[AMWeb]

Hi,

I have some questions in order to get the theme working correctly for my client:

1. Order hours: is it possible to display only a warning message that the store is actually closed, but still allow to place an order (e.g. pre-ordering in the coling hours for the evening when the store is open)?
2. Delivery/Pickup date and time: is there a way to set a cut-off time at the beginning and end of the opening hours (e.g. the store is open from 17:30 onwards, but it should not be possible to select 17:30 as a delivery time)?
   Also, is it possible to limit the number of orders for the time slots (e.g. maximum 5 orders in each time slot)?
3. Add-on groups: can you please add an option to allow customers to expand/collapse the single add-on groups? I have to add lots of toppings in various groups, and it is horrible if the customer needs to scroll through an infinte page to find the needed group of add-ons.
4. Is there a way to hide the customer’s address if local pickup in the store is selected? The purpose is to make the order as easy and smooth as possible for the customer, and just the name, phone end email would be needed for pickup in the store (but not the full delivery address, given that there is no delivery to make).
5. Shipping areas: would it be possible to locate the map near the main branch (instead of having to zoom in and find the correct region each time a new area is defined)? Also, is it possible to display already existing areas when a new one is created? And is there a way to optimize the creation of delivery areas and corresponding minimum orders altogether, as well as their display in the “Lafka Shipping Areas” map? Right now it is very tedious to add new areas, apply a minimum order and display it on the map…

These are only some of the more urgent questions that I have come up with after the inital setup of the theme. Probably more will follow later…

Thank you in advance for your feedback.

Best regards,
Aron

[Althemist]

Hi Aron,

1. I am afraid that would not be possible. The idea of the Working Hours functionality is to make it impossible to order when store is closed.

2. It works in a similar way. When you placing an order you can’t select a time slot that already began. However, you can’t set “cut-off” time, because it makes the “working time” irrelevant.

3. That sounds reasonable indeed. I’ll discuss with the team if it’s possible to add such feature. Anyways, please note that I can’t guarantee if it’s even possible at this point and can’t give you any strict ETA for such feature.

4. No, I am afraid that would not be possible and it’s not theme related. This is how WooCommerce work. Even with Local Pickup method, WooCommerce would need at lest billing details on order to process the purchase.

5. Unfortunately none of this would not be possible, as there is no way to know which branch are you creating a zone for. Showing existing areas on “create new area” map would also be impossible for the same reason. What if you have a branch in New Your and you want to create a new one in Los Angeles?

As for the minimum amount – each shipping method is created separately and have to support different rates, so there is no way to give it a default value.

We totally understand your points, but this is a WordPress theme, not a custom solution, and as such it should be suitable for different business needs even if that means a bit uncomfortable controls.

Hope you understand.

[AMWeb]

Hi Althemist,

Thank you for your feeback.

1) I understand your point, but there should still be a setting to make working hours non blocking (and replace the blocking mechanism in the cart/checkout with a simple warning message in the style of “We are actually closed, the delivery will happen during working hours…”). If a store opens at a specific hour why should pre-orders not be allowed outside the working hours (by selecting a delivery time inside the working hours, obviously)? Isn’t this one of the main purposes of an e-commerce, receiving orders around the clock and increasing income?

2) Maybe my point was not clear enough. The store is open at specific times, but there is a specific minimum time needed to prepare and deliver the order (e.g. a pizza, which needs to be prepared, cooked and delivered), so not only the current time slot should be unavailable, but also the following one(s). Let’s say the delivery happens within 60 minutes at the soonest, but I want the customers to be able to choose delivery times in a more fine-grained way (in 30 or 15 minute steps), in this case I need to be able to specify a minimum delivery time to disable the next N time slots depending on their duration.
Can you please also respond to the other question in this point, concerning the limit of orders per time slot?

3) Thank you for considering this as a feature. I have seen that it was already asked before and really hope that it can be implemented soon.

4) It is possible either by altering the functions.php file or by activating a dedicated plugin for this purpose (see for example https://wordpress.org/plugins/hide-address-fields-for-woocommerce/). I know that it should be handled by Woocommerce directly (unnecessary fields to fill out = unhappy customers), but in the meantime it is not impossible at all…

5) Can a main branch be defined or a check be made when there is only a single branch? In order to activate shipping areas we are forced to activate branches at the same time, but not all businesses have multiple branches and right now the system is simply unusable and way too cumbersome (manual zooming in from the “world view” to the desired location to draw each single area on the map). Even in the case mentioned by you (one branch in NY and another in LA), what is more cumbersome and annoying: having to zoom out slightly (from NY view to USA view) or having to zoom in heavily as it is now? You could at least add a search field to enter a location to zoom in directly.

I have now spent several days trying to make Lafka fit my needs, but for now it just does not seem to be stable and usable enough to make it fit my needs and not ready at all to hand it over to a (non-technical) customer for future management. I will unfortunately have to refund my purchase.

Best regards,
Aron

[Althemist]

Hi Aron,

1. For a standard website you’d be 100% right. However, food delivery websites doesn’t work like this and that’s the reason for such a feature and limitation. If we do it the way you want, it would not work fine for the other 2100 users of the theme. A food business is either open or closed. It’s not like ordering clothes online.

2. Yes, I perfectly understand your point, but this is currently not possible. I will discuss with the team if we can add it. As for the “limit of orders per time slot” – we are already working on this for the next major update. However, we still can’t give you any strict ETA.

4. The plugin you give as an example is meant to be used with standard WooCommerce shipping methods. We never tried if it would work properly with our custom methods. Yes, it not “impossible at all”, but our custom system relies on geocoding, so the address fileds are required. Those plugin are actually “hacking” the woocommerce checkout process and we can’t guarantee if it would work together with our custom methods. I hope you understand we can’t check each and every plugin on the market.

5. Yes, you can use it even with a single branch. When you define a branch there is a text field on the map to enter your address and button to geocode it. As for creating the shipping area, no I am afraid there is no way to pre-select the area. It is tested numerous times and it takes up to 3 seconds to zoom your area no matter where in the world it is.

If you really believe the theme is not what you need and there is a better alternative or another developer would be willing to fulfill your customization requests so it suits your business needs better, we’d definitely approve your official refund request. At the end this is just a theme and it can’t satisfy each and every edge case. It’s not a tailored solution, so it can only do what it says in the theme description.

[Althemist]

BTW, we have just checked the Hide Address Fields for WooCommerce plugin. It wouldn’t work because our “Local pickup” is custom feature and not a standard WooCommerce shipping method. We will check if we can implement the plugin features as optional functionality in our own system.

[Author]

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