It can be a nightmare to expect your WooCommerce store's customers to remember their username and password. The 'Lost Password' feature in WordPress is all well and good. However, emails can be spammed and it's plagued with caching problems.
That's when you need a WooCommerce URL-based login plugin. This type of plugin lets you generate a secret link that users can click on to log into their WordPress or WooCommerce account on your website. They'll never have to remember a username or password again!
In this article, I'm going to recommend the best automatic login plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce, and tell you how to set it up. I'll also tell you how to use it with other plugins to allow customers to click on a URL to instantly log into a hidden area of your website that no one else can see. This is perfect for creating a private WooCommerce store, wholesale login area, or hidden product categories that only specific users (or user roles) can see. It's also ideal for creating customer-specific products that are exclusive to each user.
Which is the best WooCommerce URL-based login plugin?
There used to be a free WordPress plugin called - you guessed it - URL-Based Login. This worked on any WordPress site, including WooCommerce online stores. Unfortunately the developer no longer supports this plugin, so you need to find a more modern alternative.
Instead, I recommend the Login Me Now plugin. This is another free WordPress plugin that lets customers log into their WP or WooCommerce account simply by clicking on a link to a secret login URL.
How do the automatic WooCommerce login URL's work?
The Login Me Now plugin works by letting administrators of your WordPress website create a hidden login URL for each user. They can easily do this on the 'Edit User' page under the Users section of the WordPress admin.
You can do this for any WordPress website, including WooCommerce stores. That's because Woo uses the standard WordPress login facility for its customer accounts.
First, an administrator logs into the WordPress admin for their WC store, goes to the Users section and clicks on the user who they want to create a URL-based login for.
Scroll down to the Auto-login section of the page and click the 'New' button next to 'Auto-login link':
Copy the URL that appears on the page.
Give the WooCommerce login link to the customer. Tell them to use it as the instant login link for their account.
Scroll down to the bottom of the 'Edit User' page and click 'Save'. The URL-based login will only work if you remember to save the page.
Now send the user a link to their unique login URL for your WooCommerce store (e.g. by email).
Finally, the user clicks on the link (for example in an email). It automatically takes them to your WordPress website or WooCommerce store and logs them in. They don't have to enter a username or password. This is because the plugin automatically passes this to WordPress via the auto-login URL.
For example, this sample WooCommerce URL-based login link will take users to the homepage of my website.com and log them into their account.
Each customer will have a unique URL-based login for their account. The random string in my example URL will therefore be different for each person.
Can I use URL's to log users into a completely hidden WooCommerce store?
Used alone, the Login Me Now plugin lets you provide URL-based login for WooCommerce stores where all the products are public. This means that the products are available for everyone to view, and the user-specific login links simply log customers into their account.
You can extend the Login Me Now plugin to change the actual visibility of products by using it with a WooCommerce protection plugin. Choose one of the following plugins, depending on whether you want to hide some or all of your products.
WooCommerce Private Store
WooCommerce Private Store - as its name suggests - makes your entire WooCommerce store hidden. The rest of your website (e.g. your homepage and blog) remains public, but all the WooCommerce parts (shop page, products, categories, cart, etc.) are hidden from logged out users.
Use WooCommerce Private Store with the Login Me Now plugin to create an auto-login URL that will unlock the hidden store and log them into their account in a single click.
WooCommerce Protected Categories
WooCommerce Protected Categories is similar to WooCommerce Protected Categories, but with more fine-grained control. Instead of making your entire shop private, you can use it to create hidden areas within your store.
For example:
You might have a public shop that anyone can access, and a hidden area that only logged in users with a specific role can see.
Maybe you need customer-specific products, with a different hidden category for each customer.
Either way, you can use WooCommerce Protected Categories to protect any or all of your categories so that only specific logged in users or user roles can see them. Use it with the Login Me Now plugin to give each customer a unique link, and make their lives easier with WooCommerce URL-based login.
WooCommerce Wholesale Pro
The WooCommerce Wholesale Pro plugin adds a hidden wholesale area to your online store. It comes complete with all the features you need to sell to B2B buyers, including:
Wholesale user registration and login
An unlimited number of wholesale roles, each of which can have different product pricing and discounts
Built-in emails for your wholesale users
A wholesale-friendly quick order form
Use the WooCommerce wholesale plugin with Login Me Now to allow wholesale users to login without having to enter their details.
Can I redirect customers to a specific page after they login?
Yes, absolutely. When you create the URL-based login link for each user, simply amend the link to add the URL of the correct page. Just make sure you don't change the autologin code at the end of the URL.
For example, this login URL will take customers directly to the shop page and log them into their user account:
Alternatively, you can use the free Peter's Login Redirect plugin to choose where people are taken to after they login. It even has a feature to choose a different login URL redirect for each role or individual user account.
How secure are auto-login URL's?
Letting your customers login by clicking on a link is - by definition - less secure than requiring a username and password. As a WordPress website manager or WooCommerce store owner, you need to make a balanced decision about usability vs. security.
Allowing users to click a link to automatically login to their account on your WooCommerce website can make your store much more user-friendly. Implement it carefully to maximize security in your store, and relax while your customers log into their accounts with ease.
