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Update WooCommerce order status by scanning a barcode with BizPrint Barcode Scan

This page shows you how to print a barcode on your WooCommerce receipts and set up Barcode Scan, so that staff can scan a printed receipt to change the order’s status, for example to Completed. It is for store owners who use the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce with the Print Manager Status Triggers add-on, which includes Barcode Scan, and who scan with Order Board.

The Status Triggers add-on and Order Board are add-ons included with some plans. See BizPrint pricing for details.

How Barcode Scan works

Section titled “How Barcode Scan works”
  • A printer location prints a unique barcode on each order’s receipt.
  • Staff scan the barcode in Order Board.
  • The order changes to the status you choose as the Target Status. A note about the scan is added to the order’s notes.

Because a scan changes the order’s status, it can also start a status trigger that prints the order. For example, a scan that moves orders to Completed prints a packing slip if you have a trigger from Processing to Completed. See Print WooCommerce orders when their status changes with BizPrint Status Triggers.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”
  • Install and activate the Print Manager Status Triggers add-on. See Install a BizPrint add-on in WordPress.
  • Set up Order Board, the add-on you scan with.
  • Print the barcode from a printer location with the HTML output format. It prints on a station with the BizPrint desktop app or the BizPrint Android app.
  • Make sure your store has at least one order if you want to preview the result. The View Sample button appears only on a saved printer location, and only when the store has at least one order. If the button is missing, that is why.

Step 1: Print a barcode at a printer location

Section titled “Step 1: Print a barcode at a printer location”
  1. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress.
  2. Open the Printers tab.
  3. Click the name of the printer location that prints your receipts in the Description column.
  4. Find the Barcode Scan Settings box.
  5. Tick Enable Barcode.
  6. Choose Footer (Bottom), After Shipping Details or Before Customer Details in Barcode Position.
  7. Enter a width in Barcode Width if you want to change it. It can be 100 to 600 pixels, and the default is 300.
  8. Enter a height in Barcode Height if you want to change it. It can be 40 to 200 pixels, and the default is 80.
  9. Type a short line of text in Custom Label if you want one above the barcode, for example “Scan to update order status”.
  10. Leave Thermal Printer Format set to Barcode Image (Recommended).
  11. Click Save Changes.
  12. Click View Sample to check that the barcode appears. It opens your newest order in a new tab and does not print anything.

The barcode is added to printouts from the Customer Receipt, Customer Order Receipt and Order Receipt templates. Before Customer Details only appears when the printout shows customer details, so Footer (Bottom) is the safest choice.

Step 2: Turn on barcode scanning

Section titled “Step 2: Turn on barcode scanning”
  1. Open the Status Triggers tab in Print Manager.
  2. Find the Barcode Scan section.
  3. Tick Enable Barcode Scanning. The other barcode settings appear.
  4. Choose the status that scanned orders should change to in Target Status, for example Completed.
  5. Choose the statuses in Allowed From Statuses (Optional) that an order must be in before a scan can change it, for example Processing. If you leave it empty, a scan can change orders in any status.
  6. Tick Single Use Barcode if each barcode should work only once. Later scans of the same barcode are rejected.
  7. Click Generate New Key next to Scan API Key.
  8. Click OK to confirm. A new key appears in Scan API Key.
  9. Click Save Barcode Settings. The message “Barcode settings saved successfully!” appears.

We recommend choosing Allowed From Statuses (Optional) and ticking Single Use Barcode. With Allowed From Statuses (Optional), a scan can change only orders that are in one of the statuses you chose. With Single Use Barcode, a barcode that was already scanned is rejected.

Step 3: Add the key to Order Board

Section titled “Step 3: Add the key to Order Board”
  1. Click Copy next to Scan API Key. The message “API key copied to clipboard!” appears.
  2. Open Settings in Order Board.
  3. Find Barcode Scan Settings.
  4. Paste the key there.
  5. Save the Order Board settings.

Step 4: Test a scan

Section titled “Step 4: Test a scan”

A scan changes the order’s status, so it can start a status trigger that prints the order again. Before you scan a receipt to test, do these checks so the order does not print twice by mistake:

  1. Look at the printer. Make sure nothing for that order is still waiting to come out, and that the printer has paper and shows no error.
  2. Check the order’s print job status in the BizPrint dashboard.
  3. Wait for the station to finish anything it is still printing, whatever status the job shows.
  4. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress.
  5. Click the Support tab.
  6. Check Queue Status in Print Job Queue.
  7. Wait for any pending or processing jobs to finish.

Then test the scan:

  1. Choose a printed receipt whose barcode has not been scanned yet. Its order must be in one of the statuses in Allowed From Statuses (Optional), and not already in the Target Status. A used barcode is rejected when Single Use Barcode is ticked, an order in another status is rejected, and an order already in the Target Status gets no scan note.
  2. Scan the barcode in Order Board.
  3. Check that the order changed to your Target Status.
  4. Check that the order’s notes in WooCommerce show “via barcode scan”.

If the scan matches a status trigger, the order prints again, as the trigger is set up to do.

Keep the Scan API Key private

Section titled “Keep the Scan API Key private”

Treat the Scan API Key like a password. Anyone who has the key and a printed barcode can change that order’s status. Paste it only into Order Board’s settings. Do not send it by email or chat, or share it in screenshots.

Replace the Scan API Key

Section titled “Replace the Scan API Key”

Replace the key if you think someone else has it.

  1. Open the Status Triggers tab in Print Manager.
  2. Click Generate New Key next to Scan API Key, in the Barcode Scan section.
  3. Click OK to confirm.
  4. Click Save Barcode Settings.
  5. Click Copy.
  6. Paste the new key into Barcode Scan Settings in Order Board’s Settings.
  7. Save the Order Board settings.

After you save, scans from Order Board fail until you paste the new key there.

Section titled “Related pages”

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