If you are looking for an e-commerce WordPress website, chances are, it will be built using WooCommerce. WooCommerce is a hefty e-commerce plugin that's capable of just about anything you can think of. Sometimes your online-shop dreams may require purchasing an extension or two for the plugin, but there truly aren't many limits when it comes to building the perfect store. In this blog post, I will give you general instructions on how to manage your online store.
If you are new to WordPress and need basic instructions on managing the site before you can conquer WooCommerce, you can head over to these two blog posts, depending which platform your website was designed on: How to Use a WordPress Site Designed with WP Bakery or How to Use a WordPress Site Designed with Divi 3.0.
WooCommerce
Assuming you already know how to navigate WordPress, we will move on to the fun stuff. To access your store's general settings, click WooCommerce in the left panel on your dashboard. This is where all your overall store settings and orders are found.
Viewing Orders
The first page that appears in the WooCommerce section is your Orders page. Here, you will see every order that has been placed. You do not need to check this constantly because you will receive an email every time an order is placed, but it’s a great way to keep everything organized and to refer back. You will see the order status icon, order number, customers name, email, address, how they are receiving their order, the date it was placed, and the total. To view more order details, click the order number.
Adding Coupons
To add a coupon for customers to use, click "Coupons" in the left panel within the WooCommerce tab. Click "Add Coupon" at the very top left of the page. Enter the coupon code you would like to use for this coupon, for example, SAVE20. Scroll down to select the type of discount; percentage of the order, a discount on the cart total or a discount on the product total. Type the coupon amount without a dollar sign, for example, 2.00 for a $2 discount. You can check a box for free shipping if you’d like as well as an expiration date. This coupon will only apply to the cart if the user enters the coupon code upon checkout. If you click "Usage Restrictions" on the left, there are many more options to choose from if you want to be specific with your coupon. Click the blue "Publish" button in the top right corner.
View Reports and Numbers
Click "Reports" within the WooCommerce tab in the left panel. This page will show you all your store purchase history and numbers within the last 7 days, month, or year.
Change Store Address
Whether you have a physical store or you are shipping from your home, the address within WooCommerce needs to be accurate for shipping calculations. Go to "Settings" under the WooCommerce tab in the left panel. Update your address here and click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.
Products
To manage your actual products, you will leave the WooCommerce tab. Click "Products" in the left panel. This page displays all the products in your store.
Disable or Remove a Product
On the Products page, hover your mouse over the product that you want to disable from the store. Click "Quick Edit". See “Visibility” and click the dropdown window to select “Hidden”. Click the blue "Update" button in the bottom corner to save this change. To make a hidden product visible, click “Catalog & Search” rather than “Hidden”. To remove a product completely, hover your mouse over the product and click the red "Trash" link.
A quick lesson on Simple Products vs. Variable Products: A Variable Product is a product that requires customers to choose from different options before purchasing such as size or color. These options are referred to as Attributes. Each Attribute gets its own settings. For example, you can charge a customer more for order a 3XL shirt. A Simple Product is exactly what it sounds like - a simple product with no options.
Adding/Editing Simple Products
Existing Products: On the Producst page, click the name of the product you want to edit. Change the price by scrolling down to the “product data” box. Change the image by scrolling down and clicking the current image. Upload a new image the same way you would add any other image. Click the blue "Update" button in the top right of the page to save.
New Products: On the Products page, Click "Add New" under the Products tab in the left panel. Type the product name at the top. To add an image, scroll down and click "Set Product Image" in the right column. Do not get confused and click "Add product gallery images" beneath it. This is the wrong link. Add the image the same way you would add any other. To the left of this area, you will see a box called “Product Data”. "Simple Product" should be chosen in the dropdown box since this product does not have any variations. Here, you will add the price in the “regular price” box without a dollar sign.
Shipping: If your product is shippable and you are not set up for Flat Rate shipping, you will need to set the product dimensions and weight for the shipping calculator. Click "Shipping" in the tabs on the left of the Product Data box. Set the measurements of the product itself (not the dimensions of the shipping container you will put it in) and set the product weight (this will be weighed in the actual packaging as it will be shipped).
Inventory: You can edit your inventory and mark products as out of stock by clicking the "Inventory" tab to the left of the Product Data box. Here, you can change the stock status.
Click the blue "Publish" button on the top right of the page to save.
Adding/Editing Products with Variations
You can refer to the instructions above under Simple Products up until it says to choose "Simple Product" in the dropdown box. Instead, you will choose "Variable Product". After selecting, you will see a new tab appear in the left side of the Data Box called "Attributes". Click that tab. First, you will need to set your attributes. Then click "Add" next to Custom Attributes. New text boxes will appear. If you are selling t-shirts, you may want to set an attribute for size. The name of your attribute would be "Size" and the values would be Small | Medium | Large. As the text box informs you, the values must be separated by that line character (this key is shift+ if you have never used it before). Don't forget to check the box "Use For Variatons". Add as many attributes as you need, and then click "Save Attributes"
Next, navigate to the "Variations" tab on the left side of the Product Data Box. Click the dropdown box that says "Add variation" to select "Create variations from all attributes". This will allow customers to choose from all variations that were set for the product. Click "Go". You will get a warning popup window. Click OK. The system will generate all possible combinations of variations. Click on the row of the item to add pricing, weight, and dimensions for shipping. This will need to be done for each varitation. Click the blue "Save Changes" button at the bottom. Then click the blue "Update" button back up at the top to make your changes live.
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