Store Network Settings
3 min read
The Store Network settings tab is where you set up and run the Store Trust Network — the Pro, multi-site feature that lets a customer flagged for return abuse or chargebacks at one of the stores you own be recognized at the others. This page is the field-by-field reference for the tab. For the concept, the privacy model, and how the cross-store scoring works, read Store Trust Network first.
Location: TrustLens → Settings → Store Network.
Who Sees the Working Form #
The tab renders differently depending on your license:
- Free build, or a single-site Pro license: you see a promotional overview of the feature and a note that it requires a multi-site plan. No key field or sync controls appear — there are no sibling stores to link, so there is nothing to configure.
- A multi-site (or unlimited) Pro license: you see the live settings form and the sync-status panel described below.
The Store Trust Network is included in the complete TrustLens PRO feature set. To connect multiple stores, choose a 5-site or 30-site PRO license; a 1-site license cannot connect a second installation. See Free vs Pro Features and the Pricing and Licensing FAQ.
Settings Reference #
| Field | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Enable network | Master on/off switch for this store. The network does nothing until this is on and a group key is set. | Off |
| Group key | The shared secret that defines your group and keys the customer hash. Use Generate to create a 64-character random key once, then paste the identical key into every store you own. Keep it secret — anyone who has it can join the group. | Empty |
| Linked store URLs | One https:// store URL per line. This store pulls flags from each listed peer on its hourly sync. List your other stores here (not this one). |
Empty |
| Share my flags | When on, this store publishes its own flags for peers to pull. Turn it off to make a store “receive-only” (it still reads peers’ flags but shares none of its own). | On |
| Caution penalty | Points subtracted from a customer’s 0–100 trust score when a linked store has flagged them at the caution level. Range 0–50. | 15 points |
| High-risk penalty | Points subtracted when a linked store has flagged them at the high level. Range 0–50. | 35 points |
The two penalties feed the trust score like any other signal, using the most severe peer flag found — see How Trust Scoring Works. Set a penalty to 0 to keep the flag visible on the profile without moving the score.
Setup in Three Steps #
- On your first store, click Generate to create a group key, turn Enable network on, add the URLs of your other stores, and save.
- On each of your other stores, paste the same group key, turn the network on, and list the remaining stores’ URLs (each store lists its peers, not itself).
- Save on every store. Within the hour, each store begins pulling its peers’ flags. To see it work immediately, use Sync now (below).
All stores in the group must share the identical key. A store with a different key, or no key, is not part of the group and exchanges nothing.
The Sync Status Panel #
Below the settings form, a status panel shows how syncing is going:
- Last sync — how long ago this store last pulled from its peers.
- Flags shared by you — how many flags this store has published for peers.
- Pulled from peers — how many peer flags this store currently holds locally.
A per-peer table lists each linked store with a status dot:
| Dot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | Last pull from this peer succeeded. |
| Gray | Skipped this round (for example, nothing new to pull), or not synced yet. |
| Red | The last pull errored — the peer was unreachable, slow, or rejected the request. This is harmless to checkout (the network is fail-open); the sync retries next hour. |
The Sync now button triggers an immediate pull instead of waiting for the hourly schedule — useful right after setup or when testing.
Troubleshooting #
- A peer shows red / “unreachable”. Confirm the URL is correct and reachable over HTTPS, that TrustLens Pro (multi-site) is active there, and that the peer holds the same group key. Each request uses a short timeout, so a slow peer is skipped rather than blocking.
- Flags aren’t matching a customer. Matching is by a keyed hash of the email. A customer who uses a different email at each store won’t match on email alone. Also confirm both stores share the identical group key — a mismatched key produces non-matching hashes.
- Nothing syncs at all. Check that Enable network is on and a group key is set on both stores, and that the license is multi-site. The tab shows the promotional overview instead of the form when the license is single-site.
Configuring or disabling the network never changes your per-store customer records or scores. For the store’s overall privacy posture, see Data and Privacy.
