Docs Country Based Restrictions PRO for WooCommerce Getting Started

Getting Started

Requirements

  • WordPress installed and running
  • WooCommerce installed and active
  • WooCommerce geolocation set up with a free MaxMind license key — geolocation is not enabled by default. See Set Up Geolocation below.

How to Install the Plugin

WordPress Admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
  • Download the plugin .zip file — from the Subscriptions tab in your account at zorem.com/my-account/subscriptions/.
  • In your WordPress admin — go to Plugins → Add New.
  • Click Upload Plugin — at the top of the page.
  • Click Choose File — and select the downloaded .zip file.
  • Click Install Now — then click Activate Plugin.
  • After activation — navigate to WooCommerce → Country Restrictions to access all settings.
INFO
When the PRO plugin is activated, it automatically deactivates the free version and preserves all your existing settings and restriction rules. You can safely delete the free version after this.
Country Restrictions settings screen in the WordPress admin after activating the PRO plugin

How to Activate the PRO License

WooCommerce → Country Restrictions → License
  • In your WordPress dashboard — go to WooCommerce → Country Restrictions → License.
  • Click Activate License. — This redirects you to zorem.com to connect your store.
  • On zorem.com — confirm the activation for your store’s URL.
  • You will be redirected back to your store — and the license will be shown as active on the License tab.
License tab in Country Restrictions settings with the Activate License button
Confirming the store connection on the zorem.com My Account page
License shown as active on the License tab after connecting the store

Set Up Geolocation (Required for IP Detection)

IMPORTANT
WooCommerce geolocation is not enabled by default. Since WooCommerce 3.9, IP-based country detection requires a free MaxMind license key. Without it, the country of guest visitors cannot be detected from their IP address, and restrictions will not apply until the customer enters an address or selects a country.
WooCommerce → Settings → Integration → MaxMind Geolocation
  • Create a free MaxMind account — at maxmind.com (sign up for GeoLite2).
  • Generate a license key — in your MaxMind account, go to Manage License Keys and create a new key.
  • Paste the key — into WooCommerce → Settings → Integration → MaxMind Geolocation, then click Save changes. WooCommerce downloads the geolocation database automatically.
  • Enable geolocation — in WooCommerce → Settings → General, set Default customer location to Geolocate. If your site uses a full-page caching plugin, choose Geolocate (with page caching support) instead.
INFO
How Country Based Restrictions PRO detects the customer’s country, in order of precedence: 1) the country the visitor selected in the Country Detection widget or shortcode (stored in a cookie named country for 30 days), 2) the address of the logged-in customer or the address entered at checkout, 3) IP geolocation via MaxMind. Whether the billing or shipping country is used depends on the Restriction by country setting in Setup & Configuration.

Next Steps

Now that the plugin is installed and geolocation is working, configure your restrictions: