Frequently asked questions

Find quick answers on what TierMint and TierMint Pro include, and on payments, licensing, updates, tax, accounts and page builders.

Free and Pro

What does the free plugin include?

The free plugin sells digital products: products with pricing tiers and bundles, Stripe payments, orders and refunds, customers, discount codes, license keys, an update server for your plugins, sales reports and webhooks. It needs no license key. What activation sets up lists what TierMint creates.

What does TierMint Pro add?

Subscriptions, plan changes, dunning, cart recovery, PayPal, EU and UK VAT and VAT reporting, PDF invoices, offline and team licenses, signed license answers, release channels, analytics, affiliates, product SEO fields, Elementor subscription and invoice widgets, dynamic tags and visibility rules, the Conditional Content block, template kits and store migration. What TierMint Pro adds describes each one.

Does TierMint Pro replace the free plugin?

No. Pro adds features to the free plugin, so both stay installed and active. Pro needs the free plugin, version 1.0.0 or newer. See Install and activate Pro.

Where do I buy TierMint Pro?

On the TierMint Pro page at drplugin.com. After you buy, download the TierMint Pro zip and the free plugin zip from your DrPlugin account, where you also find your license key. Install and activate Pro has the steps.

Do Pro features stop working when the license expires?

No. An expired or invalid license stops only updates, support and the downloads in your DrPlugin account. See Activate your license.

Does a staging site need its own Pro license slot?

A staging copy on a subdomain does, if you want updates there: staging.example.com and example.com are two sites. A localhost address, an IP address or a host name with no dot cannot be licensed at all, so it uses no slot. A host such as shop.local, shop.test or one that starts with staging. does use a Pro slot, unlike the licenses your store sells. See Local and staging sites.

How do I move TierMint Pro to another site?

Click Deactivate in the License panel on the old site, then activate the key on the new one. Deactivating the plugin on the Plugins screen does not free the slot. See Recheck, deactivate or move the license.

What happens to my settings if I deactivate TierMint Pro?

TierMint Pro archives every active recurring tier and puts them back on sale when you activate it again. Tiers you archived yourself stay archived. Pro keeps each release's channel, rollout and offer, and product SEO values stay in the product settings. While Pro is inactive, update checks offer every site the newest published release, offered drafts reach no site, rollout percentages are ignored, and product pages use the product name and overview. See If you deactivate Pro, Release channels and Product SEO fields.

Getting started

What does TierMint need on the server?

WordPress 6.9 or newer and PHP 8.1 or newer. Live Stripe card payments also need HTTPS and outbound access to api.stripe.com. See Requirements.

Which pages does TierMint create?

Store, Product, Checkout, Account, Sign in and Reset password, plus Register when WordPress registration is open at the time TierMint creates its pages. You can pick your own pages instead under TierMint → Settings → General. See Storefront pages.

Can I change the store currency after I add products?

You can, but your prices are not converted. Prices are stored in the currency's smallest unit, such as cents, so set the currency before you add products. See Store settings.

Can staff run the store without seeing the Stripe keys?

Yes. Give them the manage_tiermint capability without manage_tiermint_settings. A bookkeeper can have view_tiermint_reports alone. See Who can use each screen.

What happens to my data when I delete TierMint?

By default TierMint keeps every table, order, customer and license. To remove everything, turn on Delete all data on uninstall under TierMint → Settings → General before you delete the plugin. See Deactivate or delete TierMint.

Can I move my store from Easy Digital Downloads or another plugin?

Yes, with TierMint Pro. It imports products, customers, orders, license keys and activations from Easy Digital Downloads, License Manager for WooCommerce and SureCart. Subscriptions and discount codes are not imported. See Migrate from another store.

Products and discounts

Can one product have several prices?

Yes. Give it pricing tiers, such as "Personal" for one site and "Agency" for many. Each tier has its own amount, activation limit and license length. See Set up pricing tiers.

Can I sell a product that needs no license key?

Yes. Leave Licensed product off for products such as ebooks or template packs, and their orders issue no key. See Turn on licensing for a product.

How do bundles work?

A bundle grants several products at once. It issues one license for each licensed product inside it, and none for the bundle itself. See Build a bundle.

