Cloud Printing
Cloud printing lets WCPOS send receipts to a printer that isn't directly connected to the device running the till. Set it up once in WP Admin and your orders print to a kitchen printer, a back-office printer, or a printer in another room — without each device having to discover and pair with the hardware itself.
What is cloud printing?
With local printing, the device running the POS talks straight to the printer over USB, Bluetooth, or the local network. That's the right choice when the printer sits next to the till — see Printer Setup for connecting USB, Bluetooth, and network printers on the same device.
Cloud printing is for everything else: a printer in a different location, on a different network, or one you want every device to share without configuring it on each one. There are two delivery models:
- Polling printers. The printer reaches out to WCPOS over the internet on a schedule, asks "do you have anything for me?", and pulls down any waiting jobs. WCPOS never connects to the printer — the printer always starts the conversation. This is how Star CloudPRNT and Epson Server Direct Print work.
- PrintNode. WCPOS submits the print job to the PrintNode cloud service, and a small desktop client running on a computer near the printer picks it up and prints it. The printer can be almost anything that computer can already print to.
A polling printer doesn't need an open port, a static IP, or any firewall changes — it only ever makes outbound requests. That makes it ideal for a printer at a remote site or behind a router you don't control. The trade-off is a short delay: the printer only prints when its next poll comes around.
Choosing a provider
Pick the provider that matches your hardware.
Star CloudPRNT
For Star thermal printers running the CloudPRNT firmware. The printer polls WCPOS and pulls jobs. Receipts are rendered to the printer's native commands. Needs a thermal template.
Epson Server Direct Print
For Epson ePOS printers that support Server Direct Print. The printer polls WCPOS and pulls jobs as ePOS-Print XML. Needs a thermal template.
PrintNode
Works with virtually any printer your computer can print to, on any OS, via the PrintNode desktop client. WCPOS submits a PDF, so you can use any template — including full-page HTML invoices.
| Provider | Hardware | How jobs flow | Templates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star CloudPRNT | Star thermal printer with CloudPRNT firmware | Printer polls WCPOS | Thermal only |
| Epson Server Direct Print | Epson ePOS printer with Server Direct Print | Printer polls WCPOS | Thermal only |
| PrintNode | Any OS-connected printer + PrintNode client | WCPOS submits a PDF to PrintNode | Any template |
Setting up a cloud printer
Cloud printers are configured once in WP Admin and shared across every device — unlike local printers, which are stored per device.
Go to POS → Settings → Cloud Print and click Add printer. Give it a name (for example "Kitchen" or "Back office"). WCPOS derives a stable printer ID from the printer automatically — it never changes, so it's safe to reference from a printer's firmware configuration.
After the printer exists, configure the provider end.
Star or Epson (polling printers)
Add the printer in WCPOS
In POS → Settings → Cloud Print, add a printer and choose Star CloudPRNT or Epson Server Direct Print as the provider. WCPOS generates a poll URL and a one-time token for that printer.
Copy the poll URL and token
Copy the generated poll URL and token. The token is shown only once — if you lose it, regenerate a new one from the printer card and update the printer with the new value.
Enter them in the printer's configuration
Open the printer's configuration page — the CloudPRNT settings for Star, or the Server Direct Print settings for Epson — and paste in the poll URL and token. Set the poll interval if the printer asks for one (a few seconds is typical). Save and reboot the printer if required.
Within a poll cycle the printer checks in, and its status in WCPOS changes from Waiting to Connected.
PrintNode
Install the PrintNode desktop client
On a computer that can already print to your target printer, install the PrintNode client and sign in. The client must stay running and online for jobs to print.
Get a PrintNode API key
In your PrintNode account, create an API key. This is what lets WCPOS submit jobs to your PrintNode account.
Enter the API key in WCPOS
Add a printer in POS → Settings → Cloud Print, choose PrintNode as the provider, and paste in the API key. WCPOS uses it to fetch the list of printers registered to your PrintNode account.
