MerchantDrafts · Docs

Operator FAQ

Frequently asked questions for operators.

Getting Started

What does MerchantDrafts do?

MerchantDrafts is a WooCommerce plugin that generates product content using AI. For every product you open in the WordPress editor, it can write the long description, short description, SEO meta description, image alt/title/caption, social hashtags, WooCommerce catalogue tags, and campaign ad copy — all in one click.

It also includes a Lifestyle Image feature: it removes the background from your product photo and generates professional lifestyle scene images using AI, which you can attach directly to the WooCommerce product gallery.

What do I need to get started?

You need:

  1. A WooCommerce store running on WordPress.
  2. A MerchantDrafts license key (from your AppSumo purchase or merchantdrafts.com checkout).
  3. At least one product in your store to generate content for.

For the Hosted plan (default for AppSumo buyers), no API key is required — generation runs through the MerchantDrafts backend using your included monthly quota.

For BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) mode, you also need a Google Gemini API key. In the direct monthly ladder, BYOK is available on Agency Pro Premium and Agency White Premium as an optional runtime path, and it bypasses the hosted quota while active.

How do I onboard MerchantDrafts after install?

Use this order:

  1. Install and activate the plugin.
  2. Open MerchantDrafts -> About / License.
  3. Enter your license key and save.
  4. Confirm the plan label and runtime mode look correct.
  5. If you are using Hosted, stop there for runtime setup.
  6. If you are using BYOK (Agency Pro Premium or Agency White Premium), stay in About / License, switch Runtime Mode to BYOK, enter your Gemini API key, and save.
  7. Open Settings -> Brand and set Business Context.
  8. Optionally add a Writing Pattern.
  9. Open a WooCommerce product and click Generate Content.
  10. Review the output, then click WordPress Update or Publish to save it.

If you skip Business Context, generation can still work, but the output is usually less on-brand.

What is a license key and where do I enter it?

Your license key is issued after purchase. It authenticates your installation with the MerchantDrafts backend and determines your plan and monthly quota.

Go to MerchantDrafts → About / License, enter your key in the License Key field, and click Save & Revalidate. The plugin validates it automatically.

I see a yellow warning on the About / License page — what does it mean?

There are two possible warnings:

"Backend unreachable. Feature flags shown are from last cached validation." — MerchantDrafts could not contact its backend to refresh your license when the page loaded. Your plan and feature access are unchanged; the plugin is using the last successfully cached validation. Click Force Revalidate to retry the connection. The warning clears automatically after a successful refresh.

"License not yet validated. Click Save & Revalidate to activate your plan." — A license key is saved but the plugin has never received a successful validation response (usually because the key was entered while the backend was temporarily unavailable). Click Save & Revalidate to activate your plan.

What is BYOK mode?

BYOK stands for Bring Your Own Key. In BYOK mode, MerchantDrafts sends generation requests directly to the Google Gemini API using your own key — bypassing the hosted backend entirely. This means:

To enable BYOK, go to MerchantDrafts → About / License, switch Runtime Mode to BYOK, and enter your Gemini API key. A green confirmation appears when BYOK is active.

What is the difference between Hosted and BYOK?

Hosted uses the MerchantDrafts backend and your MerchantDrafts plan quota. It usually requires only your license key and is the simplest setup path.

BYOK uses your own Google Gemini API key. It is available on Agency Pro Premium and Agency White Premium, bypasses MerchantDrafts hosted quota, and uses your own Google API billing instead.

What happens when I run out of included credits?

That depends on which packaging family you are using.

How does AppSumo tier mapping work?

Each AppSumo LTD tier maps to a MerchantDrafts plan:

AppSumo / LTD tierSitesStarter creditsMonthly subscriber equivalent
Operator LTD1100Operator Premium — $24 / mo
Studio Max LTD3200Studio Max Premium — $48 / mo
Agency Core LTD10400Agency Pro Premium — $72 / mo
Agency Pro LTD15600Agency Pro Premium — $72 / mo
Agency White LTD301,000Agency White Premium — $172 / mo

The included starter credits are a hosted runway for early use. When those run out, LTD operators have two paths:

  1. PAYG refill packs — add hosted credits on demand, no subscription required.
  2. Switch to a monthly subscription — activates a separate license key in About / License. The LTD license is not revoked; the subscription adds recurring monthly credits on top (additive model). Contact upgrade@merchantdrafts.com or visit merchantdrafts.com/ltd-to-subscription.

