What is the order timeline?
The order timeline is the activity feed at the bottom of every order in your Shopify admin. It records everything that happens to an order, including payments, edits, holds, cancellations, and messages.
Order Editing writes to this timeline using Shopify's native order system. Everything appears in the same timeline your team already uses. There's no separate activity log to check.
The 7 types of timeline events
Order Editing creates seven types of entries on the order timeline. Each one appears automatically when the relevant action happens.
1. Order edited
"Order Editing edited the details of this order."
This appears when a customer adds an item, removes an item, changes a quantity, or swaps a variant through Order Editing. Click the expand arrow to see exactly which line items changed, including products added, quantities adjusted, discounts applied, and the price difference.
The entry is always attributed to "Order Editing" (the app). If a staff member edited the order directly inside the Shopify admin (not through Order Editing), you'll see the staff member's name instead, and the order gets tagged oe-staff-edit as a warning.
ℹ️ Note: If the customer's edit qualifies them for automatic free shipping, a staff note reading "Customer qualifies for free shipping" is attached to this entry.
2. Shipping address updated
"Order Editing updated the shipping address for this order."
This appears when a customer changes their delivery address through Order Editing. Expanding the entry shows the old and new address. Shopify generates this text automatically.
When this happens, Order Editing also adds the tag orderediting:shipping to the order and fires a Shopify Flow trigger so your workflows can react to the address change.
3. Invoice sent
"Order Editing sent invoice #123456OL to Jane Smith (jane@example.com)"
This appears when a customer adds items that cost extra, creating an outstanding balance. Order Editing sends a payment invoice to the customer. The invoice number and customer details are pulled from the order automatically.
ℹ️ Note: If you've enabled Disable Order Editing Email Notifications, the invoice is still recorded on the timeline but the customer won't receive the email.
4. Fulfilment hold placed or released
"Order Editing marked 1 item as on hold."
"Order Editing released their hold on 1 item."
These appear when Order Editing places or removes a fulfilment hold on the order. Expanding the entry shows the hold reason. Here are all the messages you might see:
Situation | Hold reason shown |
Customer added items, awaiting payment | "OrderEditing holds orders automatically when the customer updates their order with new products. It'll be auto-released after the payment." |
Customer submitted a contact form | "OrderEditing holds orders automatically when you receive a contact form from the customer. Remove the orderediting tag to release the holds." |
Cancellation or refund being processed | "OrderEditing holds orders before cancellations and refunds are processed as a precaution. Holds will be removed after the cancellation or refund is processed." |
Draft order created to replace this one | "This order is on-hold because a draft order was created to replace the order. Holds will be removed after the draft order is completed or abandoned." |
Error capturing payment | "There was an error capturing the payment for the order. The order's hold will be released after the outstanding balance becomes zero." |
Error refunding outstanding balance | "There was an error refunding the outstanding balance owed to the customer. The order's hold will be released after the outstanding balance becomes zero." |
Refund could not be issued | "OrderEditing could not refund the outstanding balance owed to the customer. Please manually refund the order if needed. The order's hold will be released after the outstanding balance becomes zero." |
Payment processor blocked cancellation | "OrderEditing received double-opt-in to cancel the order but a payments processor error prevented cancellation. Order placed on-hold for customer support review." |
Error cancelling after draft payment | "There was an error cancelling the order after the draft payment was made. We'll put both orders on-hold as precaution for staff to manually review." |
Shopify Flow hold preserved | "This order already has a hold created by Shopify Flow. OrderEditing will persist the hold across new fulfillment orders." |
Tag-based hold rule triggered | "Your account automatically puts orders on hold when it contains a specific tag. The hold will persist until the order editing deadline is over or the tag is removed." |
Order qualifies for editing | "This order is on hold because it qualifies for editing. To remove the hold early, use the app block at the bottom of the order and click 'disable editing'." You may also see a version with an exact expiry, for example: "Order held for editing until Mar 31, 2026 at 2:00 PM AEDT." |
ℹ️ Note: The three payment error holds (rows 5, 6, and 7 above) are different stages of the same problem. "Error capturing payment" means Order Editing couldn't collect money from the customer's card. "Error refunding outstanding balance" means Order Editing tried to send money back but the request failed. "Refund could not be issued" means the refund request went through but Shopify rejected it. All three resolve automatically once the outstanding balance reaches zero.
💡 Tip: An order can have multiple holds at the same time. For example, an order with a tag-based hold and an outstanding payment balance will show two separate hold entries, each with its own reason. Each hold is released independently.
💡 Tip: If you've enabled Disable Order Holds in your Order Editing settings, hold and release entries won't appear on the timeline at all.
5. Payment captured
When a customer pays an outstanding balance after adding items, you'll see a sequence of entries like this:
"Order Editing's capture of $24.95 USD using a Visa ending in 1234 via Shop Pay is pending."
