Upload your products & Manage your orders

Adding a simple product

Adding a Simple product is similar to writing a post in WordPress.

1. Go to WooCommerce > Products > Add Product. You then have a familiar interface and should immediately feel at home.
2. Enter a product Title and Description.
3. Go to the Product Data panel, and select downloadable (digital) or virtual (service) if applicable.

Note: Virtual products don’t require shipping — an order with virtual products won’t calculate shipping costs.

Product data

The Product Data meta box is where the majority of important data is added for your products.

General section

• Price
  • Regular Price – Item’s normal/regular price
  • Sale Price – Item’s discounted price that can then be scheduled for certain date ranges. The sale expires at 11:59pm of the specified end date
• Tax
  • Tax status – Taxable / Shipping only / None
  • Tax class – Choose which tax class should be applied

Inventory section

The inventory section allows you to manage stock for the product individually and define whether to allow back orders and more. It enables you to sell products and allow customers to add them to the cart to buy.

Enable Stock Management must be selected in Products Inventory Settings; otherwise, only the ‘Stock status’ option is visible in the Product Data Inventory box.

Options when stock management at product level is disabled. You are responsible for updating the Stock Status.

Options when stock management at product level is enabled.

• Enter the Stock Quantity, and WooCommerce auto-manages inventory and auto-updates Stock Status as Stock, Out of Stock or On Backorder.
• Select whether to Allow Backorders.
• Low stock threshold – Enter a number upon which you are notified.
• Tick the Sold Individually box to limit the product to one per order.

Shipping section

• Weight – Weight of the item.
• Dimensions – Length, width and height for the item.
• Shipping Class – Shipping classes are used by certain shipping methods to group similar products.

Linked Products section

Using up-sells and cross-sells, you can cross promote your products. They can be added by searching for a particular product and selecting the product from the dropdown list:

After adding, they are listed in the input field:

Up-sells are displayed on the product details page. These are products that you may wish to encourage users to upgrade, based on the product they are currently viewing. For example, if the user is viewing the coffee product listing page, you may want to display tea kettles on that same page as an up-sell.

Cross-sells are products that are displayed with the cart and related to the user’s cart contents. As an example, if the user adds a Nintendo DS to their cart, you may want to suggest they purchase a spare stylus when they arrive at the cart page.

Grouping – Used to make a product part of a grouped product. More info below at: Grouped Products.

Attributes section

On the Attributes tab, you can assign details to a product. You will see a select box containing global attribute sets you created (e.g., platform). More at: Managing Product Categories, Tags and Attributes.

Once you have chosen an attribute from the select box, click add and apply the terms attached to that attribute (e.g., Nintendo DS) to the product. You can hide the attribute on the frontend by leaving the Visible checkbox unticked.

Custom attributes can also be applied by choosing Custom product attribute from the select box. These are added at the product level and won’t be available in layered navigation or other products.

Advanced section

• Purchase note – Enter an optional note to send the customer after they purchase the product.
• Menu order – Custom ordering position for this item.
• Enable Reviews – Enable/Disable customer reviews for this item.

Product short description

Add an excerpt. This typically appears next to product imagery on the listing page, and the long description appears in the Product Description tab.

Video embeds (oembed) may be used, as of version 3.1x.

Taxonomies

On the right-hand side of the Add New Product panel, there are product categories in which you can place your product, similar to a standard WordPress post. You can also assign product tags in the same way.

Product images

Add a main product image and a gallery of images. More at: Adding Product Images and Galleries.

Setting catalog visibility options and feature status

In the Publish panel, you can set Catalog Visibility for your product.

• Shop and search – Visible everywhere, shop pages, category pages and search results.
• Shop only – Visible in shop pages and category pages, but not search results.
• Search only – Visible in search results, but not in the shop page or category pages.
• Hidden – Only visible on the single product page – not on any other pages.

You can also set whether the product is promoted in product categories, up-sells, related products as a Featured Product. For example, you could tick the Featured box on all bundles you sell.

Other ways to set as Featured are described in the below section: Mark a product as Featured.

Adding a grouped product

A grouped product is created in much the same way as a Simple product. The only difference is you select Grouped from the Product Type dropdown.

Create the Grouped product

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Products > Add New.
2. Enter a Title for the Grouped product, e.g., Back to School set
3. Scroll down to Product Data and select Grouped from the dropdown. The price and several other fields disappear. This is normal because a Grouped Product is a collection of ‘child products’, which is where you add this information.
4. Publish.

The Grouped product is still an empty group. To this Grouped product, you need to:

• Create products and add them
• Add existing child products

Having the choice to first create Simple products and add them to a Grouped product later; or first create a Grouped product and add Simple products later gives you flexibility to add Simple products to more than one Grouped product.