Agency-capable LTD tiers (Agency Pro LTD, Agency White LTD) can also use BYOK for direct Gemini runtime control.

In simple terms:

Important naming note:

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Content Generation

What content does it generate?

A single generation run produces:

Ad copy (LinkedIn, Google Ads, Facebook) is generated separately via the Ad Copy tab.

Google Merchant Center output is generated separately via the Google Merchant Center workspace inside Marketing Material.

What exactly gets written to my product and SEO fields?

MerchantDrafts can write:

For SEO persistence, MerchantDrafts also saves the generated meta description to common plugin meta keys for Yoast, Rank Math, and AIOSEO variants.

How do I generate content for a product?

  1. Open any WooCommerce product in the WordPress editor.
  2. Find the MerchantDrafts metabox (below the editor area).
  3. Optionally set Tone, Description Length, and What to Emphasize.
  4. Click Generate Content.
  5. Review the output across the Content, Images, and Export tabs.
  6. Click Write to Product (or use the auto-apply that runs on first generation) to apply the content to the product fields.

How can I bulk edit products?

For MerchantDrafts bulk work, use MerchantDrafts -> Products Workspace rather than the single-product editor.

The safe order is:

  1. Filter the product table first.
  2. Select the products you want to process.
  3. Click Generate content to prepare generated content for the selected rows.
  4. Review the generated state.
  5. Click Write generated content to write the generated values into the live WooCommerce product fields for those selected products.

This is the MerchantDrafts bulk generation and write-back workflow. It is different from the generic WooCommerce bulk edit tool.

Use the Generated Content review drawer to confirm the output before writing:

The workspace also includes a Content state filter so you can quickly isolate Generated, Not generated, Ready to write, or Written products before selecting a batch.

You can also use row-level actions in the table:

For safety, large generation runs show warnings at 20+ and 50+ selected products, and require confirmation at 100+.

What is the difference between Generate Content, Write to Product, Restore, and Clear?

None of these buttons permanently saves the product. You still need to click WordPress Update or Publish.

What do the image fields do?

Image Fields are generated text for the product's featured image:

When you write them, MerchantDrafts updates the actual featured image attachment metadata in WordPress. They are separate from the Lifestyle Images workflow.

Can I control the tone and length?

Yes. In the product editor panel:

What is Business Context (Brand DNA)?

Business Context is your brand baseline. It describes your brand voice, audience, positioning, and any hard content rules. Everything generated is interpreted within this baseline — it dominates all other prompt layers.

Set it in Settings → Brand → Business Context. Use the Fetch from site button to auto-generate a draft from your website copy, then review and save.

What is Writing Pattern?

Writing Pattern is a store-level approach instruction. It tells the AI what angle to lead with, what to avoid stylistically, and how to structure copy — for all products. Think of it as "how we write" rather than "who we are".

Set it in Settings → Brand → Writing Pattern. Leave it empty if you don't need it — it's skipped safely.

What is Product Emphasis?

Product Emphasis is a per-product focus note. It narrows what to highlight for a specific product within the Business Context baseline. For example: "focus on the handmade aspect and limited edition run".

Enter it in the What to Emphasize field in the product editor panel before generating.

This same field is also the Product Custom Instructions layer for workspace outputs such as Google Merchant Center.

What is Prompt Supplement?

Prompt Supplement is a global hard-constraint layer. It is prepended to every generation prompt and is always applied, regardless of other settings. Use it for:

It is not the same as Writing Pattern. Use Prompt Supplement for hard rules; use Writing Pattern for stylistic approach.

Set it in Settings → Content Engine → Prompt Supplement.

What is the difference between Prompt Supplement and workspace instructions?

Prompt Supplement is global. Use it for hard rules that should apply broadly, such as forbidden words, mandatory disclaimers, or compliance constraints.

Workspace instructions are narrower. Use them for rules that should apply only inside one workspace, such as Google Merchant Center.

