1. Giftnote FAQ: Resolving Common Issues & Setup Questions
Answers to the most common Giftnote setup and troubleshooting questions, covering widget display, gift cards, email delivery timing, and dashboard workflows.
Written By Nick Kennedy
Last updated 33 minutes 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 → Themes → Customize. On the left sidebar, click the App Embeds icon. 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. Contact support with your theme name for assistance.
Gift card & pricing issues
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 or block.
- 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 Message app block. This block contains the scheduling logic required for digital cards. Settings → Overview → Storefront widgets in the Giftnote app shows whether it's added to your published theme.
Email & notification issues
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 → Notifications and switch OFF the built-in Giftnote email notifications that Klaviyo now sends. This ensures only your branded Klaviyo emails are delivered. Open each notification to see its Channels. Email and SMS each have an on/off switch, and Klaviyo shows its own switch.
When are gift messages actually delivered?
Understanding the "trigger" prevents confusion for both you and your customers.
- Physical orders using On Delivery: Giftnote waits for the carrier to confirm delivery of the parcel — not just for a tracking number to be added. The message fires the moment the carrier scans the package as delivered. If the order is fulfilled with a tracking number but the carrier hasn't marked it delivered yet, the message is correctly still pending — that's expected, not a bug. See Delivery Options: Send Now, Send Later, On Delivery for the other timing options a customer can pick instead (Send Now, Send Later and On Fulfillment).
- Digital Gift Cards: Sent immediately after purchase unless the customer selected a specific Future Delivery Date.
You choose which delivery methods customers can pick in Settings → Gift Orders → Advanced → Delivery Methods, and the default the widget opens with in your widget design.
Shopify Plus checkout issues
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. Add the block through Settings → Checkout → Customize (or Open checkout settings on Settings → Gift Orders in the Giftnote app), using the current Gift Message block (not the deprecated "Checkout Message" one, if both are still listed in your editor's block picker). You must add the block through the Checkout Editor; it will not appear automatically.
Order management issues
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. Add the Giftnote summary app block to the order page to see the gift message and jump to it in the Giftnote app. Giftnote stores gift details in its own order metafield, so it doesn't need order attributes to work. Individual
giftnote_*fields appear in the Additional Details section only if Keep Order Attributes is turned on in Settings → Gift Orders → Advanced. It's off by default, and shops that had it turned on keep it. Turn it on if your theme, packing slips, Shopify Flow, Order Printer or 3PL reads note attributes. - Filter gift orders: Giftnote adds an Order Tag to every gift order so you can filter for them in your main order list. The tag text is set in Settings → Gift Orders → Advanced → Tag text.
Full details
Navigate between gift messages and gift cards
The Giftnote app has separate sections for Gift Orders, Gift Cards and Multi Gifts, plus Analytics and Settings. Switch between them from the Giftnote menu in the Shopify admin sidebar.
Find a specific gift order
Open Gift Orders and select the search icon at the top of the list, or use Filter and Date to narrow the results. You can also start from the order in Shopify Admin and click through to the Giftnote entry.
Edit a scheduled gift message
Open the order in the Giftnote app to change the message, the recipient, the delivery method or the scheduled time. Select Edit message to change the message text. The button stays available after the message has been delivered. Saving an edit doesn't send the message again. A sent message cannot be unsent. To send a notification again, use Resend, but check the order's Timeline first to see what has already been sent. If a message was sent prematurely or needs recreating, contact Giftnote support — we can reprocess or recreate the note from the backend.
Archive a gift message
Open the gift order in the Giftnote app and choose Archive. Archiving removes the gift order from the active list and stops any further gift processing. Archiving is useful for cancelled orders or test orders you don't want cluttering your list.
Archiving can't be undone, and Giftnote has no delete. To cancel the order itself, cancel it in Shopify.
Understand Resend vs. Reprocess
Important: Reprocess does not appear on gift order or gift card pages in the current app. The gift card menu offers only Open in Shopify and Disable. Contact support if a gift card code was not created.
Don't create duplicate sends. Resend and Force send the notification again to the real customer or recipient. Wait for the order page to finish loading before you act — rows can briefly show Not triggered while it loads — and don't resend a row that already shows Sent unless the recipient confirms it never arrived.
Export your gift card data
Gift card liability report (recommended). Your authoritative source for all Giftnote-issued gift cards is the Giftnote liability report:
- Go to your Shopify admin.
- Open Apps → Giftnote.
- Navigate to Settings → Exports.
- Export the Liability Report — a snapshot of your outstanding gift card balances (what you still owe customers). Pick a date range when confirming, or leave it blank to export everything. The file appears under Export history with a download link.
Shopify's native "Outstanding Gift Card Balance" report categorises all Giftnote gift cards as ISSUED (not SOLD) — 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.
The same page also exports Gift Cards CSV (ID, status, balance, recipient, order reference), Gift Orders CSV (status, delivery method, total, customer, recipient) and Multi Gifts CSV. Use Gift Orders CSV to export gift message orders separately from your regular Shopify orders.
Gift card codes in exports. If you need full gift card codes (for example, for printed physical cards), add the gift card code as an attribute to the recipient profile in your Klaviyo flow — the full code will then be available in your Klaviyo data exports.
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 before contacting support. If it persists, contact support — we can manually reprocess affected orders to correct the status.
- Bulk deactivation of old gift cards is done in Shopify, not the Giftnote app. Go to Shopify Admin → Products → Gift Cards, use the date filter to find old cards, then bulk select and deactivate. To disable a single card, open it in the Giftnote app and choose Disable.
- Gift card balance cannot be edited after issuance — this is a Shopify API limitation. If a customer needs an adjustment, issue a new gift card for the difference.
- Gift card expiry dates. Set the expiry period in Settings → Gift Cards → Advanced → Expiry. To check a specific card's expiry, look up the gift card in Shopify Admin → Products → Gift Cards.
- Multi-Gift order reporting: if you use Multi Gift, both the main (parent) order and the individual recipient orders can appear in Shopify's revenue analytics, which double-counts revenue. See Updating Shopify Reporting for Multi-Gift for how to filter them.
Quick reference: issue and resolution
Still experiencing issues?
Our support team can help with custom theme integrations or CSS styling. Browse the help centre, chat with us using the chat button in the help centre or in the app, or email support@giftnote.com.