Add products to the Group

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Products > Add New.
2. Select the Grouped product you wish to add products to.
3. Scroll down to Product Data and go to Linked Products.
4. Select Grouped Products, and search for the product by typing
5. Click the products you wish to add.
6. Update
7. You can drag and drop to reorder the Grouped Products. Once you press Update, the new order will be shown on the product page.

Adding a virtual product

When adding a Simple product, you can tick the Virtual checkbox box in the product type panel.

With Variable products this checkbox is moved to each variation.

Enabling this, disables all shipping related fields such as shipping dimensions. A virtual product will also not trigger the shipping calculator in cart and checkout.

Adding a downloadable product

When adding a simple product, you can tick the Downloadable checkbox box in the product type panel. This adds two new fields:

• File path — Path or url to your downloadable file.
• Download limit – Limit on number of times the customer can download file. Left blank for unlimited downloads.

Managing Orders

Orders are created when a customer completes the checkout process, and they are visible to users with Admin and Shop Manager roles only. Each order is given a unique Order ID.

Order Statuses

An order also has a Status. Order statuses let you know how far along the order is, starting with “Pending payment” and ending with “Completed.” The following order statuses are used:

• Pending payment — Order received, no payment initiated. Awaiting payment (unpaid).
• Failed — Payment failed or was declined (unpaid) or requires authentication (SCA). Note that this status may not show immediately and instead show as Pending until verified (e.g., PayPal).
• Processing — Payment received (paid) and stock has been reduced; order is awaiting fulfillment. All product orders require processing, except those that only contain products which are both Virtual and Downloadable.
• Completed — Order fulfilled and complete – requires no further action.
• On hold — Awaiting payment – stock is reduced, but you need to confirm payment.
• Canceled — Canceled by an admin or the customer – stock is increased, no further action required.
• Refunded — Refunded by an admin – no further action required.
• Authentication required — Awaiting action by the customer to authenticate the transaction and/or complete SCA requirements.

Visual Diagram to Illustrate Order Statuses

This visual representation follows an order through its statuses from “Pending payment” to “Completed”, “Canceled” or “Refunded.”

Viewing and Managing Multiple Orders

Orders Overview

When a shop starts taking orders, the Orders management page begins to fill up. Go to: WooCommerce > Orders.

Each row displays several details. Some are there by default, others can be added. These are the available options:

• Order number and customer name,
• Date of purchase,
• Order status,
• Billing address,
• Shipping address,
• Purchase total, and
• Actions.

To change these columns:

• Go to: WooCommerce > Orders.
• Select Screen Options in the top right corner.
• Select which Columns to show.
• Select how many Items you want to be displayed on each page.
• Then Apply.

Filter and Arrange Orders

Filter orders by Date (month/year) or by registered customer.

• Select the month, or search for a customer.
• Select Filter.

Arrange orders in ascending or descending order by Order number, Date or Total by select the heading.

Note that the “Total” column does not take the refunded amount into consideration.

Click the order number and customer name to see the Single Order page, where you can also Edit order details, Update Status, and Add Notes. More details on that in Viewing and Editing Single Orders.

Previewing Orders

Order rows have a Preview “eye.”

Clicking Preview opens a Modal, containing the order number, order status, billing details, payment method, shipping details, shipping method, items ordered, and the option to change the order status.

Order Statuses in the Overview

Order Statuses are color-coded and descriptive.

• Canceled – Grey
• Completed – Blue
• Failed – Red
• On Hold – Orange
• Pending Payment – Grey
• Processing – Green
• Refunded – Grey

Order Actions

Hovering over an order Status displays Notes made on the order.

At the end of a row are shortcut buttons to quickly mark orders as Processing or Complete.

Viewing and Editing a Single Order

From the Single Order page not only can you view all order data, but also edit and update.

• Change the order status.
• Edit order items – modify the product, prices, and taxes.
• Stock – Reduce and restore stock for an order
• Order Actions – Email order details to customer (handy if manually creating an order for your customers) or Regenerate download permissions
• Modify product Meta to edit product variations by removing and adding meta
• Apply coupons. You will need to know the coupon code to apply to the order. Coupon usage counts are tracked, and coupons can also be removed from orders. Note: the order must be unpaid for coupons to have an affect
• Add fee. You can enter an amount or percentage to add a fee to an order. Negative fees will apportion taxes between all other items, and will not make the cart total go below zero

Order Details

Viewing Order Details

The Order Details panel you can view:

• Order number
• Payment details
• Order date and time
• Order status
• Customer details:
  • Username and email, together with a link to view their profile and other purchases the customer may have had in the past
  • Billing details
  • Shipping details

Editing Order Details

Most of the details in this section can be updated and/or changes.