A simple way to decide:

This is also different from Writing Pattern, which controls style and approach rather than hard rules or workspace-only guidance.

Why is ad copy separate from product content?

Because it serves a different job. Product content is for WooCommerce product fields, while ad copy in Marketing Material is campaign output for external platforms such as Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Marketing Material is meant for review, copy, and platform-specific regeneration, not for automatic writing into the product description fields.

What shapes Google Merchant Center output?

Google Merchant Center uses a workspace-specific prompt stack. In plain language, MerchantDrafts builds GMC output from:

Use the Google Merchant Center workspace field in Settings → Content Engine for GMC-only rules. Do not use the ad-copy baseline for GMC behavior.

How does the GMC prompt stack work?

The GMC prompt stack combines several layers in one order:

That means GMC output is not coming from one single field. It is the result of store-wide rules, workspace-only rules, live product facts, and product-specific direction working together.

What is Google Merchant Center for in MerchantDrafts?

In MerchantDrafts, Google Merchant Center is a separate workspace for commerce-feed style output. It is meant to help with merchant and listing contexts where factual clarity and feed usefulness matter more than ad-style messaging.

It is kept separate from ad copy because Merchant Center needs a different balance: clearer product facts, less promotional phrasing, and workspace-specific rules.

What is Google Merchant Center not for?

Inside MerchantDrafts, the Google Merchant Center workspace is not:

Think of it as a review-and-copy workspace for merchant/feed-oriented output, not an auto-publishing channel.

How do Business Context, Writing Pattern, GMC instructions, and What to Emphasize each affect GMC output?

They work at different levels:

On top of that, Prompt Supplement still applies as the global hard-rules layer.

What is the expected operator workflow for GMC?

Use this order:

  1. Open the product and make sure the important product facts are present.
  2. Optionally generate the normal product content first if the product record is still thin.
  3. Open Marketing Material → Google Merchant Center.
  4. Review the visible GMC instructions bar.
  5. Click Generate GMC.
  6. Review the titles, description, attributes, missing facts, and image-readiness notes.
  7. Use Regenerate if needed.
  8. Use Copy when you want to reuse the package elsewhere.

The GMC workspace is for review and copy. It does not automatically write to WooCommerce fields or sync to Google Merchant Center.

What does the Export tab do and when should I use it?

The Export tab shows the current generated output as Markdown-style text so you can copy or download it for use outside the live WooCommerce editor.

Use it when you want a reusable output package for documentation, briefs, or external tools. It does not write anything back to the product by itself.

Why does the generated content not match my brand voice?

The most common cause is a missing or weak Business Context. Go to Settings → Brand → Business Context and ensure it describes your brand clearly — voice, audience, positioning, and any tone notes. The more specific and detailed it is, the more on-brand the output will be.

Also check that the output language is set correctly in Settings → Brand → Content Defaults.

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Lifestyle Images

What is the Lifestyle feature?

The Lifestyle feature generates professional lifestyle scene images for your products using AI. The workflow is:

  1. Remove Background — strips the product background to create a clean cutout.
  2. Describe the Product — confirm or edit the AI-generated product descriptor.
  3. Describe the Scene — write a scene description or use a Scene Theme from the theme tabs.
  4. Generate Variants — generates up to 3 lifestyle image variants.
  5. Select and Attach — choose the variants you want and click Add to Gallery to attach them to the WooCommerce product gallery.

How do Scene Themes work?

Scene Themes are prompt helpers for Step 3 of the Lifestyle workflow. They provide reusable prompt templates and sample references so you can fill the scene description box faster.

MerchantDrafts starts with your saved Business Context / Brand DNA to understand the store, then refines the match with the current product's title, WooCommerce categories, and useful attributes when those signals are available.

Use Use prompt to replace the Step 3 text, or Append to add a theme prompt to the text you already wrote.

What is Category Context?

Category Context is a MerchantDrafts-generated summary for a WooCommerce product category.

It is not the same thing as the public category description. Instead, it is an internal writing layer that explains what the product group represents, what shopper intent matters, and what angles MerchantDrafts should lean on when writing product copy for products in that category.

For core product content, MerchantDrafts now uses:

Do I need a separate image generation key?

