GP Shipping Countdown Timer – User Guide

1. What this plugin does

Shows a real same-day shipping countdown on your product pages. You set your shipping department's timezone, working days and daily cut-off — the timer counts down to your cut-off, then switches to a calm static message. The urgency is genuine, never faked, and never resets on refresh.

• During shipping hours — shows your message with the live [countdown] ticking down to the cut-off.
• Outside hours, weekends & holidays — shows your static "outside hours" message, no timer.
• Cache-safe — the countdown is recomputed in the visitor's browser, in your store's timezone, so a fully cached page is always correct.

This is not a fake, resetting timer. It counts down to a real time — your dispatch cut-off — and stops when that time passes. It makes zero external requests and stores just one option in your database.

2. Requirements and install

2.1 Requirements

• WordPress 6.0+
• PHP 7.4+
• WooCommerce 5.0+ (only needed for automatic product-page placement; the shortcode works without it)
• Compatible with WooCommerce HPOS (High-Performance Order Storage)

2.2 Install

1. Upload the gp-shipping-countdown-timer folder to /wp-content/plugins/, or use Plugins → Add New → Upload.
2. Activate GP Shipping Countdown Timer.
3. Go to GP Plugins → Shipping Countdown Timer and set your timezone, days and hours.

The defaults are ready to go: enabled, Mon–Fri, 09:00–17:00, in your WordPress timezone, above the Add to Cart area.

3. Where to configure

All settings live on one screen: GP Plugins → Shipping Countdown Timer. It has three tabs and a live preview that ticks on your real schedule as you edit.

3.1 General tab

1. Toggle Enable the shipping countdown (master switch).
2. Choose where it appears on the product page (see section 6).
3. Choose when not to show it: out of stock (on by default) and/or on backorder.

3.2 Schedule tab

1. Timezone — use your WordPress timezone, or pick the one where your shipping team actually works.
2. Working hours — set "Ships from", "Last dispatch (cut-off)" and an optional order buffer in minutes.
3. Working days — tick the days you dispatch.
4. Holidays & days off — one date per line, YYYY-MM-DD.
5. Countdown format — long ("6 hours 45 min") or short ("6h 45m"), with an optional seconds counter.

3.3 Message & style tab

1. Edit the two messages: during shipping hours (put [countdown] where the timer goes) and outside shipping hours.
2. Pick an icon, or paste your own markup.
3. Set the accent colour, text colour, alignment, font size and optional coloured box.

Click Save changes. Changes apply to every product page the moment you save.

4. How it behaves

4.1 The schedule

• The countdown runs to your cut-off, minus the order buffer. A 30-minute buffer gives the warehouse time to pick & pack before the courier arrives.
• On non-working days, holidays, and after the cut-off, the banner shows the "outside hours" message with no timer.
• A misconfigured window (cut-off at or before the start) is treated safely as no shipping window.

4.2 Cache & timezone

• The visible countdown is calculated in the visitor's browser, every second, using your store's timezone.
• A fully page-cached / CDN-served product page always shows the correct time — never a stale one.
• The server renders a sensible first frame for visitors without JavaScript.

4.3 Stock & messages

• By default the same-day promise is hidden on out-of-stock products, so you never promise what you can't ship. Backorder hiding is optional.
• Both messages allow a little inline HTML (<strong>, <em>, etc.) so "Fast Shipping!" can be bold.
• Icons are self-hosted inline SVGs — nothing is enqueued, so there's no clash with an icon font your theme already uses.

5. Quick workflows

Same-day dispatch, Monday to Friday

1. Schedule tab: set hours to 09:00–17:00 and tick Mon–Fri.
2. Add a 30-minute buffer so orders must arrive before 16:30.
3. Save. The timer counts down to 16:30 on working days, static message otherwise.

Skip public holidays

1. Schedule tab → Holidays & days off.
2. Add each date on its own line, e.g. 2026-12-25.
3. On those days the banner shows the "outside hours" message automatically.

Place it anywhere on any page

1. Drop the shortcode [gp_shipping_countdown] into a page, post or block.
2. It uses the same settings and schedule as the product-page banner.

6. Placement options

On the General tab, choose one of seven positions on the WooCommerce product page:

• Above the Add to Cart area (default)
• Below the Add to Cart area
• Just above the Add to Cart button
• Just below the Add to Cart button
• Under the price
• Under the short description
• After the product meta (SKU, categories)

Need it somewhere else entirely? Use the [gp_shipping_countdown] shortcode.

7. Useful details

• Settings page: GP Plugins → Shipping Countdown Timer (admin.php?page=gp-shipping-countdown-timer).
• Options key: gpsct_settings (a single option; no custom tables).
• Shortcode: [gp_shipping_countdown]. Message token: [countdown].
• Developer filters: gpsct_should_display (per-product show/hide) and gpsct_banner_html (final markup).
• Icons: truck-fast (default), truck, box, bolt, none, or a custom paste.
• Text Domain: gp-shipping-countdown-timer. POT template in /languages.
• Requires WP 6.0+, PHP 7.4+; WC requires 5.0+, tested up to 10.7. HPOS compatible.
• Privacy: makes no external requests and does not touch order data.

8. Troubleshooting

• Banner not showing on a product: Confirm the master switch is on, and that the product isn't out of stock / on backorder while those "don't show" toggles are enabled.
• It always shows the "outside hours" message: Check the timezone, working days, hours and holidays — the cut-off (minus buffer) may have already passed for today.
• No banner at all on product pages: The automatic placement needs WooCommerce active. Without it, use the [gp_shipping_countdown] shortcode.
• Timer looks a second behind on a cached page: Expected on first paint — the browser recomputes and corrects it immediately, in your store's timezone.
• My theme's icons broke: They won't from this plugin — icons are self-hosted SVGs and never load Font Awesome. If you pasted a custom Font Awesome <i>, ensure your theme actually loads Font Awesome.

9. Uninstall

1. Deactivate the plugin under Plugins (this keeps your settings).
2. Delete it to remove files and clean up.
3. It removes its single option, gpsct_settings, from the site — and from every site on a multisite network.

10. Support

Questions or feature requests: [email protected] or goalprevail.com.