Documentation
Complete guide for installing, configuring, and using Gift Cards for Amelia (v2.0.0).
Requirements
- WordPress 5.0 or higher
- PHP 7.4 or higher
- Amelia Booking Plugin v9+ — any license (Starter, Standard, Pro, or Premium). Requires the Finance module (coupons).
- A Stripe or Square account — for payment processing
- SSL certificate — required for payments (HTTPS)
Installation
- Download the
amelia-gift-cards.zipfile from your LemonSqueezy account - Go to WordPress Admin → Plugins → Add New
- Click Upload Plugin and select the ZIP file
- Click Install Now, then Activate
After activation, you should see a "Gift Cards" menu in your WordPress admin sidebar.
Quick Start
Get your gift card system running in under 10 minutes:
- Activate the plugin — an admin notice appears with a link to the License page and information about the Divi module
- Configure payments — Stripe/Square auto-detected from Amelia (Pro/Premium) or enter keys manually
- Create a gift card type — go to Gift Cards → Types and create your first type
- Add the form to a page — insert
[agc_gift_card_form]on any page - Test a purchase — use test mode to verify everything works
Payment Setup
Stripe Setup
Automatic (Pro / Premium)
If you have Amelia Pro or Premium, the plugin automatically uses your existing Stripe configuration from Amelia. No additional setup required.
Manual (Starter / Standard)
If you have Amelia Starter or Standard:
- Go to Gift Cards → Settings → Payments
- Enter your Stripe Publishable Key and Secret Key
- Enable Test Mode for initial testing
- Click Save & Verify to test the connection
Square Setup
Square is also supported as a payment provider:
- Go to Gift Cards → Settings → Payments
- Select Square as your payment provider
- Enter your Square Application ID and Access Token
- Click Save & Verify to test the connection
General Settings
Navigate to Gift Cards → Settings → General to configure:
- Default Currency — auto-detected from your site, changeable
- Expiration Period — default 365 days
- Code Format — prefix and pattern for gift card codes (e.g., GC-XXXXXXX)
- Suggested Amounts — pre-defined amounts shown in the purchase form (editable since v1.1)
- Custom Amounts — allow customers to enter any amount within a min/max range
- Hide exclusions on the form — keep the « Not valid for the following » list off the public form (still shown on the success page and confirmation email). Added in v1.4.
Text & Language Presets
Every label, button and message on the public form and emails is editable. Open Gift Cards → Settings → Text and either translate strings one by one, or apply a one-click language preset:
- English — default
- French — added in v1.2
- Spanish — added in v1.2
- German — added in v1.3
Email Settings
Configure email delivery at Gift Cards → Settings → Email:
- From Name — sender name for emails
- From Email — sender email address
- Reply-To Email — where replies go
- Enable/disable specific email types (purchase confirmation, recipient notification, etc.)
Advanced Settings
- Debug Mode — enable detailed logging for troubleshooting
Customize Menu
Gift Cards → Customize brings every visual setting in one place. The menu has two tabs: Visual Template for the public purchase form, and Mail for the recipient and purchaser emails. Both tabs offer a live preview that reflects your changes as you edit. New in v2.0
Visual Template tab
Designs the public purchase form. Each of the 6 built-in templates (Spa, Restaurant, Beauty, Fitness, Medical, Generic) can be duplicated and edited independently — your customizations live alongside the originals so you can always revert.
- Duplicate / edit / delete templates without touching the originals
- Primary & secondary colors per template, with a live preview of the form
- Font — pick from 5 web-safe fonts (Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Verdana)
- Button style — 3D, Flat or Outline. Applied globally to step badges, amount selectors and action buttons.
- Visibility — disable templates you don't use to keep the gift card type selector tidy
Mail tab
Designs the recipient and purchaser emails. The colors come from the gift card type that's being sent — pick a type in the preview selector to see what each customer would actually receive.
Starter presets
Three one-click presets bundle typography, layout and spacing as a sensible starting point:
- Classic — serif heading, generous spacing, traditional look
- Minimal — sans-serif, tight spacing, thin colored band
- Bold — large header, heavy weight, prominent type
Typography
- Sizes in pixels — base, heading, code block
- Weights, line-height, letter-spacing
- Optional Google Fonts URL — paste a
@importURL; web-safe fallbacks always render if a mail client blocks the font
Layout
- Drag-and-drop sections — reorder header, greeting, message, code, details, summary, restrictions, footer
- Per-section visibility — hide what you don't need
- Per-section spacing — fine-grained padding/margin control
Branding
- Logo upload — JPG/PNG up to 500 KB (200×80 px recommended)
- Free-form footer HTML — for legal mentions, contact info or seasonal offers
- Social links — Twitter / X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok
- Custom CSS — for fine adjustments not covered by the controls above
Live preview
A gift card type selector at the top of the preview lets you instantly visualize the actual rendering for each type — no need to send test emails to verify your branding.
Creating Gift Card Types
Gift card types define the look, amounts, and restrictions for your gift cards.
