Leave context the next teammate can find.

Every Shopify order keeps a running history, and the timeline is where your team talks about it. Used well, the next person who opens order #4831 knows what was promised without asking anyone.

What the timeline shows

The timeline sits at the bottom of the order details page, in Orders > [order] > Timeline. It records what happened to the order and what staff said about it.

• Payment events. Click one to expand it, then Information from the gateway for the provider's details.
• Order emails sent to the customer, each with Resend email so you can send it again.
• Staff comments, with each author's name and the time posted.

Draft orders, customers and transfers have their own timeline too.

Add a comment

Comments are the right place for anything a teammate needs to know later.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders and click the order.
2. In the Timeline section, click Leave a comment.
3. Write the comment. Type @ to mention a teammate, or click # to link an order, customer or product.
4. Optional: click the paper clip icon to attach a file, or drag it into the box.
5. Click Post.

A mention emails that teammate, and sends a push notification if they use the Shopify app. With no mention, nobody is notified. You can edit your own comment for 5 minutes after posting.

Attachments are useful for support: a photo of the damaged item, or a picture of the parcel taken before it shipped.

Notes, comments and tags

Shopify gives you four places to write things down, and each has one job.

• Timeline comment. A dated, named post on the order. Use it for the story: what the customer asked, what you did, what you promised.
• Order note. One editable field in the order's Notes section (pencil icon to edit). If you've turned on the cart note in your theme, the customer's special instructions land here. Add below their text instead of replacing it.
• Customer note. The Customer Note field in Customers > [customer]. It follows the customer to every future order, so use it for lasting facts: "Allergic to latex, never substitute."
• Tags. Short labels on orders or customers, such as "replacement-sent" or "VIP". Order tags can be filtered and saved as an order view; customer tags can build customer segments.

All four are internal: Shopify says notes and comments aren't visible to your customers.

How support teams should use them

Write so a teammate who has never seen the conversation can act. A good comment names the customer's request, the action taken, and the next step with a date.

Customer emailed about a missing mug. Sent replacement #4902 today, no return needed. If they write again, check tracking on #4902 first.

Then tag the order ("replacement-sent") so the case shows up in a filtered view. Put anything that matters beyond this order in the customer note. To tag and note automatically, see Shopify Flow for customer service, which has Add order tags and Update customer note actions.

Where Aide helps

Aide keeps the order record and the conversation in step. When a shopper proves the order is theirs and asks for something like "leave it with the concierge", the Aide AI Agent can add it as a note on the order. A procedure can also tag the order, such as "Do not import" so your fulfillment app holds it back.

Teammates add order notes from the conversation, or from the Aide panel inside Zendesk and Front, without opening Shopify. Each action taken from that panel also leaves an internal note on the ticket, so the helpdesk shows what was done and by whom.

In the other direction, the Aide conversations block on Shopify order and customer pages lists the customer's conversations right in the admin: subject, last activity and status, with a link that opens each one in Aide.