Common Shipping Condition Setup Mistakes

Problem Description #

You set up shipping conditions but they don’t behave as expected because of misconfiguration: e.g. mixing “Require” and “Exclude,” wrong product selection, logical operator misuse, or failing to enable condition.

Common symptoms:

• Shipping restrictions inconsistent or unpredictable (works for some carts, fails for others).

• Even after updating cart/product, shipping method doesn’t respond to conditions.

• Users report “I set the rule but nothing changed.”

Cause:
Because the plugin offers many types of conditions (product, product tag, payment gateway, city, user role, order amount, etc.), it’s common to mis‑select options or forget to enable the condition checkbox. Also logical operator settings (AND vs OR) affect how multiple conditions combine and may cause unexpected behavior. WPFactory docs and support threads advise careful configuration. WordPress.org+1

Solution – step‑by‑step #

1. Reopen condition and carefully review all options
   • Open each shipping method’s conditional rule. Check whether you used “Require” or “Exclude.”

   • Ensure the correct shipping method instance (e.g. the right Flat Rate) is selected.

2. Check logical operator when combining conditions
   • If you have multiple conditions (e.g. Require Product AND Require City), ensure the operator helps achieve the intended effect. Default is “AND”, meaning both conditions must be met. If you meant either/or, switch to “OR.”

3. Test with minimal configuration first
   • Start with a single condition (e.g., product-based) and test shipping. Once it works, add more conditions incrementally, easier to isolate misconfiguration.

4. For product-based conditions, verify exact product selection
   • Avoid relying on product names; use product IDs or correct slugs to prevent mismatches.

   • If you exclude multiple products/categories/tags, ensure none of them overlap unintentionally.

5. Save after every change and test with fresh cart & address
   • After editing conditions, save settings, clear caches, and test with a fresh session, don’t rely on cached checkout state.

6. Document all shipping rules in a clear list (internal doc)
   • Maintain a sheet or doc summarizing each shipping method + its conditions + logical operator. This helps avoid conflicting or overlapping rules.
     

Prerequisites #

• Admin access to plugin settings.
  

Additional Notes / Prevention #

• Encourage staff configuring shipping to double‑check conditions when store product catalog or shipping zones change.

• For complex shipping logic, test in staging firs