• To change the date and time, use the dropdown date selector and the quantity selectors for the time.
• To change the status, choose the right status in the dropdown.
• To change the customer, select the current customer and search for the new customer.

Under “Billing” and “Shipping”, several other details can be changed. In order to do so, select the pencil icon next to each of them.

• Under “Billing”, the following things can be changed:
  • Billing address — this can also be loaded from the customer’s profile by selecting “Load billing address”
  • Email
  • Phone number
  • Payment method and details
• Under “Shipping”, the following things can be changed:
  • Shipping address — this can also be loaded from the customer’s profile or copied from the billing address
  • Customer provided note

Once you’ve made the necessary changes, select Update to update the order.

Order Items and Totals

Viewing Order Items

The next panel on the order page is the Order Items panel. This contains the product items, the shipping details, and the order summary.

• Each product item row lists:
  • Product image
  • Product name
  • Single product Cost
  • Quantity
  • Total (Cost x Quantity, with discounts taken into consideration)
  • Taxes
• Below that, the shipping details are displayed. This will include:
  • Shipping method
  • Boxed items
  • Total cost
  • Taxes
• The last section contains an overview of the order costs. This section will change if an order is refunded. By default, it will include:
  • Items subtotal — cost excluding tax
  • Coupon(s) — amount deducted based on the use of coupons; the coupons used are displayed left in this section
  • Shipping — the shipping cost for the order
  • Taxes — the amount of taxes for the whole order; this will be replaced by the tax code applied to the order
  • Order total — the total of the above costs
  • Finally, below the line, an overview of what is paid and the fees taken by payment gateways

Editing or Adding Order Items

Apart from refunding, order items can not be edited, unless the order status is “Pending payment”, or “On hold.”

Product items. Select the pencil icon next to a product line to edit.

The following product items can be edited:

• Add Meta — Add and remove meta to change product variable options.
• Quantity — Number of items the customer is purchasing.
• Total — Line price and line tax before pre-tax discounts.
• Tax — Tax cost. For example, if a customer is tax-exempt you may want to remove the taxes.

Other actions. Next, you can do four actions at the bottom of this window:

• Add item(s) — this will show you six new options:
  • Add product(s) — Add additional products to the order.
  • Add fee — Add an additional fee, such as gift wrapping.
  • Add shipping — Add a shipping cost. When you’ve done this, select the pencil icon to update the name, the method, the cost, and the tax.
  • Add tax — Add an additional tax code to every section in the order.
  • Cancel — Cancel if you do not want to make any changes.
  • Save — Save once the changes are made.
• Once you’ve done this, select Recalculate to make sure all the changes are reflected in the order totals.

• Apply coupon — If your customer forgot to add the coupon could or you want to reward the customer before they pay, selecting this option will show a modal that allows you to apply a coupon code.
• Refund — to refund the customer. For more information about Manual and Automatic Refunds, see WooCommerce Refunds.

Order Notes

The Order Notes panel displays notes attached to the order and can be used for storing event details, such as payment results or reducing stock levels, or adding notes to the order for customers to view. Some payment gateways also add notes for debugging.

The following note types are possible:

• Purple: System status notices, such as payment gateway details.
• Grey: General status updates, such as status changes or private notes. Customers do not see these notes but may receive notification of them, e.g., when the status changes from processing to completed, an email may be sent (depending on your settings).
• Blue: Notes to the customer. Customers receive notes via email but can view them by viewing an order, or using the WooCommerce order tracking page.

Notes can be a powerful tool for communicating with customers or other store managers. Need to add a tracking number for shipping? Is stock delayed? Add a customer note, and they are automatically notified.

To add a note,

• Use the textarea to add the content of the note.
• Select Private note or Note to customer in the dropdown.
• Select Add.

Manually Adding an Order

To add an order:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Orders.
2. Use Add New at the top of the page. The Single Order page appears.
3. Input customer details, add line items, apply coupons, apply fees and calculate totals. These are the same as the Editing or Adding Order Items.
4. Set a status for the new order, e.g., If it needs to be paid, use “Pending payment.”
5. Save.

Use the Order Actions dropdown to Email order details to the customer with payment instructions.

Paying for an Order

Orders that are “Pending payment” can be paid for through the payment link.

As the Webadmin, you can find this link on the order overview:

• If the customer is a Guest, anyone with the right link will be able to view the payment page and pay for the order.
• If the customer is registered on your site,
  • Only this customer will be able to see the payment link once they are logged in.
  • The customer can also find the order in: My Account > Orders.

If the customer is assigned to the order, they will be asked to log in before paying: