Setup WooCommerce in 5 Steps

In this Getting Started guide, we teach you how to set up a website with WooCommerce.

What is WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the world’s most popular open-source eCommerce solution. WooCommerce core platform is free, flexible, and amplified by a global community. The freedom of open-source means you retain full ownership of your store’s content and data forever.

Whether you’re launching a business, taking brick-and-mortar retail online, or developing sites for clients, use WooCommerce for a store that powerfully blends content and commerce.

Start with WooCommerce in 5 Steps

In this Getting Started guide, we teach you how to set up a website with WooCommerce.

Choose Hosting

WooCommerce can be installed as a plugin on any WordPress installation. WooCommerce have partnered with a few hosting companies that offer pre-installs of WordPress, WooCommerce, our Storefront theme, and ecommerce-specific features, such as a dedicated IP and SSL certificate to keep your store protected and secure.

Install WordPress

Now you have a space to start building your website. To lay a foundation, use the free WordPress software platform.

Many hosting companies have one-click WordPress installation available, so be sure to look for this option or ask if it’s available. Otherwise, you can download from WordPress.org and then install by following instructions at How to install WordPress.

Activate WooCommerce

With your website up and running, it’s time to install e-commerce functionality with WooCommerce. There are three ways to do this.

Create a free account on WooCommerce.com
- Sign-up for an account on WordPress.com and WooCommerce.com
- Select from:
  - A pre-installed solution with a trusted host
  - Auto-installing WooCommerce if you have a WordPress site already
  - Download the zip file and do it yourself
Install WooCommerce
- Download the WooCommerce plugin
  - Download the plugin
  - Go to your website
  - Go to: Dashboard > Plugins > Add New > Upload
  - Select the downloaded plugin
  - Install
  - Activate
- Search for the WooCommerce plugin from within your website
  - Go to your website
  - Go to: Dashboard > Plugins > Add New > Search Plugins
  - Search for “WooCommerce”
  - Install
  - Activate

Upon activating the plugin, you are prompted with a Setup Wizard. We strongly advise following these steps, as it takes you through initial setup.

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MySQL 5.6 or MariaDB 10.1 or greater

Requirements on local

Login Account (user id and password) to the server via FTP or shell
Text Editor
FTP
Your web browser of choice

You will need to know how to use a text editor to edit the main configuration file. If you are a Windows user, Notepad will do. If you’re an OS X user you can use TextEdit. Later, you will likely want to edit your Template Files. You can do this through the WordPress Administration Screens, but using a good text editor is highly recommended.

You will need to be able to use an FTP program to upload files and set file permissions (optional). You could choose FileZilla for this task.

Now you are all set to go on to Installation.

Basic Instructions

Here’s the quick version of the instructions for those who are already comfortable with performing such installations. More detailed instructions follow.

Download and unzip the WordPress package if you haven’t already.
Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL (or MariaDB) user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
(Optional) Find and rename wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php, then edit the file (see Editing wp-config.php) and add your database information.
Note: If you are not comfortable with renaming files, step 3 is optional and you can skip it as the install program will create the wp-config.php file for you.
Upload the WordPress files to the desired location on your web server:
- If you want to integrate WordPress into the root of your domain (e.g. https://example.com/), move or upload all contents of the unzipped WordPress directory (excluding the WordPress directory itself) into the root directory of your web server.
- If you want to have your WordPress installation in its own subdirectory on your website (e.g. https://example.com/blog/), create the blog directory on your server and upload the contents of the unzipped WordPress package to the directory via FTP.
- Note: If your FTP client has an option to convert file names to lower case, make sure it’s disabled.
Run the WordPress installation script by accessing the URL in a web browser. This should be the URL where you uploaded the WordPress files.
- If you installed WordPress in the root directory, you should visit: https://example.com/
- If you installed WordPress in its own subdirectory called blog, for example, you should visit: https://example.com/blog/

That’s it! WordPress should now be installed.

Pick a Theme

In the Setup Wizard mentioned above, you will be asked to pick a theme. The theme you choose will determine the starting look and layout of your store/site (though you can customize it from there!). You can use a free theme included with WordPress or purchase a premium theme.

We recommend Storefront and its child themes because they are built and optimized for WooCommerce. Storefront is free. If you wish to add functionality, you can purchase Storefront extensions.

If Storefront isn’t for you, there are lots of other themes that work great with WooCommerce.

Extend WooCommerce

Grow your store by adding functionality with extensions. We sell extensions for nearly everything: Subscriptions, Bookings, Memberships, payment gateways, shipping, and much more.

You can start a store/website for free and scale up as your customer base and revenue grow. Each extension is purchased on a subscription that gives you access to support and product updates.

How to install and Setup WooCommerce in 5 Steps