WooCommerce Live Order Feed

Real-time order monitoring for WooCommerce stores with push notifications and PWA support.

I got tired of constantly refreshing my WooCommerce orders page to see if new orders came in, so I built this. Now orders show up automatically and I get notifications even when I'm not looking at the screen.

Before You Start

Important: You need to configure a few things before using this plugin:

1. VAPID Keys for Push Notifications

   • Open woocommerce-live-order-feed.php
   • Replace YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY_HERE and YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY_HERE with your own keys
   • Generate free keys at: https://vapidkeys.com/

2. Plugin Header Info

   • Update "Your Name Here" in the plugin file header
   • Change GitHub URL to your actual repository

3. Page Slug

   • The plugin looks for a page with slug live-orders by default
   • Either create a page with that slug, or modify the code to match your page

What it does

• Orders appear on your screen as soon as they come in (no more F5 spam)
• Push notifications work even when you close the browser tab
• Can install it on your phone like a regular app
• Optional "ding" sound when new orders arrive (toggle it off if it gets annoying)
• Doesn't slow down your browser - runs everything in the background

Screenshots

Live Order Feed in Action

Real-time order updates without page refresh

Why I built this

Running a WooCommerce store means being glued to your orders page. I was refreshing it every few minutes like a maniac. This plugin lets me actually get work done while still knowing instantly when orders come through.

Requirements

You'll need:

• WordPress (pretty much any recent version)
• WooCommerce plugin active
• PHP 7.4+ (most hosts have this now)
• HTTPS/SSL for push notifications to work properly

Setup

Before installing, make sure you've configured the placeholders mentioned above!

Note: Screenshots show example setup - your interface may look slightly different depending on your WordPress theme.

Basic install:

1. Download and extract to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Configure VAPID keys (see "Before You Start" section)
3. Activate it in WordPress admin
4. Create a page with slug live-orders, add [live_order_feed] shortcode
5. Done

Using it

Just visit your page with the shortcode. If you're logged in, you'll see your orders and get a button to enable notifications.

The notification permission popup can be annoying - browsers require user interaction before allowing notifications, so you have to click "Enable" first.

On mobile, you might get an "Add to Home Screen" prompt. Do it - makes it feel like a native app.

Customization

It works out of the box, but if you want to tinker:

VAPID Keys (Required)

You MUST replace the placeholder keys in woocommerce-live-order-feed.php:

// Replace these with your own keys from https://vapidkeys.com/
private const VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY = 'YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY_HERE';
private const VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY = 'YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY_HERE';

Your own icons/sounds

Drop files in the assets folders:

• assets/icons/ - notification and app icons
• assets/sounds/ - change that notification sound
• assets/css/ - make it look however you want

Technical stuff

Uses service workers for notifications and caching, web workers for background processing, polls for new orders every 7 seconds. Pretty standard modern web stuff.

Browser support is good - works in Chrome, Firefox, Edge. Safari is... Safari (limited push support).

If something breaks

Orders not showing up?

• Is WooCommerce actually running?
• Are you logged in?
• Check browser console for errors

No notifications?

• You need HTTPS (browsers won't do notifications on HTTP)
• Check if you accidentally blocked notifications
• Make sure you clicked "Enable" first
• Most common issue: You forgot to replace the placeholder VAPID keys!

Can't install as app?

• Service worker might not be working
• Check if icons are the right size (192px, 512px)

I test this on my own store, so it should work. If it doesn't, open an issue and I'll take a look.

Contributing

Found a bug? Want to add something? Cool. Fork it, fix it, send a pull request. Try to test your changes first though.

License

GPL v2 - standard WordPress plugin license.

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Note: Needs WooCommerce to be useful. Works best with HTTPS.