Giftnote FAQ: Resolving Common Issues & Setup Questions

Written By Nick Kennedy

Last updated 19 days ago

This article addresses the most frequent technical hurdles and configuration questions encountered by Shopify merchants. Use the categories below to find quick solutions.

Display & Visibility Issues

Solutions for when the widget isn't appearing as expected.

The Giftnote widget is missing from my product page

This is the most frequent setup issue. Usually, the widget block has been added to the theme, but the "master switch" is off.

  • The Fix: Navigate to Online Store β†’ Themes β†’ Customize. On the left sidebar, click the App Embeds icon (the three-layer square). Ensure the Giftnote Control Panel is toggled ON and click Save.

  • Check the Template: Ensure you added the widget to the specific template assigned to your product. If you have a custom "Clothing" template and a "Default" template, the widget must be added to both.

The widget won't show up in my side-cart or drawer

Themes that use AJAX or "pop-out" carts often handle sections differently than standard pages.

  • The Fix: In the Theme Editor, navigate to your Cart Drawer section. If the theme allows, add the Giftnote block there. If it doesn't appear, your theme may require a manual Liquid snippet placement. Please contact support with your theme name for assistance.


Gift Card & Pricing Issues

Common hurdles when setting up digital gifting.

Why is there a pricing error on my Gift Card page?

This typically happens when the data in Shopify Admin doesn't align with the Giftnote widget.

  • The Fix: Open your Gift Card product in Shopify. Verify that the Price for every variant (e.g., $25, $50, $100) matches the denomination name. If the Compare At Price is filled in, try clearing it, as this can sometimes cause the widget to display an "Invalid Price" warning.

The "Schedule for Later" option is missing

If your gift card page looks like a standard product page without the scheduling calendar, you are likely using the wrong template.

  • The Fix: You need a dedicated Product Template for gift cards. In the theme editor, create a new template (e.g., product.gift-card). On this template, add the Giftnote Gift Card (Variant Message) widget. This specific widget contains the scheduling logic required for digital cards.


Email & Notification Issues

How to handle delivery timing and prevent duplicate messages.

Recipients are receiving two of every email

This occurs when the Giftnote app and Klaviyo are both trying to send the same notification.

  • The Fix: Once your Klaviyo flows are live, you must "hand over" the duties. Go to Giftnote Settings β†’ Notifications and switch OFF the built-in Giftnote email templates. This ensures only your branded Klaviyo emails are delivered.

When are gift messages actually delivered?

Understanding the "trigger" prevents confusion for both you and your customers.

  • Physical Orders: Giftnote waits for a Tracking Number to be added to the Shopify fulfillment. Once the order is marked as fulfilled with tracking, the email/SMS is sent.

  • Digital Gift Cards: These are sent immediately after purchase unless the customer selected a specific Future Delivery Date.


Shopify Plus Checkout Issues

Troubleshooting the checkout extension.

I can't see the Giftnote block in my Checkout settings

  • The Fix: First, confirm your store is on Shopify Plus. Checkout extensions are not available on Basic, Shopify, or Advanced plans. If you are on Plus, go to Settings β†’ Checkout β†’ Customize. You must add the block through the Checkout Editor; it will not appear automatically.


Order Management Issues

Finding gift data within your Shopify Admin.

Where do I find the recipient's message for an order?

You don't need to leave Shopify to find gift details.

  • The Fix: Open the order in your Shopify Admin. Look at the Additional Details or Notes section on the right side of the screen. You will also see Order Tags (e.g., Giftnote) that allow you to filter for gift orders in your main order list.


Full details

Navigate between gift messages and gift cards

Your Giftnote dashboard has two main views:

  • Gift Messages β€” all orders where a customer added a gift message (physical product gifting)

  • Gift Cards β€” all gift card orders, including their delivery status and gift card codes

To switch between views, use the tabs at the top of your Giftnote dashboard. Each view shows its own set of statuses and order details.

Find a specific gift order (search workaround)

There is no built-in search bar in the Giftnote dashboard yet β€” this is on the roadmap. In the meantime, you have two reliable ways to find a specific order:

Option 1: Use your browser's find function

  1. Open your Giftnote dashboard in your Shopify admin

  2. Press Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac) to open your browser's search bar

  3. Type the customer name, email, or order number you're looking for

  4. Your browser will highlight any matches on the current page

This only searches what's currently loaded on the page. If you have a high volume of orders, you may need to scroll down to load more results before searching.

