"Login is required to place this order" from coreSTORE

Question: When sending an order from coreSTORE to coreFORCE (for example, selling a membership subscription product, or trying to place an order with a distributor), I get the error message "Login is required to place this order". This message shows up on screen in coreSTORE or the order silently fails but the error is visible in the API log, similar to the following:

"error_message": "User login account on Developer account is required"
OR
"error_message":"Unable to add products to shopping cart: Login to purchase"

Answer: This is happening because the Developer account in coreFORCE is not associated with a user account.  There are some functions in the API which can be run anonymously without a user account.  Placing orders always requires a user account.   

In Developer Maintenance, the developer account must either have a username listed on the developer tab (which creates a new user for the Developer and associates it), or a user selected in the "login in as" dropdown on the access tab.

For coreSTORE, it is recommended to always create a new user specifically for coreSTORE rather than logging in as an existing user.  If coreSTORE logs in as an existing user, it will create confusing entries in the change log, making it appear that that user is making a large number of changes at all hours.

To create a user for coreSTORE, enter corestore.pos in the User Name field on the Developer tab, and enter a long, random password in the password field. The password will never be used.