Create a Flow

This page walks through building a flow from scratch: choosing a flow type, writing the message, submitting the WhatsApp template to Meta, tracking its approval, and turning the flow on.

For what flows are and the full list of flow types, see the Flows overview. For the message editor itself — body, header, buttons, variables, and the live preview — see Message editor.

Before you start

A flow can only send through an approved Meta template, which requires a connected WhatsApp Business account. If you haven’t connected WhatsApp yet, do that first — see Connect WhatsApp. You can still build and save a flow without a connection, but the template can’t be submitted to Meta until WhatsApp is connected.

Steps

1. Pick a flow type

Open Flows and choose Create new flow. Select a Flow type — this is the single most important choice because it determines:

• The trigger — which Shopify event or storefront action sends the message.
• The variables available — for example an order-confirmation flow can use the order number and total; an abandoned-cart flow can use the cart’s first product and the recovery link.
• The required buttons — some types seed buttons you can edit but not remove (for example, a cash-on-delivery flow includes a Confirm / Cancel pair so the customer’s choice can be captured as a tag).
• The Meta category — Marketing, Utility, or Authentication. The category is derived from the flow type and sets Meta’s pricing and review rules. Only a Custom flow lets you choose the category yourself.

Caution

The flow type locks once a template has been submitted to Meta. Changing the type after that would orphan the approved template, so the field becomes read-only. To change types, create a new flow.

Flow-type availability depends on your plan. If a type isn’t included on your tier, WhatPro blocks creation. See Plans.

2. Name the flow

Give the flow a recognizable name (for example, “Abandoned cart with discount”). The name is for your own reference in the Flows list — it isn’t shown to customers. If you leave it blank, WhatPro uses the flow type’s default label.

3. Configure timing and type-specific options

Depending on the type, additional fields appear:

• Delay — flows that run after an event (abandoned-cart reminders, review requests, back-in-stock alerts, post-checkout confirmations) let you set how long to wait before sending. Follow-up flows that Meta classifies as marketing (for example, the second abandoned-cart reminder and back-in-stock with discount) enforce a minimum 24-hour delay — Meta’s policy for follow-up marketing templates.
• Discount — discount-eligible flows show an Include discount code toggle. Turning it on lets you pick an active Shopify discount and adds a Copy-code button (where the template allows one). See Message editor for details.
• Manual payment method — the manual-payment confirmation flow can be scoped to a specific payment-method name, so different methods can have their own flow.

Note

Abandoned-cart delays below 15 minutes are not effective. Shopify needs roughly 10 minutes to flag a checkout as abandoned, and WhatPro adds a buffer to make sure the recovery link works, so the editor shows a recommendation to use 15 minutes or more.

4. Write the message

Compose the template body, optional header and footer, and buttons. Use the variable chips to insert placeholders (order number, customer name, total, and so on) that are filled in at send time, and watch the live WhatsApp preview update as you type. The full editor is documented in Message editor.

5. Choose a language

Set the flow’s language. Meta templates are per-language, so each flow holds one language variant. On Plus, WhatPro can detect the customer’s language and pick the matching variant automatically; on other plans each flow sends in its single chosen language. See Languages.

6. Save and submit to Meta

You have two save paths:

Action	What it does
Save	Saves the flow and submits the template to Meta for review. If the flow’s Active toggle is on, it’s enabled.
Save as draft	Saves the flow without submitting to Meta and parks it inactive, so you can keep editing and submit later.

When you save with submission, WhatPro validates the template against Meta’s rules first. If anything is wrong (for example, a header containing a variable, or a body that’s too long), you get a blocking banner listing the issues and nothing is sent to Meta. Fix the issues and save again.

Template approval states

WhatsApp requires Meta to approve every business-initiated template before it can be used. After you submit, WhatPro tracks the template’s status:

Status	Meaning
Pending	Submitted and waiting for Meta’s review. Typically 24–48 hours. The flow can’t send yet.
Approved	Meta accepted the template. The flow can send.
Rejected	Meta declined the template. The reason is shown in the editor so you can fix and resubmit.

A flow can only send once its template is Approved. If a customer event fires while the template is still pending, WhatPro will not deliver an unapproved message.

Editing resubmits the template

Editing the body, header, footer, or buttons of a flow that already has an approved template creates a new template submission. The flow returns to Pending until Meta re-approves it (usually 24–48 hours). The editor warns you before you save when a change will trigger resubmission. Timing-only changes (like the delay) and swapping a dynamic header image do not require re-approval.

If Meta rejects the template

When Meta rejects a submission, WhatPro stores the rejection reason and shows it in a banner at the top of the editor. Adjust the template — most often the body text, a button label, or the discount-code example — and save again to resubmit. The flow is already saved locally, so only the Meta submission needs another try, and resubmitting updates the same flow without creating a duplicate.

Enable the flow

A flow has an Active toggle. Saving with Save respects it; Save as draft always parks the flow inactive. A flow only sends when all of these are true:

1. The flow is Active.
2. Its template is Approved.
3. Its type is included on your current plan.

Note

You can’t have two active flows of the same type and language at once (for manual payment, the same payment-method scope). This keeps routing unambiguous — WhatPro always knows which flow to send.

After it’s live

Once a flow is approved and active, it sends automatically for every matching event. Track delivery, read, and failure outcomes in Logs, and use Order tags to filter and report on the orders your flows touched.