--- title: "Editing Rules and Automations" description: "Use rules to change editing time and available features for matching orders." url: https://docs.orderediting.com/en/articles/14121935-editing-rules-and-automations collection: "Editing Rules" updated: 2026-11-06 language: en --- # Editing Rules and Automations Use rules to change editing time and available features for matching orders. # What editing rules do **Editing Rules and Automations** let you replace the store-wide editing behaviour for a specific order journey. A rule can change the editing cutoff and add operational or customer-facing actions when its conditions match. Open **App Settings**, select **Global settings**, then open **Editing Rules and Automations**. Use a rule when one group of orders needs different treatment. Common examples include: - blocking edits for same-day fulfilment; - extending edits for pre-orders; - giving weekend orders a next-business-day cutoff; - holding matching orders while editing is open; - limiting features for B2B, subscription, pickup, or point-of-sale orders; - adding tags, customer messages, forms, automations, or fulfilment routing. # Understand the parts of a rule Every rule has four main parts:

Part

Purpose

Where does this apply?

Chooses the purchase journey: On Product Pages, At checkout, or Post-Purchase.

Matching conditions

Identifies the products, customer, order, destination, timing, or channel that should match.

Editing action

Keeps the store default cutoff, blocks editing, schedules a cutoff, sets a custom window, or allows editing until fulfilment.

Additional actions

Adds order handling, customer experience, or advanced behaviour.

Product-page and checkout rules run before a completed order exists, so they offer fewer conditions and actions than a post-purchase rule. # Available matching conditions The condition picker includes: - product and order contents, including shipping lines, line-item titles, product tags, total, subtotal, item quantity, free items, and discount codes; - customer information, including email domain, logged-in status, customer tags, B2B status, purchasing company, and company location; - destination and delivery information, including included or excluded destinations, postal codes, address-validation result, pickup orders, and shipping-method count; - timing, including day of week, time window, and order-created date; - order context, including payment terms, recurring subscriptions, order tags, note attributes, point-of-sale orders, order location, and sales channel. Select whether **all** conditions or **any** condition must match. Use **all** when every requirement is essential. Use **any** when each condition independently qualifies the order. # Available editing actions

Editing action

Use it when

Store default

The rule should add other behaviour without changing the default editing window.

Block editing immediately

Matching orders must not be edited.

Scheduled cutoff

Editing should end at a selected time on the same day, next business day, weekday, or date.

Custom editing deadline

Editing should end after a fixed number of minutes, hours, or business days.

Until fulfilled

Editing may remain open until Shopify marks the order fulfilled.

Scheduled cutoffs also use a time and timezone. Test around the cutoff and daylight-saving changes if your operation spans timezones. # Available additional actions The searchable **What happens when orders match?** section groups actions into: - **Order handling**: Tag Management, Hold Orders, and Order Re-Routing. - **Customer experience**: Customer message, removing product modules and app features, Contact form, and Cancellation form. - **Advanced**: Editing automations and Combine with other editing rules. Some actions depend on the purchase phase or editing action. For example, feature removal is unavailable when the rule blocks editing immediately, and **Combine with other editing rules** is available only when the rule uses the store's default deadline. Post-purchase rules can also expose geographic restrictions. Stores connected to ShipHero can see a setting that holds matching orders in ShipHero while a time-based editing window remains open. # When rule tags are added to orders When a matching rule uses **Tag Management**, the tags in **Tags to apply** are added to a matching order as soon as the order is created. This includes rules that block editing immediately, so a Shopify Flow that waits for one of those tags can run straight away, before the order is fulfilled. - If the rule's tags include `orderediting:expired`, that tag is added at creation only when editing has already ended for the order, for example because the rule blocks editing immediately. For a rule whose deadline is still ahead, the other tags are added at creation and `orderediting:expired` is added when editing actually ends. - Tags already on the order are not added again. ## Rule tags while Order Editing is in draft mode While Order Editing is in draft mode, rule tags are added only to orders placed with an email address from one of your **Staff email domains** or your store's myshopify.com domain. Customer orders don't get rule tags, so Flows that listen for those tags don't run on real customer orders before you go live. This matches how holds behave in draft mode. To test a tag-based Flow before launch, place the order with a staff email address. # How overlapping rules are evaluated - Draft or disabled rules do not affect customers. - More than one active rule can match an order. - The matching rule with the shortest calculated editing deadline becomes the primary rule. - A matching rule with **Combine with other editing rules** can add eligible settings alongside the primary rule. - The store-wide Editing Time is used when no active rule replaces it. This is different from upsell-strategy matching. Editing rules choose the safest applicable deadline, not a marketing-specificity score. # Manage rules The main page contains your rule table, **Create Editing Rule**, import and export actions, and a template gallery. Use the create menu to: - **Create from scratch**; - **Create from template**; - **Duplicate existing**, when at least one rule exists. The edit page lets you change a rule between **Draft** and **Active**. A duplicated or opposite rule starts as Draft so it can be reviewed before affecting customers. Use export before a large rules change or when moving a reviewed configuration between stores. Review imported rules, integrations, locations, and timezones before activating them. # Before enabling a rule 1. Write down the exact orders and purchase phase that should match. 2. Check whether another active rule can match the same order. 3. Build the smallest set of conditions that expresses the policy. 4. Confirm the editing action and every additional action. 5. Choose an existing eligible order that should match and one that should not. 6. Check the customer message, deadline, available features, order tags, holds, routing, and connected systems. 7. Keep the rule in **Draft** until both results are correct, or immediately return a newly published rule to Draft while testing if necessary. 8. Set the reviewed rule to **Active**. Refresh the same customer pages after changing the rule. Create a new order only when the rule depends on creation-time data and no existing controlled order represents the required case. For the full creation flow, see [Creating Editing Rules and Automations](/docs/en/articles/15320737-creating-editing-rules-and-automations). # Frequently asked questions ## Which rule wins when several match? The matching rule with the shortest calculated editing deadline is primary. Matching combination rules can add their configured behaviour when eligible. ## Why can I not add a condition or action? The chosen purchase phase or editing action may not support it. Product-page and checkout rules have less order data than post-purchase rules. ## Can one rule apply on product pages and at checkout? Yes. Those before-order phases can be selected together. **Post-Purchase** is exclusive from them. ## What happens when no rule matches? The order uses the store-wide settings, including the default Editing Time. ## Why didn't my test order get the rule's tags? If Order Editing is in draft mode, only orders placed with a staff email domain or your myshopify.com domain receive rule tags. Check that the rule is **Active**, that the order matches its conditions, and that the email used for the order belongs to one of your **Staff email domains**. ## Related - [Creating Editing Rules and Automations](https://docs.orderediting.com/en/articles/15320737-creating-editing-rules-and-automations.md) - [Order Editing Rule Examples](https://docs.orderediting.com/en/articles/15320742-order-editing-rule-examples.md)