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Ecommerce Templates > WordPress > Getting started with WordPress and Ecommerce Templates
Once you have purchased the Ecommerce Templates shopping cart software for WordPress you will receive a zip file with all the files and folders that make up the store. The zip file is available for download on the receipt page following purchase and via email in the confirmation mail you receive from Ecommerce Templates. We strongly recommend making a back up of the zip file in case files are lost or you need to go back to the original files. The integration here assumes you already have a copy of WordPress installed on your server.
If you haven't already done so, you can download wordpress from here. Just follow their instructions for setting up your database and installing.
Copy the files from your Ecommerce Plus WordPress template to the same location as your WordPress installation.
All you need to do is run the createdb.php script in your browser. For instance...
http://www.yourstoreurl.com/createdb.php
Then click on the button to install. It's a good idea to remove this script from your website after installation.
For those used to the old ECT WordPress templates, please note that the shopping cart will now use the WordPress database connection so it doesn't need to be set separately.
The following shortcodes rely on the ECT Widgets Plugin being activated. If this plugin is not activated then the shortcodes will just display as text.
Each ECT cart page now requires a WordPress page with a shortcode and a specifically named "URL slug". So to start with, to create the products page go to the WordPress Admin ➜ Pages and click on "Add New".
For the page title, enter the title you choose such as, "Products" and then in the page body, enter the shortcode, [ect_products].
Now for the page URL slug, enter "products". Can't find URL Slug? Click Here.
You now need to complete the same process for the following pages. Not all are necessary however, but we have marked the essential pages with a *.
* If you are creating your pages with Elementor you must add the ECT Shortcodes using the Elementor Shortcode Widget and not with the Elementor Text Editor. Just enter "Shortcode" in the Elementor "Search Widget..." box.
Previous versions required an ECT Child Theme but this is no longer the case and you can use any WordPress Theme that you like. So log in to WordPress and go to Appearance ➜ Themes and click on Activate which appears when you mouse over the theme of your choice.
Your Home Page can be set in the usual way in WordPress, however your Ecommerce Plus cart comes with a Dynamic Homepage Template which you can use. To do this, go to your WordPress admin and click on "Pages" and create a new page, giving it a name for instance "Home Page".
Then when editing this home page, on the right hand side under Settings ➜ Page Attributes ➜ Template you should see "ECT Dynamic Home Page" and "ECT Static Home Page".
The Dynamic Home Page allows you to fill in the blanks with all the usual WordPress features and posts, and needs no knowledge of HTML editors at all.
Each section can be modifed through the WordPress Customizer (Appearance ➜ Customize) under the Homepage Settings section.
There are also settings in the Customizer under "ECT Theme Settings", including settings for the copyright notice and social media account id's.
When creating posts for Sliders and other home page elements, just set the visibility to "Private" if you don't want them to appear in the regular posts listings.
The final key to defining your site is in the Appearance ➜ Menus and Appearance ➜ Widgets sections. Widgets are the Controls that you can add to sidebars and footers to add functionality. We have included the ECT Widgets plugin so you have Product Search, Mini-Cart, Mini-Login, Recently Viewed Products and a Dynamically Generated Product / Category Menu widgets available, as well as all the WordPress Widgets.
The Appearance ➜ Menus section of the WordPress admin is where you can define what links appear in the navigation menus defined by your Ecommerce Templates theme.
If you are going to edit the Static Home Page, make a copy of the file...
wp-content/themes/themename/page-static.php
...then open the new page in a text editor and change near the top...
//Template Name:ECT Static Home Page
...to say, "My Static Home Page". Then use that new page as the home page. The reason for this is just so if you update the theme, your changes don't get overwritten.
Well, nearly. It takes time to build a great website and content is the key. But the idea of WordPress and the ECT WordPress Templates is Plug and Play all the way. Try things out and if you have problems,
remember we can help on our support forum here.
Our integration changed slightly to integrate more tightly with WordPress. Now it is much simpler to create a child theme and none of the core files are customized. There are however a few steps to move from the old to the new.
Make sure you have the latest v7.3 (or above) updater installed. Once you have done that go to the ECT Admin Dashboard and if prompted to remove the URL Structure, do so.
Previously, an ECT Child Theme was required for each WordPress theme and this is no longer the case. If you are using an ECT Child Them then go to the WordPress ➜ Appearance ➜ Themes page and just choose the Parent Theme instead of the ECT Child Theme. You can also delete these ECT Child Themes if you like but they won't cause problems if not selected.
Get a new copy of the ECT Widgets Plugin from here. The ECT Widgets plugin will enable the necessary shortcodes for the products / cart pages to work.
You will already have completed the majority of the above instructions, but you do need to carry out "Step 4. Create cart pages with shortcodes in WordPress"
