What’s new · OrderCtrl

October 28, 2026

A safer, faster WordPress plugin with Checkout block support

OrderCTRL Bridge 2.1 is out. When your store runs an older version, OrderCtrl shows an “Update available” banner with the download; upload it in WordPress to replace the old one. Your settings carry over.

Package protection at checkout

Package protection now works in the WooCommerce Checkout and Cart blocks, as well as the classic checkout.
The fee your customers see is always the fee they pay and the amount saved on the order, for every pricing type: fixed, percentage, percentage with a minimum and tiered.
Your widget title, description and “ticked by default” setting now show at checkout.
Package protection stays off in your store until you turn it on in OrderCtrl, so installing the plugin never adds a fee by surprise.
The “Protected” column on your WooCommerce orders list reads each order’s protection record, so it stays right even if you rename the fee.

Customer sign-in

Customer sign-in between your store and your portal is more secure. Only customer accounts are ever signed in this way; staff and admin accounts never are.
Sign-in follows the “Enable WordPress SSO” switch in Store settings, and WordPress picks up the change as soon as you save.
The plugin no longer shares any connection details publicly. Store settings still shows them to you.

In WordPress

The OrderCtrl menu in wp-admin shows your package protection settings, your connection and real protected-order totals for the last 30 days. Settings are changed in OrderCtrl and sent to your store automatically.
Deleting the plugin removes everything it stored, including the connection key.
The plugin needs WordPress 6.5, PHP 8.1 and WooCommerce 8.0 or later.

October 21, 2026

Tracking stages, an email review and a steadier store connection

Tracking issues show the latest stage

When a stalled package is later flagged as lost, the order now shows only “Shipment lost”. The earlier “Tracking stalled” alert is closed automatically, so you and your automations act on what’s actually happening.
A stalled alert can’t reopen while a package is marked lost. If the package starts moving again and the lost alert clears, normal stalled detection resumes.

Notifications

The email preview in the editor now matches the email your customers and team receive, layout included. Team emails preview with team details.
Refund emails now go out when you refund an order in WooCommerce.
Emails name requests the way your customers see them (“Order Cancellation”, “Skip Next Order”), and team emails show shipment statuses in plain words.
Subscription emails read naturally: “every month”, “every 2 weeks”.
Every email was checked against split and single shipments, guest orders, refunds, store credit, replacements and paused subscriptions.

Store connection

OrderCtrl checks your WooCommerce webhooks every day and reconnects any that WooCommerce turned off, so order updates keep arriving. If something still needs you, Store details tells you what and lets you check again.
Turning subscription sync off in setup now also stops subscription updates from WooCommerce; turning it on starts them again.
Tracking updates reach the right store even for labels bought outside OrderCtrl.

Reliability

Refunds, credits, cancellations, labels and tracking updates run ahead of big order imports, so they never wait behind a sync.
If one of those actions fails, store owners and admins get an alert in OrderCtrl with the order and what went wrong.
If WooCommerce doesn’t answer a subscription change in time, OrderCtrl checks the subscription in your store and shows its real state, instead of guessing.
Subscription item changes (quantity, skip, remove) and resume/cancel now report the real result.
Starting two order syncs at the same moment no longer fails.

October 15, 2026

One status everywhere, and a simpler sign-up

Shipping and tracking

Shipping emails (in transit, out for delivery, delivered and delivery problems) follow every carrier update, and the “your order shipped” email is sent once per order.
Delivery problem emails now cover damaged, lost, undeliverable and held packages, and address problems.
Carrier-reported problems (damaged, returned, lost, address issues, failed deliveries) start your automations as soon as the scan arrives.
If a carrier briefly can’t find a tracking number, the shipment keeps its last known status instead of switching to “unknown”.
Shipments the carrier can’t track show “Tracking unavailable” instead of a delivery problem.

