Installation Guide

Setting up the WooCommerce Print Barcode Labels plugin requires two components:

  1. Installing and activating the WordPress plugin.
  2. Setting up the desktop print server agent for direct thermal printing.

1. System Requirements

Before installation, ensure your environment meets the following conditions:

  • WordPress: Version 5.0 or higher.
  • WooCommerce: Version 5.0 or higher.
  • PHP: Version 7.4 or higher.
  • Node.js: Version 14.x or higher (only required for setting up the automated print server on your cashier/packer computer).
  • Hardware: Any standard document printer, or a thermal label printer (e.g., Zebra, Dymo, Brother) connected via USB or network.

2. Installing the WordPress Plugin

Step 1: Access Plugin Installation

  1. Log in to your WordPress Admin Panel.
  2. Navigate to: Plugins → Add New.
  3. Click the Upload Plugin button at the top of the page.

Access Plugin Upload

Step 2: Upload the Plugin

  1. Click the Choose File button.
  2. Select the downloaded plugin ZIP file (e.g., print-barcode-products-and-orders-for-woocommerce.zip).
  3. Click Install Now.

Upload Plugin Archive

Step 3: Activate the Plugin

  1. After successful installation, click Activate Plugin.
  2. Wait for the activation confirmation message to display in your plugin list dashboard.

Activate Plugin

Method 2: FTP Installation (Alternative)

Step 1: Prepare Files

  1. Unzip the downloaded plugin package.
  2. Extract the print-barcode-products-and-orders-for-woocommerce folder.

Step 2: Upload via FTP

  1. Connect to your server via FTP/SFTP.
  2. Navigate to the WordPress plugins directory: /wp-content/plugins/.
  3. Upload the extracted plugin directory to this folder.

Step 3: Activate

  1. Go to your WordPress Admin → Plugins.
  2. Find Print Barcode Labels for WooCommerce in the list.
  3. Click Activate.

Post-Installation Checks

  • Clear your WordPress site cache if you use caching plugins (e.g., W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache).
  • Verify that the new menu item Webkul WC Addons > Barcode Labels is visible in your admin sidebar.
  • Verify that the plugin appears under your active WordPress plugins list.
  • Check your PHP error/debug log if the page fails to load after activation.

3. Desktop Print Server Setup

To bypass the browser print dialog and enable instant auto-printing, you must run the desktop print server on the computer connected to your printer:

  1. Locate Server files: The server source code is located within the plugin directory under server/ or desktop-app/server/.
  2. Install Dependencies: Open your terminal/command prompt, navigate to the server folder, and run:
    npm install
  3. Generate SSL Certificates: Since browsers block HTTP connections from HTTPS websites, you must create a local SSL certificate.
    • On Windows/macOS, use the provided helper script:
      npm run cert
    • Ensure the generated localhost.crt is installed in your operating system's Trusted Root Certification Authority directory.
  4. Start the Server: Launch the WebSocket listener:
    npm start
    • By default, the server listens securely on port 8080 (wss://localhost:8080).

[!WARNING] SSL Security Exception: If you start the print server and see WebSocket connection errors in the browser console, navigate directly to https://localhost:8080 in a new browser tab. Click Advanced > Proceed to localhost (unsafe) to manually accept the certificate, then refresh your WooCommerce dashboard.