Troubleshooting

FAQ

General

Do past customers get all product files, or only the newly added ones?

They get all files they are currently missing. The plugin compares the product’s current file list against each customer’s existing permissions and grants whichever files are absent. If a customer already has permission for a file, it is not touched.

Does this work for variable products?

Yes, as long as the variation itself is downloadable. The plugin matches line items by both _product_id and _variation_id, so variation-specific files are handled correctly.

Does deactivating the plugin remove permissions that were already granted?

No. Permissions are stored in WooCommerce’s own permission tables. Deactivating or uninstalling the plugin does not remove any previously granted permissions. Customers retain access to their downloads.

Sync Methods

What happens if I switch sync methods after the plugin has been running?

Switching methods does not affect permissions already granted. Any pending Action Scheduler jobs scheduled under the Background Process method will still complete, because the AS workers are always registered regardless of the active method. From that point on, new grants follow the method you switched to.

Why are customers not seeing new files immediately when using Background Process?

Background Process grants permissions asynchronously via Action Scheduler. The customer will see the new file the next time WP-Cron runs after the job completes. If WP-Cron is disabled on your server, the job will run on the next page request that triggers the cron hook, which may be delayed. Check WooCommerce > Status > Scheduled Actions to see whether the job is pending, running, or completed.

Permissions & Scope

Can I exclude a specific product from being processed?

Yes. On the product edit page, in the Downloadable Files section, check Exclude from Retroactive Access. The product will be skipped in all regeneration runs — automatic, manual per-product, and global.

Orders from before a certain date are being processed — how do I stop that?

Set an Orders From date on the Scope tab (WP-Admin > Retroactive Downloads > Scope). Orders created before that date will be excluded from all future regeneration runs.

I updated a product’s file URL but the download ID is the same — will the plugin detect it as a change?

No. The plugin detects changes based on download IDs (hashes), not file URLs. If you replace a file by editing the URL of an existing download entry (keeping the same ID), the plugin will not see a difference. To trigger a regeneration, either use the Regenerate Download Permissions button on the product edit page or add a new download entry.

Email Notifications

Does the plugin send one email per file or one email per order?

One email per order, per regeneration run. If an order receives access to three new files, the customer receives a single notification.

Can I disable notifications for a specific order without turning them off globally?

Yes, using the wcrda_should_notify_customer filter. See Hooks & Filters.

License

My license server is temporarily unreachable. Will the plugin stop working?

License validation results are cached. If the server is unreachable when the cache expires, the plugin continues to operate normally until the next validation attempt succeeds or explicitly fails. Contact support at webdevelop.hu if you experience persistent license issues.

I migrated my site to a new domain and the license is not working.

Deactivate the license on the old domain first, then activate it on the new domain. If the old site is no longer accessible, contact support at webdevelop.hu to release the license from the old domain.

Common Issues

Permissions Are Not Being Granted

Work through these checks in order.

1. License is not active. Navigate to WP-Admin > Retroactive Downloads > License and confirm the status badge shows Active. If not, enter and activate your license key. See License Activation.

2. The order’s status is not in scope. Go to Scope and confirm the order’s current WooCommerce status is listed under Eligible Order Statuses. Orders in statuses not on the list are skipped entirely.

3. The product is excluded. On the product edit page, confirm the Exclude from Retroactive Access checkbox is unchecked.

4. The order date is outside the configured range. If Orders From or Orders To are set on the Scope tab, verify the order’s creation date falls within that window.

5. The customer already has the permission. The plugin only grants files the customer does not yet have. Open the order in WP-Admin, go to WooCommerce > Orders > [Order] > Download Permissions and confirm whether the file is already listed there.

6. Background Process job did not run. Check WooCommerce > Status > Scheduled Actions, filter by group wcrda. If a job shows as Pending for a long time, WP-Cron may not be firing. Confirm WP-Cron is active on your server or set up a real cron job to call wp-cron.php.

7. Enable debug mode. Go to General and enable Debug Mode. Reproduce the scenario and check WooCommerce > Status > Logs for entries prefixed wcrda. The log will show which orders were evaluated, why any were skipped, and which files were granted.

Global Regeneration Stops Partway Through

Global regeneration is browser-driven via AJAX. If the browser tab is closed, the internet connection drops, or the page is refreshed, the process stops at the current batch. No data is corrupted — you can restart from the beginning.

To avoid this for large order volumes, run individual per-product regenerations instead (the Regenerate Download Permissions button on the product edit page uses Action Scheduler and does not require the browser tab to stay open).

Customers Are Not Receiving Notification Emails

1. Notifications are not enabled. Go to WP-Admin > Retroactive Downloads > Behavior and confirm Notify Customers is enabled.

2. The WooCommerce email is disabled. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Emails and confirm New Downloadable Files Available is enabled.

3. No new permissions were granted in the run. The email is only sent when at least one new permission is granted per order in a single run. If the customer already had all the files, no email is sent.

4. The email is being filtered or suppressed by a hook. A custom wcrda_should_notify_customer filter may be returning false for some orders. Check your theme’s functions.php or active plugins for this filter.

On-the-Fly: New Files Not Appearing Immediately

If you are using On-the-Fly mode and a customer reports that a new file is not appearing:

The customer’s per-user cache may still be active. Ask them to wait for the cache window to expire (default 60 minutes) and then visit My Account > Downloads again.
To force an immediate rescan, temporarily enable Disable Cache on the Sync Method tab and ask the customer to reload their Downloads page. Remember to disable it again afterward.
Confirm the product is not excluded and the order is in scope.