Deadlines and order status

Fulfillment, shipping and delivery deadlines use your store’s timezone and skip your holidays. A deadline stays fixed once it’s set, so changing your settings doesn’t rewrite past results.
The orders list, the order page and the customer portal now show the same status and lateness for every order.

Customer portal

Lost, damaged and late orders no longer show an arrival date that has passed. Customers see “Has a delivery problem” or “Running late” instead.
Orders whose payment failed say so, instead of “Order cancelled”.
Totals and addresses in the portal match the order page exactly, in the order’s own currency.

Claims, returns and refunds

A second return can’t be started for items that already have a return in progress.
Finished requests (completed, denied or cancelled) can’t be reopened by accident.
One rule decides when a request can be cancelled, everywhere: before anything is issued.
Refunds, store credit and discounts are safe to retry: a repeat never pays out twice.

Getting started

New sign-up and sign-in pages. If you picked a plan on the pricing page, sign-up remembers it and setup asks you to confirm it.
OrderCtrl reminds you to install the OrderCtrl WordPress plugin until it’s detected, with a download link and install steps.

Analytics

Order metrics on the orders list count issues on both orders and their shipments, and show revenue in your store’s currency.

October 7, 2026

Setup wizard and a new look for the app

Setup wizard

New stores start with just a name and website address, then go straight into a guided setup.
The wizard covers connecting WooCommerce, store details (timezone, currency and return address), portal branding, orders and subscriptions, tracking and carriers, issue detection and response, and which emails go to customers and your team.
It checks your store as you go: whether the connection and webhooks work, whether the OrderCtrl WordPress plugin is installed, where your tracking numbers are stored, and whether WooCommerce Subscriptions is active.
Import past orders by time range (30, 60, 90 or 365 days, or all of them). Import tracking numbers only, which is free, or also fetch live carrier tracking for recent orders. You see a credit estimate before you start.
Recommended setup lists each starter email, claim policy, automation and customer action with what it does, so you choose which ones to turn on.
Every step can be skipped and your progress is saved. The dashboard shows “Resume setup” until you finish.

A new look

A lighter layout. The sidebar is grouped into Orders, Claims & returns, Customers and Insights, with Settings at the bottom.
A progress bar on orders, shipments and the order page shows where each order is: placed, fulfilled, in transit or delivered.
Search from anywhere with ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows).
Choose compact or comfortable spacing from the user menu. Dark mode works throughout.
When you select rows in a table, bulk actions appear in a bar at the bottom of the screen.
A Help menu in the top bar links to the docs, guides and live chat.

Settings

Settings open full page, with tabs and one Save button.
Store details and your WooCommerce connection are on one page. Team members and roles moved into Store settings.

October 1, 2026

A new customer portal, subscription self-service and shipping labels

Customer portal

Rebuilt for phones first: a compact header, a bottom tab bar for signed-in customers, and no sideways scrolling.
The order page leads with a plain status, like “Box 2 arrives Friday”, and a four-step progress bar.
Each box shows its carrier, tracking number (with copy and a carrier link), latest scan, full scan history and the items inside it.
A map shows where a package has been scanned, for boxes in transit or recently delivered. You can turn it off.
Claims and requests appear on the order with their progress. When OrderCtrl has spotted a problem and a fix is waiting, the customer is asked to choose one.
Return labels show as a card with the QR code, carrier, tracking number and a download button.
Items have a Buy again link, and totals show in the order’s currency.
The orders list uses cards with the status, item photos, arrival date, open claims and returns.
Every claim step has the same layout: a back button, the step count, and a Continue button that stays in reach.
Sign-in, tracking lookup, profile, addresses and payment methods match the new style.

Portal settings

Portal content lets you reorder and hide sections of the order page, turn Buy again on or off, and manage four banner spots and your FAQs, with a phone preview.
Add a shop link (label and address) to the portal header, tab bar and footer.

