professionalplugin. We recommend WOOCS for converting currencies inside the phone order interface. Other currency switchers may not be compatible.
Customer Creation & Management
3. I cannot add a new customer. I see the message “Please enter a valid account username”.
Cause
WooCommerce requires a username when creating a new customer account, but your Phone Orders form may not provide one.
Solution
- Navigate to WooCommerce → Settings → Accounts & Privacy.
- Locate the option “When creating an account, automatically generate a username from the customer’s email address”.
- Tick the checkbox.
- Click Save changes.
4. I cannot add a customer. I see the error “Could not verify request”.
Cause
The reCaptcha for WooCommerce plugin adds extra verification steps that interfere with the phone order customer creation process.
Solution
Add the following PHP code to disable reCaptcha specifically for Phone Orders. You can insert it via the Code Snippets plugin or your child theme’s functions.php file.
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add_filter( 'wpo_before_create_customer', function($data) { global $i13_woo_recpatcha; remove_action( 'woocommerce_register_post', array( $i13_woo_recpatcha, 'i13_woocomm_validate_signup_captcha' ) ); return $data; } ); add_filter( 'wpo_after_create_customer', function($data) { global $i13_woo_recpatcha; add_action( 'woocommerce_register_post', array( $i13_woo_recpatcha, 'i13_woocomm_validate_signup_captcha' ), 10, 3 ); return $data; } ); |
Discounts & Pricing Rules
5. How do I apply bulk, role‑based, or other discounts?
Use our free plugin, Advanced Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce, to configure all your discount rules. Once you set up your rules (bulk discounts, role‑based prices, etc.), Phone Orders automatically respects them when you create manual orders.
6. My pricing plugin does not apply role‑based discounts.
Cause
By default, pricing plugins calculate prices for the currently logged‑in user (the administrator). Phone Orders runs in the admin area, so the plugin sees the admin’s role, not the customer’s.
Solution
- Go to Phone Orders → Settings → Common.
- Mark the checkbox “Switch customer during cart calculations”.
- Click Save changes.
This tells the pricing plugin to temporarily switch its context to the selected customer’s identity.
7. Pricing rules are not applied to products or the order.
If you use Advanced Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce, two settings must be enabled for discounts to work in phone orders.
Step‑by‑step fix
- Visit Phone Orders → Settings → Common and mark the checkbox “Switch customer”.
- Visit Pricing Rules → Settings → System and mark the checkbox “Apply pricing rules to backend orders”.
- Save both settings.
After enabling these two options, your dynamic pricing rules will apply correctly to manual orders.
Note: This works with both the free and Pro versions of Advanced Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce.
Shipping & Free Shipping
8. I don’t see “Free Shipping” in the Phone Orders popup.
Cause
The Free Shipping method must be explicitly added to your shipping zones in WooCommerce.
Solution
- Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping.
- Edit the relevant shipping zone.
- Add Free Shipping as a shipping method.
- Configure its conditions (minimum order amount, coupon, etc.).
- Save the zone.
After this, the Free Shipping option appears in the Phone Orders popup when the customer’s address falls into that zone.
9. Shipping methods (added by other plugins) are visible to customers.
Cause
This is a known conflict with the WooCommerce Ajax Mini Cart plugin. The mini‑cart plugin may display shipping methods meant only for internal use (like phone_orders).
Solution
Add the following PHP code to your child theme’s functions.php or via the Code Snippets plugin.
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if ( is_admin() && isset( $_REQUEST['action'] ) ) { $action = $_REQUEST['action']; $deny_prefix = "woo_amc_"; if ( substr( $action, 0, strlen( $deny_prefix ) ) === $deny_prefix ) { add_filter( 'woocommerce_shipping_methods', function ( $methods ) { if ( isset( $methods['phone_orders'] ) ) { unset( $methods['phone_orders'] ); } if ( isset( $methods['phone_orders_custom_price'] ) ) { unset( $methods['phone_orders_custom_price'] ); } return $methods; }, PHP_INT_MAX, 1 ); } } |
Stock Management
10. New phone orders do not change the stock count.
Cause
WooCommerce reduces stock only for orders with the status Completed, Processing, or On hold. If your phone orders are created with the default status Pending payment, stock levels remain unchanged.
Solution
- After creating the phone order, change its status to Processing or Completed.
- Alternatively, go to Phone Orders → Settings → General and change the Default order status to Processing.
- Click Save settings.
Now, every new phone order will start in the selected status and stock will be reduced automatically.
Pro Version Questions
11. The “Go to Checkout” or “Go to Cart” button uses the wrong address details.
Cause
Some plugins (or custom JavaScript) override the address values in the checkout form. Known conflicts exist with Save Abandoned Carts – WooCommerce Live Checkout Field Capture.
Solution
Temporarily deactivate the conflicting plugin. If you must keep it, adjust its settings to disable address field overrides.
12. Separate web page for adding orders (without access to /wp-admin).
Step‑by‑step setup
- Install and activate the User Role Editor plugin.
- Create a new role (e.g., “Phone Operator”).
- Add the following capabilities to this role:
- Go to Phone Orders → Settings → Run at frontend.
- Mark the first checkbox to enable the frontend page. You may also need to mark both “hide” options to keep the interface clean.
- Save the settings.
Your operators can now visit http://yoursite.com/phone-orders-frontend-page (the URL is editable in the settings).
For complex products, enable “Allow to configure product” in the same settings tab. Then use the “Configure Product” button on the frontend page.
13. Product/customer search doesn’t work in “Run at frontend” mode.
Cause
This issue occurs on WPEngine hosting. WPEngine forces SSL on the backend, but the frontend page may not use HTTPS, causing mixed‑content errors that break AJAX search.
Solution
Update your wp-config.php file. Ensure both WP_SITEURL and WP_HOME use https://. Add or edit these lines:
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define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'https://SITE.wpengine.com' ); define( 'WP_HOME', 'https://SITE.wpengine.com' ); |
Replace SITE.wpengine.com with your actual domain. After the change, the frontend search will work correctly.
Licensing, Installation & Updates
14. I can’t buy the Pro version.
Solution
Try logging out of PayPal and paying as a guest using a credit card. If the issue persists, contact us directly via email at [email protected].
15. I can’t update the Pro version. I get the message “Update failed: Download failed. Unauthorized”.
Cause
Your Pro license key is not activated or has expired.
Solution
- Go to WooCommerce → Phone Orders → License.
- Enter the license key (from your purchase email).
- Click the Activate button.
- After activation, return to the Plugins page and try the update again.
16. How do I install the just‑purchased Pro version?
Step‑by‑step
- Deactivate and delete the free version. You will not lose your settings.
- From your purchase email, download the plugin ZIP file.
- Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
- Select the downloaded ZIP file and click Install Now.
- After installation, click Activate Plugin.
- Go to WooCommerce → Phone Orders → License and activate your license key.
17. How do I get an API key for address autocomplete?
Follow the detailed instructions in our dedicated article. The article covers obtaining an API key from Google Places or other address services and configuring it in Phone Orders.
Technical & Troubleshooting
18. My user cannot search for customers.
Cause
The user’s role lacks the required capability.
Solution
Add the capability edit_shop_orders to the user’s role. You can do this with the User Role Editor plugin or by editing the role directly.
19. The “Create Order” button does nothing.
Cause
A JavaScript conflict with another plugin or the active theme.
Solution
- Open your browser’s developer console (press F12, then click the Console tab).
- Look for any red error messages.
- Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme (e.g., Storefront).
- Deactivate other plugins one by one while testing the button.
- The conflict is likely with the last plugin you deactivated before the button started working.