Everything you need to know about blacklisting malicious users in WooCommerce

Managing a WooCommerce store means safeguarding your business from fraudulent activities and ensuring a smooth shopping experience for genuine customers. Online shopping has its dark side, with savvy thieves scheming to bilk retailers, causing chaos and financial losses with each unauthorized purchase. Learn how to protect your store with the WooCommerce blacklist feature to block fraudulent users and keep your business secure

Threats don’t stand a chance against our safeguard. We detect and block suspicious email addresses, phone numbers, and IPs to keep our store secure. Whether we need a light touch or a full-scale overhaul, WooCommerce gives us the flexibility to craft our e-commerce solution, courtesy of user-friendly code snippets and dedicated plugins. Security-minded businesses can finally relax. These tools enable you to efficiently clamp down on unwanted transactions, building bridges of trust with your customers.

 

WooCommerce blacklistTo provide a safe and reliable online shopping environment, we need to identify and exclude malicious users who might compromise it expertly. Here’s the lowdown on the must-have tools and strategies for keeping your WooCommerce store safe from fraud through blacklisting.

Reasons To Blacklist Malicious Users In WooCommerce

Fraud Prevention

Preventing fraud protects our store from financial losses. By using the WooCommerce blacklist to block malicious users with suspicious email addresses, phone numbers, or IP addresses, we minimise the risk of unauthorised transactions.

Policy Violations

Enforcing store policies maintains operational integrity. We utilise the WooCommerce blacklist to block malicious users who refuse to receive orders or engage in disruptive behavior, ensuring a respectful shopping environment.

Repeat Offenders

Reducing repeat offenders safeguards our revenue and operations. The WooCommerce blacklist allows us to block malicious users who frequently return products or abuse payment methods, preventing ongoing issues.

Security and Reliability

Enhancing security builds customer trust. By implementing the WooCommerce blacklist to block malicious or spammy users, we strengthen our store’s defenses, ensuring a reliable shopping experience.

Methods To Blacklist Scammers

Implementing effective blacklisting methods safeguards our WooCommerce store from fraudulent activities and ensures a secure shopping environment.

By Email Address

We utilise the WooCommerce Blacklist Manager to block malicious users based on their email addresses. Administrators can manually add specific emails or automate the process by marking addresses as potential fraud. Additionally, wildcard characters enable us to block multiple email variations simultaneously, enhancing our security measures.

By IP Address

Blocking malicious users by IP address is streamlined through the WooCommerce Blacklist Manager. This tool allows us to restrict access from suspicious IPs, preventing unauthorised orders and reducing fraudulent activities. By filtering out high-risk IP addresses, we maintain the integrity of our store.

By Location

We enforce location-based blacklisting by specifying malicious users addresses, including street, city, province/state, and country. This method ensures that orders from regions with high fraud rates are automatically blocked, protecting our revenue and operational efficiency. Location-specific tools, such as Aelia’s Currency Switcher for WooCommerce, can complement this strategy by detecting malicious users locations and presenting region-appropriate currencies. This not only helps block fraudulent orders but also improves the experience for legitimate shoppers by offering localised pricing.

By Phone Number

Using the Blacklister for WooCommerce, we block malicious users based on their phone numbers. This plugin supports exact and partial matches through regular expressions, allowing us to prevent orders from users with suspicious phone details. We appreciate Dustin Robinson’s contribution to enhancing phone number blacklisting capabilities.

Implementing Blacklist In WooCommerce

Implementing a WooCommerce blacklist enhances your store’s security by preventing unwanted transactions. We utilise various tools and methods to effectively manage and enforce blacklisting rules.

Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce

Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce enables a comprehensive configuration of rules to block orders from specific users. The WooCommerce blacklist can filter malicious users based on:

  • Name and Surname
  • Address: Street, postcode, city, province/state, country
  • Email Address
  • Phone Number
  • IP Address

All criteria support exact matches or partial matches using regular expressions, except for IP addresses, which use filter masks. The plugin integrates seamlessly into the WooCommerce backend, allowing us to specify and manage blacklisted entries efficiently. When a malicious users attempts to place an order, Aelia Blacklister compares their details against the blacklist. If a match is found, the checkout process is halted, and a customisable message is displayed to the customer.

