FAQ

Formhouse PackLedger helps Shopify merchants collect packaging component data (materials, weights, roles, recycled content, and market applicability), score catalog readiness, sync a summary metafield to variants, and export documentation-oriented CSV reports.

No. Formhouse PackLedger is a documentation and readiness tool. It does not certify compliance with EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) or any other law, and it does not replace counsel, notified bodies, or market-specific regulatory review.

Readiness means how completely packaging fields are filled for your variants under Formhouse PackLedger’s published scoring rules. A high score means data completeness for documentation workflows—not a legal determination that packaging is compliant.

You (the merchant) and your advisors remain responsible for material classifications, weight accuracy, recycled-content claims, labeling, and any filings required in specific jurisdictions.

1) Finish onboarding and accept the disclaimer. 2) Sync catalog (and markets if prompted). 3) Create packaging templates for components you reuse. 4) Work the Action queue (lowest completeness first)—or Catalog → product → Edit variant. 5) Clear gaps until the queue shrinks. 6) Generate a Catalog readiness report. 7) Export CSV when you need a shareable artifact. 8) Keep Settings disclaimer/markets updated as your process evolves.

Open Action queue from the app nav (or Dashboard). It lists variants below 80% completeness, worst first. Filter by No packaging / Missing data, or by a missing field (e.g. weight, recycled content). Search by product, variant, or SKU. Click Fix (or the title) to open the variant editor. Progress shows queue size, ready count, current average completeness, and change vs your last report.

Dashboard shows Progress (queue + completeness vs last report), catalog KPIs, a short Action queue preview, recent reports, and Next actions (Sync, templates, import, reports). Click a queue item or report name to open it.

From Dashboard choose Sync catalog, or open Catalog and use Sync catalog there. Wait for the sync to finish, then refresh the catalog list. Re-sync after large product changes in Shopify so Formhouse PackLedger snapshots stay current.

Go to Catalog → Open a product → Edit on the variant. Under Add component, enter name, role (usually PRIMARY), material, weight in grams, and optional recycled % / flags / notes → Save component. The Summary completeness and missing fields update after save. Add more components (label, shipper, etc.) as needed.

Open Templates → fill Create template (name, material, role, default weight, flags, notes) → Create template. Later, on a variant page, choose the template under Apply template → Copy from template. Click a library template name to edit it. Deleting a template does not remove packaging already applied to variants.

Open the product from Catalog. On the source variant row, use Copy to siblings. That replaces packaging on the other variants of that product with the source variant’s components and recomputes their summaries.

Open Import → Download CSV template → fill rows (prefer variant_gid; SKU works when unique) → choose Append or Replace → upload → Import CSV. Review the Result counts and any row errors. Recent imports lists past jobs. Same file + mode is idempotent (safe to retry).

Open Reports → choose Catalog readiness or Market readiness → Generate report. You land on the report detail with a summary and Download CSV when available. From Dashboard or Reports History, click the report name to reopen it.

Open Export → Export packaging records or Export variant summaries. Use Download on the success banner or in Recent exports. Same-day exports of the same kind reuse the existing file (idempotent).

Settings → General: locale, EU markets mode, report disclaimer → Save preferences (you’ll see a confirmation banner). Settings → Markets / Privacy / Failed jobs for those areas. Settings → Billing to view plan status and approve PackLedger Base when required for full write/report features.

Check Settings → Failed jobs for webhook/background failures. Re-sync catalog if products look stale. Confirm billing is active if Save/Generate is blocked. See Troubleshooting below for blank pages, downloads, and deep-link tips.

Complete onboarding (disclaimer, preferences, catalog sync, markets, billing confirmation), then follow How to use Formhouse PackLedger above—start with a few representative variants, templates, and one readiness report.

Formhouse PackLedger stores product/variant snapshots locally so packaging data, completeness scoring, imports, and reports stay fast and auditable. Sync pulls current Shopify catalog data into those snapshots.

read_products and write_products (catalog + packaging summary metafield), and read_markets (market snapshots for applicability). Formhouse PackLedger does not read orders or customer PII for packaging workflows.

