VibeFox Instabee 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.

Budbee API credentials (for parcel box selection only): an API key and an API secret. Instabee issues them to merchants with a delivery agreement. Ask your Instabee contact or use the Instabee merchant portal. The API documentation is on developer.budbee.com. Without credentials the method still works with fixed prices, but customers do not choose a parcel box.

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

2. Click Activate.

3. Open the settings: WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping > VibeFox Instabee, 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 Prices section and, for the parcel box selector, your Budbee API key and API secret (see Configuration).

6. Add VibeFox Instabee to the shipping zones of your delivery countries (for example Sweden) 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 Instabee. They apply to every shipping zone. When you add the method to a zone, the zone window has only one field:

Title: the name of this rate at checkout in this zone. Leave it empty to use the global Method name.

Warnings above the settings tell you when only one of the API credentials is entered, when there are no API credentials, when there are no country prices and no fallback cost, and when the last Budbee API request failed (with date, time and reason). Every time you save the settings, the cached parcel box lists and the last API error are cleared.

General

Enable/Disable: turns the method on or off everywhere, including shipping zones. Default: on.

Method name: the shipping method name shown in the cart and at checkout. A zone can override it with its own Title. Default: Instabee parcel box.

Tax status: Taxable adds WooCommerce tax to the shipping cost, None does not.

Parcel box selector (Budbee API)

With API credentials the customer picks a parcel box near their postal code at checkout, and the box is saved on the order. Both fields are needed. The selector stays off until both are set.

API key: your Budbee API key (the HTTP Basic user name).

API secret: your Budbee API secret (the HTTP Basic password).

Test environment: uses the Budbee staging API (api.staging.budbee.com). Turn it on only with staging credentials from Instabee. Live shops leave it off (api.budbee.com). Default: off.

Prices (the section title shows your store currency)

All prices are in the store currency. A decimal comma and a decimal point are both accepted (49,90 = 49.90). A value that is not a number is not saved, and an error message names the field.

Calculation type: how the price is applied.

Per order (weight tier of the whole cart): the price of the tier that matches the total cart weight is charged once. This is the default.

Per item (price of each item's weight tier × quantity): each product is priced by its own weight tier and multiplied by its quantity.

Country prices: a table with the columns Country, Price, XS (up to 1 kg), S (up to 2 kg), M (up to 3 kg), L (up to 5 kg) and XL (above 5 kg). Click + Add country to add a row and the cross to remove one. Choose * Any other country for a row that applies to all countries without their own row. An empty or 0 tier uses the Price column. A Price of 0 means free delivery. If the country row has no price for the cart weight, the * row is used, then the Fallback cost. Weights are converted from your store weight unit to kg.

Fallback cost: used when neither the row of the destination country nor the * row gives a price. Leave it empty to hide the method for such countries.

Conditions

Min weight (kg): hide the method when the cart weighs less. Default: 0 (no limit).

Max weight (kg): hide the method when the cart weighs more. Parcel boxes take up to about 20 kg. Default: 20. 0 means no limit.

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

Free shipping from: the cart subtotal (after discounts, before tax) from which the method is free. Leave empty to never make it free.

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

Availability without shipping zones

Normally you add VibeFox Instabee to a shipping zone. Alternatively you can enable it for a list of countries here.

Ignore shipping zones: offer the method in the countries below even where no shipping zone contains it.

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

Advanced

Debug log: writes debug messages to WooCommerce > Status > Logs (source vfd-instabee). API errors are always logged, even when this is off. API keys and customer data are never logged.

Remove data on uninstall: when on, deleting the plugin removes the settings and the zone rates of this method. Deactivating the plugin never deletes settings. Parcel boxes saved on orders are kept.

How it works at checkout

When the customer enters a delivery address, WooCommerce asks the plugin for a rate. The plugin checks the conditions: cart weight, minimum order amount and excluded shipping classes. If the cart subtotal reaches Free shipping from, the rate is free. Otherwise the price is taken from the Country prices row of the destination country, the * row or the Fallback cost. If there is no price, the method is hidden.

When the customer selects the Instabee rate and the API credentials are set, a Parcel box selector appears under the rate for Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium. It lists the boxes near the postal code of the shipping address, sorted by distance, with the name, the address and the distance. The customer can type another postal code and click Search. Until a postal code is entered, the selector asks for one. If no boxes are found, the customer is asked to try another postal code or choose another shipping method.

A parcel box is required. When the order is placed, the plugin checks on the server that the chosen box is in the Budbee list for that postal code. Otherwise the customer sees Please choose an Instabee parcel box. The box name is taken from the Budbee list, not from the browser.

The plugin sends Budbee only the destination country and postal code, never names, addresses, e-mails or order data. Box lists are cached for 12 hours per postal code, a postal code without boxes for 1 hour, and a failed request for 5 minutes, so a slow or broken API does not slow down every checkout refresh. The API timeout is 10 seconds.

If the Budbee API cannot be reached, the customer is told that the order can be placed without choosing a box. The order is then flagged, and you choose the box when you book the shipment. A box chosen earlier that cannot be checked at that moment is kept and marked as not verified.

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

The plugin does not calculate live rates, book shipments, print labels, give tracking numbers or tracking e-mails, offer Budbee Home delivery time slots or show a map. Book the parcel for the chosen box in your Instabee / Budbee merchant tools.

Pickup points

The chosen parcel box is saved on the order and shown in these places:

Admin order screen: under the shipping address, as Instabee parcel box with the box name, address and Box ID. If the box could not be checked at checkout, it is marked not verified (Budbee API was unavailable at checkout). If no box was chosen because the API was unavailable, the screen says so and reminds you to choose the box when you book the shipment.

Thank-you page and My account order page: the box name and address.

Order e-mails: HTML and plain text. E-mails to the shop also show the box ID. If no box was chosen because the API was unavailable, only e-mails to the shop mention it.

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 Instabee. 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, Instabee 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

Instabee 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 that the country has a price, or that there is a * row or a Fallback cost. Check the weight limits, Minimum order amount and Excluded shipping classes. A warning above the settings tells you when no price is configured.

Customers do not see the parcel box list: the list appears only when both API key and API secret are set, for Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium, and once a postal code is entered. The last API error is shown above the settings. Details are in WooCommerce > Status > Logs (source vfd-instabee). Turn on Debug log for more detail.

HTTP 401 or 403 in the log: Budbee rejected the API key or secret. Check them, and check that Test environment matches your credentials (staging credentials only with the test environment on).

No boxes for a postal code: Budbee does not serve that postal code. The customer can search another postal code or choose another shipping method.

Old box lists after a change: save the settings page. This clears the cached box lists.

Other countries for the box lookup: developers can change the list of countries with the vfd_ibee_box_countries filter.

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 only clears the cached box lists. To remove it, deactivate and delete it on the Plugins page. The license key and license status of this plugin, the cached box lists and the last API error are always removed. Settings, zone methods and version data are removed only if Remove data on uninstall was on. Otherwise they stay for a later re-install. Parcel boxes saved on orders are always kept, and existing orders keep their shipping lines.

Instabee and Budbee are trademarks of their respective owners. This plugin is not affiliated with or endorsed by Instabee or Budbee.