Blog

25 Aug 2017

How to Create an eCommerce Website with the Shoppe Theme

Tutorials / 3 Comments

It’s around 9:10am as I write this blog post. So, Good Morning!

My name is Hogan (see bio below) and I recently released a full tutorial on How to Create an eCommerce Website with WordPress based on the Shoppe Theme by Themify. And I’m really excited to tell you all about it, i.e. who it’s for, what you’ll learn, what to do if you want to start fresh (completely from scratch) and more!

My goal for this tutorial was to create a simple online store so that anyone could follow along. It would also ensure that potential problems were solved for all users before they even knew.

The Shoppe theme, along with other Themify themes, such as the Ultra, already does a lot of the heavy lifting of designing sites with its amazing framework and the simple yet powerful drag-and-drop Builder.

However, since there are so many website building options it can be a little overwhelming to configure the best setting. There are many customization options, various plugins to use and how to configure them, as well as selecting image sizes and colours to apply. This can be very time consuming and especially frustrating when it turns out to not look exactly like you had imagined.

This is where this tutorial can step in and help you. I have put everything you need to know in one video. Follow along with this blog post to know what has been covered, or jump ahead to the section you might need most.

Here is the demo of the site we are creating:

http://shopdemo23.com/

Don’t worry, you can add all the bells and whistles later – which I’ll have tutorials for on my Youtube Channel.

So, who is this tutorial for?

1. People who have the Shoppe theme already, but need some guidance on how to set everything up (including WooCommerce, the plug-in which actually enables the eCommerce functionality on our site).
2. People who are using Ultra Theme (as an eCommerce website) – but are thinking to switch over.
3. People who don’t have any experience using the Themify Builder or have never built a website before! (This is perfect for absolute beginner

Note: If you are using the popular Ultra Theme but mainly for eCommerce, then you can switch to the Shoppe Theme without many issues. Most of the features are very similar, so if the main purpose of your site is to sell things then I would recommend Shoppe. It comes built-in with many great features such as:

• Ajax Cart (Cart will automatically update, once an item is added to the cart)
• Wish List Options (people can select items they want, it will be added to their “wish list” instead of cart)
• Quick Look Lightbox (customers can zoom-in to products)
• Ajax Quick Search (ability to search for products)
• More layout options for Shop Page/Individual Products
• More control of how Product Titles, Add to Cart Buttons and Sale Tags appearances

Overall, it’s easier to configure and edit with over 90% of Ultra Theme’s features. If it doesn’t work out, you can always switch back

View all the features of Shoppe theme.

What you'll learn in the tutorial

• Getting you online (Domain & Hosting + SSL certificate (https://)
• Installing and Setting up WordPress (Self-Hosted Version)
• Installing the Shoppe Theme (Included as part of the tutorial. However, if you want updates/support it is recommend to get the single theme membership)
• Install & Configure required plug-ins (ie. WooCommerce)
• Adding Pages/Setting up Header Navigation/Themify Settings and Social Links
• Go through Important Web Design Tips (I personally feel, once you understand the basics – you will feel more confident and enjoy creating your own site much more!)
• Creating your homepage (Where to find it & cropping it to size) and learn the basics of how to use the Themify Builder
• Adding in Products (Simple & Variations, as well as Downloadable/Virtual)
• Using the WooCommerce Builder Add-on – to add featured products to homepage
• Configuring the layout of our Shop/Individual Product Pages
• Adding Product Filter (customers can easily sort and find)
• Set in Tax Settings (also show you how do it step by step for US sellers, which is a little more complicated than most countries)
• Setup Shipping Zones & Classes (Different prices for location/products)
• Setup Advanced Free Shipping Options (Set in specific conditions to allow or disallow free shipping)
• Setup Payment Gateways/Coupons
• Creating a Colour Palette and Adding it properly to Website. (Goes through the styling options in the “customizer”)

So, in conclusion, I highly recommend the tutorial if you have the Shoppe Theme and want to build an eCommerce store. It would be great foundation especially since I will go into detail on adding the products and as well as the WooCommerce settings.

As mentioned, this is great for absolute beginners who have never built a site before. There is zero coding, as everything is done with the Themify drag-and-drop builder, which is intuitive and powerful, yet simple.

Click on the video above to start watching!

How to Start from Scratch (Fresh Install of WordPress)

Chances are there are some people who have just started building, but have some issues and want to start from scratch to avoid any problems. This is then a great option.

Important: Everything will be deleted (Including themes/plugins/content/settings). Basically, it will look like the first time you logged into WordPress.

If you’ve decided that is for you, then follow the steps below:

1. Search for the WordPress Reset Plugin by Matt Martz in Plugins section
2. Install and Activate
3. Go to Dashboard
4. Hover over Tools > Select WordPress Reset
5. Type ‘reset’ in the text field then click Reset

Done. Then you can follow the tutorial starting from 19:40 of the tutorial./p>

Drop me a comment down below if you have any questions!

- Hogan

About Me, Hogan Chua

I was first introduced to Themify in 2015, and loved it because I was actually able to build what I wanted without coding. I liked and needed flexibility and freedom, and many themes didn’t provide a complete solution. With Themify I knew I was able to keep up with design changes without a developer or changing themes.

With so much flexibility and freedom, it also means a lot of settings, it still can be a challenge to decide what it should look like and also where to edit the things you want.

I think many people also faced this issue or didn’t know a tool like this existed. So, I decided to make a tutorial for it, showing the recommended settings, design techniques and customizations so others can discover the potential with this beast! And here we are in 2017, releasing the latest tutorial on eCommerce – with a refined version of my previous tutorials!

Best way to get in touch, is by commenting on the videos

You can also contact me at [email protected] or my Facebook Page @ https://www.facebook.com/HoganChuaOfficial/ or find me at http://hoganchua.com/