You set everything up. You connected WooCommerce, installed the plugin, and tested checkout — then a customer emails you: no ticket arrived. Or you check the order yourself and the QR code is simply missing. If you’re troubleshooting an event tickets plugin not working, you’re not alone. This is one of the most common support questions we get, and in the vast majority of cases, the fix takes under two minutes. Here’s what to check, in order.
Why Your WooCommerce Tickets Are Not Showing Up
The ticketing system in Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner works on top of WooCommerce — which means there are a few specific configuration points where things can silently break. Unlike a simple product, a ticket has to be linked to a ticket list, have ticket sales enabled, and be triggered by the right order status. If any one of those three things is misconfigured, the customer gets a normal WooCommerce order confirmation — but no ticket.
Let’s walk through each cause and exactly where to click to fix it.
[SCREENSHOT: WooCommerce order with no ticket attached, showing a standard order confirmation email]
Reason #1 — The Ticket List Is Not Linked to Your Product
Every ticket in Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner belongs to a ticket list. A ticket list is a separate entity — you create it under the “Event Tickets” menu in your WordPress admin, and then assign it to one or more WooCommerce products. If that assignment is missing, the plugin has no way of knowing that this product should generate tickets.
To check this:
- Open the WooCommerce product that should be selling tickets.
- Scroll down to the Event Tickets meta box below the product editor.
- Look for the ticket list selector — it should show a list you’ve already created.
- If the field is empty, open your ticket list and make sure this product is associated.
[SCREENSHOT: Product editor showing the Event Tickets meta box with the ticket list dropdown — one empty, one correctly filled]
This is the single most common cause of missing tickets, especially right after install. The plugin does not automatically attach a ticket list to new products — you have to make that connection manually.
Reason #2 — Ticket Sales Are Disabled on the Product
Even if a ticket list is linked, there’s a separate toggle that controls whether ticket sales are active for that specific product. This is by design — it lets you set up the configuration in advance and switch it on right before your event goes on sale, without having to rebuild the ticket list.
To check this:
- Inside the same Event Tickets section on the product page, look for the Ticket Sales toggle or checkbox.
- Make sure it’s switched on.
- Save the product and test with a new order.
[SCREENSHOT: Close-up of the Ticket Sales toggle inside the product’s Event Tickets section, showing off vs. on state]
If you’ve imported products or duplicated them from another store, this toggle often comes over as disabled. Always verify it on each product you want to sell tickets for.
Reason #3 — The Order Status Is Not Triggering Ticket Generation
This one surprises people the most. Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner generates and sends tickets only when an order reaches a specific status — by default, that’s Processing or Completed. If your WooCommerce store is configured to keep orders in Pending Payment or a custom status, tickets will never be sent — even though the product and list are configured correctly.
Where this breaks most often:
- Bank transfer / manual payment gateways — these leave orders in “Pending Payment” until you manually mark them paid. Tickets only go out after you update the status.
- Custom order statuses — if you’ve added a custom WooCommerce status (e.g., via a third-party plugin), the ticket trigger may not fire.
- Free orders — some setups handle £0 or 100%-discount orders differently. Check whether these transition to “Completed” automatically.
To fix this: go to WooCommerce → Orders, find the relevant order, and manually set it to Processing or Completed. If a ticket was supposed to go out, it will be generated at that point. The customer will receive the QR code ticket via the order confirmation email, with a download link for the PDF.
[SCREENSHOT: WooCommerce order detail page showing the order status dropdown set to “Processing”]
Still Not Working? Three More Things to Check
If you’ve verified all three of the above and tickets are still missing, here are a few additional things worth ruling out before reaching out to support:
- Email deliverability — the ticket is delivered inside the WooCommerce order email. If that email isn’t arriving at all, the issue is your SMTP/email setup, not the ticket plugin. Install a transactional email plugin (e.g., WP Mail SMTP) and test.
- Caching — some caching plugins or server-level caches can interfere with WooCommerce checkout. Try a fresh order in an incognito window or temporarily disable your cache.
- Plugin conflicts — deactivate other plugins temporarily and test with a default WooCommerce theme. If tickets appear, re-enable plugins one by one to find the conflict.
- WooCommerce version compatibility — check that your version of WooCommerce is supported. The plugin page on WordPress.org lists tested versions.
- PDF download link vs. attachment — in the free version, tickets arrive as a download link inside the email, not as an attached PDF file. If your customer says “the PDF wasn’t attached,” that’s expected behavior in the free version. PDF email attachments are a Premium feature.
[SCREENSHOT: Order confirmation email showing the ticket download link inside the email body]
How Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner Is Built to Avoid These Issues
Once configured correctly, the system is designed to be as hands-off as possible. Every WooCommerce product can become a ticket — you’re not limited to a specific product type. The plugin generates a unique QR code per ticket, makes it downloadable as a PDF, and sends it automatically with the order email the moment the order hits Processing or Completed.
At the door, your team opens the built-in ticket scanner in any mobile browser — no app download required. It can also be installed as a PWA (Progressive Web App) from the browser, which adds a home screen icon, fullscreen mode, and haptic feedback on scan. For events with assigned seating, the visual seating plan designer lets you build your venue layout with drag and drop, and customers select their seats during checkout — blocked in real time so no seat can be double-booked.
Multi-entry tickets, family tickets, day chooser for multi-date events, membership passes with expiration dates — these are all part of the free version. If you need PDF attachments in emails, team scanner access via auth tokens without requiring WordPress logins, or advanced ticket templates, those are available in Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner — Premium.
Fix Your Event Tickets Plugin and Get Back to Selling
The three-step checklist covers the vast majority of cases where an event tickets plugin not working issue appears: link the ticket list, enable ticket sales, and confirm the order status triggers are correct. Each fix takes about thirty seconds. If you’re still stuck after going through all of these, the plugin’s documentation at vollstart.com/event-tickets-with-ticket-scanner/ covers advanced configuration scenarios, and support is available for licensed users.
Ready to get started or move to a fresh install?
- Download Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner — free on WordPress.org
- Upgrade to Premium for PDF email attachments, team scanner access, advanced templates, and more.