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Google Ads, beyond the basics

E-commerce

What changed and why

Backlinks

Who links to you, how strong

Optimizations

Three to-do's per channel

Email

What each send brought in

Overview >

SEO & keywords

Google and Bing side by side

Social media

Every channel in one view

Audit

One score, fixes beside it

Competitors

Where you stand vs them

Campaigns

A calender that fills itself

Tasks

To-do's tied to your goals

WooCommerce, Shopify and WordPress plugin problems

This page covers problems with the Metrara plugin, WooCommerce keys, blog drafts in WordPress and the Shopify connection.

On this page

Find the message or symptom you see and follow the steps.

1. Where you see a failed webshop connection

Metrara fetches your shop's orders every night. When that fails, agency admins see a red block on Home: One source could not be fetched or 2 sources could not be fetched, with the business, the source (for example woocommerce or shopify) and the reason. Client users don't see this block.

  1. Open Home and read the line for your business.
  2. Use the sections below to find the cause.
  3. After fixing it, click Refresh figures at the top of Metrics or SEO to fetch again. You see how many sources were updated and how many failed.

2. "Enter a valid pairing code."

You pasted an incomplete code in WordPress.

  1. In Metrara, go to Manage, choose the business and open Access keys.
  2. In the WordPress and WooCommerce block, click copy next to the code.
  3. In WordPress, go to Settings, Metrara and paste the full code, including MTR-.
  4. Click Connect to Metrara.

3. "Connecting failed (…)" in WordPress

WordPress could not hand the keys to Metrara. The number between the brackets tells you why:

  • 404: the code is unknown or was already used.
  • 410: the code has expired. A code is valid for 30 minutes.
  • 0: your website could not reach Metrara at all. A firewall or security plugin blocks outgoing requests from WordPress.

To fix a used or expired code:

  1. In Metrara, open Manage, Access keys and click Create pairing code in the WordPress and WooCommerce block. A new code replaces the old one.
  2. Paste it in WordPress under Settings, Metrara within 30 minutes and click Connect to Metrara.

To fix status 0:

  1. Ask your host or check your security plugin for a setting that blocks outgoing connections from WordPress.
  2. Allow connections to dashboard.metrara.com.
  3. Create a new pairing code and connect again.

A failed attempt removes the application password the plugin just created, so no loose access is left behind.

4. "This WordPress version does not support application passwords (5.6 or later needed)."

The plugin needs WordPress 5.6 or later.

  1. Update WordPress under Dashboard, Updates.
  2. Connect again with a new pairing code.

5. "Creating the application password failed: …"

WordPress refused to create an application password. The plugin needs one to read your pages and place blog drafts. Common causes are a site without https or a security plugin that switches application passwords off.

  1. Make sure your site runs on https.
  2. In your security plugin (for example Wordfence, iThemes Security or Solid Security), turn application passwords back on.
  3. Create a new pairing code in Metrara and connect again.

6. Uploading the plugin zip is blocked

Some hosting firewalls block uploading plugins through WordPress.

  1. Unzip metrara-connector.zip on your computer.
  2. Upload the folder to wp-content/plugins/metrara-connector/ with FTP or your host's file manager.
  3. In WordPress, go to Plugins and click Activate next to the Metrara plugin.

See WordPress: install the Metrara plugin.

7. The plugin is connected but "WooCommerce keys were included." is missing

The block in Metrara shows Connected through the plugin on … without WooCommerce keys were included. The plugin only creates WooCommerce keys when WooCommerce is active at the moment you connect, and it skips them quietly if WordPress refuses to save them.

  1. Check that WooCommerce is installed and active under Plugins.
  2. In Metrara, click Create pairing code and connect again in WordPress.
  3. If the line is still missing, create the keys yourself. See WooCommerce, option 2.

8. WooCommerce refuses the keys

On Home the woocommerce source fails and the reason mentions that WooCommerce refuses the keys. The keys were deleted, belong to another site or belong to a WordPress user who no longer has access.

  1. In WordPress, go to WooCommerce, Settings, Advanced, REST API.
  2. Check that the Metrara key still exists and has Read permission. A key made by the plugin has a description starting with Metrara.
  3. Check that the user the key belongs to still exists and is an administrator.
  4. If not, reconnect with a new pairing code. Client users paste new keys under Connections, in the WooCommerce block, and click Save for each field.

Saving a key doesn't test it. You see Key saved. right away; whether the key works shows after the next fetch.

9. WooCommerce returns error code 403 or 404

The woocommerce source fails with code 403 or 404. A firewall or security plugin blocks Metrara's requests to the REST API, or the REST API is switched off.

  1. Open https://your-site/wp-json/ in a browser. You should see text, not an error page.
  2. In your security plugin, allow the REST API. Look for settings such as "Disable REST API" or "Block unauthenticated REST requests".
  3. If your host uses a web application firewall, ask them to allow requests to /wp-json/wc/v3/ from Metrara.
  4. Click Refresh figures to fetch again.

