WooCommerce Twilio SMS Notifications

WooCommerce Twilio SMS Notifications lets you send automatic SMS updates to customers when their order status changes. This extension also allows site administrators to receive an SMS notification when a new order is placed and manually send SMS messages through the Edit Order screen.

• Installation and setup
  • Finding your Twilio credentials
• Extension settings
  • General settings
  • Admin notifications
  • Customer notifications
    • Status SMS message templates
  • Return SMS message
  • Sender ID settings
  • Connection settings
  • Send test SMS
• Firebase Dynamic Links
• Message variables
• Return SMS setup

Installation and setup

1. Sign in to WordPress.
2. From the left-hand menu, go to WooCommerce and click on Extensions.
3. From the GoDaddy Included Extensions list, scroll to WooCommerce Twilio SMS Notifications and click on Install.

Finding your Twilio credentials

First, you'll need your Twilio credentials to connect your store:

1. Log into your Twilio console.
2. Copy your Account SID and Auth Token.
3. Select the Phone Numbers tab in the menu and copy the phone number as well.
4. In WordPress, go to WooCommerce and click on Settings.
5. Refer to the SMS tab and scroll down to Connection Settings.
6. Enter the Account SID and Auth Token you copied.
7. Click on Save changes.

That's it! You are now sending SMS updates! If you want to tweak settings and customize the SMS messages that are sent, continue reading.

Extension settings

Now you can configure the plugin by going to WooCommerce > Settings > SMS.

General settings

• Opt-in Checkbox Label: The text displayed for the opt-in checkbox at checkout.
  Note: Leaving this field blank will disable the opt-in checkbox and all customers will receive SMS updates.
• Opt-in Checkbox Default: The default state for the opt-in checkbox. We recommended leaving this set to Unchecked.
• Concatenate Messages: Enable to let the carrier split a long message into multiple SMS messages if the total character count is beyond the limits of a single SMS. If disabled, long messages may be cut off with an ellipsis (...) at the end.
• Shorten URLs: Enable to automatically shorten links in SMS notifications.
  • URL Shortener Service: Sign up for Firebase Dynamic Links API to short URLs.
  • Firebase Web API Key: Your Firebase project API key.
  • Firebase Dynamic Links Domain: Enter your custom Firebase subdomain without prepending a protocol (http:// or https://).
  Note: Refer to the Firebase instructions below for detailed steps.

Admin notifications

• Enable new order SMS admin notifications: Enabling sends SMS notifications to the admin mobile number.
• Admin Mobile Number: The number(s) new order notifications will be sent to. Include the country code for numbers outside the US and send notifications to multiple numbers by separating them with a comma.
• Admin SMS Message: Customize the new order notification that is sent to admins. You can include any of the message variables listed below to include additional information.

Customer notifications

• Order statuses to send SMS notifications for: SMS updates will be sent when an order changes to the statuses that you add here.
• Default Customer SMS Message: The message template used when no customized template exists for a given status.

Status SMS message templates

Add a custom SMS message for each status template or leave blank to use the default message you set above. All core statuses and any custom statuses created with Order Status Manager will appear here to customize.

Return SMS message

• Enable return SMS message: Enabling will send customized return messages when customers reply to your automated SMS.
• Response Message: The custom response that is sent to customers (under 160 characters). Leaving this blank will store response messages in your Twilio account without sending.

Sender ID settings

• Enable Sender ID: Enable to set your own business brand as the Sender ID when sending one-way messages.
  Note: This is only supported for certain countries.
• Sender ID: Enter your preferred alphanumeric sender ID.

Connection settings

Follow the instructions above to get your Twilio credentials for this section.

• Account SID: Found in your Twilio account console.
• Auth Token: Found in your Twilio account console.
• From Number: The number your SMS messages are sent from. You may enter any purchased number here (even a shortcode).
  Note: If you have not purchased Twilio Credit, you will only be able to send SMS messages to your verified sandbox number.
• Log Errors: Logs errors to the PHP error log. Errors sending SMS messages to customers are logged as Order Notes regardless of this setting.
  Note: For best performance, refrain from enabling this unless you're experience issues with the plugin.

Send test SMS

1. Enter a Mobile Number. If you're using a trial Twilio account, the number must already be verified in your account.
2. Create a test Message of 160 characters or less.
   Note: Message variables will not be replaced in a test message since they have no data.
3. Click Send.

Firebase Dynamic Links

Use the steps below to generate an API key from Firebase, which you can enter in the general settings to setup URL shortening. This replaces all links to your site with shortened URLs in SMS messages.

1. Sign in to Google, then go to Firebase.
2. Click on Visit Console.
3. Select Add project.
4. Enter the name of your project, such as "Twilio URL Shortener", and click Continue.
5. Proceed through any additional configuration steps and click Create project.
6. With your project now created, click Continue to navigate to the project page.
7. Click the settings wheel icon and select Project settings.
8. Copy the Project ID and the Web API Key to enter in the plugin settings.

Message variables

Dynamically add order information to your SMS messages using the variables below. These work for both customer and admin messages. See below if you want to add your own variables.

• %shop_name% - Your site name
• %order_id% - Order number
• %order_count% - Total number of orders the customer has placed
• %order_amount% - Total amount of the order
• %order_status% - Current status of the order
• %billing_name% - Full customer name from the billing information
• %billing_first% - Customer first name from the billing information
• %billing_last% - Customer last name from the billing information
• %shipping_name% - Name used in the shipping information
• %shipping_method% - Shipping method for the order

Return SMS setup

When a customer replies to an SMS, Twilio will respond by default with a generic message that looks something like this:

Thanks for the message. Configure your number's SMS URL to change this message. Reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Msg & Data rates may apply.

Create a customized response message instead by enabling the Return SMS Message setting and following the steps below in your Twilio account:

1. Sign in to Twilio and navigate to the Phone Numbers page.
2. Select the phone number where you want to receive SMS.
3. Refer to Messaging and paste the URL from the Return SMS Message settings into the A message comes in field.

Once set, your customers will now receive the custom response when replying to your store SMS notifications.

Related steps

• Refer to the WooCommerce documentation for troubleshooting steps and answers to common questions.

More info

• Send emails when a WooCommerce order status changes
• WooCommerce Order Status Manager