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Print by order details at a WooCommerce printer location with BizPrint Metadata Mapping

This page shows you how to make a printer location print only orders that have a certain detail saved with them, for example only pickup orders, or only orders for one branch. It is for WooCommerce store owners who use the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce with the Metadata Mapping for Print Manager add-on, and it works with both desktop and Android stations.

What metadata means

Section titled “What metadata means”

Metadata is extra information that WooCommerce, or another plugin, saves with each order behind the scenes. Each piece of metadata has two parts:

  • a key: the name of the detail, for example delivery_type
  • a value: what it is set to for this order, for example pickup or delivery

Checkout, delivery, booking and multi-branch plugins often save details like these. Metadata Mapping lets a printer location print an order only when one of these details has a value you choose. (The key and values here are only examples. Your store’s keys depend on the plugins you use.)

If you do not know which key holds the detail you want, ask your developer, or the maker of the plugin that adds the detail, before you start.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”

Set up Metadata Mapping

Section titled “Set up Metadata Mapping”
  1. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress.
  2. Open the Printers tab.
  3. Click the name of the printer location you want to limit in the Description column.
  4. Find the Metadata Mapping section.
  5. Choose Custom in the drop-down list. More settings appear.
  6. Leave Post Type set to shop_order, which means orders.
  7. Wait a few seconds for the Metadata key(s) list to load. You cannot click it until it has loaded.
  8. Click the Metadata key(s) box.
  9. Choose the key you want.
  10. Type the value or values to print in Metadata value(s). Separate several values with commas, for example pickup,delivery.
  11. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

To print every order at this location again:

  1. Choose All in the Metadata Mapping drop-down list.
  2. Click Save Changes.

Always enter the values

Section titled “Always enter the values”

Always type at least one value in Metadata value(s): the value the order detail must have for this location to print the order.

Values must match exactly:

  • Spelling and capital letters must be the same. Pickup does not match pickup.
  • Put a comma between values. You can add one space after each comma, but no other spaces. A value with an extra space before or after it does not match.
  • An order prints at this location when its value equals any one of the values you typed.

Tips for choosing keys

Section titled “Tips for choosing keys”
  • Choose one key per location. If you choose several keys, the order is checked against only the first of those keys it has.
  • The order must have the key. An order without the chosen key never prints at this location.
  • Choose a metadata key, not a column name. The Metadata key(s) list also includes some database column names. Use these only if your developer has set this up for you.
  • Leave other post types to a developer. If you choose a Post Type other than shop_order, the Order metadata key (associated Post’s ID storage) setting appears. It is for stores where a developer links each order to other content, such as a booking. Leave Post Type on shop_order unless your developer tells you otherwise.

Good to know

Section titled “Good to know”
  • It applies to every print to this location. Metadata Mapping applies to automatic printing and to orders you print by hand from the order screen. If you print an order by hand to this location and the order does not match, nothing prints at this location.
  • Other mapping add-ons add more rules. If the same location also uses Product Mapping or Shipping Mapping, an order has to pass every rule to print there.
  • Locations set to All print everything. If another location on All uses the same printer, that printer gets every order as well.
  • Changes apply to new prints. Saving new settings does not print anything again. Check the next few orders, and their print jobs in the BizPrint dashboard, to make sure the location prints the orders you expect.
Section titled “Related pages”

Need help? Contact BizPrint support at https://getbizprint.com/support/.