SoftGlaze PDF Invoices for WooCommerce

By default, no. Rendering is entirely local — the PDF engine embeds all assets from your own server and makes no outbound HTTP request when generating a document. There are exactly three opt-in exceptions, all off by default:

1. EU VIES VAT check — if you turn on Settings → Checkout → Verify EU VAT numbers online with VIES, a VAT number entered at checkout is sent to the official EU VIES service to confirm it exists. Format and checksum checks always run locally first.
2. Cloud backup — if you connect a destination under Settings → Backup, generated documents are uploaded to YOUR own Dropbox or Google Drive using YOUR app credentials. There is no SoftGlaze middleman server, refresh tokens are stored encrypted on your server, and nothing is uploaded until you connect an account. Disconnecting revokes and deletes the stored tokens.
3. WhatsApp Cloud API sending — if you enable it and save your own Meta credentials under Settings → Automations → WhatsApp Cloud API, clicking "Send on WhatsApp now" on a document sends its share link to the customer via YOUR own WhatsApp Business account (graph.facebook.com). Your access token is stored encrypted on your server, nothing is sent until you connect and click send, and the free click-to-chat button needs none of this. (The click-to-chat button itself uses WhatsApp's wa.me links and makes no request from your server.)

Yes. The plugin declares HPOS compatibility and reads orders only through WooCommerce CRUD.

By default, uninstalling removes only the plugin's own options and order meta. Enable Remove data on uninstall in Settings first if you also want the invoice records and generated PDF files deleted.

Yes. Two filters let you override document output in code:

• sgci_document_template_json — apply_filters('sgci_document_template_json', $template, $doc_type). Fires when a named custom template is about to render a document type; return a modified template array (name, base_preset, tokens, sections, doc_types) to change what renders — for example to reorder sections or inject a custom-HTML section programmatically.
• sgci_document_html — apply_filters('sgci_document_html', $html, $invoice). Fires on the final document HTML immediately before the PDF is rendered (and before the HTML fallback is written), for every document type and template/layout. Return modified HTML to post-process the document.

You can assemble a self-service invoice site — where visitors sign up and make their own PDF invoices — from three pages, no WooCommerce needed:

1. Turn the feature on. Go to SoftGlaze Invoices → Settings → Frontend and enable the master switch. (It is off by default on existing sites and on for brand-new installs.) While you are there you can choose which of your saved templates the builder may offer, the per-user daily limit, the default currency, and default terms.
2. Allow sign-ups. In Settings → General, tick Membership: Anyone can register so visitors can create an account, or place [sgci_register] on a page for the standard WordPress registration form.
3. Create three pages:
4. A "Create invoice" page containing [sgci_invoice_builder my_invoices="/my-invoices/"] — the full builder (company details saved per user, client, line items, currency, a design picker, a live preview, and Generate → PDF + share link).
5. A "My invoices" page containing [sgci_my_invoices builder="/create-invoice/"] — each user's own documents, with search, download, duplicate, a copyable share link, and delete.
6. A "Sign in" page containing [sgci_login] (and, if you like, [sgci_register]).
7. Link them together. The my_invoices and builder attributes above accept a page path (e.g. /my-invoices/), a full URL, or a numeric page ID; they power the builder's "My invoices" link, the list's "+ New invoice" button, and the empty-state call-to-action. Add the three pages to your menu and you have a complete builder site — any membership or login-redirect plugin works alongside it.

No. WooCommerce is required only for order-based invoicing — turning orders into documents, the order-screen tools, the orders-list column and the My Account download. Without WooCommerce you can still create invoices by hand, design templates, use share links, and run the public invoice-builder site.

Invoices, packing slips, proforma invoices, credit notes, receipts and delivery notes. Each type has its own template assignment and can use its own number sequence.

Yes. The New invoice screen lets you pick a saved client (or add one), add unlimited line items with quantity, unit price, cost and tax rate, choose the currency, date, template and status, and save. A race-safe number is assigned, the PDF is stored and a share link is ready — with WooCommerce on or off.

Numbering is sequential with an optional prefix and suffix, {YYYY} and {MM} placeholders, zero-padding and an optional yearly reset. Credit notes and proforma invoices can each use their own separate, race-safe sequence. You can also reuse the WooCommerce order number or the raw order ID instead of a counter.

