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WordPress is an awesome publishing platform which is utilized everywhere these days. You will find WordPress development from Harvard Gazette to Andy Roddick’s official website. In this 1st article of 1st E-Commerce week, we will learn how to create a website which has online store’s functionalities in it. In simple words we will create a fully functional electronic store. We will also talk about building e-commerce themes from a developer’s point of view.
E-commerce week is sponsored by SSLmatic which sells SSL certificates for much cheaper prices (RapidSSL, Geotrust, Verisign) and offers great support. Check their site to get the cheap SSL certificates.If you have not ever created an e-commerce website before, then this crash course is best-suited for you. I am considering that you are totally an idiot when it comes to e-commerce websites. At the end we will also talk about how a developer can integrate e-commerce features in his WordPress theme. So I will say this tutorial will take you from beginner level and at the end you can continue with creating e-commerce websites with WordPress as a developer.
We will create a demo store using WP e-Commerce and WordPress. At the end there will be a discussion about how to develop e-commerce ready WordPress themes.
There are a lot of free and premium e-commerce plugins available to enhance WordPress for e-commerce functionality but we are going to use WP e-Commerce. The reasons why we have picked it out are pretty simple.
It is always the best practice to set up WordPress on localhost as it fastens the process of development. After setting it up, you have no need to use any ftp program to upload files to servers. In short, hassle free development and it increases productivity a lot. So this is highly recommended for you. If you are on windows or Linux you can use xampp. For mac lovers, I will suggest to use mamp. Follow these short and easy tutorials on how to setup local host on your own computer.
Resources:
Moreover I am using jQ, an awesome free theme for WordPress. How ever this tutorial should work fine with all bugs free themes.
Let’s do some real action. Fasten your seat belts as we are ready to start our development.
You can install WP e-Commerce from official plugins repository or from its official website. After activation, you will find a tab named Products below the comments tab. We will start from settings and then we will create some products to finally set up our demo store.
The first sub-tab under the settings tab is of general options. You can set your location, target markets and currency in which you will sell products. You can also set additional tax which will be applied on the top of your product price. For example in Pakistan, each business has to pay 15% of the total sales as general sales tax.
The presentation tab is all about how you want to show your store. Instinct, the company behind WP e-Commerce also offers a gold cart with more options. You can say that it’s a premium version with more features so if you see some options disabled in settings, don’t worry. There is nothing wrong with your server permissions or installation method. You can only enable them after buying Gold Cart.
Most of the options in this tab are pretty self explanatory. You can choose button types and choosing whether to show breadcrumbs, product ratings or not. Show Postage and Packaging means that you want to show the shipping charges on your product pages or not.
Product page settings allow you to customize the layout of product pages. You can select different layouts (only for gold cart) and different themes to show products. WP e-Commerce comes with three built-in themes. 3rd option is what group of products you want to show on product pages. The concept of product groups is a bit complex and we will take a look on it later. For now, just take them as categories which help you in categorizing products in different ways as well as helping your customers in finding products easily and quickly.
Shopping cart settings allows you to choose where you want to show cart. You can select different options ranging from widgets to manual insertion of template tag. Sliding cart enables your customers to maximize and minimize the shopping cart using +/- buttons and the last option has been explained already.
Before going to next section of settings, it will be good if you learn what product groups are.
You can take them as categories and tags built in with WordPress. Actually WP e-Commerce uses pages for all its needs and WordPress don’t allow you to categorize pages. That’s why the plugin comes with product groups. For example if you are creating a theme store (download goodies shop) you can make product groups of WordPress, tumblr, Drupal and Joomla while you can also categorize all the themes with respect of colors or some specific features. Hopefully you got the point. Just think that you can group product of same features with help of these product groups. I will try to make this concept clearer when we will create our product groups.
Let’s get back to Settings of our E-Store
While creating a product group you can give description and thumbnail of that group. In Product Group settings you can choose which parameters to show on product pages.
Thumbnails are pretty self explanatory. You can also choose pagination. If enabled, it will divide your products into different pages just like WordPress pagination. You can also choose whether to use IntenseDebate or not.
Here you can setup your digital goodies store. You can set how much time a user can download a specific file. You can also lock downloads to that specific ip from which orders has been placed. You can also set default email addresses for sending different notifications to customer and for your own record.
You can also write custom messages here which will be sent out to your customers on different events and also to the admin of e-store. At the end of this setting page you can give link to different pages. You will have to set page links after changing permalink structure.
You can setup all the shipping options here. You can choose different shipping schemes like flat rate and weight rate. The plugin will automatically calculate the shipping charges and will add these charges on top of your product price. WP e-Commerce has built in support for ShipWire which is an order fulfillment company for online vendors. You can create some kind of conditions/layers. For example you can set rate if product’s weight is greater than 4 pounds. Remember you don’t need these options if you are going to set up a digital products store.
