VibeFox Chilexpress for WooCommerce — Help

Requirements

WordPress: 5.8 or later.

WooCommerce: 7.0 or later, installed and active. The plugin refuses to activate without it.

PHP: 8.0 or later.

Chilexpress API keys (for live rates only): create an account on the Chilexpress developer portal (developers.wschilexpress.com) and subscribe to two products: Rating (Cotizador) and Coverage (Coberturas / Georreferencia). Each product has its own subscription key. Test keys work only with the test environment; production keys are issued to Chilexpress business customers with a customer contract. You also need the Chilexpress county code of the comuna you ship from, for example STGO. If you only use fixed prices, you do not need API keys.

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_chilexpress folder to /wp-content/plugins/ by FTP.

2. Click Activate.

3. Open the settings: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > VibeFox Chilexpress, or click Settings under the plugin name on the Plugins page.

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

5. Fill in the price table. For live rates, enter both subscription keys, your origin county code and, if the store currency is not CLP, the CLP exchange rate, then choose the rate source (see Configuration).

6. Add VibeFox Chilexpress to a shipping zone for Chile in WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > Shipping zones, or turn on Ignore shipping zones and choose countries.

Configuration

All settings are on one page: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > VibeFox Chilexpress. They apply to every shipping zone. When you add the method to a zone, the zone window has only one field:

Title (zone): the name of this shipping option at checkout for this zone. Leave it empty to use the global Name.

The settings page lists problems at the top: API rates are selected but a key, the origin county code or the CLP exchange rate is missing, or the price table has no row for Chile or the default. Every time you save the settings, the cached rates and comuna lists are cleared. Numbers can be typed with a point or a comma; an invalid number is not saved and an error is shown.

General

Enable/Disable: turns Chilexpress shipping on or off in all zones at once.

Name: the shipping method name shown to the customer at checkout. Default: Chilexpress.

Tax status: Taxable adds WooCommerce tax to the shipping cost (if taxes are enabled), None does not. Chilexpress API rates are used exactly as quoted. Choose None if the quote already includes IVA and your store would add tax on top.

Rates

Rate source: where the price comes from.

Live rates are available for destinations in Chile only. Other countries always use the fixed prices.

Country prices: a table of destination countries with a Price column and optional prices by parcel size in your store currency. The size comes from the cart weight: XS up to 1 kg, S up to 2 kg, M up to 3 kg, L up to 5 kg, XL above 5 kg. A size left at 0 uses Price. Click + Add country to add a row and the cross to remove one. The row * Default applies to countries without their own row. A country without a row (and without *) gets no fixed price. A row whose price and size price are both 0 gives free shipping.

Calculation type: Per order charges the fixed price once. Per item (fixed price x number of items) multiplies it by the number of items in the cart. A Chilexpress API rate is always quoted for the whole parcel.

Chilexpress API (live rates)

Test environment: uses the Chilexpress test environment (qaservices.wschilexpress.com). Use it with test keys and turn it off on a live store.

Rating API key: the subscription key of the Rating (Cotizador) product.

Coverage API key: the subscription key of the Coverage (Coberturas / Georreferencia) product. It is used to find the Chilexpress county code of the customer's comuna (the City field at checkout).

Origin county code: the Chilexpress county (comuna) code you ship from, 2–5 letters, for example STGO (Santiago Centro), PROV (Providencia), LCON (Las Condes), VALP (Valparaíso) or CONC (Concepción). A value that is not a county code is rejected with an error.

Service: the Chilexpress service used for the rate. If it is not offered for the destination, the cheapest offered service is used.

CLP exchange rate: Chilexpress quotes in Chilean pesos. Needed only if your store currency is not CLP: the price of 1 CLP in your store currency, for example 0.001. Without it API rates are not used.

Availability

Min weight (kg): the minimum cart weight for the method to appear. 0 means no limit.

Max weight (kg): the method is hidden above this cart weight. Default: 25. 0 means no limit.

Minimum subtotal: show the method only when the cart subtotal (after discounts, without tax) is at least this amount. Leave empty to always show it.

Excluded shipping classes: hide the method when any cart item belongs to one of these WooCommerce shipping classes.

Ignore shipping zones: offer the method for the countries below even without adding it to a shipping zone.

Countries: the destination countries for that mode. Leave empty to use all shipping countries of the store. This field is used only when Ignore shipping zones is on.

Free shipping

Free shipping: turns on the free shipping threshold.

Free shipping from: the cart subtotal from which shipping is free. Used only when Free shipping is on. No API request is made in that case.

Advanced

Debug log: logs API requests and rate calculations in WooCommerce > Status > Logs, source vfd-chilexpress. API errors are always logged, even when this option is off. API keys are never logged.

Remove data on uninstall: when on, deleting the plugin removes its settings and zone methods. Deactivating never deletes settings. Shipping lines of existing orders are always kept.

How it works at checkout

When the customer enters a delivery address, WooCommerce asks the plugin for a rate. The plugin first checks the conditions: cart weight, minimum subtotal and excluded shipping classes. If free shipping applies, the customer gets a free rate and no request goes to Chilexpress.

For an address in Chile and an API rate source, the plugin takes the region and the comuna from the City field and looks up the Chilexpress county code in the comuna list of that region (Coverage API). Accents, spaces and spelling variants are ignored, so Ñuñoa and Nunoa match, and Santiago matches Santiago Centro. A county code typed in the City field is accepted too. Then the plugin sends the Rating API the origin and destination county codes, the cart weight (at least 0.1 kg), the parcel dimensions (length and width of the largest product, heights stacked) and the cart subtotal in CLP as the declared value. Chilexpress returns its services; the plugin uses the chosen service or the cheapest one and converts the peso amount to your store currency. The service name is saved on the order's shipping line as Chilexpress service.

Rates are cached for 1 hour and comuna lists for 7 days. A failed request is remembered for 5 minutes, so a slow or unavailable API does not slow down every checkout refresh. The API timeout is 10 seconds. If Chilexpress returns an error, no service with a price or an unknown comuna, the customer sees no error. The method is hidden in the API-only mode, or the fixed price is used. The reason is written to the WooCommerce log.

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 calculates rates only. It does not create shipments or transport orders (OT), print labels, book pickups or track parcels; book the shipment in your Chilexpress account. Customers cannot choose a Chilexpress office, and there is no comuna selector: the customer types the comuna in the standard City field. International shipments use the fixed prices.

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 Chilexpress. 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, Chilexpress 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

Chilexpress 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 subtotal and Excluded shipping classes. With fixed prices, check that the country or * Default has a row.

The live rate is not shown, the fixed price is used instead: first check the warnings at the top of the settings page. Otherwise turn on Debug log, reload the checkout and open WooCommerce > Status > Logs, source vfd-chilexpress. Typical causes: a comuna that Chilexpress does not recognise (check the City field and the region), a key for the wrong product or environment, or a destination without Chilexpress coverage.

HTTP 401 or 403 in the log: the subscription key is wrong, inactive, or for another product or environment. Test keys work only with Test environment on.

API rates are not used in a store with another currency: enter the CLP exchange rate.

Are API rates with or without IVA? They are used exactly as Chilexpress quotes them. If your store adds tax to shipping and the quote already includes IVA, set Tax status to None.

Rates look outdated after a change: save the settings page. This clears the cached rates and comuna lists.

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 settings; it only clears the cached rates and comuna lists. To remove it, deactivate and delete it on the Plugins page. The license key and license status of this plugin and the caches are always removed. Settings and zone methods are removed only if Remove data on uninstall was on. Otherwise they stay for a later re-install. Shipping lines of existing orders are always kept.

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