Woocommerce How To 2017

WooCommerce How To: A Guide for 2017 (And Beyond!)

Introduction

WooCommerce, the leading e-commerce platform built on WordPress, offered a powerful and flexible solution for online stores even back in 2017. While the platform has evolved significantly since then, understanding the foundational principles of WooCommerce from that era still provides valuable insight for today’s users. This article will delve into essential “how-to” aspects of WooCommerce, focusing on core functionalities and best practices that were relevant in 2017, and are often still applicable today. Whether you’re maintaining an older WooCommerce site or simply curious about the platform’s history, this guide will provide helpful information. While the specifics of themes, plugins, and some configuration options may differ slightly in newer versions, the core concepts remain largely the same.

Main Part: Mastering WooCommerce in 2017

This section will cover some of the most important aspects of setting up and managing a WooCommerce store in 2017.

Installing and Configuring WooCommerce

Installing WooCommerce was, and still is, a straightforward process. Here’s a general outline:

1. Install WordPress: Ensure you have a functional WordPress installation.

2. Search for WooCommerce: In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins -> Add New and search for “WooCommerce.”

3. Install and Activate: Click “Install Now” and then “Activate” the plugin.

4. Run the Setup Wizard: WooCommerce’s setup wizard will guide you through essential configurations.

The setup wizard would typically ask you to:

Specify your store’s location and currency: This is crucial for proper tax calculations and payment processing.
Choose your industry: This helps WooCommerce suggest relevant features and themes.
Set up payment gateways: This is where you’d configure options like PayPal and Stripe.
Create essential pages: WooCommerce automatically creates pages like Shop, Cart, Checkout, and My Account.

Adding and Managing Products

Adding products was, and continues to be, a core task. Here’s how it generally worked:

1. Navigate to Products -> Add New: This opens the product creation screen.

2. Enter Product Details:

Product Title: The name of your product.
Product Description: A detailed explanation of your product.
Product Data: This is where you specify product type (simple, variable, grouped, external/affiliate), price, inventory, shipping details, and more.
Product Short Description: A brief summary that appears near the product image.

3. Set Product Image and Gallery: Add high-quality images to showcase your product.

4. Publish: Click “Publish” to make your product live on your store.

Different product types offered different features:

Simple Product: A single, standalone product with no variations (e.g., a book).
Variable Product: A product with variations based on attributes like size, color, etc. (e.g., a t-shirt with different sizes and colors).
Grouped Product: A collection of related products sold together (e.g., a camera kit).
External/Affiliate Product: A product listed on your site that redirects users to another site to purchase.

Configuring Shipping and Taxes

Properly configuring shipping and taxes was vital for a smooth customer experience and legal compliance.

Shipping:

WooCommerce -> Settings -> Shipping: Here, you could define shipping zones (geographic regions) and shipping methods (flat rate, free shipping, local pickup).
Shipping Classes: You could assign shipping classes to products to group them for different shipping rates (e.g., heavy items vs. small items).

Taxes:

WooCommerce -> Settings -> Tax: Enable tax calculations and configure tax rates based on location. You could choose to enter prices inclusive or exclusive of tax.

Customizing Your Store’s Appearance

While themes played a huge role, WooCommerce allowed for some level of customization:

Theme Customization: Most themes offered options to customize colors, fonts, layouts, and more through the WordPress Customizer (Appearance -> Customize).
WooCommerce Template Overrides: For more advanced customization, you could override WooCommerce templates in your theme’s directory. This required coding knowledge.

// Example: Override the price.php template
// Create a woocommerce folder in your theme directory
// Copy the price.php file from /woocommerce/templates/loop/ to your theme's woocommerce folder.
// Edit the file in your theme.

// In the price.php file, you might change the price display like this:

echo ‘‘ . get_woocommerce_currency_symbol() . number_format( get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), ‘_price’, true ), 2 ) . ‘‘;

Managing Orders and Customers

WooCommerce provided tools to manage orders and customers effectively.

Orders: You could view, process, and fulfill orders from the WooCommerce -> Orders section. Orders had statuses like “Pending Payment,” “Processing,” “Completed,” etc.
Customers: WooCommerce tracked customer information (name, address, order history) which could be accessed in the WooCommerce -> Customers section.

Essential WooCommerce Plugins in 2017

Back then (and still today), plugins extended WooCommerce’s functionality. Some popular choices included:

WooCommerce Subscriptions: For recurring payments and subscription-based products.
WooCommerce Bookings: For booking appointments and services.
Yoast SEO: For improving your store’s search engine optimization.
MailChimp for WooCommerce: For integrating with MailChimp for email marketing.

Conclusion

While WooCommerce has seen numerous updates and improvements since 2017, the fundamental principles outlined in this guide remain relevant. Understanding the core concepts of installation, product management, shipping, taxes, and customization provides a solid foundation for anyone working with WooCommerce, regardless of the version. Remember that the ecosystem of themes and plugins is constantly evolving, so staying informed about the latest options is crucial for maximizing your store’s potential. While the specifics of plugin features and theme options will vary from what was available in 2017, the underlying logic and structure of WooCommerce stay mostly the same. Good luck building your online store!