"Order Editing captured $24.95 USD using a Visa ending in 1234 via Shop Pay."
"$24.95 USD will be added to your May 5, 2026 payout."
These entries are generated entirely by Shopify. Order Editing triggers the capture, and Shopify fills in the payment method details, card information, and payout schedule automatically.
6. Order cancelled
"Order cancelled"
This appears when a customer cancels their order through Order Editing's cancellation flow. A staff note is attached to the cancellation with details about the reason. Here are the messages you might see:
Situation | Staff note on timeline |
Customer-requested cancellation | "[Reason] [Message] Cancelled by OrderEditing." For example: "Changed my mind. I no longer need this. Cancelled by OrderEditing." |
Refund processing cancellation | "Cancelled by OrderEditing." |
Retry after failed hold | "OrderEditing: Retry cancellation after FAILED_ORDER_CANCELLATION hold." |
Customer switched payment methods | "The customer switched payment methods from order #1234 to #1235." |
Address change triggered higher taxes | "The customer was charged higher taxes for their order. The order was replaced with a new order with the correct taxes." |
Address change triggered lower taxes | "The customer was charged lower taxes for their order. The order was replaced with a new order with the correct taxes." |
Unknown compliance reason | "The order was replaced with a new order due to an unknown compliance reason." |
ℹ️ Note: The Disable Order Cancellation Notifications setting controls whether the customer receives a cancellation email. The timeline entry always appears regardless.
7. Customer support message
When a customer submits a message through the contact form in Order Editing, the following happens:
- The order gets tagged
orderediting:message. - Two order attributes are added (visible in the order's additional details section): Support Reason and Support Message.
- A Shopify Flow trigger fires so your workflows can route the message to your support team.
- If Hold Orders with Support Tickets is enabled, a fulfilment hold is placed on the order (see hold reasons in section 4 above).
ℹ️ Note: The message content doesn't appear directly on the timeline. It's stored in the order attributes and routed through Shopify Flow.
Where to find timeline events
Order Editing's timeline events appear in several places across your Shopify admin:
Location | What you'll see |
Order detail page, Timeline section | All 7 event types listed above |
Order detail page, Tags | Action tags like |
Order detail page, Additional details | Order attributes like Support Reason and Support Message |
Order detail page, Fulfilment section | Hold reasons with expanded messages |
Order Editing dashboard | Edit history (read from order data, not the Shopify timeline) |
Settings that affect timeline events
Several Order Editing settings control what appears on the timeline and whether customers receive notifications:
Setting | What it controls |
Disable Order Editing Email Notifications | Invoice email not sent to customer, but the timeline entry still appears. |
Disable Order Cancellation Notifications | Cancellation email not sent, but the timeline entry still appears. |
Disable Order Holds | Hold and release timeline entries won't appear at all. |
Hold Orders with Support Tickets | Adds a hold entry when a customer submits a contact form message. |
Disable Contact Form | Contact form unavailable, so no contact-related timeline entries. |
Disable All Order Attribute Updates | Support Reason and Support Message attributes won't be written to the order. |
Disable Restocking | Controls whether inventory is restocked on cancellation. |
Order tags applied with timeline events
When Order Editing creates a timeline event, it also applies one or more tags to the order. These tags let you filter orders in the Shopify admin and trigger Shopify Flow workflows. Here's how the timeline events map to tags:
Timeline event | Tags applied |
Order edited (item added) |
|
Order edited (item removed) |
|
Order edited (quantity changed) |
|
Order edited (variant swapped) |
|
Shipping address updated |
|
Order cancelled |
|
Fulfilment hold placed |
|
Customer support message |
|
Staff edited order in Shopify admin |
|
Upsell accepted |
|
Payment error requiring support |
|
💡 Tip: The orderediting base tag is applied to every edit, regardless of type. Use it in Shopify Flow as a catch-all trigger for any order change.
For the complete list of all Order Editing tags, see Order Editing Tags.
FAQ
Does Order Editing have its own activity log?
No. Order Editing writes everything to Shopify's native order timeline. There's no separate activity log to check. Everything your team needs is in the standard Shopify admin order view.
Why does the timeline say "Order Editing" instead of the customer's name?
All edits made through Order Editing are attributed to "Order Editing" (the app). This is how Shopify records changes made by apps. If you see a staff member's name instead, it means they edited the order directly in the Shopify admin, not through Order Editing.
Can I turn off timeline events?
You can't turn off individual timeline entries. However, you can disable the features that create them. For example, turning off order holds means hold and release entries won't appear. Disabling the contact form means no contact-related entries are created.
I see a hold reason I don't understand. What should I do?
Check the hold reasons table in section 4 above to find the exact message and what triggered it. If the hold is related to a payment error, it will resolve automatically once the outstanding balance reaches zero. For any hold you can't resolve, start a live chat from within Order Editing app.
