Usage questions: Designer page vs. product integration + redeeming codes

  • Resolved nullkohol

    (@nullkohol)


    10 months, 4 weeks ago

    Great plugin – a few questions about usage & offer to help with translation

    Hi there,

    We just discovered your plugin “Smart eGift Card – The Ultimate Customizable Gift Card Solution for WooCommerce” and wanted to start by saying: it looks absolutely fantastic! It’s modern, thoughtfully designed, and offers exactly the features we’ve been looking for. Huge compliments on what you’ve already built!

    We noticed that the plugin is still quite new, with only a few installations and reviews so far. As a young startup ourselves, we understand how challenging it can be to gain traction and build trust – and we’d love to support other startups and developers by using your plugin.

    We’d even be happy to help you with a German translation to make the plugin more accessible in the DACH region.

    A few questions have come up as we try to set it up:

    1. We’re using WordPress with WooCommerce and are technically quite experienced, but we haven’t quite figured out how the plugin is meant to be used yet. We also haven’t found any documentation – is there something available that we might have missed?
    2. In the basic settings, it asks us to assign two pages – one for the gift card designer and one for the balance check.
      → Is the intention that the card creation takes place entirely on a separate page?
      → Or is it possible to integrate the card creation into a standard WooCommerce product, so that the checkout process is the same as for other products in the shop? That would be our preferred option.
    3. We’re also wondering about redeeming the gift cards. Is it possible for customers to apply the gift card code directly in the WooCommerce cart, like with the native WooCommerce coupon feature? Or is there a different mechanism?

    We’re really excited to hear back from you and hope we can figure out how to implement your plugin in our shop – and maybe even support you with feedback or translations along the way.

    Best regards,
    Andreas from Nullkohol

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Md. Russel Hussain

    (@russel07)

    10 months, 4 weeks ago

    Hello Andreas,

    Thank you so much for your incredibly kind words and the fantastic feedback on our Smart eGift Card plugin! Hearing that you appreciate the modern design and features we’ve built is truly encouraging for our team, especially coming from a fellow startup. We’re thrilled it aligns with your needs.

    Your generous offer for a German translation is also sincerely appreciated! That would be a wonderful contribution to help us reach the DACH region, and we’d be delighted to collaborate with you on that.

    Regarding your setup questions, we understand your points perfectly. Let’s clarify:
    Documentation: You’re right, comprehensive documentation is currently in progress. As we’re still in the early stages, this is a high priority, and we aim to have it available very soon. In the meantime, you can find our installation guide here.

    Card Creation Page: Absolutely! You can place the [sgc_smart_gift_customizer] shortcode on a dedicated page or anywhere on your website. When placed shortcode, the customizer will render there, allowing users to personalize their gift card by selecting images/videos, uploading their visuals, and providing sender/receiver names, email, and the gift amount. They can then “Add to Cart” the customized design just like any other product, ensuring a consistent checkout experience.

    Redeeming Gift Cards: Currently, gift card redemption is done through the dedicated “Redeem Gift Code” page (or any page with the [sgc_smart_gift_redeem_code] shortcode). This allows customers to apply the gift card balance to their account. Where they can see balance, update option for use balance or not, and the last 5 redemption histories.

    This functionality isn’t currently built-in when applying the gift card code directly in the WooCommerce cart, similar to coupons. However, we completely understand the convenience this offers and appreciate you highlighting it. This is valuable feedback that we will definitely consider for future updates to streamline the redemption process.

    If you need any dedicated support you can open a support ticket here Our dedicated support team or dev team will help you with their best.
    Thank you again for your enthusiasm, your kind offer for translation, and your insightful questions. Your feedback is incredibly valuable as we continue to develop and improve the Smart eGift Card.

    Best Regards
    Russel

    Thread Starter nullkohol

    (@nullkohol)

    10 months, 3 weeks ago

    Hi Russel,

    thank you for all that information. I am trying to follow your installation code, but there are still questions left.