Subscriptions

Customers can swap a product or variant, change how often it ships, change quantities, skip an item once, remove an item and update their address from the portal. Skip next, reschedule, pause, resume and cancel are there too.
You decide which of these customers can use, and whether they need your approval, in Customer actions.
Swap item and Change frequency are also on the subscription page in OrderCtrl. Both are sent to WooCommerce, so the next sync doesn’t undo them.
A swap uses the product’s current price in your store, and the customer sees the difference per delivery before confirming.

Shipping labels

Buy shipping labels from the order page: compare rates, buy, print (PDF, or ZPL where the carrier offers it) and void.
Use OrderCtrl’s carrier account, paid in credits, or connect your own Shippo or EasyPost account. Return labels use the same account.
Set ship-from locations, package sizes, a default weight and the label format in Shipping & labels.
Tracking numbers added in OrderCtrl, typed in or from a label, are saved to the WooCommerce order in the format Shipment Tracking and Advanced Shipment Tracking use.
Choose which WooCommerce status an order moves to once tracking is added. Completed is the default, or leave the status as it is.

September 30, 2026

Analytics, helpdesk lookups and rewritten emails

Analytics

One Analytics page with tabs for Overview, Fulfillment & delivery, Issues & claims, Returns, Subscriptions, Protection, and Automations & notifications.
Filter by date range, carrier, issue type and channel, and compare with the previous period. Filters are kept in the page link, so you can share a view.
Explore lets you pick a metric and break it down by day, week or month, carrier, fulfillment or return location, product, SKU, issue type and more, as a chart or a table.
Export any view to CSV, or save it as a report.

Helpdesk & API

Look up a customer from your helpdesk by email or order number: recent orders, shipments, claims, subscriptions, and which claim options they qualify for, with the reason when they don’t.
Setup steps for Gorgias, Re:amaze, Richpanel, Gladly, Zendesk, Kustomer, Freshdesk and Help Scout, and a “Try it” console to test a lookup.
API keys are shown once and can be rotated or revoked. Help Scout, Re:amaze and Gladly lookups can also be signed.

Notifications

Every default email was rewritten, for customers and for your team. Customer emails say what happened and what’s next, and link to the order. Team emails are a short summary with an “Open in OrderCtrl” button.
Default emails start switched off. You choose which ones to turn on, in setup or in Notifications, so nothing reaches customers before you’ve seen it.
When we improve a default email, your store gets the new version only if you haven’t edited it. Your edits are kept.
Prices in emails use your store’s currency.

September 2026

Claims and automations, rebuilt

The current version of claims. Claim policies and automations replace the earlier issue rules, resolution groups and SLA workflows.

Claim policies

One page lists every issue, grouped into After delivery, Before delivery and Detected automatically.
Each policy sets who can file and for how long, what to ask (questions and photos), and what to offer: a refund, store credit or a replacement, with or without a return.
Offers can depend on the order, the items, the customer or their answers, with an “Everyone else” offer as the fallback.
Return shipping settings are on their own page.

Automations

Automations start when something happens: a shipping issue, an order, claim or return update, or a subscription event.
Add conditions with separate paths, waits from minutes to days, and actions: email the customer, notify your team, open a claim, tag the order, add a note, or send a webhook (for Zapier, Slack and similar tools).
A claim opened by an automation can wait for your review, let the customer choose from your policy, or be approved right away.
Start from presets such as stalled shipment follow-up, lost package, late fulfillment and failed renewal. Each automation shows how often it ran and when it last ran.

Refunds and actions

Refunds are allocated to the order’s line items, and restocking follows your rules.
Your team can always cancel, refund, replace or change the address on an order. Customer actions settings now control only what customers can do in the portal.

March 2026

Import controls and faster order actions

Order sync

Order imports have a history, with progress, counts and any errors.
Choose whether an import creates shipments and fetches live carrier tracking, and how far back, to control credit use.
Orders fulfilled without a tracking number still get a shipment record.
Refresh tracking for a shipment on demand.

