Why receiving the file is not the job

Most file upload plugins stop at collection. The file arrives, it sits on the order, and whatever happens next happens in email.

That is fine when the file is a copy of a licence nobody will look at twice. It falls apart when the file is the input to something you make. Someone has to open it, judge whether it is usable, and tell the customer if it is not. Without a workflow, that conversation happens in a thread nobody else can see, the current version of the file is whatever was last attached to an email, and the order moves into production because nothing stopped it.

The failure mode is always the same: an order ships, the customer complains, and someone discovers the artwork was never checked.

What the loop looks like when it works

1. The order arrives with the file attached to the line item it belongs to.
2. Someone opens the file and judges it.
3. If it is wrong, they disapprove it and write one line saying why.
4. The customer is emailed automatically with that note.
5. The customer uploads a replacement while the order is pending or on hold.
6. Someone approves it, and only then does the order move to production.

Nothing about that is clever. What makes it work is that the state lives on the order rather than in somebody's inbox, so anyone can see which orders are waiting and why, including the person covering while the usual reviewer is away.

Setting it up

There is no separate approval module to configure. The controls appear on the order once a file has been uploaded.

1. Open the order in WooCommerce > Orders. Product page uploads sit with their line item; cart and checkout uploads appear in their own section.
2. View or download the file. Judge it properly, since a thumbnail will not show you resolution or colour mode.
3. Approve or disapprove it, and add a note if you are rejecting.
4. The customer is emailed automatically when the status changes.

Two settings are worth checking first, under WooCommerce > Settings > Upload Files > Additional Settings. Confirm email notifications are switched on, or the customer will never learn you rejected anything. And consider leaving email attachments off, because production files are large and attaching them makes notifications bounce.

The rejection note is the whole feature

"Rejected" tells the customer nothing and generates a reply asking why. One specific sentence closes the loop in a single round trip.

Say what is wrong, why it matters, and what would fix it. Three clauses, one sentence each, and most customers come back with the right file first time.

Tracking what is outstanding

The upload counter column on WooCommerce > Orders shows how many files each order carries. It is the fastest way to see which orders have nothing attached at all, which matters most if you let customers buy before their artwork is ready.

Scanning that column each morning catches two things worth catching: orders with no file where production might start on an empty brief, and orders where a rejected file has not been replaced and the customer has quietly forgotten.

Keeping the order where you can still change it

Customers can replace files while the order is pending or on hold. That is the window the whole workflow depends on, so do not let orders awaiting artwork approval sit in processing.

You can also set which status an order moves to when a file is uploaded, under Additional Settings, so a new upload can bring the order back to a state your team watches rather than leaving it in a queue nobody is checking.

The practical rule: approved artwork is what moves an order to processing, not payment.

If your plugin has no approval step

Most do not, so this is worth being honest about. The common workarounds all have the same weakness.

• Order notes. Workable, but the note and the file are separate things, so nothing stops production on an unchecked file.
• A custom order status such as "artwork approved". Better, because it is visible in the orders list, though it applies to the whole order rather than to each file.
• Email. The default, and the one that fails, because the current version of the file ends up in a thread rather than on the order.

If you are comparing plugins, this is the capability to ask about specifically. Our comparison of customer file upload plugins sets out which ones state that they have it.

FAQ