Linnworks Guide
Linnworks empowers brands to sell better by connecting commerce everywhere, so you don't miss an opportunity to grow revenues wherever your customers are.
Linnworks is a software-as-a-service commerce platform that puts commerce control at the centre of your business, ensuring your business systems are seamlessly connected so the brand is in control.
This article details how to set up the Linnworks Plugin for Aurora.
Introduction
The Aurora Linnworks plugin allows you to import orders created through Linnworks channel integrations into your Aurora site, orders can then be processed centrally within Aurora. When orders reach a configured status within Aurora, the orders are marked as Processed within Linnworks allowing channel integrations to release funds.
Authorising the Aurora Linnworks Application
Visit the following page whilst logged into your Linnworks portal. This will allow you to Authorise the Aurora Linnworks Application to connect with your Linnworks account: Authorise Aurora Linnworks Application
At the end of this process, you will get an API key which you will need to safely store as you will need to enter that key into the Integration Settings
Integration Settings
The Aurora Linnworks integration settings can be found here: Store > Plugins > Linnworks
| Setting | Value for Integration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Is Enabled | Checked - for Enabled Unchecked - for Disabled | When enabled, orders will be imported and processed. Orders will not be imported from any date/time before this field is checked. If disabling this field, and then re-enabling at a later date, orders will not be imported from the period where the field was unchecked. |
| API Token | Example value (do not use): abc.123.xyz | You will receive this when you have authorised the Aurora Linnworks Application as detailed above |
| Default Location ID | "Default" | These are the inventory locations set up in Linnworks on your account. Orders will only be imported from this location. Please see the important notes for test environments section at the end of this guide. |
| Send Order Confirmation | Checked - send order confirmation Unchecked - do not send order confirmation | An order confirmation will be sent to the customer if this is checked and we have the correct email address from the Linnworks channel integration. |
| Initial Import Status | "Order Received" | Newly imported orders will be created with this status in Aurora. |
| Processed Statuses | "Despatched" | This is a multi-select field. It allows you to select all order statuses that should be considered "Processed" from the point of view of Linnworks. If you consider an order status as processed and select it here, you should also select any statuses in which this order could move to. The Plugin will process orders that have a status in this list on a scheduled basis. |
| Aurora API Endpoint | Example value (do not use):https://api.aurorademo.com | API endpoint for Aurora instance to collect product data. |
| Aurora API Version | 1.5 | Choose which Aurora API version to be used. It is recommended that you do not use 'head' as this is subject to changes, that could render your integration inoperable on update. Changing this version number should be done with care. |
| Aurora API Token | super_secret_token | Add your Aurora API token. Required methods for the API user are: SiteTextGet (used for validating access to the API) Optional methods for the API user are: Please see Aurora API User Management for more detail regarding how to manage your Aurora API Users and their Tokens. |
| HTTP Auth User | Example value (do not use): http_username | Add your HTTP Auth User for the HTTP authentication. Use when there is HTTP authentication. For example all Test instances are secured with HTTP authentication. |
| HTTP Auth Password | Example value (do not use): http_password | Add your HTTP Auth Password for the HTTP authentication. Use when there is HTTP authentication. For example all Test instances are secured with HTTP authentication. |
Order Importing
By default, orders are imported every 15 minutes. The following criteria must be met for an order to be imported from Linnworks into Aurora:
- The order must have been placed after the time that the Plugin was enabled on your Aurora Site, and the Is Enabled checkbox checked.
- The order must have a payment status or Paid within Linnworks.
- All order items must have a SKU which is set up within Aurora as a Product ID or a Variation ID.
- The order must be placed within the inventory location within Linnworks that is set up within the Microservice settings Default Location ID.
Retry mechanism
If an order fails to import, a further 9 attempts are made with the following backoff times.
| Failure number | Backoff before next attempt |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 hrs |
| 2 | 2 hrs |
| 3 | 4 hrs |
| 4 | 8 hrs |
| 5 | 16 hrs |
| 6 | 32 hrs |
| 7 | 48 hrs |
| 8 | 48 hrs |
| 9 | 48hrs |
Order Processing
By default, orders that have been imported from Linnworks are checked every 15 minutes. Any orders that have been moved to a state listed in the Microservice settings Processed Statuses will be marked as Processed within Linnworks. If a tracking number has been set on the order, it will be updated on the Linnworks order before being marked as Processed.
It is important to note that orders marked as processed within Linnworks cannot be edited, or "Un-processed". They are completely immutable.
Error Log
The Error Log in the Aurora dashboard at Tools -> Logs -> Error Log will show details about why an order failed to import or process. You can filter by Group "Linnworks Order Import" or "Linnworks Order Processing" which might help debug issues.
Important notes for test environments
Linnworks does not provide a "sandbox" environment for testing. The live Linnworks API is used for all Aurora environments. If you wish to test the integration in a non-live aurora instance, you should either set up a separate Linnworks account with a separate API Key, or you can create different stock locations within your main Linnworks account and use those to differentiate between Live and Test orders.
An example of this is you could create a "Test" stock location for your Aurora Test environment, and set your Default Location ID within the Microservice settings page to "Test".
It is important to understand that if you use your live Linnworks API Key and the Default Stock Location containing live orders, then those orders could be marked as "Processed" within Linnworks due to activity that has occurred within a Test environment.
Updated over 2 years ago