Verify your first BizPrint printout from WooCommerce

This page is a checklist to confirm that BizPrint is set up correctly and that your first printout really comes out of the printer. It is for merchants who have just set up the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce, with a printer connected to the BizPrint desktop app or the BizPrint Android app.

Work through the checks in order. Each one depends on the one before it.

1. The station is connected

Your station is the computer or Android device that prints.

• Desktop app: open the BizPrint desktop app from the system tray (the menu bar on a Mac). The home screen shows Successfully Connected and the name of your station.
• Android app: open the BizPrint Android app. The top of the main screen shows your station name and Connected. If it shows Not connected or Paused, read this before you connect: When the Android app connects again, BizPrint can send it print jobs that are still pending, and they print automatically. This happens when Archive offline print jobs is off. Before you connect, check the printer for printouts, check job statuses in the BizPrint dashboard, and do not reprint anything that is still pending. See Choose what happens to BizPrint print jobs when a station is offline. Then, if it shows Paused, tap the station name and tap Connect in the Connection sheet. If it shows Not connected, tap Connect on the Not connected card on the main screen. To find out why it is not connected, tap the station name and tap Check connection.

If the app is not connected, see Connect the BizPrint desktop app to your station or Install and connect the BizPrint Android app to your station.

2. The printer is listed under the station

1. Sign in to the BizPrint dashboard.
2. Click Stations in the menu.
3. Find your station in the My Stations list. The Printers column shows how many of its printers are online.
4. Click your station.
5. Check that your printer appears in its Printers list.

If the list says “There are no active printers connected to this station yet”, or your printer is missing, see A printer does not appear in BizPrint.

3. The printer location is saved with the printer selected

1. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress.
2. Click the Printers tab.
3. Check that your printer location is in the list, with your printer in its Printers column.
4. Click the name of the printer location in the Description column.
5. Check that your printer is selected in Printers. Each printer shows its station name, its own name, and whether it is online or offline.
6. Check that a template is chosen in Template.
7. Check that an output format is chosen in Output Format. Both HTML and Plain Text work on the desktop app and the Android app.
8. Click Save Changes if you changed anything. The message “Location saved” confirms it.

4. Send a test print

The Test print button appears only after the location is saved and your store has at least one order. A test print sends your store’s newest real order to every printer in the location again, so let your staff know it is a test and nobody prepares or ships that order a second time. If the printer location uses Product Mapping, Shipping Mapping or Metadata Mapping (add-ons included with some plans), Test print still follows the location’s mapping rules, so an order that does not match those rules does not print there.

Do these checks before every test print, including the first one, so you do not print an order twice:

1. Look at the paper at the printer for your newest order’s printout.
2. Check the status of the newest order’s print job 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. If a print request could not reach BizPrint, the plugin may keep it in the Print Job Queue and try again later.
7. Wait for any pending or processing jobs to finish.

Do not send a test while a job for that order is pending, connecting-to-printer or processing. Then send the test:

1. Click the Printers tab.
2. Click the name of the printer location in the Description column.
3. Click Test print. Clicking it does not save the form, so save any changes first.

The message “Test print initiated, view log for details” means the plugin finished trying to print. It does not confirm that BizPrint received the job or that anything printed, so do the next two checks.

5. Check the paper

Look at the printer. You should see the order printed with the template you chose. If it printed but the layout looks wrong (cut off, too long, odd line breaks), see Fix BizPrint printouts that are cut off, too long or the wrong size.

6. Check the print job in the dashboard

1. Click Stations in the menu of the BizPrint dashboard.
2. Click your station.
3. Click your printer in the Printers list. The Print Jobs page opens.
4. Find the test job at the top of the list, by its Order and Time Stamp.
5. Check its Status. done means the station reported that it printed the job.

For what each print job status means, see View print jobs and their status in the BizPrint dashboard.

If the test did not print

Do not click Test print again straight away. Every click sends a new job, and a slow or busy station can still print the first one. Check these first:

1. Look at the paper at the printer again for the order’s printout.
2. Check that the printer has paper, is switched on, and shows no error.
3. Check the job’s Status on the Print Jobs page.
4. Wait for the station to finish anything it is still printing, whatever status the job shows.
5. Go to WooCommerce > Print Manager in WordPress.
6. Click the Support tab.
7. Check Queue Status in Print Job Queue. If a print request could not reach BizPrint, the plugin may keep it in the Print Job Queue and try again later.
8. Wait for any pending or processing jobs to finish.

Then use the page that matches what you see:

• The job is not in the dashboard at all: WooCommerce orders are not printing automatically with BizPrint.
• The job is pending, archived or failed: BizPrint print jobs are stuck, archived or not printing.
• The job is done but nothing came out: WooCommerce says the BizPrint print job was sent, but nothing printed.

Related pages

• Send a test print from a BizPrint printer location in WooCommerce
• View print jobs and their status in the BizPrint dashboard
• Create a printer location in the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce
• BizPrint print jobs are stuck, archived or not printing

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