📦 Using Categories in the Shipping Gateway Plugin (Dreamfox Media)

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The Shipping Gateway Per Product for WooCommerce plugin by Dreamfox Media allows you to control shipping methods not only per product, but also based on product categories.

This gives you powerful flexibility to show or hide shipping options depending on what customers are buying.

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⚙️ Enabling Category-Based Shipping

Before category rules will work, you must first enable the feature.

👉 Important: Make sure to check the “Enable section” checkbox at the top of the category settings.

If this option is not enabled, all category-based rules will be ignored (yes… silently 😅).

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🧠 How It Works

For each shipping gateway (method), you can define:b

• ✅ Include Categories

• ❌ Exclude Categories

This allows you to control exactly when a shipping method should appear during checkout.

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✅ Include Categories

When you add categories to Include Categories:

• The shipping method will ONLY be available for products in those categories.

• If the cart contains products outside these categories → the method will NOT be shown.

Example:

• Include: Accessories

• Result: Shipping method is only available when the cart contains products from Accessories.

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❌ Exclude Categories

When you add categories to Exclude Categories:

• The shipping method will be hidden if any product in the cart belongs to those categories.

Example:

• Exclude: Decor

• Result: Shipping method is NOT available if the cart contains Decor products.

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🔄 Combine Include & Exclude

You can use both options together:

• Include defines where it IS allowed

• Exclude defines where it is explicitly blocked

Priority tip:

• Exclude rules will override include logic if conflicts occur

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📍 Per Shipping Gateway Configuration

Each shipping method (e.g. Free Shipping, Local Pickup) can have its own category rules.

This means you can create setups like:

• Free Shipping → only for Accessories

• Local Pickup → only for Clothing

• Express Shipping → everything except Heavy Items

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🚀 Practical Use Cases

• Offer Free Shipping only for small/light items

• Disable certain shipping methods for fragile or oversized products

• Enable Local Pickup only for specific product types

• Customize checkout experience per product category

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⚠️ Common Mistake

If nothing seems to work:

👉 Check if “Enable section” is turned ON

No checkbox = no magic.

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💡 Pro Tip

Combine category rules with:

• Product-level settings

• Tags

• Default shipping options

…to build a fully customized shipping flow without complex setups.

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