Yes. The plugin can detect existing YITH / WebToffee (and other) invoice numbers, continue your sequence from the highest one found, and optionally copy the old numbers onto historical orders. Developers can extend the detected meta keys with the sgci_import_number_meta_keys filter.

Use the document × email matrix in Settings to choose which document attaches to which transactional email (for example the invoice on "Completed", the packing slip on "Processing"). You can also auto-generate documents on the order statuses you choose.

Yes. When WooCommerce is active there is a "Download invoice" button in My Account and an optional Invoices tab. You can also send any document by email or share a tokenised link.

Each link carries a random token, has a per-document expiry you choose (7 / 30 / 90 days or never), and can be regenerated or revoked. Generated files live in a protected uploads folder and are served only through capability- and ownership-checked endpoints, so a direct link to someone else's file returns "not found".

Yes — enable the share-link QR code per document type and the link prints as a QR code in the corner of the PDF. The QR image is generated locally.

Record one or more payments (date, amount, method, note) against a document — from a Payments panel on the manual invoice screen, or a Payments box on the WooCommerce order (classic and HPOS). The PDF then prints Amount paid and Balance due, and the dashboard's unpaid figure counts only the remaining balance.

No, and it is labelled as such. It records a typed name, an agreement checkbox, a timestamp and the client's IP as a simple, honest online acceptance — useful for proformas and quotes. It is not a qualified or legally binding e-signature.

Click the WhatsApp button on a generated document (order screen or Documents manager). WhatsApp opens with the customer's number and a message containing the document's share link, ready for you to send. This uses WhatsApp's wa.me links and needs no setup or API keys.

Under Settings → Automations → WhatsApp Cloud API, enable it and save your own Meta WhatsApp Business credentials (phone-number ID and access token). A "Send on WhatsApp now" action then delivers the share link from your server. Inside Meta's 24-hour customer-service window it sends your session message; outside it, it uses your pre-approved template. It is off by default, the token is stored encrypted, and every send is a manual click.

Yes. Enter your VAT, GST/HST and a generic Tax ID in Settings → Company details, then switch them on per document type under Compliance field packs. You can also print an editable EU reverse-charge note; in automatic mode it appears only on intra-EU B2B documents where reverse charge applies. The note never changes your tax totals.

Yes. Choose a document language globally or per document. French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese and Hebrew are built in, and Hebrew renders right-to-left with the bundled font. With no language chosen, documents are unchanged and the admin stays in English. Arabic is not offered yet, because the bundled PDF engine cannot join Arabic letters correctly.

Flow stacks the document sections down the page (header, then bill-to, then items, and so on). Canvas lets you place blocks freely anywhere on the page — drag to move, resize with handles, and layer them. Both use the same block types and the same live preview, and both print exactly what you see. Flow is the default; Canvas is a per-template choice.

Yes. Build a named template from blocks, or add a custom-HTML block. Custom HTML is sanitised — scripts, event handlers and remote references are stripped, on save and on every preview — so it stays safe for the local PDF engine.

It generates the official FatturaPA 1.2 (FPR12) XML for invoices and credit notes, per document or as a bulk ZIP, and validates each file locally against the Agenzia delle Entrate schema before download. It does not transmit to the SDI — send the file via your intermediary or the AdE portal — and it refuses to guess when data cannot be mapped cleanly. Off by default.

Yes, optionally. Connect your own Dropbox and/or Google Drive app under Settings → Backup and each generated document is copied to your account, mirroring the local folder layout. You use your own OAuth credentials (there is no SoftGlaze server in between), refresh tokens are stored encrypted, and nothing is uploaded until you connect an account. Off by default.

WordPress 6.3+, PHP 7.4+, and WooCommerce for order-based invoicing. The dompdf engine is bundled, so there is nothing to install; if it were ever missing, documents fall back to print-ready HTML.

No. Every feature is off by default or defaults to your current behaviour, so an existing store's checkout, documents, emails and numbering are unchanged until you opt in.

The complete manual — for both WooCommerce and manual/standalone use — is at https://softglaze.com/docs/pdf-invoices-plugin-for-woocommerce-and-manual. It walks through every feature above with step-by-step screenshots.