Order actions

Cancel, refund, replacement and address change each open on their own page and run right away.
A refund can’t be more than what’s left to refund on the order. Cancelling an order that was already partly refunded refunds only the remaining balance.
Fulfillment and delivery deadlines close when an order is cancelled.

Notifications

Draft subject lines, headings and body text with AI, guided by your own brand voice notes. You can undo a draft.
Customers no longer get a second email when their request is approved automatically.

Customer portal

Actions are hidden on cancelled and refunded orders.
Guests who start an action are asked to sign in, then continue where they left off.
Let customers sign in to the portal with their WordPress account.
When the carrier doesn’t give an arrival date, the portal shows one based on your delivery times.

February 2026

Return approvals, a new dashboard and SLA tracking

Returns

Approve or deny a return before a label is created, or authorize returns automatically for the whole store or per resolution.
Customers get an email when their return is approved or denied.
Verified returns refund the approved items, including their share of tax, shipping and fees, and keep a record of the inspection with notes and photos.

Dashboard

The dashboard shows setup progress, today’s orders, revenue and average order value, your order pipeline, and what needs attention: open requests, late orders, returns waiting for approval and detected issues.
A table lists orders with missed deadlines or detected issues, next to deadline trends over time.

SLA tracking

Fulfillment, shipping, transit and delivery deadlines are tracked for every order. Orders close to missing one are flagged as at risk.
SLA analytics break down each stage, and returns analytics cover volume, reasons, processing time, approval rate and costs.

Split shipments

Orders shipped in several boxes show each box in the portal and in emails, for example “2 of 3 packages delivered”.

Notifications, rebuilt

Customer emails are organized by order, request, return and subscription.
Claim and request emails come down to five: received, approved, denied, cancelled and completed.
New emails for return labels, return shipping and inspection results, and for subscription changes, renewals and failed payments.
Delays and carrier problems that OrderCtrl detects now feed your workflows instead of emailing customers directly.
Every email sent shows on the order, request or subscription timeline.

Helpdesk

A first version of the order lookup API for helpdesks.

January 2026

Return labels, portal branding and issue detection

Returns

Start a return from the order page. OrderCtrl creates a prepaid label using the package details and your store defaults.
When a customer reports an issue that needs a return, they get the label right away, with a QR code, carrier, tracking number, return number and drop-off deadline.
Inspect returned items: approve some or all of them, choose what to restock, and adjust the refund.

Issue detection

OrderCtrl flags late fulfillment, late shipping, and stalled or lost shipments, based on your SLA settings, business hours and holidays.
Each detection rule explains in plain words how it decides, with an example.
Choose when an order counts as shipped: when the label is created, or at the first carrier scan.

Orders

Each order has one activity timeline, grouped by day: shipment milestones, emails, claims, and every change synced from WooCommerce shown as before and after.
Hover over a customer, items, an order or tracking in any table to see the details. Tables gained date presets, status filters, and search by customer email or SKU.
Shipping addresses are checked, and a corrected address is suggested when one looks wrong.

Package protection

Offer package protection at checkout with a fixed, percentage or tiered fee. Style the checkout widget with a live preview and choose where it appears.
Protected orders are marked and can be used in claim rules.

Customer portal

Brand the portal with your colors, fonts, corner style and logo.
Add banners and FAQs to the order page.
Customers can cancel, change their address or report an issue from the portal, within the rules you set.
Customers signed in to your WordPress store are signed in to the portal too, and the other way around.

Claims

Exclude items or orders from a claim rule, and choose which issues customers can report themselves.
A customer’s answers to your questions can decide which resolution they’re offered.

Email

Set the sender name and reply-to address.
Link the header logo, and add footer text, links and a footer logo.

November–December 2025

Claims, second version

Claims, returns and customer actions now run through one requests system, replacing the first claims and policies.

Requests

Claims, returns, cancellations, address changes and subscription changes share one place to review, approve and track.
Rules for each issue type decide who is eligible, using conditions on the order, items, customer, shipping and payment.
Resolution settings cover refunds, store credit and replacements, each with its own approval rules, and return settings in one place.
Duplicate requests for the same items are caught.

