Overview #
Max Orders Per Day is a WP Cafe Pro feature that caps how many orders a location accepts in a day. It works at three levels: an overall limit that counts every order, and a separate limit each for Pickup orders and Delivery orders. You can set all three globally as your site’s default, or override them for one specific location.
Without this control, a busy day can overload your kitchen, or one order type (say Delivery) can crowd out another (Pickup) even while your kitchen still has room. Max Orders Per Day lets you protect both the total and each order type on its own.
Requirements #
- WooCommerce, active and configured
- WP Cafe Pro, with an activated Pro license
- Pickup and/or Delivery module turned on, if limiting those order types
- Optional: Locations module, for a per-branch limit
Step 1: Set the global daily order limit #
Go to WP Cafe > Settings > Schedule. On the main Weekly Schedule, open the day you want to limit (for example Tuesday) and find the Max Orders (Day) field next to that day’s time slots.
Enter the number of orders that day should accept in total, counting Pickup, Delivery, and Dine-in together. Leave it empty for no limit that day. This is the default for your whole site, so any location without its own override follows this number.
Step 2: Choose which order statuses count toward the limit #
Still on WP Cafe > Settings > Schedule, below the Weekly Schedule, find the Order Limit — Count Orders With Status card. Pick the WooCommerce order statuses that should count toward each day’s limit, for example Processing, Completed, and On hold.
An order only uses up a slot in the daily limit if it is in one of the statuses you select here. By default, WP Cafe counts Pending, Processing, and Completed orders. If you leave a status like Cancelled or Refunded out of the list, an order that ends up there stops counting and frees up a slot for someone else.
This is a single, site-wide setting. It applies to the overall limit and to the Pickup and Delivery limits everywhere on your site, there is no separate status list per location or per order type.
Step 3: Override the limit for one location #
If a specific location needs its own numbers, go to WP Cafe > Locations, open that location, and turn on Override Default Weekly Global Schedule. The same Max Orders (Day) field appears on each day row here, and it sets that location’s overall daily limit.
You can do the same for Pickup and Delivery on that location’s page. Turn on Override Default Schedule for Pickup, and a Max Orders (Day) field appears next to the Pickup time slots for that day, this one only counts Pickup orders. Turn on Override Default Schedule for Delivery for the same field on the Delivery side, it works exactly the same way, just for Delivery orders.
A location’s own limit, general or Pickup or Delivery, takes priority over the global one for that day. If the location leaves a day empty, WP Cafe falls back to the global schedule for that order type.
Step 4: Or override Pickup and Delivery globally, without touching each location #
If setting up every location one by one is more than you want, you can override the Pickup and Delivery schedules once, globally, instead. Go to WP Cafe > Settings > Schedule and turn on Override Default Schedule for Pickup (and Delivery). Set the Max Orders (Day) field there, and it applies to every location that has not set its own Pickup or Delivery override.
| Note: The Max Orders (Day) field sits right next to that day’s time slots, on the same row. When you set a number, double check the start and end time next to it are still what you want. It is easy to bump a time dropdown while you are focused on the order count. |
Step 5: See what customers see at checkout #
Once a Pickup or Delivery limit is reached for the day, that order type stays visible in the checkout order type selector, but its radio button turns gray and cannot be selected. A short message appears next to it, for example “Sorry, Pickup isn’t accepting more orders today. Try Delivery or another order type.”
The order type does not disappear, since the limit only applies for that day and resets tomorrow. This is different from turning Pickup or Delivery off entirely in WP Cafe settings, which removes the option from checkout completely.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) #
| Q1: A location’s Pickup count is still under its limit, but checkout still blocks the order. Why?The overall daily limit for the location has likely been reached. That limit counts every order, Pickup, Delivery, and Dine-in together, so it can block a new order even while Pickup or Delivery’s own count is still low. Think of it as your kitchen’s total capacity, which always applies on top of the Pickup and Delivery limits. |
| Q2: Does a Dine-in order count against my Pickup or Delivery limit?No. Dine-in orders only count toward the overall daily limit for the location. There is no separate Dine-in limit, since Dine-in does not compete with Pickup or Delivery capacity the way those two do with each other. |
| Q3: I entered a number in Max Orders (Day), but it will not save. What’s wrong?This field needs an activated WP Cafe Pro license, not just the Pro plugin installed. On a site without an active license, the field looks editable but the value never saves. Go to WP Cafe > Settings > License and confirm your license is active, then try again. |
Conclusion #
Max Orders Per Day gives you one overall daily limit plus separate Pickup and Delivery limits, set globally or per location, so your kitchen’s total capacity and each order type stay protected at the same time. Start with the global limit in Settings > Schedule, then override a location or an order type only where you actually need something different.
