FAQ and Notes
Requirements and setup
Does this work without WooCommerce Point of Sale?
No. It is an add on. Without WooCommerce Point of Sale by Webkul the module loads nothing at all and shows an admin notice saying so. See Installation.
Do I also need Restaurant Point of Sale?
Only for the dine in workflow. With Restaurant Point of Sale active you get the Add To Prepare button in the cart and the three kitchen tabs under Dining Tables. Without it, take away sending through the payment page checkbox still works and the same three views appear under a Kitchen entry in the POS side menu.
Do I have to activate a licence?
Yes. Like every Webkul module on a Point of Sale site, this one has to be activated with the purchase code from your order, on Restaurant POS → License. It is not optional housekeeping: while any active Webkul module is unactivated, customers cannot complete checkout on the site and an activation notice is shown in the footer. See Licence and Updates.
How do I get updates?
It depends on where you bought the module.
- CodeCanyon. Add an Envato API personal token under Restaurant POS → License → Envato Token Settings and select Test API Connection. From then on, new versions appear on the WordPress Plugins screen and install with update now. Webkul's guide How to Get Updates of Webkul Modules Directly on the Plugins page shows how to create the token.
- Webkul Store. Download the latest version from your Webkul Store account, upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, and choose Replace current with uploaded. Your settings are kept.
The steps for both are on Licence and Updates.
Is the version I bought the development version?
No. Webkul supplies the production build of the plugin. A development version is available separately at additional cost — contact Webkul support if you need one.
Do I have to use Firebase?
No. Firebase is only the default. You can run the module entirely on Socket instead, which uses the Node server that comes with WooCommerce Point of Sale on your own server — no Google account, no Firebase project and no Firebase keys. Switch it under Restaurant POS → Settings → Kitchen & Customer Screen → Select App Access Type.
The kitchen screen, the customer screen, the POS kitchen tabs, the statuses and the alerts work on both. What changes is this:
| Firebase | Socket | |
|---|---|---|
| What you need | A free Google Firebase project and its eight keys | Node.js 14 or newer on your web server, with PHP shell_exec or exec enabled |
| Tickets are stored in | Your Firebase Realtime Database | Your WordPress database |
| Yesterday's tickets | Cleared automatically | Kept until sent or deleted |
| Ticket numbers | Restart every day | Keep counting up |
| Kitchen screens per outlet | As many as you like | One at a time |
Choose Socket when your server can run Node.js and one kitchen screen per outlet is enough. Choose Firebase when your hosting cannot run Node.js — common on shared hosting — or when one outlet needs several kitchen screens. Setup for both is on Real Time Connection.
Is Firebase free?
Firebase has a free tier, and a single restaurant's tickets are a very small amount of data — the module deletes each day's records the following day. What to watch is the cap on simultaneous connections rather than storage: every open kitchen board, customer screen and till counts as one. Several outlets each running two or three displays can reach it.
Firebase pricing is Google's, not Webkul's, and it changes. Check the Firebase pricing page against the number of screens you plan to run. If the limits do not suit you, the Socket channel keeps everything on your own server instead.
Can I change the kitchen and customer screen addresses?
Yes, under Restaurant POS → Settings → Endpoints. See Endpoints and URLs.
Running the screens
How many screens can be open at once?
It depends on the live channel.
- Firebase: as many as you like. The board, the POS tabs and every customer screen read the same database, so a second kitchen tablet and a screen in the pass show identical information at the same moment. Each open screen counts as one Firebase connection — see Is Firebase free? above.
- Socket: any number of customer screens, but only one kitchen screen and one POS screen per outlet stay live at a time. Opening a second kitchen screen for the same outlet disconnects the first, which then stops updating. If one outlet needs several kitchen screens, use Firebase.
Can two outlets share one kitchen screen?
No. A kitchen board shows the tickets of the outlet the signed in Kitchen User is mapped to. Give each outlet its own Kitchen User account and its own screen.
Does the customer screen need a login?
No. It is a public display. It shows order numbers, table names and your artwork, and never shows customer names, contact details, prices or payment information.
Does the kitchen screen work on a tablet?
Yes, and it can be installed as an app so it opens full screen in landscape with your own icon. See Kitchen Screen.