Option 2: Start from the Shopify order

  1. Go to Orders in your Shopify admin

  2. Find the order using Shopify's built-in search (by customer name, email, or order number)

  3. Open the order and look for the Giftnote section in the order detail view

  4. Click through to the gift message or gift card entry β€” this will take you directly to that order in the Giftnote dashboard

Edit a scheduled gift message

If a customer contacts you to change their gift message or delivery date before it sends:

  1. Open the gift message in your Giftnote dashboard by finding the order (see search workaround above)

  2. Edit the message text or change the scheduled time directly in the order detail view

  3. Save your changes

Once a gift message has already been sent, it cannot be unsent or edited. If the message was sent prematurely, contact Giftnote support β€” we can reprocess or recreate the note from the backend.

Archive a gift message

To remove a gift message from your active dashboard view:

  1. Open the gift message in your Giftnote dashboard

  2. Click the Archive button in the top-right corner of the order detail view

πŸ“Έ Screenshot needed: Giftnote order detail view with the Archive button highlighted in the top-right corner

[Orange callout] Archiving is useful for cancelled orders or test orders you don't want cluttering your dashboard. You cannot delete gift messages entirely β€” archiving hides them from the default view.

Understand Resend vs. Reprocess

If a gift message or gift card didn't reach the recipient, you'll see one of two options in the order detail view. They do different things:

Action

When to use it

What it does

Resend

The gift message email didn't arrive (delivery failure)

Re-sends the email event to [Klaviyo](troubleshooting-klaviyo-giftnote) (or the native email system) so it can be delivered again

Reprocess

The gift card code wasn't created properly (API failure)

Recreates the gift card in Shopify via the API and triggers a new delivery

[Orange callout] Important: Only use Reprocess when the dashboard shows an error state and the carrier tracking ID was never added. Do not use Reprocess on normal orders β€” it can create duplicate sends.

Export your gift card data

Gift card liability report (recommended)

Your authoritative source for all Giftnote-issued gift cards is the Giftnote liability report:

  1. Go to your Shopify admin

  2. Open Apps β†’ Giftnote

  3. Navigate to Settings β†’ Exports

  4. Download the gift card liability report

This report shows all active gift card codes, balances, issuance dates, and redemption status.

Shopify's native "Outstanding Gift Card Balance" report categorises all Giftnote gift cards as ISSUED (not SOLD) β€” this is expected because Giftnote is a third-party app. For accurate gift card reporting, always use the Giftnote liability report instead of Shopify's native report.

Gift card codes in exports

The standard gift card CSV export only shows the last few characters of each code β€” not the full code. If you need full gift card codes (for example, for printed physical cards), you have two options:

  • Bulk code generation: Use the bulk gift card code CSV export in Giftnote to generate codes for physical card printing

  • Klaviyo workaround: Add the gift card code as an attribute to the recipient profile in your Klaviyo flow β€” the full code will then be available in your Klaviyo data exports

There is currently no way to export gift message orders separately from your regular Shopify orders. You can filter gift orders in Shopify by looking for orders that contain the giftnote_to order attribute.

Notes

  • Dashboard status lag is a known issue. If you see statuses that don't match reality (for example, "Unfulfilled" on a delivered order), give it 24–48 hours. If it persists, contact support β€” we can manually reprocess affected orders to correct the status.

  • Bulk deactivation of old gift cards is done directly in Shopify, not in the Giftnote dashboard. Go to Shopify Admin β†’ Products β†’ Gift Cards, use the date filter to find old cards, then bulk select and deactivate.

  • Gift card balance cannot be edited after issuance β€” this is a Shopify API limitation. If a customer needs an adjustment, issue a new gift card for the difference.

  • Gift card expiry dates are not currently visible in the Giftnote dashboard. To check a specific card's expiry, look up the gift card in Shopify Admin β†’ Products β†’ Gift Cards.

  • Multi-Gift order reporting: If you use the Multi-Gift corporate portal, both the parent draft order and individual child orders appear in Shopify's revenue analytics β€” this creates double-counting. Filter by the multi-child tag and exclude multi-parent tagged orders to get accurate revenue figures. See [Updating Shopify Reporting for Multi-Gift]([TODO: link to Updating Shopify Reporting for Multi-Gift]).

πŸš€ Quick Reference: Issue & Resolution

Issue

Common Cause

Quick Fix

Widget not visible

App Embed disabled

Toggle ON in Theme Customizer > App Embeds.

Duplicate emails

Both App and Klaviyo active

Turn OFF built-in templates in Giftnote settings.

Pricing Mismatch

Variant price error

Ensure Shopify Variant Price matches denomination.

No "Schedule" date

Standard template used

Use the Giftnote Gift Card Widget on a custom template.

Missing Checkout block

Non-Plus store

Confirm Shopify Plus subscription status.


Still experiencing issues?

Our support team can help with custom theme integrations or CSS styling. Reach out via the chat in your Giftnote dashboard.