Add a note and a timeline comment to a Shopify order
A customer phones with a request, and the promise has to live on the order, not in a notebook. Notes and timeline comments are the two places to write it: a note holds the instruction, and a timeline comment holds the conversation between staff. This tutorial records a gift message request on order 1066 for Maya Chen.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Customer | Maya Chen |
| Order | 1066 |
| 1 × Heritage Jacket, $85.00 | $85.00 |
| 1 × Trail Crew Tee, $28.00 | $28.00 |
| Subtotal | $113.00 |
| Note | Add gift message |
| Comment | Packed by Sam |
Download the order record: order-note-record.csv (95 bytes).
The lines for the order being noted. The two line totals add to the $113.00 subtotal in the slip above.
1Open the order
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click order 1066. The order holds one Heritage Jacket at $85.00 and one Trail Crew Tee at $28.00, for $113.00. Maya phoned to ask for a gift message in the parcel.
2Add the note
In the Notes section of the order, click the pencil icon. Write the note: add the gift message Maya gave on the phone, word for word. Then click Save. Notes are messages or special instructions that have been included in an order.
3Open the timeline
On the order details page, go to the Timeline section. You can view the detailed history of each order in the timeline, and you can also enter notes and comments there. The timeline is the record of what happened to the order, in order.
4Leave a comment for staff
In the Timeline section, click the Leave a comment... text field, and enter your comment: the gift message was added, and the parcel is ready to pack. You can add emoji, mention a staff member, reference a page, or attach a file. Click Post to add the comment. Comments added to the timeline can only be read by you and other staff members.
5Check the timeline shows both
Read the timeline back. It should show the payment, the note, and the comment, each with its time. If the comment is missing, it was not posted. The next person who opens order 1066 should be able to pack it from the timeline alone.
The arithmetic
| Line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage Jacket | 1 | $85.00 | $85.00 |
| Trail Crew Tee | 1 | $28.00 | $28.00 |
| Subtotal | $113.00 |
The subtotal is $113.00. The note and the comment do not change the total: they change what the next person on the order knows.
Held at the counter
Notes and comments are not the same thing. Notes are messages or special instructions included in an order. Comments are for internal communication between staff members. A gift message for the parcel goes in the note. A question for the packer goes in the timeline comment.
Timeline comments are staff-only. Comments added to the timeline can only be read by you and other staff members. Do not write anything in a comment that the customer needs to see: they will never see it.
The timeline is the audit record. When you cancel an order, the details about what items were restocked and refunded are stored in the timeline. If a promise or a change is not on the timeline, it did not happen as far as the record is concerned.
Sources
- Viewing and managing order details — Shopify's help pages: the order timeline, notes and comments, tags, and searching for an order by number, name, or email.