How It Works

  1. Adding Blacklist Rules:
    A new menu is added to the WooCommerce backend, allowing administrators to specify blacklist entries. These can include malicious users names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, or IPs.
  2. Order Validation:
    When a malicious users places an order, the plugin automatically compares the provided details against the blacklist rules.
  3. Blocking Process:
    If a match is detected, the plugin halts the checkout process and prevents the order from proceeding. The malicious users sees a customisable error message explaining the reason for the block.
  4. Advanced Matching:
    • Regular expressions enable partial and pattern-based matching for names, emails, and phone numbers.
    • IP blocking supports both specific addresses and broader ranges using masks.
  5. Customisable Error Messaging:
    Administrators can create detailed error messages, which are displayed during the checkout process if a user is blocked.

Using Native WooCommerce Settings

While native WooCommerce settings offer basic functionality for managing a WooCommerce blacklist, they are limited in scope. By adding custom PHP snippets to the functions.php file, we can block specific email addresses during the checkout process. This method requires coding skills and provides a straightforward way to prevent orders from blacklisted emails.

For example, adding the following code snippet allows us to block orders from certain email addresses:

add_action('woocommerce_after_checkout_validation', function($data, $errors) {
  $blacklist = array('hello@example.com', 'infolorem@io', 'mejohn@co');

  if(in_array($data['billing_email'], $blacklist)) {
    $errors->add('blacklist', 'Sorry, we cannot process your order.');
  }
}, 10, 2 );

This approach allows us to maintain a basic WooCommerce blacklist without additional plugins, ensuring that unwanted malicious users cannot complete their purchases.

Using Security Plugins

Security plugins extend the functionality of the WooCommerce blacklist, offering advanced features for comprehensive protection. Plugins like WooCommerce Blacklist Manager provide the ability to block malicious users by phone number, email address, IP address, and email domains. These plugins support bulk import and export of blacklisted entries, enhancing efficiency in managing large lists.

Key features include:

  • Export Blacklist to CSV: Easily manage and update your blacklist.
  • Bulk Add/Remove: Handle multiple entries simultaneously.
  • Customisable Blocking Rules: Apply precise criteria to prevent specific orders based on various malicious users details.
  • Order Blocking: Prevent orders from being placed using multiple shipping methods.

Using security plugins ensures that our WooCommerce blacklist is robust and adaptable to evolving security threats, maintaining the integrity and reliability of our online store.

Comparison Of Aelia  Blacklister Plugin With Other Different Plugins

FeatureAelia Blacklister for WooCommerceWooCommerce Blacklist ManagerSecurity for WooCommerceNative WooCommerce + Code Snippets
Blocking CriteriaName, email, phone, IP, location, order infoEmail, phone, IP, domainIP, email, phone, countryEmail addresses only
Regular Expression SupportYes (partial and exact matches for all fields except IPs)Yes (for phone numbers and emails)LimitedNo
Bulk Import/ExportNoYesYesNo
Customisable MessagesYes (for blocked users at checkout)YesNoLimited (requires custom code)
Blacklist by Country/RegionYesYesYesNo
Ease of UseIntuitive interface integrates into WooCommerce backendModerate, require additional configurationsSimple but limited in scopeRequires coding knowledge
Whitelist (Allow List)YesYesYesNo
IP Range FilteringYes (with filter masks)YesYesNo
Plugin CostPaidPaidFreeFree (if implemented manually)
AutomationBlocks suspicious patterns automaticallySupports automatic rulesLimited automationNo automation
Scalability for Large StoresHigh (handles large customer databases)High (bulk features included)ModerateLow (manual effort needed)
Integration with WooCommerceSeamlessSeamlessModerateBasic (requires custom PHP)
Custom Rule CreationAdvancedModerateLimitedLimited (custom code required)
Support and DocumentationComprehensiveGoodModerateMinimal (community-driven)

Key Takeaways:

  • Aelia Blacklister for WooCommerce stands out for its advanced features, including extensive blocking criteria, regular expression support, and seamless integration, making it ideal for stores that need comprehensive security solutions.
  • WooCommerce Blacklist Manager is a strong contender, particularly for its bulk import/export capabilities, but it lacks the depth of rule customisation found in Aelia’s solution.
  • Security for WooCommerce offers basic blacklist functionality, suitable for small to mid-sized stores but limited in flexibility.
  • Native WooCommerce with Code Snippets is cost-effective but requires technical expertise and lacks scalability for larger stores.

To further enhance your store’s customization capabilities, consider tools like Aelia Prices by Country for WooCommerce. This plugin allows store owners to set region-specific pricing, ensuring competitive and optimised prices for customers based on their location. By combining it with robust blacklisting tools, you can create a secure, efficient, and tailored shopping experience for your customers.

