Show a checkout field only when it is needed.

Start with a ready recipe

You need Free RC11 and Pro RC8 installed and active together on a staging store. Pro subscriptions are not open yet; this guide documents the release candidate. You can preview the Pro editor in your browser without installing it.

1. Open WooCommerce → Cartdini → Tools & restore.
2. Find Ready recipes and choose Gift order, Business purchase details or Product-specific instructions. For the product recipe, search for and select a real product or variation first.
3. Click Review recipe. Keep Add fields to current setup to preserve unrelated fields. Review the included fields and any existing-key conflicts.
4. Click Load reviewed draft. Check the labels, locations, rules and Required settings in Custom fields.
5. Try sample answers in the Checkout condition tester. Click Save changes when the draft is ready, then test the actual staging checkout.

Loading a recipe prepares a draft; it does not change checkout until you save. The supplied follow-up fields are optional. Turn on Required only when a matching customer must answer.

Example 1: ask for a gift message

Load Gift order. It adds an unconditional This is a gift checkbox and a Gift message text field that appears when the checkbox is checked. Select Gift message and turn on Required if every gift needs a message.

Test all three outcomes

After a successful test order, inspect the saved answers and email output. Toggle the parent back and forth before submission too. Validation is enforced on the server; hiding a required question only with CSS would not reproduce this behavior.

Example 2: collect a business purchase reference

1. Open Tools & restore → Ready recipes and click Review recipe under Business purchase details.
2. Review and load the draft. It adds a required Buying for select with Myself and A business, followed by an optional Purchase order reference text field.
3. In the condition tester, choose Myself: the reference field is hidden. Choose A business: it appears.
4. Keep the reference optional unless your store requires it for every business purchase. Save changes and place test orders for both choices.

The rule compares the stored option value business. Changing its visible label does not change that value. This collects a reference; it does not verify a tax ID, grant a tax exemption or create an invoice.

Example 3: ask about one product or variation

For example, show Instructions for this product only when a particular made-to-order item is in the cart.

1. In Tools & restore → Ready recipes → Product-specific instructions, search by product name or SKU and select the exact item. For a variable product, choose the specific variation you sell.
2. Click Review recipe, inspect the selected product and load the reviewed draft.
3. Change the question's label and help text to describe the information you need. Leave it optional unless the answer is essential to fulfilling that item.
4. Save changes. Keep an unrelated item in the test cart, then add the selected item: the field appears. Remove only the selected item: checkout stays available, the field hides and its answer is excluded from the submitted order.
5. Test a different variation too. It does not match unless you selected that variation in the rule.

Product rules match exact simple-product or variation IDs. A variable parent's ID does not include all its variations. A rule can contain up to 50 selected IDs; contains any selected product means at least one must be present.

In Checkout Blocks, this workflow requires WooCommerce 10.1 or newer.

Example 4: ask for a reference above an order total

For a store that needs an internal reference on larger orders, show an optional Order reference when the final total reaches 200 in the store currency. This example creates a custom rule; it is not a fourth ready recipe.

1. Add an enabled Text field labeled Order reference in Order information.
2. Under Conditional visibility, choose Match all rules (AND).
3. Set Condition source to Final order total and Comparison to is at least.
4. Enter 200 in the final-total input. Check the currency shown beside it is your store's currency.
5. Test a total below 200, exactly 200 and above 200. Save changes, then repeat those checks on the actual checkout.

The field is hidden below 200 and visible at 200 or above. The final total includes tax and shipping after discounts. Change a coupon, address or shipping option during testing: recalculation can show or hide the field. The rule collects information; it does not change the order total.

In Checkout Blocks, final-total rules require WooCommerce 10.1 or newer.

Supported conditions and limits

Combine up to five rules per field using Match all (AND) or Match any (OR), without nested groups. Field comparisons use equals or does not equal against earlier, enabled, unconditional fields in the same location: text/select/checkbox/radio on Classic, select/checkbox on Blocks. You can combine these with exact simple-product or variation IDs using contains any / contains none, or a final cart/order total greater than or equal to, or less than, a threshold in the store currency. Product lists accept up to 50 IDs; selecting a variable parent does not include its variation family. The final total is after discounts and includes tax and shipping.

Field-only Blocks rules with select/checkbox sources remain available from WooCommerce 9.9. Product and cart-total rules in Blocks require WooCommerce 10.1 or newer, as do conditional contact fields. Unsupported saved definitions remain retained without being registered. Text/radio-source conditions and the six Classic-only input types remain Classic-only.

For select or Classic radio comparisons, use a configured stored option value. A label such as “Business purchase” can differ from the stored value used by the rule.

Nested groups, chained field dependencies, cross-location field comparisons, category rules, shipping-method rules and payment-method rules are not included. Product rules do not expand variable-parent IDs into variations. Collecting an answer does not apply a surcharge or change tax, shipping or payment settings.

Try answers before saving

Use the condition tester in the WordPress editor to enter sample answers and inspect which questions are visible, hidden or required. Sample answers do not change your saved configuration or become customer data. The preview shows supported structure and rules; it does not reproduce your theme or certify checkout compatibility.

For example, place a Gift checkbox and a Delivery preference select before Gift message. Choose Match all for Gift equals Checked and Delivery preference equals courier. Switch to Match any to show the follow-up when either rule matches.

At submission, hidden answers are excluded from the new order and email snapshot and do not trigger required-answer errors. Temporarily retained browser values may reappear when a field becomes visible again; they are not accepted while hidden. Existing historical orders are preserved.

If your parent field is unavailable

• Move the parent before the follow-up in the same location.
• Confirm the parent is enabled and is text, select, checkbox or radio on Classic, or select/checkbox on Blocks. For conditional contact fields in Blocks, use WooCommerce 10.1+.
• Remove any condition on the parent; chained rules are not supported.
• Save and test the configuration on the checkout system your store uses.

If Pro is deactivated, Pro-only and conditional fields pause. Their configuration and historical order values remain saved. Paused definitions are locked so unrelated Free edits cannot change them; you may delete them explicitly. Reactivating Pro resumes supported fields.

Save and transfer a setup safely

After testing and saving the workflow, open Tools & restore and choose Save current setup as template. Pro keeps up to 20 named templates and ten restore points. Ready recipes do not use template slots.

Choose View templates or View restore points, then Load draft. To move a setup between stores, use Export JSON · Pro on the source store and Import JSON · Pro on the destination. JSON transfers configuration, not customer answers.

When loading a template, a restore point or a JSON file, review the proposed draft first. Choose Add fields to current setup to merge selected fields, or Replace current fields to replace the custom-field list. Core-field overrides stay unchanged unless Replace core overrides too (otherwise keep current overrides) is selected. Restore-point reviews select that option by default; ordinary file imports do not.

For conflicting keys, choose whether to keep the existing field, replace it or add the imported field with a new key. Review source-field dependencies too. File imports require explicit product mapping to this store, even when ID numbers happen to match. If the currency or decimal precision differs, or source precision is unknown, set each destination total explicitly; amounts are not converted automatically.

Click Load reviewed draft and inspect the result. Before saving, Recover previous draft returns to the draft from before loading and discards changes made since loading. Click Save changes to apply the reviewed setup. Existing order answers are preserved.

See templates and restore documentation for the full process and the Blocks guide for supported checkout behavior.