To a JSON variant metafield under the packledger namespace (packaging_summary). The database remains the source of truth if metafield sync fails temporarily.

One physical packaging element for a variant—e.g. primary bottle, label, shipper, insert. Each component has a role, material, weight in grams, optional recycled content %, reusable/refillable flags, notes, and optional market applicability.

PRIMARY, SECONDARY, TERTIARY, SHIPPING, INSERT, LABEL, or OTHER. Use PRIMARY for the main sales-unit packaging. Shipping packaging is usually SHIPPING.

v1 standardizes on grams to keep imports, reports, and completeness scoring deterministic. Convert from other units before entry.

Templates store default material/role/weight/flags you can copy onto a variant. Edit a template from the library (click its name). Applying a template creates a packaging record; it does not auto-update past applications.

Yes. On the product page, use “Copy to siblings” on a source variant to replace sibling packaging with that variant’s records and recompute summaries.

Deterministic rules (capped at 100): 40 for ≥1 component; +15 all have role; +15 all have material; +15 all have weight > 0; +10 market applicability (or shop default markets apply); +5 recycled content populated on all components. Empty variants score 0 with missing field no_packaging_records.

Check Missing fields on the variant summary—common gaps are market applicability, recycled content %, or a missing PRIMARY role.

No. It only means Formhouse PackLedger’s required documentation fields for that variant are filled under current scoring rules.

You can use all Shopify markets or a selected subset in Settings. Market snapshots come from Shopify. Component market applicability is optional metadata for reports—not a legal market authorization.

Catalog readiness summarizes packaging completeness across the catalog. Market readiness focuses summaries using configured target markets. Neither is a legal market clearance.

On Import, use Download CSV template. It downloads from /app/import/template without replacing the Import page.

Append adds rows for matched variants. Replace clears existing packaging for matched variants before inserting the file’s rows. Same file hash + mode is idempotent.

Prefer variant_gid (Shopify GID). SKU matching is supported when unambiguous. Unmatched or invalid rows appear in the import result errors list.

Export creates a CSV job. Use Download on the success banner or in Recent exports. Same-day re-exports of the same kind reuse the existing job.

A summary JSON (counts, average completeness, top missing fields, material coverage, disclaimer) plus a CSV artifact when generation succeeds.

Report detail URLs use /app/report/:id (singular) so they are not remapped by Admin navigation to the Reports list. Open reports from the History list or Dashboard recent reports.

No. Treat them as internal documentation aids. Always attach your own review before sharing externally.

The v1 recurring Formhouse PackLedger plan (€89 / 30 days; in-app name PackLedger Base) for core reporting, exports, and packaging saves beyond limited preview. Charges begin when you approve the Shopify subscription.

Read paths may still load, but writes and report generation are gated. Open Settings → Billing to approve or reconcile the subscription.

A development bypass used on development stores / test mode so you can exercise the full product without a live charge.

Shop domain, catalog snapshots, packaging records/templates, preferences, billing status fields, import/export/report jobs, webhook receipts, and audit logs. See Settings → Privacy for merchant-facing notes.

Queued webhook or background work that failed processing. Review in Settings → Failed jobs and retry when appropriate after fixing root causes (e.g. temporary API errors).

Uninstall marks the shop uninstalled and cancels plan status. Follow your data-retention policy / privacy settings for purge workflows; use operational purge scripts only with care.

Embedded redirects must keep shop/host query params. Hard-refresh the app from Apps → Formhouse PackLedger. If it persists after an update, re-open the app from Admin navigation.

Deep links now use /app/template/:id and /app/report/:id with in-app AppLink navigation to avoid Admin remapping list routes. Hard-refresh after updating.

Fixed by serving the template from /app/import/template instead of returning CSV as Import loader data. Use the Download button again after refresh.

Confirm the component saved (appears in Components). If metafield sync fails, DB scoring still updates—reload the variant page. Weights must be > 0.

Email mikkelbeier@hotmail.com. Include shop domain, approximate time, and the page URL path (not secrets or access tokens).