VibeFox Bob Go for WooCommerce — Help

Requirements

WordPress: 5.8 or later.

WooCommerce: 5.0 or later, installed and active. The plugin refuses to activate without it.

PHP: 8.0 or later.

Bob Go account (for live rates only): Bob Go has no API keys. You need a Bob Go account (bobgo.co.za), your WooCommerce store installed as a sales channel in your Bob Go account (Sales channels) and "Rates at checkout" enabled for that channel, with your services and prices set up there. If you only use fixed prices, you do not need a Bob Go account.

VibeFox license key: bought on vibefox.net. One key works on one domain.

Installation

1. In WordPress go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, choose the plugin ZIP file and click Install Now. You can also upload the vfd_bob_go folder to /wp-content/plugins/ by FTP.

2. Click Activate.

3. In your Bob Go account, install your WooCommerce store as a sales channel. Enable "Rates at checkout" for that channel and set up your services and prices.

4. Open the settings: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > VibeFox Bob Go, or click Settings under the plugin name on the Plugins page.

5. Enter your VibeFox license key in the license block at the top of the page and click Activate.

6. Check the store domain, the origin (ship from) address and, if your store currency is not ZAR, the ZAR conversion rate (see Configuration).

7. Add VibeFox Bob Go to a shipping zone for South Africa in WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping zones, or turn on Ignore shipping zones.

Configuration

All settings are on one page: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > VibeFox Bob Go. They apply to every shipping zone. Every time you save the settings, the cached Bob Go rates are cleared. When you add the method to a zone, the zone window has only one field:

Title (zone): the name shown for fixed prices and free shipping in this zone. Leave it empty to use the global Method title. Live Bob Go rates are always shown with the service names configured on Bob Go.

General

Enable/Disable: switches the method off in all zones at once.

Method title: shown to the customer for fixed prices and free shipping. A zone can override it. Live Bob Go rates are shown with the service names from Bob Go, for example "The Courier Guy - Economy". Default: Bob Go.

Shipping cost: how the price is calculated.

The reason for missing live rates is written to the log. It is never shown to the customer.

Bob Go account

This section shows the last response from Bob Go for your store domain: connected, the WooCommerce channel is not installed on Bob Go (HTTP 404), "Rates at checkout" is not enabled for this channel (HTTP 401) or another error. If your store currency is not ZAR and no conversion rate is set, it also warns that live rates are not requested.

Store domain: Bob Go identifies your store by its domain. Leave it empty to use your site domain. Enter another domain only if your channel on Bob Go is installed under a different address, for example example.co.za/shop for a store in a subfolder.

ZAR conversion rate: Bob Go quotes in South African rand (ZAR). If your store currency is not ZAR, enter how much 1 ZAR is in your store currency, for example 0.05 for EUR. Rates are converted with it and product prices are sent to Bob Go in ZAR. Leave it empty to not use live Bob Go rates in your currency (fixed prices still work). If your store currency is ZAR, leave it empty. Both a point and a comma are accepted as the decimal separator.

Delivery dates: shows the estimated delivery date range from Bob Go in the rate name. The estimate is always saved with the order and is visible on the order screen.

Ship from (origin address)

The origin address is sent to Bob Go with every rate request. If your store address in WooCommerce > Settings > General is in the same country, empty fields are taken from it.

Origin country: the country you ship from. Default: South Africa. Bob Go ships within South Africa.

Origin province: a South African province, or Store province (if in South Africa).

Origin city / suburb: the city or suburb you ship from, for example Johannesburg.

Origin postal code: the postal code you ship from, for example 2001.

Origin street address: the street address you ship from.

Fixed prices (used in the fixed mode and as the fallback when Bob Go returns no rates)

Price per country: one line per country: a 2-letter country code, an equals sign and the price in your store currency, for example ZA=99.99. Use * for all other countries, for example *=199.99. Lines in another format are removed when you save.

Flat price: the price in your store currency for countries without a line above. Leave it empty to hide the method for them.

Fixed price applies: Per order charges the price once. Per item (price × quantity) multiplies it by the number of items in the cart. Live Bob Go rates are always for the whole shipment.

Conditions

Minimum weight (kg): hide the method below this cart weight. 0 means no limit.

Maximum weight (kg): hide the method above this cart weight. 0 means no limit (default).

Minimum order amount: show the method only when the cart subtotal (after discounts, before tax) is at least this amount. Leave empty to always show it.

Excluded shipping classes: hide the method if the cart contains a product from any of these WooCommerce shipping classes.

Free shipping: turn on free shipping when the order amount below is reached.

Free shipping from: the cart subtotal (after discounts, before tax) for free shipping. Used only when Free shipping is on. Bob Go is not asked for rates then.

Tax status: Taxable adds WooCommerce tax to the shipping cost, None does not. Bob Go rates usually already include VAT. In that case choose None so tax is not charged twice.

