| Term | Plain-English definition |
|---|---|
| Advanced mode | A shipping mode where checkout creates a draft shipment only; you review the packages and confirm it in the admin before any label is bought. See Open Ship. |
| AIV | The abbreviation the plugin uses for the tracking webhook feed — you will see it in the Tracking Webhooks (AIV) section on the Tracking tab. See Tracking webhooks. |
| API key / Client ID | The public half of the credential pair that identifies your store to FedEx. You paste it into Settings → Authorization. See Credentials. |
| Commercial invoice | The customs form that lists what an international package contains and what it is worth. The plugin fills it in automatically from the order. |
| Customs | The check every international shipment goes through at the border, where paperwork is inspected and duties and taxes are decided. |
| Declared value | The monetary value attached to a package or commodity line. The plugin takes it from the product prices on the order; in Advanced mode you can set it per package. |
| Daily quota | The number of FedEx checkouts your plan allows per day: 10 on Free, 100 on Premium, unlimited on Golden. It resets itself at midnight, your store’s local time. |
| Developer portal | FedEx’s website at developer.fedex.com where you create projects and get your API keys. |
| Dimensional weight | A pricing rule that charges a big-but-light package by its size instead of its weight. FedEx decides it; the plugin also ships a calculator your customers can use. |
| Electronic Trade Documents (ETD) | Sending customs paperwork to FedEx digitally instead of printing it and attaching it to the box. See International and ETD. |
| FedEx API | The connection the plugin uses to talk to FedEx: it sends addresses and package details, and FedEx sends back prices, labels, and tracking updates. |
| Freight (LTL) | “Less-Than-Truckload” shipping for pallets that are too big for normal parcels. FedEx LTL Freight services can appear at checkout when FedEx quotes them for a heavy cart. |
| HPOS | High-Performance Order Storage — WooCommerce’s modern way of saving orders in its own database tables. The plugin works with it. |
| HS code | An international product-classification code (Harmonized System) used on customs paperwork. The plugin reads it from a hidden product field or suggests it from the product name. See International ETD. |
| Instant mode | The default shipping mode: a label is bought automatically the moment the customer checks out. See Instant labels. |
| Label rotation | A setting on the Labeling tab that turns the printed label sideways or upside down so it fits your printer or label stock. See Labeling. |
| Liftgate | A lift on the delivery truck that lowers heavy freight to the ground when there is no loading dock. The plugin recognizes the option for freight, but this version has no setting where you can request it. |
| Master tracking number | The one tracking number that covers every package in a multi-piece shipment. Each package also gets its own number. |
| Multi-Piece Shipment (MPS) | One shipment made up of several packages, shipped under one master tracking number. See Multi-piece shipments. |
| Negotiated rates | The discounted prices FedEx agrees with your account, instead of its published retail prices. The plugin requests them when you select ACCOUNT, INCENTIVE, or PREFERRED under Rate Request Type. See Shipping settings. |
| One Rate | A FedEx pricing option with flat prices for shipments that use FedEx packaging. The plugin can add a One Rate comparison to checkout rates; it is off by default and enabled by a developer setting. See Options and stored data. |
| Open Ship | FedEx’s draft-then-confirm way of shipping: packages are prepared and adjusted first, then confirmed to create the labels. |
| Product Box | Box templates you define — size, empty weight, which products fit — that the plugin uses to split an order into packages on the label. They do not change checkout prices. See Product Box. |
| Production | FedEx’s live environment, where labels cost real money and move real packages. |
| Rate cache | The plugin keeps each FedEx price quote for 10 minutes so a shopper sees the same price from cart to order. Saving any Settings tab refreshes the quotes. See Checkout rates. |
| REST API | The standard modern way programs talk over the web, using ordinary web addresses and simple JSON data. All the FedEx interfaces the plugin uses are REST. |
| Sandbox | FedEx’s free practice environment. Test labels are real files, but they never move a package and cost nothing. See Credentials. |
| Secret key / Client Secret | The private half of your credential pair. Treat it like a password and never share it. See Security. |
| Shared secret | A shared password that proves tracking updates really came from FedEx: FedEx signs each delivery with a code (HMAC-SHA256) made from this password, and the plugin checks it. You set it in Settings → Tracking. See Webhooks. |
| Shipping label | The PDF with the barcode that goes on the box. The plugin stores labels in a protected folder that WordPress manages for you. |
| Shipping method | What customers choose at checkout. You add the plugin’s method, named Fedex Shipping, to a WooCommerce shipping zone. See Shipping method. |
| Shipping rate | The price quoted for one shipping service for one cart. See Checkout rates. |
| Shipping service | The actual FedEx product being bought, like FedEx Ground® or FedEx 2Day®. The names at checkout come from FedEx itself. |
| Shipping zone | A WooCommerce group of countries, states, or postcodes. Shipping methods added to a zone are offered to customers whose address matches it. |
| SPOD | Signature Proof of Delivery — the signature or photo record FedEx captured when the package was dropped off. Download it from the shipment’s row when FedEx has one. |
| Tracking number | The number FedEx uses to follow one package on its journey. See Tracking. |
| Webhook | A way for FedEx to push news to your store automatically — “out for delivery”, “delivered” — instead of your store asking over and over. See Webhooks. |
Quick start
From install to your first test label in one sitting.
Credentials
Sandbox and production keys, and where each one goes.
Troubleshooting
Problem-first fixes when something does not work as described.