Installation

Installing the WP e-Commerce plugin is easy! If you are familiar with WordPress, you will be pleased to find it is just like installing any other WordPress plugin. Unzip the contents of the zip file you download and place the "wp-e-commerce" folder in your WordPress plugins directory, like so: "wp-content/plugins/wp-e-commerce/" Then, go to the Plugins screen in your WordPress admin area and activate the WP e-Commerce plugin.

Installing the Gold Files (Premium Upgrade)

For WP e-Commerce 3.6

Unpack the files and copy the contents of the Gold zip file into the "wp-e-commerce" directory in your plugins folder. If you have copied this over properly there will now be a new tab in the E-Commerce admin options called Gold Options, once you have browsed to this page and you have entered in your API key all of the additional gold features will unlock.

For WP e-Commerce 3.7

Unpack the files and copy the contents of the Gold zip file into the "wp-content/uploads/wpsc/upgrades" folder. If you have copied this over properly there will now be a new tab in the E-Commerce admin options called Gold Options, once you have browsed to this page and you have entered in your API key all of the additional gold features will unlock.

If it does not appear straight away you might need to deactivate and then reactivate the e-commerce plugin. The following image should give you a feel for where to put files when installing the WP e-Commerce plugin and any respective Gold Module.

API activation and information

The Gold Module requires API activation. You enter an API key and Username, these are supplied to you upon a successful transaction.

If your gold API key is not working there are a number of things to check before requesting support. Here are some of the common things to look out for.

1/ Your API key may be associated with another website? If so then you need to de-activate the API key from your test site so that it is free to use on your new site.

2/ Your server does not support cURL or fsockopen. Your server needs to allow these protocols so that your website can communicate with the WP e-Commerce API database. WordPress itself uses fsockopen to activate Akismet spam protection therefore if Akismet works then so should your WP e-Commerce API key.

If you don’t know what this means check with your web host or server administrator.

3/ Your firewall is blocking outgoing connections. When activating your API key your website will try and reach out and connect to the WP e-Commerce API database. You might need to ensure that our IP address 209.20.70.163 is added to your firewall.

4/ Your Gold files are in the wrong place. You need to ensure that your file structure is correct:

For WP e-Commerce 3.6 +, the gold files need to be unpacked and uploaded into the "wp-e-commerce/" folder like so:

"wp-content/wp-e-commerce/gold_cart_files/"

You also need to ensure that the gold_shopping_cart.php file is in the "wp-shopping-cart/" folder otherwise the gold tab won’t appear in your admin site. Ensure that this file is uploaded like so:

"wp-content/wp-e-commerce/gold_shopping_cart.php"

For WP e-Commerce 3.7, the gold files need to be unpacked and uploaded into the "wp-e-commerce" folder like so:

"wp-content/uploads/wpsc/upgrades"

5/ You have not uploaded all the files correctly. It is possible that an Auto update went wrong or perhaps when you were uploading your files they did not copy over properly. You should check to make sure the files sizes are correct.

The Gold Base is required for all additional modules unless otherwise stated. This image is for 3.6.12 sites and older.

Installing Additional Modules

Installing the Grid View

Grid View lets you change the way your site looks. You can display your products using a grid layout based on thumbnail images of your products. To install you must do the following:

1) unpack the files

2) copy "grid_display_functions.php" and "grid_view.css" into the "gold_cart_files" folder

Installing DropShop

DropShop adds the ability to drag and drop products into a new AJAX powered shopping cart that will display in the footer of your page.

1) copy the contents of the dropshop.zip file into your "gold_cart_files" folder.

2) select DropShop in the shop options page in WP e-Commerce

DropShop – Integrating with your Theme

With some luck (and a little more hard work) we will try to make it so that there is no theme modification necessary at all – if you are a CSS guru and you know of a way around this then please let us know.

But for now you must do the following:

1) Add this line directly under the "<body>" tag in your main theme template (normally in header.php) "<div id="page_container">"

2) Add the closing div tag immediately above the "<?php wp_footer(); ?>"

(normally in footer.php)

DropShop known Issues

When using the Audio Player and DropShop together Flash displays on top of the cart. This is a z index bug inherit in Firefox – fingers crossed they will fix it for us in Firefox 3. If you are a CSS guru and you know of a fix for this then please post it on our forums.

DropShop & WordPress compliant themes

If your theme is not a WordPress compliant theme then it needs to be. DropShop probably won’t work if your theme does not follow the WP theme development guidelines. All themes need a header and a footer. If DropShop works in your default theme it should work in your theme.

Installing Members Only Module

The Members Only Module allows you to create pay to view subscription sites – this is done by allowing you to protect single blog posts and pages.

The Members Only module is perfect for private Podcast sites, Image galleries, Movie Galleries, and Forums. Just use your imagination!

The authorize.net Payment Gateway utilises the Abr “authorize.net” recurring billing option. It is not a WP e-Commerce option,  WP e-Commerce uses Abr by default.

To install the Members Only Module you must:

1/ Copy the members folder into the "gold_cart_files" folder

2/ Active by entering your members only API key in the Shop Options page

For this module to work you must configure some WordPress settings.

Users must be logged in to your site to purchase a membership or subscription – otherwise we cannot associate their subscription with a WordPress user account.

To do this you need to browse to the WordPress “General Settings” page and check the “anyone can register” checkbox next to the Membership option.

Now under the WP e-Commerce “Checkout Options Page” turn on the “Require Registration” option by selecting the “yes” option.

Now you need to create a members only page or post

1) Add or edit a WordPress page or post and check the “Members Only” checkbox

Now create a members only product

2) Create or edit a product.

2a ) Call it One Month

2b ) Open the Membership Control options and check the “Is this product a membership” checkbox

2c ) Select a period of One Month

3) Save your product and test it!

To test this you should logout and browse to your store. Find the One Month product and purchase this product. When you reach the checkout page you will be prompted to login which you can now do inline on the Checkout page.

Once you have logged in and successfully purchased the One Month product you will be able to access this protected page or post for a period of one month. Done.

MP3 Player

Documentation coming soon

The Product Slider

The Poduct Slider let’s you display the products from a category in a sliding gallery.

Future version will also let you feed in products that are on sale. It’s easy to install. Just put it in the gold folder.

To use simply use the following shortcode:

[wpsc_slider_category=1,2]

Affiliates Module

Documentation coming soon

iPhone Module

This module is made by xiligroup – Documentation coming soon for WPEC version 3.7

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