A template applies once, at the moment a domain is registered. It is not an ongoing link between the template and the domain, which is why editing a template later changes nothing for domains already registered.
For a template to apply at that moment, three things had to be true: the domain was using Shopco nameservers, the template was active, and a template was selected for that customer's session or you had a default set. If a registration missed its template, one of those three was false at the time.
Before you start
Have the domain, the customer who registered it, and the template you expected in front of you. Templates are found in Storefront Settings → Advanced Settings → Domain Defaults.
Step 1: Check the nameservers
Templates only apply to domains using Shopco nameservers. A domain registered with custom nameservers manages its DNS at the external provider, so no template could have applied and none can be applied now.
Step 2: Check the template is active
Open the template and confirm its active toggle is on. An inactive template is skipped at registration, and it also has a second effect worth knowing: when no active template exists, the reset-to-default option disappears from the customer's portal entirely.
Step 3: Check the session
This is the most common cause, and the hardest to see after the fact.
A template link selects a template for the customer's session, not for the customer. That selection then holds until something displaces it:
- The session expires. Sessions expire automatically after 7 days.
- The customer logs out and comes back without following a template link again.
- The customer clicks a different template link. The most recently clicked link wins.
In each of those cases the registration falls back to your default template. If you have no default set, no template applies at all.
So a customer who clicked your link, browsed for a week and registered later has very likely registered outside the session. Ask when they followed the link rather than whether they followed it.
Step 4: Check the template ID in your link
If the session was live, the ID in the URL may not match the template you think it does.
- Go to Storefront Settings → Advanced Settings → Domain Defaults.
- Expand the template you want.
- In the Apply this template using a link section, click View Details.
- Compare the Template ID, which is a UUID, against the
dnstemplateidvalue in your link.
Copying the full pre-constructed URL from that screen avoids the mismatch entirely.
You edited the template and nothing changed
This is expected. Templates apply to new registrations only, and editing or deleting one never touches a domain that is already registered.
The only way the current template reaches an existing domain is a reset to default, and that applies the template as it exists at the moment of the reset rather than as it was at registration. A customer who resets after you have revised the template gets your revised version, which is sometimes a surprise to both of you.
The extuserid value didn't come through
Confirm the extuserid parameter was in the URL the customer actually followed, and that the value is alphanumeric. A value with other characters is not captured.
You can add or edit the value by hand on the Customer Detail page, which is usually quicker than asking the customer to start again.
When to contact OpenSRS Support
Contact OpenSRS Support when the domain uses Shopco nameservers, the template is active, the template ID matches, and the registration still took no template despite happening inside a live session. Include the domain name, the template ID and the registration date.
Related articles
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