In Hosted mode, lifestyle image generation is included in your plan quota. The exact credit cost depends on the selected quality tier:

In BYOK mode, the same Gemini API key is used for both text and image generation — no separate key is needed.

How many lifestyle variants can I generate?

Up to 3 variants per generation run. You can generate additional single variants by clicking empty variant slots. Only the variants you select are attached to the gallery; unselected variants are cleaned up automatically.

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SEO & Integrations

Does it write to Yoast / Rank Math / AIOSEO?

Yes. When you apply generated content, MerchantDrafts writes the meta description into the active SEO plugin's field. Supported plugins: Yoast SEO, Rank Math, AIOSEO (all field variants). It detects whichever plugin is active in the editor DOM and writes to the correct field.

The meta description is also saved directly to the relevant post meta keys so it persists even if the SEO plugin is not active at the time of generation.

Why didn't my generated meta description show up where I expected?

MerchantDrafts tries to write the meta description into supported SEO fields visible in the current editor UI, but the field may not always be present in that exact editing surface.

If you see a message like Meta field not found in current SEO UI, it often means the visible SEO panel was not detected in the page DOM. MerchantDrafts may still have saved the value to the relevant SEO post meta keys in the background.

Does it overwrite my existing product descriptions?

Not automatically. The first generation auto-applies content into the editor, but this is scoped to the current editing session only — nothing is saved until you click Update or Publish on the product. You can use Restore to revert the latest apply within the same session, or Clear to restore all fields to their pre-generation state.

When you click Write to Product manually, it applies the current generated content to the editor fields. The product is not saved until you publish/update it yourself.

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Plans & Billing

What plan do I have?

Go to MerchantDrafts → About / License. The License & Runtime card shows your current plan label, runtime mode, monthly usage, and last validation timestamp.

Where do I see my usage?

In MerchantDrafts → About / License, the usage bar shows how many credits you have used and how many remain for the current month. Quota resets monthly.

What counts as a generation credit?

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Roles & Permissions

Can I restrict which WordPress user roles can generate or apply content?

Yes. Go to Settings → Roles (a subtab inside the Settings panel). You will see a matrix of your WordPress user roles and two columns: Generate and Apply.

Tick or untick the boxes for each role and click Save Role Capabilities.

Administrator is always granted both capabilities and cannot be restricted here.

What are the defaults?

RoleGenerateApply
Administratoralwaysalways
Shop Manageryesyes
Editoryesno
Authornono
Contributornono
Subscribernono

By default, Editors can generate content but cannot write it back to products. You can change this in Settings → Roles.

A user says the Generate button is disabled — what should I check?

  1. Go to Settings → Roles and confirm that their WordPress role has Generate ticked.
  2. Also confirm the user has edit_post permission on that product (standard WordPress capability).
  3. Check that your license is valid in MerchantDrafts → About / License.

A user says Write to Product does nothing — what should I check?

  1. Go to Settings → Roles and confirm their role has Apply ticked.
  2. The user must also have edit_post permission on that product.

Do role assignments survive plugin upgrades?

Yes. Your customisations are stored in the WordPress database as a plugin option and are never overwritten by plugin updates. The defaults shown above are applied only on the very first install.

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Troubleshooting

Generation fails with an API error — what do I do?

  1. Check MerchantDrafts → About / License — confirm your license key is valid and the last validation succeeded.
  2. If you are in BYOK mode, confirm your Gemini API key is correct and the key has the required model permissions.
  3. Check that your server can reach external HTTPS endpoints (some restricted hosting environments block outbound API calls).
  4. Try re-validating the license with the Re-validate button.

If the problem persists, contact support with the error message shown in the plugin.

The content is too short or cut off — why?

This usually means the AI response was truncated. The plugin has a one-silent-retry on short responses (<20 words), so if it still happens, try:

My license key says invalid — what do I do?

  1. Double-check the key — copy/paste directly from your purchase confirmation email or AppSumo redemption page.
  2. Click Force Revalidate in MerchantDrafts → About / License to force a fresh check.
  3. Confirm the key was issued for this site's domain. If you migrated domains, you may need to re-issue the key.
  4. Contact support at support@merchantdrafts.com with your order reference if the issue persists.
MerchantDrafts Docs · support@merchantdrafts.com · Main site