Can the kitchen work offline?
No. Both screens need a live connection. Sending a ticket while the till is offline is refused with "You can not operate this in offline mode" rather than being queued.
Can I put my own logo and colours on the two screens?
Yes, and you set them once for the whole Point of Sale rather than per screen. The logo comes from Restaurant POS → Settings → General and the accent colours from Restaurant POS → Settings → Appearance; both screens pick them up on their next load. See General Settings.
I switched the Point of Sale to Dark Mode but the kitchen board is still light
That setting applies to the Point of Sale only. The kitchen display and the customer screen each have their own moon button in the header, and each device remembers its own choice, so a board on the pass can run dark while the till stays light.
Orders and numbering
Why is the kitchen ticket number different from the WooCommerce order number?
They are different things. The kitchen ticket number is a short number that is easy to call across a kitchen — on Firebase it restarts every day, on Socket it keeps counting up. The WooCommerce order number is the permanent sales record. A take away ticket shows both. See Order Lifecycle.
Why does a dine in ticket have no WooCommerce order number?
Because the food is sent to the kitchen before the table pays. The WooCommerce order is created later, when the counter selects Create Bill on the Sent Orders tab.
What happens to yesterday's tickets?
On Firebase, they are cleared automatically the first time a screen connects on a new day. On Socket, nothing is cleared by date: unfinished tickets stay on the board and sent tickets stay on the POS Sent Orders tab until someone deletes them. Either way the kitchen board is a working queue, not a sales history. Your sales history stays in WooCommerce → Orders and in the Point of Sale reports.
Can I release a table if the customer does not turn up?
Yes. Open Dining Tables → Bookings, expand the booking and select Booking Release. The table returns to vacant and the slot becomes available for another party immediately.
Can I add more dishes to a table that has already ordered?
Yes, for dine in. Open Dining Tables → Kitchen Orders, expand the ticket and select ADD MORE. The POS cart must be empty first. This is not available for take away tickets.
Can I cancel a ticket?
Yes. Expand it on the POS Kitchen Orders tab and select DELETE. Once the kitchen has started cooking, talk to the kitchen first.
Printing and notifications
What is on the kitchen receipt?
Product names, quantities, the order number, the date, the customer, the cashier and the kitchen note. Prices are deliberately left off, because it is a preparation ticket rather than a bill.
Can I print to a thermal printer?
Yes, when the WooCommerce POS Thermal Printer add on is active. A THERMAL RECEIPT button then appears beside the ordinary RECEIPT button on the Kitchen Orders tab. Without that add on only the ordinary receipt button is shown.
Does the module email anyone?
No. It registers no WooCommerce email. The only alerts are browser notifications on the kitchen board and on the POS screen, and each browser has to allow them once.
Data and privacy
Where are kitchen tickets stored?
On the Firebase channel, in the Firebase Realtime Database of the project you create and own. On the Socket channel, in your own WordPress database. Either way the records hold the ticket items, quantities, the table or order reference and the kitchen note.
Does this change my online shop?
No. The module adds no product setting, changes nothing in the cart or checkout your online customers use, and adds no My Account page. It works entirely inside the Point of Sale and on its own two addresses.
Notes worth knowing before you go live
- Finish the day's tickets before closing. On Firebase anything left on the board when the next day starts is removed and cannot be recovered; on Socket it is still there the next morning.
- On Socket, keep to one kitchen screen per outlet. A second kitchen screen for the same outlet disconnects the first.
- Reload the customer screen after changing its settings. The display keeps the configuration it started with.
- Republish the kitchen app after changing its name, colours or icons. Those files are written when the plugin is activated, so deactivate and reactivate before reinstalling the app on a tablet.
- Kitchen and cashier must be on the same outlet. This is the most common cause of an empty board.
- Notifications are per browser and per device. Allow them on every screen that needs alerts.
- Take away orders cannot be topped up. Send a second ticket instead.
- Activate every Webkul module. An unactivated module blocks checkout across the whole site, not just this feature.
Support
Raise a ticket with Webkul support using the Community support link on the plugin row under Plugins → Installed Plugins, or visit the product page for licensing and support terms.