 

WooCommerce Product Feed – Support for Multicurrency Plugins

WebToffee WooCommerce Product Feed Adds Aelia Currency Switcher Support: A Game-Changer for Global E-Commerce

In today’s increasingly globalized marketplace, businesses need to cater to customers across different regions and currencies. One key element of creating a seamless international shopping experience is ensuring that customers can view product prices in their local currency. Thanks to WebToffee’s latest update, their WooCommerce Product Feed plugin now supports the popular Aelia Currency Switcher, making it easier than ever for e-commerce businesses to enhance user experience and boost conversion rates globally.
Currency option - Product Feed plugin

Why Multicurrency Support Matters

When selling in global markets, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Customers are far more likely to complete a purchase if they can view prices in their own currency, avoiding the hassle of manual conversion. Supporting multiple currencies improves the shopping experience by making it clear and easy to understand for customers worldwide. This accessibility can also reduce cart abandonment and increase conversion rates, ultimately boosting a business’s bottom line.

Implementing multicurrency support involves several technical and strategic steps:

  1. Accurate Exchange Rate Integration: The foundation of any multicurrency system is reliable exchange rate data. This ensures that prices are accurately converted in real-time, reflecting the latest market rates.
  2. Localisation Requirements: Beyond price, it’s crucial to handle localisation requirements like date formats, decimal separators, and country-specific tax rates.
  3. Correct Front-End Display: The converted prices must be displayed properly on the front end of the site, ensuring users see the correct currency for their location.

For online retailers, particularly those who rely on product feeds for platforms like Google Shopping or Facebook Ads, providing these local currency prices can make or break an international marketing strategy.

How WebToffee’s Product Feed Plugin and Aelia Currency Switcher Simplify Multicurrency Management

With the integration of the Aelia Currency Switcher into WebToffee’s WooCommerce Product Feed plugin, merchants can now automatically generate product feeds in multiple currencies with ease. This means that businesses no longer need to worry about manually configuring prices for different markets.

Key benefits of this integration include:

  • Automatic Currency Selection for Product Feeds: Merchants can now select from any of their configured currencies when generating product feeds. This eliminates the need for separate feed generation for each region, saving both time and effort.
  • Enhanced Global Reach: By automatically displaying the correct local currency, businesses can expand their reach to new international markets and improve customer satisfaction. The easier it is for customers to shop, the more likely they are to convert.
  • Simplified Management for International Catalogs: For merchants managing large, international product catalogs, this new feature streamlines operations. The integration simplifies workflows, allowing businesses to focus more on growth rather than backend processes.
  • Seamless Integration with Google Shopping & Other Channels: One of the most important uses of product feeds is for external marketing platforms like Google Shopping. With native support for Aelia Currency Switcher, WebToffee’s plugin ensures that the correct currency is reflected on these platforms, ensuring consistency and accuracy.

Boosting Conversions with a Tailored Experience

For many e-commerce businesses, one of the biggest challenges in going global is maintaining a smooth, customer-friendly shopping experience across different markets. With this latest integration, WebToffee and Aelia Currency Switcher have provided an effective solution that does exactly that.

By removing friction related to currency conversions, businesses are more likely to build trust with international customers, which in turn can lead to higher conversion rates. This update offers a crucial advantage for merchants looking to improve their accessibility and competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The integration of Aelia Currency Switcher into WebToffee’s WooCommerce Product Feed plugin is a significant upgrade for any business looking to tap into international markets. It offers an easy and efficient way to display product prices in multiple currencies, significantly improving user experience and conversion rates.

Before adding multicurrency support - the currency is USD (Default site currency)After adding multicurrency support - the currency is GBP (Pound)

Rename Country Codes in WooCommerce2

How to Easily Rename Country Codes in WooCommerce

Have you ever wanted to change how country names appear in your WooCommerce store? Maybe you need a shorter country code or a different language for customer clarity. Fortunately, WooCommerce makes customizing country codes a straightforward process.

 

Explore our full range of WooCommerce plugins here

 

Step-By-Step Guide to Renaming Country Codes In WooCommerce

 

Understanding Country Codes

 

Country codes are essential for ensuring accurate shipping, billing, and overall customer experience in WooCommerce. They follow the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard, which means each country has a unique two-letter code (e.g., “US” for the United States, “CA” for Canada).