Can I run a sale without a discount code?

Yes. An automatic discount applies by itself to the products it covers, and the catalog shows the original price struck through. The strikethrough is on by default and is a setting. See Automatic discounts.

What happens when a buyer applies a code during a sale?

By default the code replaces the sale for that order. You can make codes stack on top of sales instead, under TierMint → Settings → Discounts. See When a code and an automatic discount meet.

Checkout and payments

Which payment gateways does TierMint support?

The free plugin takes payments through Stripe. TierMint Pro adds PayPal, which shows next to Stripe at checkout: see PayPal payments. See also Stripe payments.

Does card data pass through my server?

No. Card details go from the buyer's browser to Stripe, and your server sees only the PaymentIntent id and its status. With PayPal, the buyer approves the payment on PayPal, and their card and login details never reach your site. See How Stripe payments work.

Can buyers check out as guests?

Yes, guest checkout is on by default. You can also create an account for each guest after the purchase, or require an account before paying, which applies while Create an account for guests is off. See Accounts at checkout.

Can I test payments before going live?

Yes. Leave Stripe mode on Test, save your test keys and pay with Stripe's test cards. No real money moves. See Test payments.

Can I refund part of an order?

Yes. Type a smaller amount in Refund amount. A partial refund leaves the order's licenses working, while a full refund disables them. See Refund an order.

Can I create an order by hand?

No. Neither the Orders screen nor the REST API can create one. See Orders and refunds.

Can I sell subscriptions?

Yes, with TierMint Pro. Turn on Subscription on a pricing tier to bill it on a schedule, with an optional free trial. See Make a pricing tier recurring.

Licenses and updates

What does a license key control?

How many sites it can be activated on, and how long it can activate sites and download updates. Each pricing tier sets the activation limit and the license length, and a license keeps the terms it was sold with. See Set the activation limit and license length.

Do local and staging sites use a slot on the licenses I sell?

No. localhost, hosts that end in .test, .local or .dev, hosts that start with staging. or dev., and private or reserved IP addresses never use a slot. They still show in the license's activations. A live site on a public .dev domain uses no slot either. See Activations.

How does a customer move a license to a new domain?

They deactivate the old site and activate the new one, which frees the old slot and uses it again. They can do it on the Licenses tab of their account, or you can deactivate the old site for them. See A customer moved to a new domain and Deactivate a site for a customer.

How do license renewals work?

The free plugin does not extend a license. A customer with an expired license buys a new one, which has a new key and a fresh term. Validation answers give the customer's software a link to your checkout (renewal_url, sent only when a Checkout page is set), and the checkout says "You are buying a new license". With TierMint Pro subscriptions, each paid renewal extends the same license and keeps its key. See Renew a license.

Can I change a license's expiry date or activation limit?

No. There is no screen or REST route to create a license by hand, change its expiry or limit, or delete it. To stop a license from working, disable it. See What you cannot change.

How do customers get updates for the plugins I sell?

Ship the TierMint update client inside your plugin. It asks your store for new versions, and WordPress then shows and installs them like any other plugin update. The client works for plugins, not themes. See Update client for your plugins.

What happens to my customers' updates when my store is down?

The update client keeps using its last good answer for up to 72 hours from when it fetched it. After that it shows no update until your store answers again, and it never breaks the customer's site. See When your store cannot be reached and Caching and the grace period.

How do I pull a release with a serious bug?

Click Yank on the release. Update checks stop offering it at once, and download links already issued for it stop working. Sites that installed it keep running it. See A release has a serious bug.

Can I offer beta versions to some customers?

Yes, with TierMint Pro release channels. Upload the build as a draft, set its channel to beta or release candidate, and offer it. A beta draft reaches only the sites whose update client asks for the beta channel. A release candidate draft reaches release candidate and beta sites. Publishing the draft makes it the stable release for every site. See Release channels and staged rollouts.

Can my plugin tell that a license answer came from my store?

Yes, with TierMint Pro. Pro signs the answers from the validate and activate routes, and your plugin checks the signature against your store's public key. See Signed license answers.

Can a site with no internet access use a license?