The most important part of an e-commerce store is payment gateways. WP e-commerce comes bundled with 2 Payment Gateways, paypal and google checkout. You can also select Manual Payment/Test Gateway if you want to receive payments using money orders or online transactions to your bank account.
Using import tab you can import data of your previously made products from a csv file.
This is last step in setting up WP e-Commerce is setting up the checkout form. You can implement the restriction of registration before checking out. Remember that it will only work if you will check “Any one can register” box in WordPress general website settings.
So we are done with our settings. Let’s create some product groups and products so that we can have a functional e-store.
We are going to create a t-shirt store from where people can buy t-shirts. So we are getting into t-shirt business.:) Just think how you can group t-shirts? You can group them by size, by brand, by color and also by sex. Then we can have sub groups under these parameters to organize things more professionally. I have come up with following groups to set up demo store.
T-Shirts
Let’s start adding them. Go to Products>Categories. First of all add a new group there and after that you can create categories in it. This is as simple as creating categories for WordPress. Take products as categories and “categories” as sub-categories.
After this step you will be able to select t-shirts from drop down menu. Select then edit it and add sub-categories to it.
The concept of adding categories can confuse you a bit. Best way to understand it to play with it as long as you become a master. Don’t forget to delete two dummy categories “brands” and “categories”. This is what I have after adding all the categories.
So we are done with categories. Let’s move towards products.
Go to Products>Products. You can add new products here. You will see a WYSIWYG editor just like WordPress post editor where you can fill all the details. Some things which are important to define are given below
SKU: is abbreviation of Stock Keeping Unit. It’s a general term used in our everyday life. In store it is an identifier of specific product just like each post in WordPress has unique id. I am showing you process of adding one t-shirt. You can add others products with some method.
You can also choose inventory to keep track of your store. Moreover you will have to upload product image here. After adding two products, this is how my product dashboard looks like.
After finalizing products, its time to add widgets to your WordPress theme. Go to Appearance> Widgets. Add shopping cart widget and product groups widget to sidebar. It will give an awesome look to your e-store.
You can now see how our store looks like.
Single Product Page
You can also use products page as home page by going to WordPress reading settings if you don’t want a blog at all. Another tip is to utilize wp-hide-post for hiding some pages so that no one can access shopping cart page and order pages directly.
You can use short codes for showing specific products and product groups inside posts and pages. You can get a short code by editing the category. Just see the following screenshot for better understanding. Same is the case for products.
Another great feature of WP e-Commerce is its template tags which make the job of integrating e-Commerce functionalities in a WordPress theme very easier.
You can use following template tags to include different functionalities in your WordPress theme.
<?php echo nzshpcrt_shopping_basket(); ?>// Show Shopping Carts <?php nzshpcrt_latest_product(); ?>// Show Display Latest Products <?php show_cats_brands(); ?>// Show all Categories <?php echo wpsc_buy_now_button(1); ?>//Show Buy Now Button <?php echo wpsc_add_to_cart_button(1); ?>// Display Add to Cart Button
Because of its reputation, there are lots of premium and community plugins available to extend the functionality of WordPress. You can take a look on this page for the plugins and themes available to extend WP e-Commerce.
I am sure that you enjoyed this crash course in building e-commerce websites with WordPress. Feel free to leave your questions and thoughts about the article.
E-commerce week is sponsored by SSLmatic which sells SSL certificates for much cheaper prices (RapidSSL, Geotrust, Verisign) and offers great support. Besides standard SSL certificates, wildcard and EV certificates are offered with discounts too. Check their site to get the cheap SSL certificates.Get The Only Freelancer crash course you will ever need to read!
Saad Bassi is a 20 years old web developer from Pakistan who loves to create beautiful websites with great user experience. He is co-editor at CrispyTech and 1stWebDesigner and blogs about the next Windows at Windows8Geek. He also loves to make new friends so don't forget to say him a hello on Twitter. Last but not least, make sure that you check out my latest project, Addictive Fonts which focuses on free high quality font downloads.
Monday, December 19th, 2011 22:39
Here is a good post about starting an e-commerce site with wordpress.
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 19:35
Hello,
Just want to say you’ve done a great job! It’s a very good tutorial :) thank you so much!
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 10:25
I will have to try the E commerce plugin and get back to you later. thanks
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 08:04
I am building a t-shirt store and wondering how you can add a drop down menu or variation to select the size t-shirt you want rather than posting a different product for each size though it is the same t-shirt? Thank you
Monday, December 12th, 2011 17:25
Ryan, you just set the variations.
First create the product then go in and create a variation for size and another one for colour and you will have the drop downs within the product. It’s best to set the price first as modifying it later can be a slow and painful process, especially if you have a lot of different sizes.
Sunday, November 20th, 2011 19:31
Great Content but i can’t see General menu bar on my plugin., how to do this?