 

Whenever a customer enters their address, WooCommerce uses these codes to match the appropriate country. This helps determine shipping rates, taxes, and even display region-specific information.

 

Locating the functions.php File:

 

Your theme’s functions.php file is where you can add small snippets of code to modify how WooCommerce works. Let’s find it:

Method 1: Via Your WordPress Dashboard

 

  1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
  2. On the left-sidebar, go to Appearance -> Theme Editor.
  3. On the right, you’ll see a list of theme files. Look for functions.php (Theme Functions). Click on it to open.

Rename Country Codes in WooCommerce

 

Method 2: Via an FTP/File Manager

 

  1. Access your website’s files using an FTP client (like FileZilla) or your hosting provider’s file manager.
  2. Navigate to your theme’s root folder (often inside /wp-content/themes/your-theme-name/).
  3. Find and open the functions.php file.

 

Rename Country Codes in WooCommerce2

 

IMPORTANT: Child Themes

Before making any changes, it’s strongly recommended to use a child theme. This prevents your customizations from being lost when you update your main theme.

Adding the Code Snippet

 

Let’s do the rename! Copy and paste the following code at the bottom of your functions.php file:

 

Plain text version of the above:

 

PHP


function rename_country_code( $countries ) {
// Rename "US" (United States) to "USA"
$countries['US'] = 'USA';


// Add more renaming cases if needed:
// $countries['XX'] = 'YY'; // Where 'XX' is the old code, 'YY' is the new code


return $countries;
}
add_filter( 'woocommerce_countries', 'rename_country_code' );

Understanding the code:

 

  • The first line connects a new function (which we’ll define below) to WooCommerce’s list of countries.
  • my_country_rename is the name of our function. Feel free to change it to something that describes your specific change.
  • Inside the function, we change the ‘US’ country code to ‘United States’. This part is where you’ll make your edits.

 

Customizing for Your Needs

 

Make it your own:

  1. Replace ‘US’ with the two-letter code of the country you want to rename.
  2. Replace ‘United States’ with the new name you’d like to display on your store.

 

WooCommerce Country Code Rename FAQs

 

What is a country code?
Country codes are standardized two-letter abbreviations that represent countries and territories around the world (e.g., “GB” for Great Britain, “DE” for Germany). These codes, defined within the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard, are a crucial part of online stores, ensuring they can process customer addresses accurately for shipping and billing.

 

How do I change the default country code in WooCommerce?
In WooCommerce, you can’t technically change the overall default country for your entire store. However, you have the flexibility to rename specific countries as needed. This lets you customize how they appear to your customers during checkout and within their account information.

 

What countries does WooCommerce support?
WooCommerce is designed to support virtually all countries across the globe. You can find a comprehensive list of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes to check if your required country is included. Keep in mind, the renaming process we’ve outlined works for any country supported by WooCommerce.

 

Additional Considerations – Potential Conflicts

 

While renaming country codes is usually straightforward, it’s good to be aware that custom code changes can sometimes lead to unexpected conflicts, especially in stores with lots of plugins or complex setups. If you run into any issues, it’s sometimes best to consult a WooCommerce developer for help.

 

In Closing

 

While the process of renaming country codes in WooCommerce is relatively simple, tailoring your store to customers in different regions can get far more intricate.

 

If you need to set different product prices based on location, hide certain products from specific countries, or have other complex location-based customizations in mind, consider exploring Aelia’s Prices by Country for WooCommerce plugin.

 

This powerful tool gives you granular control over your product pricing and visibility based on customer location.

 

Want to learn more or need help with advanced WooCommerce customizations? We’d love to hear from you!

Business All-Stars Accreditation Logo 2020-White Background

Aelia Receives All-Star Quality Mark from AIBF for the second year in a row

Our beloved Grinzing, located in one of the most beautiful districts of Vienna, has received a massive boost this week with one of the resident businesses achieving international recognition for excellence, confirming its highest standards of service and trust. Diego Zanella, the founder of Aelia, was awarded the coveted All-Ireland Business All-Star accreditation for the second year in a row. One might ask why an Austrian business, founded by an Italian entrepreneur, would receive such an important accreditation from a foreign country, and it would be a legitimate question. The answer is simple, yet interesting.

Some background story

Diego Zanella founded Aelia in Ireland, in 2013. From the first day, he founder focused all its efforts in producing high quality solutions, and offering top class service, to owner of e-commerce websites. Thanks to the flexibility offered by modern technologies, the business can operate from anywhere in the world, while still keeping in touch with its thousands of customers. Aelia moved around Ireland a couple of times, then, in mid-2019, Diego Zanella planned a relocation to Austria.