Availability without shipping zones

Ignore shipping zones: offer Bob Go for the countries below even if it is not added to a shipping zone.

Countries: the destination countries for that mode. Leave empty to use all countries you ship to. Only used when Ignore shipping zones is on.

Advanced

Debug log: logs rate calculations and Bob Go requests to WooCommerce > Status > Logs, source "vfd_bob_go". Customer addresses are not logged. API errors are logged even when this is off.

Remove data on uninstall: when on, deleting the plugin removes all Bob Go settings, zone methods and cached rates. Deactivating the plugin never deletes anything.

How it works at checkout

When the customer enters a delivery address, the plugin checks the cart weight, Minimum order amount and Excluded shipping classes. If free shipping applies, the customer sees the method as Bob Go (free) and no request goes to Bob Go.

In the live modes the plugin sends Bob Go your store domain, the origin and delivery addresses and the cart items, with product prices in ZAR. Live rates are requested only after the customer has entered a city or postal code. Every service Bob Go returns is shown as a separate shipping option with its Bob Go name and, if Delivery dates is on, the estimated delivery dates. Rates in ZAR are converted with ZAR conversion rate when your store currency is not ZAR.

Rates are cached for 1 hour per cart and address, so the same cart does not trigger a new request. A failed request is cached for 5 minutes, and the timeout is 12 seconds, so a Bob Go outage does not slow down every checkout update. A failed request never breaks the checkout: the method is hidden, or the fixed price is used in the fallback mode. The reason goes to the WooCommerce log.

The chosen Bob Go service code and the delivery estimate are saved with the shipping line of the order and shown on the order screen as Bob Go service and Estimated delivery.

The method works on the classic checkout and on the Cart and Checkout blocks. It is compatible with WooCommerce High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS).

The plugin shows rates only. It does not create shipments, waybills or labels, track parcels, sync orders to Bob Go or send e-mail notifications. Use the Bob Go dashboard (or Bob Go's own order sync) for fulfilment. It has no pickup point or locker selection (Bob Box, Pargo) and no extra suburb checkout field. Bob Go ships within South Africa only.

License key

The plugin works with a VibeFox license key from vibefox.net. The license block is at the top of WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > VibeFox Bob Go. Paste the key into License key and click Activate. The block shows the status, for example the date the license is active until and your domain. Use Check now to check the status again, Change key to enter another key and Remove key to remove it from this site. The link Manage licenses and domains in your account opens your vibefox.net account.

One key works on one domain. Removing the key from a site does not free its domain slot. Free the slot in your vibefox.net account.

Without an active key, Bob Go is not shown to customers at checkout. Logged-in store managers still see it, marked (unlicensed — visible to admins only), so you can set up and test the plugin before you buy a key. A reminder appears on the Plugins page and on WooCommerce pages. Existing orders are not affected.

When a license expires, the plugin keeps working, but updates and support need a renewal. The status is checked again automatically in the background.

Troubleshooting

Bob Go does not appear at checkout: check that the license is active, Enable/Disable is on, and the method is added to the zone of the customer's country (or Ignore shipping zones is on and the country is allowed). Check the weight limits, Minimum order amount and Excluded shipping classes. In the fixed mode, check that the country, * or Flat price has a price.

No Bob Go rates are shown: open the plugin settings. The Bob Go account section shows the last response from Bob Go. "Channel is not installed" (HTTP 404) means the store domain is not a sales channel on Bob Go: check Store domain. "Rates at checkout is not enabled" (HTTP 401) means the feature is off for the channel. Also make sure the customer has entered a city or postal code and, for non-ZAR stores, that ZAR conversion rate is set. Turn on Debug log and open WooCommerce > Status > Logs (source "vfd_bob_go") for details. With Bob Go live rates, fixed prices if Bob Go returns no rates customers still get the fixed price while you fix the problem.

My store is not in rand: Bob Go quotes in ZAR. Enter how much 1 ZAR is in your store currency (for example 0.05 for EUR). Without it the plugin does not ask Bob Go for rates. Fixed prices still work.

Tax is charged twice on shipping: Bob Go rates normally include VAT. Set Tax status to None.

Rates look outdated after a change: save the settings page. This clears the cached Bob Go rates. Changes in your Bob Go account are picked up after the 1-hour cache or when you save the settings.

The license block shows an error: follow the message in the block. For example, if the key is already used on another domain, free a slot in your vibefox.net account and click Check now. If the site address changed, click Check now to activate the key for the new domain. If the license server cannot be reached, the plugin keeps working on the last known status.

Uninstall

Deactivating the plugin keeps all data. To remove it, deactivate and delete it on the Plugins page. The license key and license status of this plugin are always removed. Settings, zone methods and cached rates are removed only if Remove data on uninstall was on. Otherwise they stay for a later re-install. Existing orders keep their shipping lines.

Bob Go is a trademark of its respective owner. This plugin is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bob Go.