Friday, November 18th, 2011 14:00
which settings for the permalinks are required to set the url of the pages…
please reply urgently
w8ing..??
Saturday, October 29th, 2011 03:06
Great tutorial! I need the information like this since I want to build online store.
Thanks
Thursday, September 1st, 2011 17:13
I can’t get the digital downloads to work. Is there anywhere online that shows how to set these up?
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 06:33
This was a great article – Thanks!
Could you go into more details about settling up a Custom Payment Gateway. The one I need to connect it to isn’t supported in the list of payment gateways.
cheers!
Sam
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 12:49
I must say this is a great tutorial, my question is it possible to have this plugin for Donate only for Non-for profit Organization? without physical products.
Monday, June 13th, 2011 12:45
You need a crash course in conversational manners. To say “I am considering that you are totally an idiot…” is talking down, condescending and downright rude. Correct your sales pitch…please. (Reference: Your opening paragraph, titled ‘Who should read this tutorial’.)
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 10:28
Hey stan thanks for the laugh, very true though,have a good day.
Thursday, March 31st, 2011 13:27
Very good tutorial from scratch to end. Enjoyed reading this. I rate it 10/10 among the articles i have read this month
Sunday, February 13th, 2011 07:04
While I thought I understood the “Groups” and “Categories” section, it does not behave like I thought.
I was hopeful that I could create different Groups (brands, type of use, etc.) for easier sorting by the customer. All it did for me was add every category to the product page adding additional clutter.
Did I do something incorrectly?
Monday, January 3rd, 2011 18:01
Hi,
How can i open the link in BUY button to _blank window?
Thursday, December 16th, 2010 18:16
Great tutorial! It’s very helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 16:08
This free siahrng of information seems too good to be true. Like communism.
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 22:24
I followed all the steps and I was able to create my own store.
However, it doesn’t look professional. I will have to hire someone to change the design for me.
What is the best place to outsource web designers?
Thursday, October 7th, 2010 09:59
Send me an email at saad at 1stwebdesigner.com
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010 08:31
All the products are appearing in the products page.
How to create a new page to show some grouped/categorised
products in the new page ?
thanks in advance.
Saturday, October 29th, 2011 04:50
maybe if you weren’t all super mario’d up it would look more professional?
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010 09:06
This will cost you 1000$. Send me an email at saad at 1stwebdesigner.com if you are interested.
Saturday, September 18th, 2010 00:40
Great Tut’s,I found it easy to chew!
Thanks.
Monday, September 6th, 2010 21:01
Hi
Great tutorial…but i am going wrong somewhere. The actual ecommerce software makes sense and appears quite easy to use. What i am having problems is… the installation. Successfully installed XAMPP and also w ecommerce plugin. Do i have to download wordpress as well? I dont know how to get to the first screen where you mention “adding a product” – although downloads have been successful i dont seem to be able to open the software. I’m sure its something very simple but i think ive missed out a step. Please can you help as i dont seem to be able to open wordpress or ecommerce.
many thanks
Tracy
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 11:47
Yes, you need to download wordpress. I will suggest you not to do this yourself. Better hire a professional because you are a noob
Sunday, September 5th, 2010 05:34
Does the WP Ecommerce support membership and mileage program?
Monday, August 9th, 2010 03:35
I have a friend who is using a wordpress ecommerce store, she is selling digital products and has some free stuff. When someone tries to get the freebies the order cancels itself. I have been looking in the settings and I can’t work out what the problems is.
Thursday, August 5th, 2010 08:47
I Like this Customization
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 19:06
I amconsidering WP E commerce..this is an excellent tutorial. What I would need to accomplish is having the product groups/subgroups further categorized in multiple ‘shop by’ categories, for example ‘shop by color’ then all teh blue t-shirts would show…can this be accomplished in WP E commerce? Thank you!
Friday, July 23rd, 2010 08:45
I just came across your post (awesome!) …I have seen the icondock.com site before and they are using this in a very nifty way, reading your post answered most of the questions in my mind about it, save one… I was wondering – is there some way to check the availability of an inventory item based on the state a person is requesting shipment from or zip code out of the box? I appreciate you sharing this and I welcome your ideas on resolving my query. Thanks.
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bobbi
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 19:06
I amconsidering WP E commerce..this is an excellent tutorial. What I would need to accomplish is having the product groups/subgroups further categorized in multiple ‘shop by’ categories, for example ‘shop by color’ then all teh blue t-shirts would show…can this be accomplished in WP E commerce? Thank you!
Riyan Sheikh
Thursday, August 5th, 2010 08:47
I Like this Customization
Matt
Friday, July 16th, 2010 16:28
Good stuff, Saad. Very useful post.
Abhijit V. Chaore
Monday, June 21st, 2010 20:11
Hi Saad, Thanks for this useful information. WP has really made life easier for the eCommerce guys. Thanks again. You have done a great job. Keep it up.
