Flow Connect setup guide

What is Flow Connect

Flow Connect connects your WooCommerce store to the tools you already use. When something happens in your store, it can tag the customer in your CRM, add them to an email list, send a WhatsApp message or a text, write a row in Google Sheets, or call any webhook.

You build this with simple rules called flows. Every flow has three parts:

• When something happens (a trigger), for example an order is placed.
• Only if conditions match (optional), for example the order total is at least 100.
• Then do one or more actions, for example add a tag in GoHighLevel and add a row in Google Sheets.

Flows run in the background, so checkout stays fast. Your keys and tokens stay on your own store, and your customers' data goes straight from your store to the services you connect. It does not pass through our servers.

Free and Pro

There are two editions. The free one covers the basics. Pro unlocks every module for $3 a month per store, with a 7 day free trial.

The Pro edition uses the same saved flows and settings as Free, so you can upgrade without rebuilding anything.

To upgrade: install and activate Flow Connect Pro, then enter your key. Your flows, connections and settings are kept. Delete the free plugin only after Pro is installed, because deleting it on its own can remove your saved data.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.0 or newer.
• WooCommerce (the plugin works with high-performance order storage and the block checkout).
• PHP 7.4 or newer.
• Pro only: the PHP sodium extension, which verifies your license. It is enabled on almost all modern hosts. If yours is missing it, the plugin tells you in plain words, and your host can switch it on.
• A store that can make outgoing HTTPS requests, which is the default on nearly every host.

Create your account Pro

You only need an account for Pro. The free plugin needs none.

1. Go to the dashboard, choose Create account and sign up with your email and a password of at least 10 characters.
2. You get a welcome email. Open the dashboard and start your plan. This creates your secret key, which starts with wfc_.
3. Your 7 day free trial starts when you activate the plugin on your store, not when you sign up. You are not charged during the trial.
4. Open Security and turn on two-step verification. It takes two minutes and protects your key and billing. See Security.

Install and activate

Free edition

1. In WordPress open Plugins, Add New, search for Flow Connect Automation for WooCommerce, then Install Now and Activate.
2. Open Flow Connect in the admin menu and follow the quick start below.

Pro edition

1. Log in to the dashboard, open Download and save flow-connect-pro-for-woocommerce.zip.
2. In WordPress open Plugins, Add New, Upload Plugin, choose the zip, then Install Now and Activate.
3. Open Flow Connect. On the welcome screen choose I already have a key (or answer the three quick questions, then paste the key).
4. Paste your key and activate. The store is now locked to your key and your trial starts.

After activation, Settings, License shows your status, the store name and the last characters of your key. If something looks wrong, press Check license now.

Your first flow

You can have a working automation in about ten minutes.

1. Open Overview and switch on the features you want, for example GoHighLevel or Mailchimp.
2. Open Connections. Enter the key or token for each feature, press Save changes, then Test connection. You should see a green success message.
3. Open Flows, press New flow (or pick a ready-made preset), choose a trigger, add conditions if you need them, and add one or more actions.
4. Press Save changes. The button appears at the bottom right whenever something has changed.
5. Place a test order with your own email, then open Activity log. Your action should be marked ok.

Connections overview

A connection is a link between your store and one outside service. You set them up once under Connections, and flows then use them.

Every connection has a Test connection button. Use it each time you change a key.

GoHighLevel

Add or remove tags, create opportunities in a pipeline, and keep contacts up to date when customers shop.

1. In GoHighLevel open the sub-account you want to use. Go to Settings, Private Integrations and create a new integration.
2. Give it the scopes for contacts and opportunities, then copy the token. You will not see it again.
3. Copy your Location ID from Settings, Business Profile (it is also in the sub-account URL).
4. In WordPress open Connections, GoHighLevel, switch it on and paste both values.
5. Press Save changes, then Test connection.

Actions you can use in flows: add tag, remove tag and create opportunity. For an opportunity you enter the Pipeline ID and Stage ID from GoHighLevel and a name such as Order #{order_id}.

Mailchimp

Subscribe opted-in customers to an audience and add or remove tags.

1. In Mailchimp open Profile, Extras, API keys and create a key. It ends with your data center, for example -us21.
2. Open Audience, Settings, Audience name and defaults and copy the Audience ID.
3. In WordPress open Connections, Mailchimp, switch it on and paste the key and Audience ID.
4. Press Save changes, then Test connection.

Google Sheets

Write a row to a Google Sheet for every flow run. There is no Google login in the plugin. Instead you paste a small script into your own sheet, so the data goes only to a sheet you own.

