Strange order number when downloading Transactions

It seems you’re facing some issues while trying to download and view the Transactions report in WooCommerce. Let’s address your concerns step by step:

1. Downloading Report: Email vs. Direct Download
   WooCommerce does offer the option to email reports instead of providing an immediate download link. To ensure you can directly download the report, you can check the following:

• Check for Download Link: After generating the report, make sure to look for a direct download link on the page. Sometimes, the link might be labeled as “Click here to download” or something similar.
• Check Email Spam Folder: If the report is being emailed to you, it might end up in your spam or junk folder. Be sure to check there as well.

1. Inconsistent Order Numbers in Excel:
   If the order numbers are appearing differently in Excel compared to what you see on the website or in the downloaded report, it might be due to formatting or data interpretation issues.

• Check Excel Auto-Formatting: Sometimes, Excel may automatically format data in a way that causes order numbers to appear differently. To prevent this, you can format the column containing order numbers as text before pasting the data.
• Leading Zeros: If the order numbers contain leading zeros (e.g., 00123), Excel might remove those zeros by default. To avoid this, you can format the cells as text before pasting the data.
• Importing Data: When opening a CSV file in Excel, it might interpret the data differently. Make sure to specify that the data should be imported as text to maintain the order number formatting.

1. Use Excel’s Text Import Wizard (Optional):
   If the issue with inconsistent order numbers persists, you can use Excel’s Text Import Wizard to import the CSV file with order numbers as text, preserving their original formatting. Here’s how:

• Open Excel and go to the “Data” tab.
• Click on “From Text/CSV” and select the CSV file with the report.
• In the Text Import Wizard, select “Delimited” and click “Next.”
• Choose the delimiter used in the CSV file (usually comma) and click “Next.”
• For the column with order numbers, select “Text” as the column data format.
• Complete the wizard and import the data into Excel.

By following these steps, you should be able to download the Transactions report directly and view order numbers consistently in Excel. If the issue persists, contacting WooCommerce support would be the best course of action.

Amazing – thanks. It was how Excel was passing the data. Out pf interests, can I force WC to give me a direct download?

Nick

Hi @mixer71

Yes, you can force WooCommerce to provide a direct download link for products. By default, WooCommerce handles digital or downloadable products by generating expiring download links for security reasons. However, if you want to provide a direct download link without the expiring link functionality, you can achieve this by using a simple workaround.

Here’s how you can do it:

1. Create a Custom Download Page (Optional):

• If you want to provide direct download links on a separate page, you can create a new WordPress page and add your downloadable product links manually. You can format the links as you prefer using HTML.

1. Disable Download Expiry:

• WooCommerce provides an option to disable download expiry for individual products. Go to the product editing page, find the “Downloadable” section, and uncheck the “Downloadable files expire after” option.

1. Use External URLs for Downloads:

• If you don’t want to disable download expiry globally, you can use the “External/Affiliate Product” type for your digital products. When adding a product, choose the “External/Affiliate Product” type and enter the direct download URL in the “Product URL” field. This will redirect users to the download link immediately.

Please note that by disabling download expiry, you’re removing a layer of security that WooCommerce provides to prevent unauthorized sharing of download links. Make sure to consider the implications of this change, especially if your digital products are sensitive or valuable.

Keep in mind that WooCommerce’s behavior can be influenced by various factors including themes, plugins, and settings. If you’re making changes that affect the default behavior of WooCommerce, it’s a good practice to thoroughly test your changes to ensure they work as intended.

Hi @mixer71

Good to know that you found the issue. Excel sometimes automatically formats numbers in a way that can change their appearance. To preserve the original order numbers, you can try changing the cell format in Excel to “text” before opening the file.

Additionally, in WooCommerce, the report is sent via email by default. However, I understand that you would prefer a direct download. Unfortunately, there isn’t a built-in option to force a direct download of the report in WooCommerce now. The report is designed to be emailed to ensure its secure delivery, especially for larger files that might exceed your browser’s download limits.

I hope this information helps! If you have any other questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask.