How to select a box on an order
The Packaging Recommendation card appears on every order detail page. It shows the box suggestions for that order, ranked by empty space percentage, and lets you select the box that will be used for packing.
Prerequisite: At least one active box in the catalog. Products in the order must have length, width, and height set.
Open the order
Go to Orders > Orders and click on any order. Scroll down on the general tab to find the Packaging Recommendation card.
Read the suggestion table
The card shows:
- Total product volume — the combined volume of all line items (quantity × L × W × H per item)
- Exempt volume — padding volume that is excluded from the empty space penalty (shown when a product's profile has an exempt padding constraint)
- A table of boxes sorted by ascending empty space percentage
Each row shows:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Box | Name and a Best badge on the first compliant row |
| Dimensions | Internal L × W × H in mm |
| Empty space | Percentage of box volume not occupied by products, with a status dot |
| Cost | Per-unit cost of the box |
| Action | Select / Blocked / Override button |
Status dots:
- Green dot — compliant (below the warning threshold)
- Amber dot — warning (at or above the warning threshold)
- Red dot — violation (at or above the block threshold)
Boxes that do not fit at all (too small, wrong type, orientation mismatch, or not insulated) are listed in the collapsible Excluded boxes strip below the table, with a plain-language reason for each.
Select a compliant box
Click Select on any green row. The selection is saved immediately and the card switches to the selected-box summary view showing the chosen box name, empty space ratio, and estimated savings versus the largest feasible box.
Select a warning box
Click Select on an amber row. A confirmation dialog appears:
Box "Carton M" has 52% empty space — above the warning threshold of 50%. Proceed anyway?
Click Select anyway to confirm. The box is saved with a warning status.
Handle a blocked order
When every feasible box exceeds the block threshold, PackGuard shows a warning banner above the suggestion table explaining why. The banner also links to the relevant recovery action:
- Missing dimensions — one or more products on the order have no dimensions set. Fix the product dimensions first, then reload the order.
- Threshold — the catalog has no box that fits within the configured block threshold. Either add a smaller box to the catalog or relax the block threshold in plugin configuration.
In either case, the Override button becomes available on each row. See Override a compliance block for the override flow.
Change the selected box
The card shows the currently selected box. To change it, reload the card by refreshing the page — the suggestion table re-appears with the current selection shown as a highlighted row. Click Select on a different row to replace the selection.
The order list column
The Shopware Orders list includes a Selected box column (added by PackGuard) showing the box name and status dot for each order at a glance. Orders without a box selection show a dash.