1. Open Connections, Google Sheets in the plugin. It shows a ready-made Apps Script and a shared secret. Copy the script.
2. Create or open a Google Sheet. Choose Extensions, Apps Script, delete the sample code and paste the script.
3. Replace the secret placeholder in the script with the shared secret shown in the plugin, then save.
4. Choose Deploy, New deployment, pick type Web app, set Execute as to Me and Who has access to Anyone. Approve the permissions Google asks for.
5. Copy the web app URL that ends in /exec and paste it into the plugin. Press Save changes, then Test connection. A test row appears in a tab called Flow Connect.

If the test says Google asked for a sign in, redeploy the script as a Web app with access set to Anyone and paste the /exec URL.

Klaviyo Pro

1. In Klaviyo open Settings, API keys and create a private API key (it starts with pk_). Give it access to profiles, lists and events.
2. Open the list you want, then Settings, and copy the List ID.
3. In WordPress open Connections, Klaviyo, switch it on, paste both values, save and test.

Actions: subscribe to list and track event. The ready-made "Klaviyo abandoned cart" preset sends an Abandoned Cart event that you can use to start a Klaviyo flow.

WhatsApp Pro

Send an approved WhatsApp template message from a flow, using Meta's WhatsApp Cloud API. This is the longest setup, so start with the free test below.

Test it with the hello_world template

1. At developers.facebook.com create a Business app and add the WhatsApp product.
2. In WhatsApp, API Setup copy the Phone number ID and the temporary access token (valid for 24 hours).
3. Under To (Recipient) add your own phone and confirm the code. The test number can only message numbers on this list.
4. In Connections, WhatsApp switch it on, paste the token and Phone number ID, set the Default country code (for example 1), press Save changes, then Test connection.
5. Create a flow with trigger Order placed and action WhatsApp: send template. Use template hello_world, language en_US and leave the variables empty.
6. Place a test order with the verified phone and tick the consent box. A minute later "Hello World" arrives.

Going live with real customers

• Register your own business phone number in WhatsApp Manager.
• Create a permanent System User token. The temporary token expires after 24 hours.
• Create message templates and wait for Meta to approve them. In the flow, use the exact lowercase template name and its language code.
• Switch the app to Live mode.
• Variables go in order as {{1}}, {{2}} in the template. In the flow you type them comma separated, for example {first}, {order_id}.

SMS with Twilio Pro

1. In the Twilio console copy your Account SID and Auth token from the dashboard.
2. Get a sender: either a Twilio phone number or a Messaging Service SID.
3. In WordPress open Connections, SMS, switch it on and paste the SID, token and sender. Set a Default country code for customers who enter a local number.
4. Save and test.

The action SMS: send text takes a message and supports placeholders, for example Hi {first}, your order #{order_id} is confirmed. Twilio charges you for each text. Flow Connect does not.

Webhooks

Send a JSON message to any https address, such as a Zapier, Make or n8n hook, or your own server.

1. Create a catch hook in your tool and copy its https URL.
2. In Connections, Webhooks switch it on. Optionally set a shared secret so receivers can verify the message.
3. In a flow, add the action Webhook: send JSON, paste the URL, and leave Custom JSON empty to send everything, or write your own, for example {"email":"{email}","total":"{order_total}"}.

The default payload contains the event name, the flow, the time and a full snapshot of the customer and order. In custom JSON, placeholders are replaced only inside string values, so a customer value can never break the JSON. A value that is just one placeholder keeps its type, so numbers stay numbers.

Verify the signature

When a secret is set, every request carries these headers:

• X-WFC-Event: the event name.
• X-WFC-Timestamp: Unix time in seconds.
• X-WFC-Signature: HMAC-SHA256 of timestamp + "." + body, using your secret, as lowercase hex.

Copy// PHP receiver example
$body = file_get_contents('php://input');
$ts   = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_WFC_TIMESTAMP'] ?? '';
$sig  = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_WFC_SIGNATURE'] ?? '';
$good = hash_hmac('sha256', $ts . '.' . $body, 'YOUR_SECRET');
if (!hash_equals($good, $sig) || abs(time() - (int)$ts) > 300) { http_response_code(401); exit; }

Triggers (When)

Conditions (Only if)

Conditions are optional. A flow only runs when all its conditions match.

Actions (Then do)

A flow can run several actions, one after another.

Placeholders

Type a placeholder in curly braces inside any text field, such as an SMS message, an opportunity name or custom webhook JSON. It is replaced with the real value when the flow runs.