Jack
Sunday, June 13th, 2010 20:31
Hey Saad,
Just wanted to say great job on this guide. I have been looking for an easy solution to building an e-commerce site. I will be doing a workshop on teaching students how to build E-commerce store so you definitely saved me. Also, followed you as well.
Saad Bassi
Sunday, June 13th, 2010 20:42
Glad that It helped you.:) Cheers
Jal
Friday, March 26th, 2010 02:53
Great write up. I was knowing nothing about e-commerce before reading this article. Now I can even pass a test on wp-ecommerce. :) I have some queries in my mind but they are too trifle. I am sure the more I’ll use it , the more I’ll get familiarized with it.
Thanks again.
Saad Bassi
Friday, March 26th, 2010 05:21
No Problem Man. Ask your questions. I will be happy to help you out.:)
ChiWahed
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 21:49
Thank you for this tour!
VARLabs
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 17:04
I’m using WordPress for my in-progress e-commerce site too!
I’m not using that specific e-commerce plugin, but I chose WordPress because of all the reasons you listed above!
Andy Sowards
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 15:27
Great tips, I am glad to see that wordpress is becoming a great alternative to the old methods of e-commerce
Keep it up!
Hamza Bahlaouane
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 14:46
I’ts look really good and easy to use , thanks !!
Saad Bassi
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 16:28
Yeah. Simple and easy to use. That’s the reason WP ROCKS.:)
Anatoly Gilderman
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 17:23
Great tips!
I have been looking all over the place to find this kind of tutorial and finally I have found one.
Thanks so much for sharing this one!
Jared White
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 18:57
Wow, thanks for the article. I didn’t even realize that WordPress could do e-commerce, it never occurred to me. And I’ve been building WP sites for a long time. Well, you learn something new everyday. :)
Saad Bassi
Thursday, March 25th, 2010 10:27
Yeah. We are always in learning process. Thanks for your valued feedback.:)
Muhammad Adnan
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 19:06
Good to start this Crash Course, I have use wp-ecommerce plugin in my WordPress Projects and It is awesome plugin.
It can used for e-commerce projects as a CMS.
here is a Sample project where I have used wp-ecommerce
http://www.whizbangsolutions.com/ourwork/avudu/home/
Saad Bassi
Thursday, March 25th, 2010 10:26
Pretty Cool Man. Awesome.;)
TheRECoach
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 18:05
great article, now can you do one on creating an amazing IDX and CRM for WP for Real Estate?
Thiago
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 02:01
I need a web designer to create a unique design to be used with wp ecommerce. Email me if you are interested. thiagoisremarkable at gmail.
Adam
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 19:36
This is exactly what my users need, a simple solution!
Just another step towards WordPress take over haha
brian
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 06:01
nice job with the tutorial/intor Saad.
I used to build some sites with wp-ecomm but made a change 6-8 months ago with shopplugin.net.
it’s not totally free (55$) for a license but with all the wp-ecomm add-ons you need to make it look/work nice it amounts to the same.
I guess it’s a matter of choice and all but I just feel more comfortable using shopp. Cheers!
Brian
Saad Bassi
Thursday, March 25th, 2010 10:25
Well Brian, I have not heard so much praise about shopp. I searched a lot before selecting my choice. Some fellow developers have not good experience with it. I will think of contacting people at shopp.:)
Logobird Designs
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 05:05
Using WP is a great way to get an eCommerce store up and running fast with minimal cost. Have used for a few of my clients whom wanted just a basic online store and works really well.
Good intro Saad!
Saad Bassi
Thursday, March 25th, 2010 10:25
Glad that you liked it.:)
eva
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 09:50
Thank your for your sharing, I will try it!
Alice
Monday, August 9th, 2010 03:35
I have a friend who is using a wordpress ecommerce store, she is selling digital products and has some free stuff. When someone tries to get the freebies the order cancels itself. I have been looking in the settings and I can’t work out what the problems is.
tommy tong
Sunday, September 5th, 2010 05:34
Does the WP Ecommerce support membership and mileage program?
Mark
Monday, December 19th, 2011 22:39
Here is a good post about starting an e-commerce site with wordpress.
Tushar Shetty
Sunday, December 25th, 2011 21:49
Loved the Tutorial, bang on, got what I wanted but just one more thing, I don’t have to install any other plugin for Credit Card, Debit Card Transfers and one more thing, I couldn’t find in the tutorial if there is a dropdown list for Tshirt Sizes for eg, S, M, L, XL, because I will be needing it to start my tee design online store. Thanks.
Reema
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 19:35
Hello,
Just want to say you’ve done a great job! It’s a very good tutorial :) thank you so much!
shawn woodhull
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 10:25
I will have to try the E commerce plugin and get back to you later. thanks