Frictions - Checkout Session Replay for WooCommerce

Frictions helps you review eligible WooCommerce checkout visits inside WordPress. It stores recordings in private tables in your site's database. No Frictions account, central replay server, paid recording allowance or time-limited trial is required. Free includes the complete protected structural player; date, device, browser, checkout, outcome, issue, duration and watch-status filters; watched state and bookmarks; observed issue counts and matching recordings; local order shortcuts where a valid association exists; diagnostics; and deletion, consent, retention and storage controls. Recording starts disabled. Capture requires a configured supported checkout, affirmative shopper analytics consent and the administrator's deliberate start action. Payment frames, field values, customer details entered in forms, product content, arbitrary page text, images and remote assets are excluded. Replay reconstructs approved geometry, safe labels and event timing, not the original store's full visual design. Protected replay is not a guarantee of anonymity or legal compliance. Your hosting provides storage, processing and backups. Free has no commercial monthly recording count. Both Free and Pro use the same resource protections: configurable retention and a storage budget, bounded uploads and per-recording limits. Capture pauses when the selected storage budget is full. Upgrading does not remove safety limits. Bookmarks still expire with their recording. The optional, separately installed Frictions Pro add-on adds local guided issue review, saved views, team notes, developer briefs and opt-in notifications through your WordPress mail setup. Pro requires a valid first licence activation; activated local tools continue offline and after ordinary updates/support expiry. Free remains useful on its own. No Pro implementation is unlocked inside this package, and this plugin does not install Pro automatically. A first-recording check gives a manager a short-lived checkout link for a separate shopper browser. It does not enable capture, override consent or prove that every checkout works. The browser reports affirmative consent; the server separately confirms that the exact linked recording has stored events. The checkout helper keeps pre-consent steps in browser memory and sends no verification request before affirmative consent. Checks expire after ten minutes, are bound to their administrator and site, and store a hashed link credential and verification progress locally.

1. Install and activate WooCommerce 11.0 or later, then install and activate Frictions.
2. Individual activation opens Frictions in full screen. Review local storage, retention, access and capture settings; no account connection is needed.
3. Configure and test the supported consent integration on your store's checkout, including refusal and withdrawal.
4. Deliberately enable eligible recording when the supported setup is ready; a clearly labelled sample remains available. Use Verify a real recording for guided preparation of a separate shopper browser and your configured affirmative consent. Development sites require the explicit development setting.
5. Check cleanup scheduling and actual hosting capacity before using capture on a busy store.

The sample does not place an order or demonstrate a real-store recording. If capture pauses or fails, checkout remains available. Test your actual theme, gateways, cache/security plugins and consent configuration before live use. Existing installations: back up the database and settings, then replace files without uninstalling. Keep Free and Pro release numbers matched; install or update Free first, then Pro without uninstalling. Upgrading from the former hosted 0.2.0 architecture does not automatically import, cancel or erase remote recordings or subscriptions; handle any historical service data separately.

1.1.2 Matched Free and Pro 1.1.2 stable release. Existing replay and local Pro workflows, consent choices, stored recordings and licence behaviour are unchanged. The in-plugin manual link now opens the current 1.1.2 manual; genuine dependency minima and storage schemas are unchanged. 0.4.5

• Let the matched Pro investigation list read a coherent snapshot without holding the recording storage lock during its evidence scan.
• Add a verified, retryable local storage upgrade that preserves recordings, consent, capture choices and storage accounting.
• Recheck deletion, consent withdrawal, retention and expiry before releasing investigation results.
• Harden malformed settings, privacy cleanup failures and recording upload acknowledgement handling.

0.4.4

• Preserve unsaved checkout change forms when navigating the matched Pro workspace.
• Match the Pro review queue, editable saved views, checkout changes and copy/print brief release. Free recording and consent behavior are unchanged.

0.4.3

• Preserve existing recording, consent and setup choices during compatible Free upgrades.

0.4.2

• Discover Pro with clearly labelled local previews and real interface examples.
• Relevant upgrade suggestions can be hidden individually; preview navigation can be hidden and restored.
• Explicit upgrade choices remember a local task for seven days and offer to continue after licence activation.

0.4.1

• Preserve capture and setup preferences through upgrades.
• Add a local meaningful-usage review invitation, held disabled until a public WordPress.org listing is verified.
• Show the matching Pro activation state and link to the Free and Pro manual.

0.4.0

• Open the focused setup after individual activation and preserve completed setup during updates.
• Add independent optional compatibility sharing and confirmed tips/release email signup, with explicit status and withdrawal controls.
• Show useful Pro workflow examples with live demo and plan links after setup.
• Link installed Pro licence management from Settings while keeping Free recording independent.

0.3.7

• Validate all bulk-delete recording IDs before deduplication or database work.

0.3.6

• Keep deleted order associations cleared when checkout callbacks overlap.
• Match date filters to the store timezone and translate status and filter labels.
• Include complete browser build configuration for reproducible packaged source.

0.3.5

• Simplify consent setup and guide the real-recording check one step at a time.
• Explain recording-check prerequisites before creating its private link.
• Fit replay to the available screen and keep playback controls easier to reach.

0.3.4

• Add an explicit consent-aware check for the first real recording.
• Add compact capture status, quick recording filters and accurate filtered empty states.
• Use consistent bookmark labels and a clearly labelled visual Pro walkthrough.
• Make matched Free-first installation and update instructions consistent.

0.3.3

• Add a fullscreen workspace, grouped navigation, focused settings and replay tabs, and local appearance preferences.
• Preserve existing data and protect unsaved edits when changing views.

0.3.2

• Preserve completed setup and recording preferences when updating a connected local 0.3.0 or 0.3.1 installation.
• Explain Pro with optional local examples beside Free tools and a Free/Pro comparison. Free features are unchanged; suggestions can be hidden and restored in this browser.

0.3.1

• Correct the Tested up to readme header to 7.1. Plugin functionality is unchanged.

0.3.0

• Moved recordings and processing to private tables on the customer's WordPress hosting.
• Removed mandatory service connection, hosted plan billing and commercial recording allowances.
• Added local retention, storage budgets, ingestion controls and cleanup in Free.
• Preserved protected structural playback, consent, permissions and ordinary investigation tools.
• Added extension points for separately installed local Pro workflows; excluded public replay sharing.

0.2.0

• Historical hosted candidate: added ordinary Free investigation filters and scoped issue observations.
• Added guided hosted Pro review and a separate developer-brief companion.

0.1.0

• Initial hosted staging implementation with protected structural playback and local order correlation.