Date and time formats, currency display and timezone can be changed under Settings.

Run options and limits

• Flow on or off. Each flow has its own switch. A flow only runs when it is switched on and saved.
• Automation master switch. One switch under Overview stops all flows at once, which is handy while you work on your store.
• Run option. By default a flow does not repeat for the same customer and event within a short window (about an hour), so a page refresh cannot trigger the same actions twice. Set Run to Every time it happens if you want every event to run.
• Flow limit. Free allows up to 2 flows with 2 actions each. Pro allows up to 20 flows with 10 actions each.
• When it runs. Under Settings, Run actions choose In the background (recommended, checkout stays fast) or Immediately while the customer waits.
• Skip admins. A setting that stops flows from firing on orders placed by store admins, handy for testing.

Ready-made presets

When you press New flow you can start from a preset and then change anything. Fill in your own tag names, IDs and templates.

Marketing consent

Sending marketing messages needs the customer's permission. Flow Connect can add an optional checkbox to your checkout, with a label you choose (the default is "Send me news and offers"). It is saved on the order, and on the customer's account when they have one.

• The checkbox only appears when the consent box setting is on and at least one marketing connection is switched on.
• Mailchimp (and, in Pro, Klaviyo, WhatsApp and SMS) only act on customers who ticked the box.
• Tags and rows in GoHighLevel, Google Sheets and webhooks are not marketing messages, so they do not need the box.
• Cart triggers happen before checkout, so they can never carry consent. Marketing actions are skipped for them, and the Activity log says Skipped: no marketing consent.

Abandoned carts Pro

Detect carts that were left behind, tag the contact, and bring them back with a recovery link.

1. Open Overview and switch on Abandoned carts.
2. Open Abandoned carts and choose how many minutes of inactivity make a cart "abandoned" (the default is 60), and how many days to keep old cart records (the default is 30).
3. Create a flow with the trigger Cart is abandoned. Use the preset Abandoned cart to start. Add a second flow with Abandoned cart is recovered to clear the tags when they buy.

How it works

• A cart is saved when it has an email. For logged-in customers the email is known. For guests, a small script on the checkout page notes the email as soon as they type it in the billing email box.
• If the customer is quiet for your set time, the cart is marked abandoned and your flow runs. Use {recovery_url} in a message to send them back to their cart.
• If the customer buys, the cart is marked recovered.
• Saved carts are removed after the number of days you set. Uninstalling the plugin removes the cart table, unless you chose to keep data.

Field mapping Pro

Field mapping copies WooCommerce data into custom fields in GoHighLevel and merge fields in Mailchimp, for example the order total, the last product or the customer's lifetime spend.

1. Switch on Field mapping under Overview.
2. Open Field mapping and add a row: pick the WooCommerce value on one side and the field name in your service on the other.
3. Save. The mapped values are sent along whenever a flow updates the contact.

Available values include order total (plain and with currency), order ID, order count, lifetime spend, last product, all products, coupons, country, city, phone, currency, order date, and for carts the cart total and recovery link. You can map up to 40 rows.

Email alerts Pro

Get an email for events in your store, for example every new order, large orders or failed payments. These are alerts for you and your team, not for customers.

1. Open Notifications and switch on Send internal email alerts.
2. Press Add alert. Pick when it fires (for example a new order), add optional filters such as a minimum total, and set the recipients (up to 5), the subject and the message.
3. Under Sending choose My own SMTP account, pick your provider, enter the username and password, press Save changes, then Send test email.
4. Press Check my DNS and add any missing SPF, DKIM or DMARC records at your domain host, so alerts do not land in spam.

Activity log and Dev logs

Activity log

Every action a flow tries is recorded with the time, the flow, the customer and the result:

• ok: it worked.
• skipped: it was left out on purpose, with the reason, for example no marketing consent or already ran.
• failed: the service refused it. The message says why.

Dev logs

Dev logs explain in plain words what happened behind the scenes, including connection tests, response codes and timing. If you need help, press Copy all and send it to support with a short note. Secrets are never included.

Under Settings you can set how many entries are kept, mask customer emails in the log, and turn on extra debug detail while you troubleshoot.

Import and export

Under Import / Export you can download your flows and field mapping as a file, and import them on another store. This is the quickest way to copy a setup to a staging site, or to back it up before a big change. Your keys and tokens are not included in the file.