    In Step 3 you write that you need an internal product. However, at least in our configuration, this shows up in the customer’s cart. So for me it does not make sense to call this product anything cryptic.

    What is your idea of where we should place the customizer page? We have a Woocommerce shop anyway and I would like the gift card to be a product customers can see in the shop and then buy. As a workaround now, I created two “gift card products”: one that I can show in the shop that contains a link to the customizer. And then there’s the other product that will be actually placed in the customer’s cart by the customizer. This works, but might be confusing for the user. What do you recommend? Should I place the customizer shortcode inside a product description?

    How do you recommend the process for redemption? I am still waiting for the emails containing the gift cards to arrive. Will it contain a link to the redemption page? Should I add a link to it from my shop and cart?

    In your installation guide Step 1 point 5 it says: “Select Preferred image or video or upload custom.” . How can a customer upload a custom image? I think that would be a great feature, but I don’t see it.

    While I really like your design, I think your workflow is confusing.

    Md. Russel Hussain

    (@russel07)

    10 months, 3 weeks ago

    Hello @nullkohol

    The Gift Card customizer will be shown in a different pages rather than your shop page. You may add a new navigation menu i.e Buy A gift Card or something you preferer. Also the redeem Page will a a separate page may be under account or a New Page i.e Redeem Gift. The user can customize the Gift card and purchase them. It’s almost like Amazon Gift Card. Once a user will purchase a gift card, they can choose when this will be send to the received. May be same day of in future day. The receiver will receive a Gift Card via email with the Redeem Code. Also there will be option to click on a button to come to the Gift Code Redeem Page.

    Here you can look at how the Gift Card Customizer will look. Here you can check the Redeem Gift Card page.

    If you need any dedicated support you can open a support ticket here The support team will help you to set up everything and make sure everything is working perfectly. Also if there is any custom solution needed for you, you will get that as well.

    Best Regards
    Russel

    Thread Starter nullkohol

    (@nullkohol)

    10 months, 3 weeks ago

    Hi Russel, thank you for your answer. I understand that the customizer and redeemer are on separate pages. I did some more testing and have some more questions:

    Regarding the redemption process:

    1. Is it true that whoever wants to redeem a gift card has to have an account on our WordPress instance? Is there any way to use the balance when ordering “as guest”?
    2. Is there any way to use the gift card balance for shipping as well? I now tested the redemption process and it applies to the products in card, but I still have to pay for shipping. I don’t think that customers would appreciate this. If they are given a gift card, they don’t want to pay for shipping (especially if there is still balance left after their purchase).
    3. Is it possible to link the redemption page to the orders? So I can see which order I ordered with gift card balance?

    Gift card emails:

    1. I bought two gift cards in one order. They contained different receiver email addresses. One arrived, one didn’t. Is that a bug or is it not possible to buy multiple gift cards in one order?
    2. In the gift card email I don’t see any images. Neither our logo, nor the selected image. Is that a bug? The images should show, right?
    3. Is it possible to customize the emails sent? I would like to add an explanation of how to use the gift card balance.

    Gift card customizer:

    1. In your installation guide Step 1 point 5 it says: “Select Preferred image or video or upload custom.”. How can a customer upload a custom image? I think that would be a great feature, but I don’t see it.
    Md. Russel Hussain

    (@russel07)

    10 months, 3 weeks ago

    @nullkohol
    Thank you for your thorough testing and for bringing these important questions and feature requests to our attention. Your feedback is invaluable as we strive to improve the Smart eGift Card plugin and provide the best possible experience for both you and your customers.

    Let’s address your points:

    Regarding the Redemption Process:
    Guest Redemption: You are correct that currently, the standard redemption process requires the user to have an account on your WordPress instance to apply the gift card balance. We understand your point about guest checkout and the desire for customers to use their gift card balance without needing an account. Allowing gift card redemption during guest checkout is a significant feature request that we will add to our feature consideration list for future development.