10. "The site runs … Make sure /wp-json/ is not cached"

Metrara shows this under the WordPress and WooCommerce block when the plugin reported a cache plugin. A cached REST API sends old answers, so new orders or pages show up late or not at all.

  1. In your cache plugin, exclude paths that contain /wp-json/ from the cache.
  2. WP Rocket: nothing else to do for AI crawler measurement; the plugin handles that itself.
  3. LiteSpeed Cache: also add the AI crawler list under Cache, [4] Excludes, Do Not Cache User Agents, and click Save Changes.
  4. Purge the cache once.

The full crawler list is in WordPress: install the Metrara plugin.

11. AI traffic stays empty or much lower than expected

Full-page caching serves pages without letting the plugin count the visit. Measurement also starts at installation; it can't look back.

  1. Set up your cache plugin as described in the section above.
  2. Wait a few days to a week for the first visits.
  3. Check that the plugin is active and up to date under Plugins. New versions show Update now.

12. A multilingual (WPML) shop shows all languages together

Metrara can split one WooCommerce shop into language versions, with a language switch at the top of the dashboard. It filters orders by the WPML order language. This split is not something you can switch on yourself.

  1. Contact support and name the languages and their URL paths or domains. See Contact support.
  2. Once set up, the language versions share the keys of the main language. You don't need a pairing code per language.
  3. A language with its own domain needs its own Search Console property under Manage, Access keys.

13. "WordPress access is not set up yet. Connect the Metrara plugin with the pairing code under Manage, Access keys."

You clicked 5. To WordPress as a draft, but the business has no WordPress connection.

  1. Install the Metrara plugin. See WordPress: install the Metrara plugin.
  2. In Manage, Access keys, click Create pairing code and connect in WordPress.
  3. Open the blog again and click 5. To WordPress as a draft.

Client users can't set up the WordPress connection. Ask your agency.

14. WordPress refuses the login when placing a draft

Placing the draft fails with a message that WordPress refuses the login details. The application password was revoked, the WordPress user was removed, or that user may not write posts.

  1. In WordPress, go to Users, Profile and scroll to Application Passwords. Check that a password named Metrara with a date still exists.
  2. Check that the user is an administrator or editor.
  3. If not, reconnect with a new pairing code.

15. Drafts end up in the wrong place or placing fails with code 404

Your blogs live in their own post type instead of regular posts.

  1. In WordPress, find the name of the post type your blog uses, for example blog.
  2. In Metrara, open Manage, choose the business and open Tabs.
  3. Under Post type for blogs, enter that name and save.
  4. Leave the field empty if your blog uses regular posts.

16. "This blog is already in WordPress."

The draft was placed before. Metrara doesn't place it twice.

  1. Click Open in WordPress → to edit the existing draft.
  2. If you deleted the draft in WordPress and want it back, copy the text from Metrara and create the post by hand.

16. Shopify: there is no button to connect

The Shopify block shows Install Metrara from Shopify. Metrara then opens in your Shopify admin; click Connect to Metrara there and choose this company. You connect from Shopify, not from Metrara. Shopify doesn't allow an app to ask for your store address.

  1. Install Metrara from Shopify with the installation link you received, or with Install via Shopify once that button appears.
  2. In your Shopify admin, open Metrara. You see One more step: connect this store.
  3. Click Connect to Metrara, sign in and choose the company.
  4. Click Connect store.

If you see The Shopify button is not set up on this platform yet., Shopify can't be connected at the moment. Contact support.

17. "This link has expired or was already used. Open Metrara again in Shopify to get a new link."

The link from Shopify to Metrara is valid for one hour and works once.

  1. Go back to your Shopify admin.
  2. Open Metrara under Apps.
  3. Click Connect to Metrara again and choose the company within the hour.

You see the same cause in This link has expired. Open Metrara again in Shopify. or The installation could not be found. Open Metrara again in Shopify. Follow the same steps.

18. "You do not have a company in Metrara yet to connect this store to."

Your account has no company you may connect.

  1. Click Create a company first.
  2. Add the business. See Add your first business.
  3. Open Metrara again in Shopify and connect the store.

Client users only see companies whose connections they may manage. If the list is empty, ask your agency.

19. "This store is already connected to …. Disconnect it there first."

A Shopify store can belong to one company in Metrara only.

  1. Open the company named in the message.
  2. Go to Manage, Access keys. Client users go to Connections.
  3. In the Shopify block, click Disconnect and confirm.
  4. Open Metrara again in Shopify and connect the store to the right company.

20. "Metrara could not check your store. Please try again."

The Metrara screen inside Shopify could not reach Metrara.

  1. Click Try again.
  2. If it keeps failing, reload the Shopify admin and open Metrara again.
  3. Still failing? Contact support.

21. Shopify figures don't appear yet

Right after connecting you see … is connected. The last 60 days appear within a few minutes; the rest of the past two years follows in the background.

  1. Wait a few minutes and open E-commerce.
  2. Inside Shopify, Metrara shows Metrara is fetching your store's figures. Open this page again in a few minutes. until the first figures are in.
  3. Still empty after a day? See My figures are missing.