Select the printer
Choose the target printer from the list of printers reported by the PrintNode client, then save. WCPOS will submit jobs for this printer to PrintNode, and the client prints them.
Auto-print rules
Auto-print rules decide what prints where, automatically — written as plain sentences. A rule is scope × printer × template, for example:
Print every order to Kitchen using Kitchen Ticket.
When a matching order completes, WCPOS renders the chosen template server-side into the format the printer needs and queues it — there's nothing for the cashier to do.
Star and Epson printers can only use thermal templates, because the job has to be rendered to the printer's native command language (ESC/POS for Star, ePOS-Print for Epson). PrintNode can use any template — thermal or full-page HTML — because the job is rendered to a PDF. If a template doesn't appear as an option for a printer, it's because the printer can't render that format. See Thermal Templates for creating thermal layouts.
Per-store printers (Pro)
Per-store print routing requires WCPOS Pro and a multi-store setup.
By default, auto-print rules are global — every store shares them. With Pro, you can give an individual store its own cloud-print rules so its orders print to its own printers (a kitchen ticket at one location shouldn't print in another).
Edit a store under POS → Stores, open its Cloud Printing section, and Add rule. Each rule is:
- Printer ID — the stable ID of the cloud printer to send to
- Scope — POS orders only (default), Online orders only, or Every order
- Format — StarPRNT (default), ESC/POS, Epson ePOS-Print, or HTML
When an order belongs to a store that has its own rules, WCPOS routes it to that store's printers. If a store has no rules of its own, it falls back to the global auto-print rules — so you only need to configure the stores that differ.
Manual printing
You don't have to wait for an auto-print rule. From the checkout / receipt screen, a cashier can send a receipt to a cloud printer on demand — handy for reprints or for routing a one-off ticket to a specific printer.
How the receipt is produced depends on the printer:
- Star — the receipt is rendered on the device and handed to the printer through CloudPRNT.
- Epson and PrintNode — the receipt is rendered on the server from the selected order and template, then delivered to the printer.
Test print & connection status
Each printer card has a Test print button that sends a short diagnostic so you can confirm the printer is reachable and the format is right before relying on it for real orders.
The card also shows a live status:
| Provider | Status | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Star / Epson | Waiting | The printer hasn't checked in yet — WCPOS is waiting for its first poll. |
| Star / Epson | Connected | The printer polled WCPOS recently and is collecting jobs. |
| PrintNode | Online | The PrintNode service reports the client and printer are available. |
| PrintNode | Offline | PrintNode reports the client or printer is unavailable. |
Troubleshooting
Printer stuck on Waiting
A polling printer that never leaves Waiting has never successfully reached WCPOS. Check:
- The poll URL and token in the printer's firmware exactly match what WCPOS generated. A single wrong character means every poll is rejected — regenerate the token in WCPOS and re-enter it if you're unsure.
- The printer can actually reach your site over the internet (correct DNS, no firewall blocking outbound HTTPS, valid SSL certificate on your store).
- Polling is enabled in the printer's CloudPRNT / Server Direct Print configuration, with a sensible interval. Reboot the printer after changing its settings.
PrintNode job never prints
The job reached PrintNode but didn't come out of the printer. Check:
- The PrintNode desktop client is running and online on the computer connected to the printer. If the computer is asleep or the client is closed, nothing prints.
- You selected the correct printer in WCPOS — the name must match the printer the client reports.
- The API key is valid and hasn't been revoked. Re-enter it if PrintNode shows the printer as Offline.
My template isn't selectable for a Star or Epson printer
Only thermal templates work on Star and Epson cloud printers, because the receipt has to be rendered to ESC/POS or ePOS-Print commands. HTML and full-page templates can't be expressed in those formats, so they're hidden for these printers.
Either choose a thermal template, or use a PrintNode printer — PrintNode renders to PDF, so it can print any template.