Reporting an issue

Customers can report a problem with the whole order or with specific items and quantities, answer your questions, add photos and pick a resolution. Drafts are saved.

Orders

Replacement orders are created in WooCommerce and linked to the original order.
Refunds, replacements and other actions show their progress step by step, with a clear result.
Rules for customer actions: time limits, no changes after shipping, and checks for first-time or lapsed customers.
Orders and subscriptions keep a log of every change.
The order page has a new shipments section and sidebar, and order totals add up the same everywhere, including negative fees.

June–July 2025

Subscriptions, saved cards and portal sign-in

Subscriptions

WooCommerce Subscriptions sync into OrderCtrl.
Pause, resume, skip, change the next date, cancel and edit items from the subscription page.
Customers see their subscriptions and upcoming orders in the portal.

Customer portal

Customers can view and add cards and choose a default, through Stripe or Square. Changes sync to WooCommerce.
Use your own domain for the portal, verified through DNS.
Customers sign in with a one-time code sent by email, in your email design.
Orders can be shown as a grid or a table, and the portal home page has spots for banners.

App

Customer profiles in OrderCtrl, and a dark mode setting.

April 2025

Customer portal, first version

Customer portal

Customers look up an order with their tracking number and ZIP code, or sign in to see all their orders.
The order page shows the status, a tracking timeline, items and totals, with your store name and logo.

Deadlines

SLA settings (processing time, fulfillment days and delivery times) decide when an order is late, in OrderCtrl and in the portal.
Optionally let customers report a fulfillment delay.
Issue types are now a list you can manage.

March 2025

Email designer, tracking sources and claim policies

Email designer

Start from a template and adjust colors, fonts, buttons and layout, with a live preview. Test emails use the same design.

Tracking numbers

Choose where tracking numbers come from: Advanced Shipment Tracking, a custom order field or order notes. Test the setup on a sample order before saving.
Map your store’s order statuses to OrderCtrl statuses, including custom statuses.

Claims

Claim policies gained a condition builder and evidence requirements, and the claim review page shows the evidence.
Claims can cover the whole order, specific items or a shipment, with the amount worked out for each.

February 2025

Claims, first version, and a dashboard

Claims

Create a claim from an order in a few steps: the issue, the items or shipments affected, and the resolution.
Claim policies decide which resolutions apply. Partial refund amounts are worked out from the items.

Dashboard

A dashboard with date filters for order stats, late deliveries and delayed fulfillment.

Orders

The order page was rebuilt around shipments and tracking, with an actions menu.
OrderCtrl statuses were reworked, with time to fulfill, ship and deliver for each order.
Repeated webhooks no longer create duplicate orders.

Settings

Store settings were reorganized and now include your store’s timezone and currency.
Send emails from your own domain.

January 2025

Email notifications, carrier tracking and billing

Notifications, first version

Email notifications for order and shipping updates, with templates, variables, default content and a branded layout.
A live preview while you edit.
A notification log shows what was sent, with resend, to a different address if needed.

Tracking

Carrier tracking through Shippo, with EasyPost as a backup.
Order and tracking updates are processed in the background.

Store connection

Webhooks are registered when you connect WooCommerce.
Store settings show the connection status and the latest orders received.
Sync orders on demand and watch the progress.
A webhook log lists every update received from WooCommerce and carriers.

Billing and team

Plans and credits, with a billing center and a credit history that names the order.
Users, roles and invitations have their own tabs and filters.

August–September 2024

The first version

Getting started

Sign up, add your store details and connect WooCommerce.
Orders and shipments import from your store, and each order gets an OrderCtrl status based on fulfillment and tracking.
The order page shows live order details from WooCommerce.
The orders list has stats, filters and tabs.
Store settings, including when an order counts as late.

Accounts

Invite your team with roles.
Two-factor authentication and browser session management.
Subscription billing through Stripe.