    Shipping Costs: We acknowledge your feedback regarding the inability to use the gift card balance for shipping costs. We agree that this can create a less-than-ideal experience for customers. Enabling the application of gift card balance towards shipping fees is another valuable feature request that we will prioritize for future development.

    Linking Redemption Page to Orders: The ability to link gift card redemptions to specific orders within the admin interface is a useful feature for tracking and management. We will add this functionality to our feature request list for consideration in future updates.

    Gift Card Emails:

    Multiple Gift Cards in One Order: Currently we are not supporting multiple receiver. However multiple gift card in a single order was supposed to work. Thank you for reporting the issue with receiving only one of the two gift cards purchased in a single order with different recipient emails. This is likely a bug that we need to investigate immediately. We will prioritize replicating this issue and implementing a fix in an upcoming plugin update. Also we will release multiple receiver in a single card will be released soon.

    Missing Images in Emails:
    We have tested several times with multiple sites. This should work unless the email came under spam. However, we will ensure that images are correctly embedded in the emails in a future update.

    Customizing Email Content: The ability to customize the content of the gift card emails, including adding instructions on how to use the balance, is a reasonable request. We will add email customization options to our feature request list for future development.

    Gift Card Customizer:

    • Customer Uploading Custom Images: We had plan to release this as a pro feature.

    Thank you once again for your detailed feedback and valuable feature requests. We are committed to continuously improving the Smart eGift Card plugin, and your input is crucial in guiding our development efforts. We will keep you informed about the progress of these feature requests and bug fixes through our plugin update logs.

    Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions or encounter any other issues. If you need any assistance or a custom solution, please  open a support ticket here 

    Thanks and Regards
    Russel

    Md. Russel Hussain

    (@russel07)

    10 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi @nullkohol
    New version has been released hope you will get some more feature what you are looking for.

    Thread Starter nullkohol

    (@nullkohol)

    10 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi Russel, thanks for bringing the plugin update to my attention!

    I tested it and see some new features, but unfortunately it does not work for me at all. Problems I have:

    Backend:

    1. Creating new “Event Media Item” always fails with Http status 500. I am logged-in as administrator and used different images to test.
    2. In your release notes you state this: “Added: Option to hide the gift card product from all standard shop listings and category pages.” I don’t find this. Neither in Smart eGift Cards settings nor in the product I use. Where is this?

    Frontend (Customizer):

    1. Sender and Receiver names are mixed up in gift card preview. I don’t know about the finally sent gift card, because I didn’t get there.
    2. “Add to cart” button does not do anything. No reaction at all. No error in Javascript console.

    Seems to me like you added new features, but something broke the existing code.

    Md. Russel Hussain

    (@russel07)

    10 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi @nullkohol
    Thank you for testing new release. I think Deactivate the Plugin and Active again can resolve the Event Media issue. For the second one you don’t need to do anything. By Default the Gift Card Product will be hidden from everywhere.

    We are still testing and trying to improve and fixing as much as possible. Also trying to bring more features. Hope we will release another version soon.

    Thanks and Regards
    Russel

    Thread Starter nullkohol

    (@nullkohol)

    10 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi Russel, thank you for answering quickly.

    You were right, the 500 error disappeared after I deactivated and re-activated the plugin.

    Regarding the Customizer, I have some updates:

    “Add to cart” now works when I use a design I uploaded. Unfortunately, the image is not scaled to the space it’s supposed to take. So the image takes over all of the card and the text is not readable anymore. Also, behind the image I uploaded I still see the default image.

    Md. Russel Hussain

    (@russel07)

    10 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi @nullkohol,

    Thank you for updating related to the 500 error.

    For the customizer if the design breaks may it’s related to theme. Please open a support ticket here , our support agent will help to fix the design issue. The support is 100% free.

    We are still improving and trying to fix all possible issues, and planning for some more cool features in upcoming release.

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

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