- Go to Gift Cards → Types
- Click Add New Type
- Fill in the name, description, and select an email template
- Configure amounts and restrictions
- Save
Amounts & Pricing
For each type, you can configure:
- Suggested Amounts — pre-set buttons (e.g., $25, $50, $100, $200)
- Custom Amount — allow free-form entry with min/max limits
- Currency — override the default currency per type
Restrictions
Restrict gift cards to specific Amelia services:
- Services — limit to specific services
- Packages — limit to specific packages
- Events — limit to specific events
Email Templates
The plugin ships with 6 built-in templates. Each one defines a primary and secondary color, and the recipient email is automatically themed to match the gift card type that was bought:
- Spa & Wellness — calming greens
- Restaurant & Gastronomy — warm browns / oranges
- Beauty Salon — elegant pinks
- Fitness & Sport — energetic blues
- Health & Medical — professional teals
- Generic — versatile purples
To restyle a template — colors, font, button style, email typography and branding — use the new Customize menu. Duplicate any built-in template, edit it independently and the originals stay untouched.
Success Page
After a successful purchase, the buyer lands on a redesigned success page that visually matches the recipient email — a clean 600 px white card themed by the gift card type's primary/secondary colors. Redesigned in v1.5
- Prominent code box with a working copy-to-clipboard button
- Structured summary table — amount, recipient, expiration, restrictions
- Themed personal message and restrictions blocks
- Coupon-pending banner if the Amelia coupon is still being created
- How-to-use instructions and next-steps preserved from previous versions
WordPress Shortcode
Add the gift card purchase form to any page or post:
[agc_gift_card_form]
With Parameters
[agc_gift_card_form
title="Buy a Gift Card"
description="Give the perfect gift"
amounts="25,50,100,200"
allow_custom="yes"
min_amount="10"
max_amount="500"
currency="EUR"
css_class="my-custom-class"
]
Divi Builder Module
If you use the Divi theme, a native Gift Card module is available:
- Edit a page with Divi Builder
- Click Add Module and search for "Gift Card"
- Configure the design options (colors, fonts, spacing)
- Save and publish
Frontend Form
The purchase form guides customers through 3 steps:
- Choose Amount — select a preset or enter a custom amount
- Recipient Details — name, email, personal message
- Payment — secure Stripe or Square checkout with 3D Secure support
After payment, the recipient receives a beautifully designed email with their gift card code.
Dashboard
The dashboard (Gift Cards → Dashboard) provides:
- Sales Overview — total revenue, number of cards sold, average value
- Transaction History — filterable list of all transactions
- Email Stats — delivery rates, open rates
- Quick Actions — create manual cards, export data
Manual Gift Card Creation
Create gift cards directly from the admin:
- Go to Gift Cards → Add New
- Fill in the amount, recipient details, and optional message
- Choose whether to send the notification email
- Click Create
Export
Export gift card data from the Dashboard (CSV report) or from Gift Cards → Logs (CSV log export). Filter by date range or status before exporting.
Logs
View all system activity at Gift Cards → Logs:
- Filter by action type, date range, user, or gift card
- View detailed log entries with timestamps
- Export logs in CSV format
- Log stats: total entries, entries by type, error rate
Shortcode Reference
[agc_gift_card_form]
Main purchase form with Stripe integration.
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
title | — | Form title displayed at the top |
description | — | Description text below the title |
amounts | "50,100,150,200" | Comma-separated preset amounts |
allow_custom | "yes" | Allow custom amounts ("yes" / "no") |
min_amount | "10" | Minimum custom amount |
max_amount | "1000" | Maximum custom amount |
currency | "EUR" | Currency code |
template | "default" | Email template to use |
css_class | — | Additional CSS class |
Common Issues
Gift Cards menu not visible
Ensure the Amelia Booking plugin is installed and activated. The Gift Cards plugin requires Amelia to function.
Payment errors
- Verify your Stripe or Square API keys are correct
- Ensure your site has an SSL certificate (HTTPS)
- Check that webhooks are configured
- Try enabling Test Mode first
Emails not being received
- Check your spam/junk folder
- Verify the "From Email" address in settings
- Test with the built-in email test tool: Gift Cards → Settings → Email → Send Test
- Consider using an SMTP plugin like WP Mail SMTP
Form not displaying
- Check for JavaScript errors in the browser console
- Ensure the shortcode is typed correctly:
[agc_gift_card_form] - Clear any caching plugins
Diagnostics
The built-in diagnostics system (Gift Cards → Diagnostics) checks:
- System Requirements — PHP version, WordPress version, required extensions
- Plugin Dependencies — Amelia status, payment connection
- Database — table integrity, orphaned records
- Email — delivery capability, template integrity
- Performance — response times, cache status
Each section gets a health score. Click on any failing check for remediation steps.
Debug Mode
Enable debug mode at Gift Cards → Settings → Advanced → Debug Mode.
When enabled, the plugin logs detailed information about:
- Payment requests and responses
- Stripe and Square payment processing
- Email sending
- Coupon creation in Amelia
FAQ
Can I use this without Amelia?
No. Gift Cards for Amelia is designed specifically to work with the Amelia Booking plugin. It creates Amelia coupons that are used during the booking process.
Is there a free version?
No. Gift Cards for Amelia is a premium plugin available for $39/year. This includes all features, 1 year of updates, and email support.
Can I use it on multiple sites?
Each license is for a single WordPress installation. Contact us for multi-site pricing.
What happens when a gift card is purchased?
- Customer pays via Stripe or Square
- Gift card record is created in the database
- A corresponding Amelia coupon is auto-created
- Recipient receives an email with the gift card code
- Buyer receives a confirmation email
How do recipients use their gift card?
Recipients enter their gift card code in the coupon/promo code field during the Amelia booking process. The discount is applied automatically based on the card's balance.