Notifal works on any WordPress site, with or without WooCommerce. If you run an online store, a short setup step unlocks product, order, and cart data in your notifications.
This guide covers global tag settings and how content source uses WooCommerce data. For the basics of creating a notification, see Your First On-Page Notification.
Do you need WooCommerce?
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Blog or brochure site (no store) | Skip this guide. User, post, and page tags are enough. |
| WooCommerce store | Follow the steps below to enable store tags and content source. |
| Store plugins other than WooCommerce | Notifal's built-in product, order, and cart tags target WooCommerce specifically. |
Step 1: Install and activate WooCommerce
Make sure WooCommerce is installed and active on your site before enabling store tags. Notifal detects WooCommerce automatically. If it is not active, product, order, and cart options stay disabled in Settings.
Step 2: Enable WooCommerce tag categories
- Go to Notifal → Settings.
- Open the Tags tab.
- Under WooCommerce Tags, turn on the categories you need:
| Setting | Example tags you can use |
|---|---|
| Product Tags | {product_name}, {product_link}, {product_meta__price}, {product_meta__sale_price} |
| Order Tags | {order_id}, {order_meta__billing_first_name}, {order_meta_billing_city}, {order_created_date_diff} |
| Cart Tags | {cart_total}, {cart_item_count}, {cart_coupons}, {cart_first_product_name} |
- Click Save Settings.
Enabled tags appear in tag pickers when you edit templates in the Block Editor, Elementor, or HTML Builder.
Step 3: Use tags in your notification template
After tags are enabled, insert them into your template design. Tags use curly braces, for example {product_name}.
Order and product meta tags
Many WooCommerce fields use the meta tag pattern. You do not write a separate tag for every field name.
| Pattern | Meaning |
|---|---|
{order_meta_{key}} | Any order meta field. Replace {key} with the real WooCommerce meta key. |
{product_meta_{key}} | Any product meta field. Same rule for {key}. |
Important: WooCommerce often stores internal keys with a leading underscore (_). In the tag, write order_meta_ or product_meta_, then the full meta key including that underscore.
| WooCommerce meta key | Tag to use in your template |
|---|---|
_billing_first_name | {order_meta__billing_first_name} |
_billing_city | {order_meta__billing_city} |
billing_city (no leading _) | {order_meta_billing_city} |
_price | {product_meta__price} |
_regular_price | {product_meta__regular_price} |
_sale_price | {product_meta__sale_price} |
_sku | {product_meta__sku} |
The double underscore after meta is normal: one _ ends the order_meta_ / product_meta_ prefix, and the next _ is the start of the WooCommerce key.
Other useful WooCommerce tags
Orders: {order_id}, {order_meta_order_total}, {order_created_date_{format}}, {order_completed_date_{format}}, {order_paid_date_{format}}
Products: {product_id}, {product_name}, {product_link}, {product_discount_amount}, {product_discount_percent}, {product_publish_date_{format}}
Cart: {cart_total}, {cart_subtotal}, {cart_discount}, {cart_item_count}, {cart_unique_products}, {cart_coupons}, {cart_url}, {cart_checkout_url}, {cart_first_product_name}
Date formats: For tags ending in {format}, use a PHP date format after _date_. Examples: {order_created_date_Y-m-d}, {order_created_date_diff} (shows text like "2 days ago").
Example sentences
- Social proof: "Someone in
{order_meta__billing_city}just bought{product_name}" - Urgency: "Now only
{product_meta__sale_price}(was{product_meta__regular_price})" - Cart recovery: "You have
{cart_item_count}items worth{cart_total}in your cart"
Tags are placeholders. Notifal replaces them with real data when the notification shows.
For the full tag list, open the tag picker in the Block Editor, Elementor, or HTML Builder after enabling each category in Settings.
Step 4: Configure content source on the notification
Tags show what to display. Content source decides which product, order, or other record supplies the data.
- Go to Notifal → OnPage Notifications.
- Open a notification (or create one).
- Open the Content Source tab in the editor.
Content source type
In the General tab, choose a content source type:
| Type | Best for |
|---|---|
| Dynamic | Notifications that pull live data (recent orders, random products, posts, users). Most WooCommerce social-proof templates use this. |
| Static | Fixed content with no rotating data pool. Tags still work if you pin specific context, but pools and filters are not used. |
For typical "recent purchase" or "trending product" templates, choose Dynamic.
Dynamic pools and filters
On the Content Source tab you can narrow what data is picked:
- Orders , filter by date range, status, or products in the order
- Products , filter by category, sale status, stock, price range, and more
- Users, posts, and pages , for mixed content types
Notifal builds a pool of matching records and picks from it when showing the notification. Advanced multi-filter options require Notifal Pro with an active license.
Step 5: Cart-based display rules (optional)
Some notifications should only appear when the visitor has items in their cart, or when the cart total crosses a threshold. Notifal reads the WooCommerce cart on the front end to evaluate those rules.
You do not need a separate setup step for cart rules beyond having WooCommerce active. Configure cart conditions in the notification's Display Rules tab.
Cart-related tags (like {cart_total}) still require Cart Tags enabled under Settings → Tags.
Example workflows
Recent purchase notification
- Enable Product Tags and Order Tags in Settings.
- Import or create a template that uses order and product tags.
- Set content source type to Dynamic.
- On Content Source, choose Orders and filter to recent completed orders.
- Turn Status on when ready. See Understanding Notification Status.
Product spotlight popup
- Enable Product Tags in Settings.
- Set content source to Products with filters (e.g., on sale, in stock).
- Set display rules to show on shop and product pages.
Cart reminder bar
- Enable Cart Tags in Settings.
- Use cart tags in the template (
{cart_total},{cart_item_count}, etc.). - Add a cart condition in Display Rules (e.g., cart is not empty).
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Things to check |
|---|---|
| Store tags missing in the editor | Settings → Tags , confirm Product, Order, or Cart is enabled |
| Tags show empty on the front end | Content source filters may be too strict; widen date range or remove filters |
| Cart tags always empty | Visitor has an empty cart, or WooCommerce session is not loaded yet |
| Order tags show empty | Check the meta key spelling. Keys with a leading _ need {order_meta__key} (double underscore after meta). Try {order_meta_order_total} or {order_meta__billing_city} |
| Order tags show wrong data | Content source order pool may need status filters (e.g., only "completed") |
Checklist
- [ ] WooCommerce is installed and active
- [ ] Product, Order, and/or Cart tags enabled under Notifal → Settings → Tags
- [ ] Notification uses Dynamic content source where needed
- [ ] Content source filters match the data you expect
- [ ] Notification Status is on for live testing
What to read next
- Your First On-Page Notification , import and publish
- Understanding Notification Status , draft vs live
- Navigating the Notifal Admin Menu , find Settings and the editor tabs
- What Is Notifal? (Free vs Pro) , advanced content source filters with Pro