Settings

The dashboard

Log in at wooflowconnect.com/dashboard. It has six sections:

Trial, billing and cancelling

• Price. Pro is $3 a month per store. One plan covers one store.
• Free trial. You get 7 days free. It starts when you activate the plugin on your store. We email you two days before it ends.
• Subscribing. Open Plan and billing and choose Subscribe. Payment is taken by our payment provider, Polar, on its own secure page. We never see or store your card details. Polar emails you the receipt.
• Manage your card. Use Manage billing to update your card or see invoices.
• Cancel. You can cancel any time from Plan and billing. You keep Pro until the end of the period you already paid for, and you are not charged again. Change your mind before then and choose to resume.
• Refunds. Email support@wooflowconnect.com or use the contact form. A refund shows in your payment history and we email you when it is processed.

If a payment fails

You do not lose access the same day. When a renewal cannot be collected:

1. We email you right away, and Polar retries the payment.
2. You have a 3 day grace period. Pro keeps working, and your plugin shows "Payment failed. Update your payment method on the dashboard."
3. On the last day we send a final reminder.
4. If the payment is still missing after 3 days, the plan ends and Pro features switch off. We email you when that happens.

Your flows, connections and settings are kept the whole time. Update your card, or subscribe again, then press Check license now in the plugin and Pro switches back on.

Your key and your store

Your secret key works on one store at a time. The first time you activate it, the key is locked to that store (its address and an internal store ID). If the key is used on a second store, the server refuses it and tells the owner which store is linked.

Moving to a new store

1. On the old store, open Flow Connect, Settings, License and choose Deactivate this store. Or do it from the dashboard: License key, Release this store.
2. Install the Pro plugin on the new store and enter the same key. It now links to the new store.

Generating a new key

If your key leaks, open License key and choose Generate a new key. The old key stops working at once, so paste the new one into the plugin straight away. Your saved connection secrets are not affected.

Stores that stop working

If a store cannot reach our server for a while, Pro keeps running on a signed license that is valid for 72 hours and renews itself in the background. A short outage never switches off your customers' automations.

Security and password

Two-step verification

Add a second step to your login. After your password, you enter a 6 digit code from an authenticator app such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, 1Password or Authy.

1. Open Security on the dashboard and choose Set up two-step verification.
2. Scan the QR code with your authenticator app, or type the key in by hand.
3. Enter the 6 digit code the app shows and press Turn on.
4. Save the 8 recovery codes shown next. Each works once if you lose your phone, and they are not shown again.

When it is on, login needs your password and a code. To turn it off you need your password and a current code (or a recovery code). If you lose both your phone and your recovery codes, email support@wooflowconnect.com from the address on your account so we can verify you and reset it.

Forgot your password

On the login screen choose Forgot password?, enter your email, and open the link we send. It works for 1 hour and only once. After you choose a new password you are logged out everywhere, and you get an email telling you it changed. A password reset does not skip two-step verification.

Emails we send

We only send account emails, from no-reply@wooflowconnect.com. We do not send marketing emails. You cannot reply to this address, so email support@wooflowconnect.com or use the contact form if you need help.

If our emails go to spam, mark one as "Not spam" or add no-reply@wooflowconnect.com to your contacts.

Updating the plugin

• Free: update from Plugins in WordPress, like any directory plugin.
• Pro: download the newest zip from Download on the dashboard, then in WordPress choose Plugins, Add New, Upload Plugin and upload it. WordPress asks to replace the current version. Confirm. Your flows, settings and license are kept.

Back up your site before big updates, as you would for any plugin. The changelog lists what changed.

Troubleshooting

Still stuck? Open Dev logs, press Copy all and send it to us with a short note. Secrets are never included.

FAQ

Getting support

Email support@wooflowconnect.com or use the contact form. We usually reply within one working day. To get an answer faster, include:

• The Store ID shown under Settings, License in the plugin.
• What you expected, and what happened instead.
• The text from Dev logs, Copy all.
• Your plugin version (shown in the plugin header) and WordPress and WooCommerce versions.

For developers

Flow Connect can be extended with WordPress filters.

For anything beyond that, the signed webhook sends the full customer and order snapshot to your own endpoint.

Uninstalling

1. Pro: first open Settings, License and choose Deactivate this store. This frees your key so you can use it on another store.
2. In WordPress open Plugins, deactivate Flow Connect and delete it.

By default, deleting the plugin removes its settings, flows, logs and (in Pro) the saved cart table. To keep them, switch off Delete data on uninstall under Settings first. Your WooCommerce orders and customers are never touched. Deleting the plugin does not cancel your subscription, so cancel on the dashboard too.