Before installing WooCommerce plugin for WordPress I installed and activated the Store Front theme. This is designed specifically for WooCommerce. If you don’t have your own good quality theme such as a StudioPress theme, Store Front is a good choice.
Next I ran the WooCommerce set up wizard and I imported the WooCommerce demo content so I have something to experiment on and practice with. You can find the demo content inside the WooCommerce plugin zip file.
Download WooCommerce from the WordPress.org site, unzip it and open the dummy-data folder. You need the XML file, dummy-data.xml.
Installing WooCommerce Plugin, step by step
- First I install and activate the WooCommerce plugin.
- The Set Up Wizard begins and I click the Let’s Go button.
- I let WooCommerce install the necessary pages that my store needs. These are cart, checkout, my account and shop.
- I select the country my store is located in, my preferred currency and units of weight and measurement.
- I tell WooCommerce I’ll be charging tax and it automatically adds a standard tax rate for me.
This is a demo store so I don’t set up a payment gateway. The wizard would help me if I did want to set up a payment gateway.
The WooCommerce video below explains how to set up PayPal standard. There are 24 payment gateway extensions available for you to buy.
I’ve now got a basic WooCommerce website that I can use to practice on and learn from.
I used the WordPress importer to import the dummy-data. The Dummy Data gives me a ready made store with different types of products to experiment with.
The WooCommerce Dummy Data is optional!
You don’t have to import the dummy-data.xml file. I added the dummy data so that I’d have some content to practice on. But if you want to jump straight in and start building a live website, you can. You do NOT have to install the dummy-data.xml.
Removing the Dummy Data
After you finish practising on your site and want to remove the Dummy Data, reset the site and start again. You could use one of the many WordPress reset plugins. BUT! Beware, reset plugins DELETE all data on your website.