Staging Manager
Deutsch Demo shop View in the StoreStore

Example How do I design invoices and mails on real orders?

An invoice template always looks fine with a test order. Only real orders with many line items, discounts, mixed tax rates and partial deliveries show where it breaks.

The situation

Templates break on real data, not on samples.

Twenty line items, discounts, mixed tax rates, credit notes, partial deliveries: that is where document and mail templates fail. Testing in the live shop would mean creating mails and invoices for real customers.

The copy holds every order of the live shop, in the database with made-up names and addresses. You create invoices as often as you like, and every mail stays in the mail archive.

How to go about it

Step by step in the administration.

  1. 1Build with orders

    "Orders and documents" comes with content by default; with "Anonymize using rules" the plugin replaces the personal data in it.

  2. 2Find difficult orders

    In the administration of the copy, pick out orders with many line items, discounts, mixed tax rates and partial deliveries.

  3. 3Change templates and create documents

    Adjust the document template, create invoice, delivery note or credit note anew, look at it, repeat.

  4. 4Check mails

    Trigger order mails and read them in the mail archive with "Show" as HTML or text. For your own inbox, "Everything to one catch-all address" with your address.

  5. 5Take it live

    The comparison shows changed settings, content such as mail templates, and files; you carry these templates over into the live shop.

More on this:AnonymizationEmails and callsWhat gets copied

What to watch

What the documents show.

  • In newly created documents names and addresses are made-up values, address additions and VAT IDs empty; amounts, products, quantities, discounts, tax rates and the country are real. You check long addresses with a test order of your own, or set the column to "Keep" in the rule set.
  • Documents the live shop already created come along as PDF files, as they were created, with the real names and addresses. Create documents anew in the copy to get the anonymized data in them.
  • If files are stored in the cloud, the copy shares the live shop's storage: new documents end up there, deleted ones are gone there.
Questions

What shop owners ask about it.

Do customers get the test invoices?

No. With "Send nothing" every mail stays in the copy's mail archive, with "Everything to one catch-all address" it goes to your own address. Customers do not receive anything.

Are the order numbers the same as in the live shop?

Yes, orders keep their numbers, so you find the case from the live shop again. Only personal data is replaced.

Can I test mail templates too?

Yes. Every mail the copy would send appears in the mail archive with full content, as HTML or as text. That way you check the order confirmation with a real, anonymized order.

More examples

  • The Shopware update

    The update in the copy first, in maintenance mode if you like, and only then in the live shop.

  • Testing a new plugin

    Set up a new plugin or theme calmly; the comparison shows what you have to repeat live.

  • Access for the agency

    Address, password and an admin login of its own, only for the copy and only until the agreed date.

  • The daily copy

    A schedule refreshes the data every night; in the morning you test with the state of the day before.

  • Testing an interface

    Block and log calls from apps and webhooks first, then let them through on purpose.