How to Set Up a Shopping Cart in a WordPress Blog on the Same Hosting
You’re creating a blog, and you want to sell your products online through the blog. But you’re not exactly sure how to go about doing this. You want to set up a shopping cart for people to add products to, and then you can process the orders through your blog. Pretty simple, right? Well, maybe not quite…
There are so many moving pieces when it comes to setting up shop online. From choosing a merchant account to figuring out how to display products, and everything in between. It can be tricky to know where to start. That’s why we’ve gone ahead and compiled this detailed guide. In it, you’ll learn how to set up a shopping cart in a wordpress blog on the same hosting.
Step One: Choose A Hosting Plan That Suits Your Needs
The first thing you need to do is choose a hosting plan. A good hosting plan will be one that allows for all the features you need and won’t hurt your wallet too much. For example, if you’re starting a fashion blog, you’ll want to look for a plan that has the ability to handle lots of web traffic. Generally speaking, the more features you have, the more expensive the plan will be. So if you’re on a tight budget, you might want to look for a simpler plan that’s less expensive.
Step Two: Install WordPress To Start Creating Your Blog
Once you have your hosting plan, you can proceed to install WordPress. If you’re installing WordPress on your own computer, you’ll want to make sure you have the proper tools. You’re going to use a tool called XCart to set up your shopping cart, so you’ll need to have XCart installed on your computer. If you’re installing WordPress on a shared hosting plan, your web host will likely have provided you with instructions on how to install WordPress. If you’re following the instructions, all should go smoothly. However, if you’re using a different tool to set up your shopping cart, you might encounter some issues. In that case, you can contact the tool’s customer support team and ask them for help. They’ll be able to walk you through the procedure or assist you with any issues you’re having.
Step Three: Create A Username And Password For Yourself
Now that you have WordPress installed and are ready to start creating your blog, it’s time to create a username and password for yourself. As we mentioned above, if you’re installing WordPress on your own computer, you’ll need to create a username and password to use with XCart. If you’re using a shared hosting plan, your hosting provider will have already provided you with a username and password. Simply use these credentials to log in to your WordPress dashboard.
No matter where you’re installing WordPress, you’ll need to create a username and password to log in to your WordPress dashboard. The WordPress dashboard is the central location for all of your WordPress content and settings. It’s where you’ll spend most of your time when building your blog, so it’s important to set up these credentials correctly. If you forget your password, you can click ‘forgot password’ which will then direct you to a page that will allow you to reset your password. Changing your password is easy, simply click ‘change password’ next to your user name and then follow the instructions.
Step Four: Log In To Your WordPress Dashboard
Once you’re back at your WordPress dashboard, click on ‘settings’ in the top right corner of the page. Then, from there, click on ‘shop’. It will take you to the XCart settings page where you’ll need to configure the following details:
Shopping Cart Display Method
XCart allows you to choose from a variety of display methods, including ‘simple’ for those who want to keep things simple, and ‘shopping cart’ for those who want to replicate the look and feel of a real shopping cart.
If you’re using the shopping cart method, enter a product title, description, and price for each product. If you’re using the simple method, leave this field blank. Next, you’ll need to choose a payment method. You have the option of using either PayPal or Stripe as your payment processor. You’ll notice that Stripe is a little more expensive than PayPal, but it’s a popular option among bloggers and small businesses. If you decide to use Stripe, simply click ‘add payment method’ and then follow the instructions.
Shipping Method
You can choose to have XCart ship your products to your customer’s address or pick up the shipping at your expense. If you decide to have XCart ship your products, you’ll need to create an account with a shipping company called ‘usps’. For each product you’ll want to ship, you’ll need to choose a shipping company and enter your zip code to get a shipping rate. If you decide to have XCart pick up the shipping, simply click ‘pick up shipping’ and then follow the instructions.
Once you’ve set up your XCart shopping cart and logged in to your WordPress dashboard, click on ‘orders’ in the top right corner of the page. You then need to add some products to your shopping cart by entering a title, description, and price for each product.
XCart allows you to display items in your cart on the homepage, other posts, or both. If you decide to have your items displayed on the homepage, simply check the box next to the article where you want the products to be displayed, then click ‘save’. If you want the products to be displayed in other posts, you can create a new post or edit an existing one and then enter the products in the ‘add new product’ section at the end of the post.
When adding products to your cart, you’ll need to enter a quantity for each item, and then click ‘add to cart’. Keep in mind that if you decide to have your product displayed on the homepage or in other posts, you’ll need to repeat this step for each post or page where you want the products to be displayed. When you’re finished adding products to your cart, click ‘checkout’ and then follow the instructions to complete your order.
Step Five: Create An Account With Your Credit Card
Now that you have your products in your cart, it’s time to create an account with your credit card. If you’re using PayPal, simply click ‘create account’ next to the button in the middle of the page. If you’re using Stripe, click on ‘create account’ in the top right corner of the screen. Either way, you’ll then be directed to a page that will ask you to input your credit card information. Fill out the details and then click ‘create account’.
Step Six: Review Your Order And Click On ‘Place An Order’
Once you’ve created an account with your credit card, it’s time to review your order. When you first got to this point in the setup, you logged in to your WordPress dashboard and then clicked on ‘orders’. This is where you’ll see all the orders that have been placed. Simply check the box next to the order you want to review and then click on ‘view order’.
On the review page, you’ll see a summary of the order along with a link that will take you to the individual item’s page on the merchant’s website. There you can see the product’s description, pricing, and make any necessary changes to the order. When you’re finished reviewing the order, simply click on ‘place order’ and follow the instructions to complete the transaction.
Step Seven: That’s It!
Once you’ve completed all the steps above and have successfully moved all your products from your computer to the cloud, you can simply delete XCart from your computer. If you decide to go this route, simply go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to ‘my account’ and then delete the plugin from the ‘plugins’ section. The next time you log in to WordPress, you’ll need to recreate the shopping cart, adding all the products you sold online using your blog’s login details.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully created a shopping cart using WordPress. You can either display the products you’ve sold in your blog or use the plugin’s built-in functionality to have your products shipped to customers. If you decide to ship the products yourself, you’ll need to create an account with a shipping company such as ‘usps’. For more information, contact the XCart support team, and they’ll be able to walk you through the process of getting set up with a shipping company.