FAQ

Canvas Auctions is a WooCommerce plugin for timed and live auctions. Store owners and approved third-party holders can list lots. Registered bidders place bids on the server. Winners pay through normal WooCommerce checkout, tax, shipping, and payment gateways.

Yes. WooCommerce must be installed and active. The plugin shows an admin notice and fails gracefully if WooCommerce is missing. It never stores card numbers and never bypasses your store’s payment gateways.

No. Elementor is optional. Shortcodes, templates, REST endpoints, and dashboards work without Elementor. If Elementor is active, dedicated widgets and dynamic tags become available.

WordPress 6.4 or newer, PHP 8.1 or newer, and WooCommerce 8.0 or newer. HPOS (High-Performance Order Storage) and block checkout compatibility are declared.

In wp-admin open Auctions → Setup and click Create auction pages. The wizard creates ordinary WordPress pages with shortcodes. You can edit them in the block editor or Elementor. Deleted pages are not recreated automatically unless you run setup again for missing keys.

wcap_auction_grid, wcap_single_auction, wcap_live_room, wcap_live_host, wcap_submit_auction, wcap_holder_dashboard, wcap_bidder_dashboard, wcap_my_bids, wcap_my_wins, wcap_pay_award, wcap_holder_apply, wcap_login, wcap_register, wcap_countdown, wcap_bid_panel, wcap_bid_history. See the shortcodes section in guided docs for attributes.

A timed auction runs for a fixed start and end window. Bidders place bids until the auction closes automatically (with optional soft-close extensions). A live auction uses a lobby and live room controlled by the holder: open lobby, start, pause/resume, going once/twice, extend, sell, mark unsold, or cancel. In both modes the server—not the browser—is authoritative for price, winner, and state.

Public (listed), unlisted (share link, not in public listings), and private/invite-only (invitation required). Invitation tokens are stored as hashes, can expire or be revoked, and never replace authentication for bidding.

Authenticated users with bidding capability can bid on auctions they are allowed to access. Guests can usually view public auctions but must log in (or register) before bidding. Nobody may bid on their own auction, including administrators acting as holders.

No. Self-bidding is always rejected by the server, even if the user has both holder and bidder capabilities.

Every bid is validated on the server: auction state, time window, eligibility, currency, minimum increment, rate limits, and idempotency. The auction row is locked during acceptance. Duplicate clicks with the same idempotency key return the original result instead of creating another bid. The first valid committed bid wins a tie.

On timed auctions, if a valid bid arrives within the last soft-close window (default 120 seconds), the end time is extended (default +120 seconds), up to a maximum number of extensions (default 20). The new end time is stored and broadcast from the server.

If the auction ends below the reserve price, it can close as reserve not met / unsold according to the state machine. Public displays typically show only whether the reserve is met, not the hidden reserve amount (configurable reserve display policy).

Proxy / maximum bidding for timed auctions exists as a strategy but is off by default in settings. It is not enabled for live auctions by default. Maximum values stay private.

Timed auctions accept bids only while active. Live auctions accept bids while live, going once, or going twice. A bid during going once/twice can reset the live state back to live. Lobby and paused states do not accept bidding.

The default realtime mode is authenticated REST polling by event sequence (about 1 second while live, slower in lobby/paused). Push providers can notify clients that new state exists, but clients must still load authoritative state from WordPress. A push message cannot accept a bid or declare a winner.

Site administrators can create and manage auctions. Third-party users must apply to become an auction holder, be approved by an administrator, and then create or submit auctions from the holder dashboard. Suspended holders cannot publish or host.

Open the Become an auction holder page (created by Setup, shortcode [wcap_holder_apply]), submit the application, and wait for administrator approval. Statuses are pending, approved, rejected, or suspended.

When an auction closes with a winner, an award record is created with the final amount and a payment deadline (default 48 hours). Only that winner can start checkout. Quantity is locked to one and the line price is the awarded amount. Taxes and shipping use WooCommerce. Coupons and mixed carts can be disallowed in settings.

After the payment deadline, the award can be marked defaulted. The plugin does not automatically charge bidders. It does not automatically offer the lot to a runner-up unless that policy is explicitly enabled.

No. Payments are processed only through configured WooCommerce gateways. The plugin never collects or stores raw card details.

The website is the checkout merchant. Each auction records its holder. Settlements track gross amount, commission, fees, refunds, net amount, and payout status. V1 supports manual payout tracking (pending, approved, paid, reversed, disputed). There is no automatic marketplace payout (for example Stripe Connect) in this edition; a payout provider interface exists for later integrations. Holders can request payouts and upload proof where the UI allows; administrators manage settlement status.

Each auction is locked to the store currency at creation. If the store currency changes later, mixed-currency settlement should be blocked until handled explicitly. Multi-currency auction settlement needs a dedicated integration.

Yes. Setup creates a Log in page with [wcap_login] for login, register, lost password, and reset flows. Settings can redirect users to holder/bidder dashboards after login and optionally restrict wp-admin for those roles.

Notifications cover approval/rejection, scheduling, live start, bid accepted, outbid, reserve met (without revealing hidden reserve), extensions, winner, unsuccessful bidders, payment reminders, deadline expiry, payment received, holder sale, settlement updates, and cancellations. Users may manage preferences where offered. Noisy live-session emails can be throttled.

The plugin integrates with WordPress personal data export and erase tools. Financial/transaction rows may be anonymized rather than deleted when retention requires them. Public bidder identities are masked/aliased. IP addresses can be hashed. Terms acceptance can record timestamp and terms version.

Deactivation never deletes business data. Uninstall deletes tables and auction posts only if Remove all plugin data on uninstall is enabled in settings (default is off).

Under the Auctions menu (wcap-dashboard): Dashboard, Add Auction, All Auctions, Holders, Bids, Awards, Settlements, Settings, Diagnostics, and Setup Wizard. Exact items depend on capabilities.

Yes. Copy templates into your-theme/canvas-auctions/ using the same relative paths as the plugin templates/ folder.

Closing uses WooCommerce Action Scheduler (WP-Cron fallback). If cron is delayed, opening an auction page or state endpoint after end time still runs an idempotent close. Check WooCommerce → Status → Scheduled Actions and hosting cron reliability.

Do not activate this edition on a site that already runs the branded auction-platform plugin. They share the wcap_ table prefix and must not be installed together.

Yes. Namespace canvas-auctions/v1. Cookie authentication plus a REST nonce is required for write routes. Public GET responses hide private fields such as emails, IPs, and proxy maxima.

Yes: wp canvas-auctions list, close, overdue, rebuild, schema, diagnostics, reschedule, migrate.