How To Turn On Woocommerce Store

Ready to Sell? Let’s Turn On Your WooCommerce Store!

So, you’ve built your shiny new WooCommerce store – congratulations! You’ve uploaded products, customized the design, and tweaked the settings. But wait… nobody’s buying anything! That’s probably because your store is still in “maintenance mode” or hasn’t been officially launched to the world. Let’s get that virtual “Open” sign hung!

This guide will walk you through the necessary steps to launch your WooCommerce store, even if you’re brand new to e-commerce. We’ll keep it simple and focus on the essential steps to get you selling quickly. Think of it like flipping the switch on a vending machine – once it’s on, the profits can start flowing (with some marketing, of course!).

Why Isn’t My Store “On” By Default?

Great question! WooCommerce (and WordPress in general) prioritizes control and flexibility. Imagine opening a physical store and accidentally leaving the doors unlocked before you’re ready. That’s not ideal, right? The default “off” state lets you prepare everything – products, shipping, payment gateways – *before* the public can access and potentially order something that isn’t ready.

Think of it like this: you wouldn’t invite guests to a party before you’ve finished decorating and prepping the food. Same principle applies online!

Step-by-Step: Taking Your Store Live

The main thing to ensure is that your store is not in maintenance mode or Explore this article on Woocommerce How To Change Button Link To External Product set as a “coming soon” page. Here’s how to check and disable those features:

1. Check Your WordPress Settings (General and Reading)

• General Settings: In your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings > General.
• Double-check that the “Membership” option, if enabled, is appropriately configured. Do you want anyone to register or just customers during Explore this article on How To Setup Products In Woocommerce checkout? This affects who can see content.
• Reading Settings: Go to Settings > Reading.
• Make sure “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked. This is crucial! You want Google to find your store. It’s very common that beginners accidentally enable this feature during store setup.

2. Disable Maintenance Mode Plugins:

Many plugins help you put your site into maintenance mode while you work on it. If you have one of these plugins installed, you’ll need to disable it. Common maintenance mode plugins include:

• WP Maintenance Mode
• Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Landing Pages by SeedProd
• Easy Maintenance Mode

To disable a plugin:

1. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins in your WordPress dashboard.

2. Find the maintenance mode plugin in the list.

3. Click Deactivate.

Example: Dealing with SeedProd’s “Coming Soon” or “Maintenance Mode”

SeedProd is a popular plugin for creating coming soon and maintenance pages.

*If you’re using SeedProd:*

1. Go to SeedProd > Pages in your WordPress dashboard.

2. Toggle the “Enable Coming Soon Mode” or “Enable Maintenance Mode” button to the off position.

3. Save Changes.

3. Check Your WooCommerce Status:

While WooCommerce doesn’t have a specific “on/off” switch in the same way as a maintenance mode plugin, make sure your products are published:

• Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress dashboard.
• Look at the “Status” column. Ensure your products are set to “Published”. If they are marked as “Draft”, “Pending Review” or “Scheduled”, they won’t be visible to customers.
• If needed, click “Quick Edit” on the product and change the “Status” to “Published”.

4. Review Your Payment Gateways:

• Ensure you have at least one payment gateway enabled and configured correctly (WooCommerce > Settings > Payments). If you don’t have a payment gateway like PayPal or Stripe configured, customers won’t be Check out this post: How To Customize The Buttons In Woocommerce With 3D Effect able to complete their purchases.
• Test your payment gateway with a small transaction (often called a “test payment”). Most gateways provide test cards or sandbox environments for this purpose.

5. Test Your Store (Incognito Mode is Your Friend!)

Before announcing your grand opening to the world, thoroughly test your store.

• Open your website in a private/incognito browser window (to avoid caching issues).
• Browse your products, add them to your cart, and go through the checkout process.
• Check that shipping costs are calculated correctly.
• Confirm that you can successfully complete a purchase (using a test credit card or your own account).
• Review your order confirmation emails and ensure they are correctly formatted.

6. Clear Your Cache (If You Have a Caching Plugin)

Caching plugins are great for speeding up your website, but they can sometimes display outdated content. If you’ve made changes to your store and they’re not showing up, try clearing your cache. Most caching plugins have a “Clear Cache” button in the WordPress admin bar.

Example: Using W3 Total Cache

 // In the WordPress admin bar, hover over "Performance" // Then click "Purge all caches" 

7. Double-Check your URL:

A common newbie mistake is to have two different website addresses set up in WordPress. Ensure that the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) in Settings > General both point to the correct address (including `www.` if you use it). Mismatched URLs can cause all sorts of weird behavior.

8. Important for Subdomains and Subdirectories:

If you moved your site from a subdomain (e.g., `dev.example.com`) or subdirectory (e.g., `example.com/dev`) to the main domain (e.g., `example.com`), make *absolutely sure* you’ve updated the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL). Failing to do so will break your site. Also, double-check your `.htaccess` file for old redirect rules that might be pointing to the development environment.

Reasoning Behind These Steps

Each of these steps serves a specific purpose:

• Disabling Maintenance Mode: Removes the barrier preventing customers from accessing your store.
• Checking Product Status: Ensures your Learn more about How To Set Up Your Woocommerce Store products are actually available for sale.
• Configuring Payment Gateways: Allows customers to actually pay for their purchases.
• Testing: Identifies and fixes any issues before customers encounter them.
• Clearing Cache: Prevents outdated content from being displayed.
• Correct URLs: Ensures the site Discover insights on How To Change Thumbnail Display In Woocommerce functions from the right web address.

You’re Live! What Now?

Congratulations, your WooCommerce store is officially open for business! But the work doesn’t stop here. Now is the time to focus on:

• Marketing: Get the word out about your store! Use social media, email marketing, and paid advertising.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Optimize your product pages and website content to rank higher in search results.
• Customer Service: Provide excellent customer service to build trust and loyalty.
• Analytics: Track your website traffic and sales to identify areas for improvement.
• Security: Implement robust security measures to protect your store from hackers.

Launching your WooCommerce store is just the first step. Continuous improvement and dedication are key to long-term success. Happy selling!