Yes, with TierMint Pro offline activation. The customer takes a request file to a computer that is online, activates it from their account and imports the signed response file on the offline site. See Offline activation.

Customers and accounts

Where do customers find their license keys and downloads?

In the purchase receipt email, and on the account page under the Downloads and Licenses tabs. See Customer dashboard.

Can customers manage their own site activations?

Yes. Each card on the Licenses tab lists the activated sites with a Deactivate button, and shows a form to activate a new site while a slot is free. See The Licenses tab.

Can I keep customers off wp-login.php?

Yes. Turn on Use the sign-in page instead of wp-login under TierMint → Settings → General. Administrators still sign in to wp-admin on the WordPress screen. See Send wp-login.php visitors to your pages.

Which emails does TierMint send?

The free plugin sends a purchase receipt, and a license delivery email for a key created after the receipt went out. TierMint Pro adds cart recovery emails, failed payment reminders and a subscription ended email. See Transactional emails and Emails you can and cannot switch off.

Can I change the wording of the emails?

Yes. Copy the email template into a tiermint/emails/ folder in your theme and edit the copy. The sender name and address are settings under TierMint → Settings → Emails. See Change the email templates.

Tax and invoices

Does TierMint Pro file my VAT returns?

No. TierMint is not a merchant of record. It works out the tax, checks VAT numbers and keeps the records, and VAT reporting gives you an OSS return file to upload to your own OSS portal. See What TierMint does and does not do.

Can my catalog prices include tax?

Yes, with TierMint Pro. Turn on Catalog prices already include tax under TierMint → Settings → Tax. The buyer then pays the catalog price wherever they are, and what you keep depends on their country's rate. The setting works only while tax calculation is on and a merchant country is set. A business in another EU country with a VAT number that VIES confirms pays the price with the contained tax taken off. See Prices that include tax.

Can TierMint Pro check UK VAT numbers?

No. VIES covers EU member states only, so TierMint cannot check a GB number, and it treats a Northern Irish XI number the same way. Both are always charged VAT. You can check the number yourself and refund the VAT by hand. See UK and Northern Irish VAT numbers.

Does TierMint Pro issue credit notes?

No. A refunded sale keeps the invoice it was issued, and an invoice is never re-issued or renumbered. See How invoicing works.

Storefront and page builders

Do the TierMint blocks work with a classic theme?

Yes. Every TierMint block is a dynamic block, so it works the same in classic themes and block themes. See Block themes and classic themes.

Should I use blocks or shortcodes?

Either. They give the same output for the same settings. Use blocks in the block editor, and shortcodes in the Classic Editor, text widgets or template files. See Blocks or shortcodes.

Why does a block show "Sample preview" in the editor?

It has no real data to show yet, so the editor fills it with sample content. The caption never appears on the live page. See Sample previews.

Do I need Elementor Pro?

No. The TierMint widgets need only the free Elementor plugin, and so do the Elementor features in TierMint Pro. See Elementor widgets and Elementor Pro features.

How do I match the storefront to my brand?

Set the colors, corner radius and font under TierMint → Settings → Appearance. For more control, override the --tiermint-* CSS custom properties, or copy a component template into your theme. See Styling and template overrides.

Does the storefront work without JavaScript?

Mostly. Browsing, the cart, signing in and viewing licenses and downloads all work without it. Paying and managing site activations need it, and without it the account tabs show one below the other. See What needs JavaScript.

Can I show content only to customers with an active license?

Yes, with TierMint Pro. Visibility rules on Elementor elements, and the Conditional Content block in the block editor, show content only to visitors who match a rule such as Has an active license. See Visibility rules.

Developers

Does TierMint have a REST API?

Yes, under the tiermint/v1 namespace. The licensing routes are public and use the license key as the credential. The management routes need a user with the right capability, signed in with a session, a WordPress Application Password or a TierMint API key. API keys have no wp-admin screen: you create them with the /api-keys route. See Licensing REST API and Management API keys.

Can TierMint notify my other systems?

Yes. Webhooks send a signed POST when orders complete or are refunded, licenses change or a new customer record is created, for example at a buyer's first checkout or when an admin adds one. Add endpoints under TierMint → Settings → Webhooks. See Webhooks.