The All-Ireland Business Foundation came into play, just in time

At the beginning of the same year, he had submitted Aelia to the selection for the Business All-Star accreditation. He was supposed to receive answer was supposed within a couple of days, and the selection process take a few weeks. However, due to a technical issue, the submission remained “pending” much longer than it should have. As soon as the All-Ireland Business Foundation Team found it, they reviewed the performance of both Aelia and its founder. The score was high enough to place them amongst the top candidates.  Even though our founder informed the AIBF Team of the imminent relocation abroad, they were more than happy to let our application proceed anyway. Then, in October 2019, Diego Zanella received the first Business All-Star accreditation.

In 2020, the AIBF Team contacted our founder again. Although our Aelia and its founder are no longer resident in Ireland, their result were so high that the Foundation offered to make an exception, and participate to the selection again. Diego Zanella was given the opportunity to become the first “ex-indigenous entrepreneur” to be accredited by the All-Ireland Business Foundation.

Obviously, since we’re writing about it, the result was a success. At the end of October 2020 (yes, we’re a bit slow with news), Aelia’s founder received the accreditation certificate, confirming Diego Zanella as a Thought Leader in e-commerce and WooCommerce solutions.

Aelia - Certificate of Accreditation 2020

Aelia – Certificate of Accreditation 2020

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Gold Medal Ceremony was replaced by an online event. Our founder, Diego Zanella, attended it on the 30th of October, 2020.

The importance of get accredited for the second year

Like in 2019, we are pleased to have reached the high standard required by the the Business All-Star accreditation. We strive to keep high level of performance, trust and customer satisfaction that distinguishes our offer . Furthermore, we are the first to having been invited to participate into the selection, despite the business being now resident in another EU country, and it feels like a special honour. The All-Ireland Business Foundation is so impressed by our results that they would like to keep us in their register of top class companies. 👍

We would like to thank everyone for your continued support. Our customers, who keep trusting, our business partners, with whom we will be working on more incredible projects and, most importantly, our families.

Thanks again for your invaluable help. We wouldn’t be here, if it weren’t for you. 🙏

The Aelia Team

Business All-Star Accredited

We received the Business All-Star Accreditation. That’s awesome!

Over the past few weeks, our founder has been working with the All Ireland Business Foundation to achieve the prestigious Business All-Star Accreditation. The examination panel informed us that our efforts has been successful, and we have reached our goal. The accreditation is a great achievement, and a demonstration that we, at Aelia, offer to our clients high quality products and a top class customer service.

Business All-Star - Accreditation Certificate

Our founder, Diego Zanella, will attend the Gold Medal Ceremony on the 25th of October, 2019, at Croke Park, in Dublin, Ireland.

What this means for Aelia

It’s always great to see efforts recognised and rewarded. It’s also very exciting to know that we reached the standard required by the All-Ireland Business Foundation. The Business All-Star accreditation distinguishes progressive Irish businesses that meet a high level of verified performance, trust and customer centricity. Our efforts will now allow us to join unique group of excelling businesses.

Why we are so excited

The achievement will be celebrated at Croke Park, but reaching certainly wasn’t a “walk in the park“. 😃

We feel that this result is a tangible demonstration to our commitment in offering top quality products and services to our customers, as well as our collaborators.

We would like to thank all of you, customers, supporters, partners and suppliers, for having been with us during the past six years. Your continued support is what allowed us to be successful. We will strive to stay at the top of our class, and keeping offer you the great service you have come to expect from us.

The Aelia Team

WooCommerce Tax Display by Country – Multiple improvements – Updates

WooCommerce Tax Display by Country – What’s new

The Tax Display by Country plugin for WooCommerce has been updated to version 1.9.7.170912. This update brings the following improvements and fixes:

  • Added support for the new “hashed fragments” used by the minicart since WooCommerce 3.1.2. This will ensure that the minicart displays the correct prices when the country changes.
  • Added logic to preserve customer’s city and postcode, if set.
  • Improved logic used to detect customer’s country and province in WooCommerce 3.0 and newer.

How to get latest version

New customers

Simply place your order and you will get the latest version.

Existing customers

You should be able to download the updated file using the link you received with your order. If the link doesn’t work, please contact Support to receive the latest version. Thanks.