Can I use URL based login with password protected store and categories?
Unfortunately this doesn't work with auto-login URL's, which only work with actual user logins. To automatically unlock the hidden content by clicking on a URL, you need to use one of the options in these plugins which work with individual user accounts.
Discover 3 simple ways to hide some or all of the products in your eCommerce store. We'll do it using the best WooCommerce private products plugins.
There are lots of reasons why you might want some or all of your WooCommerce products to be private and hidden from public view. A private, hidden section on your online store makes it easy to keep private products hidden from the public. This allows you to provide personalized offerings to specific customers or groups, while maintaining the confidentiality of private products.
The problem is that, by default, it's not possible to create private products in WooCommerce. This limitation can be a challenge when you want to offer exclusive products that only certain customers can view.
In this article, I will share 3 easy ways to create WooCommerce private products. We'll do it using a choice of 2 plugins - WooCommerce Protected Categories and WooCommerce Private Store. Keep reading to discover which plugin is best for your needs, and read step-by-step tutorials for each method.
What are private products in WooCommerce?
Private products are products in an eCommerce store which are hidden from public visitors. They are only visible to authorized users, who might unlock them by entering a simple password or logging into their WordPress user account.
The best WooCommerce private products plugins give flexibility in which products are private and which remain public. They also let store owners choose who can access the private products - for example, by user role or even restricting products to specific users.
What are the benefits of having WooCommerce private products?
There are many benefits to making entire categories of WooCommerce products private. For instance:
It's also possible to create a hidden area containing private products WooCommerce that are invisible from your public store.
You can use WooCommerce to sell private products that are unique to individual customers.
It's also possible to create a hidden area containing private products that are invisible from your public store.
By making entire areas of WooCommerce private, you can create exclusive offerings for specific customer groups, such as VIP customers or members of a subscription program.
"While most WooCommerce stores want everyone to see their products, there are lots of reasons why you an online shop might need private areas. Private products are an opportunity to expand your reach and sell in different contexts which aren't normally possible in WooCommerce."
Examples of businesses that benefit from WooCommerce private products
Here are some examples of the types of businesses that can benefit from WooCommerce hide product functionality:
Photographers Photographers often need to upload albums from a photoshoot to a private online photo gallery. This makes it easy to share private photos with the client, for example after private events such as weddings and baby showers. Clients can let choose and order the photos they’d like to purchase. It's important to keep these WooCommerce products private and hidden from public view.
Wholesale products. If any of your products are available for the B2B market only, then you'll need a private wholesale area. Even if you sell the same products to wholesale and public users, you need private wholesale products with discounted pricing.
Manufacturers and vendors Manufacturers and vendors might consider creating private online stores for each of the companies they serve. Clients can place orders for products that are specific to them, such as branded goods.
Service-based businesses Online service businesses often charge different rates to each client depending on the services they’ve opted for. Selling services as WooCommerce private products makes this easy to execute.
Members-only store If you have a WooCommerce membership-only store that is not available to the public, then you'll need a global way to make all your products private.
Age restricted store If you’re selling products or services designed for adults then you’d likely want an easy way to prevent underage visitors from viewing content. For example, this might include tobacco, alcohol, or adult competitions/products. Setting up a private area within WooCommerce can help you achieve this.
Now we understand what WooCommerce private products are and why you need them. Next, you'll learn how to set it up on your own membership site.
3 ways to create private WooCommerce products
Now you know what private products are and what they're useful for, let's talk about how to add them to WooCommerce. There are 3 easy ways to do this:
The first two methods both use the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin. This lets you make some or all of your product categories private. The difference between the methods is how people can access the private products:
Method 1 is for users who have an account. You restrict the category to specific user roles or even individual user accounts. People unlock the private products simply by logging into their account.
Method 2 allows anyone to unlock a category of private products by entering a simple password (no user account needed).
Method 1: Create private WooCommerce products for specific users and roles
Choose this method if you answer "Yes" to both of these questions:
Do you want to make some of the products in your WooCommerce store private, while leaving other products public?
Do you want private products to be unlocked automatically when users with the right permissions log into their account?
With this method, we'll use the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin to create private product categories that are available to specific users and/or roles. It's incredibly convenient for you because instead of spending time making individual products private, you do it at the category-level. This gives you fine-grained control while also saving you time. Whenever you add a new product in future, simply adding it to an existing category will make it private.
It works like this:
You can make any or all of your product categories private by selecting which user roles - or even which individual user accounts - can access them.
When users with access to a WooCommerce private product category visit your store, they can see all the private products that they have access to.
Other users just see your public products.
You can restrict different categories to different users or roles - for example, in order to create customer-specific products or different membership tiers.
When you protect a product category, all its sub-categories are automatically protected too.
Activate your license key in the plugin setup wizard.
Also in the setup wizard, select a page that unauthorized customers will be redirected to if they try to access a private product (e.g. if they have the URL for some reason).
Go to Products → Categories and add new or edit a category which you want to make private.
Find the 'Visibility' option and select 'Protected'.
Now choose the users and/or roles that will have access to the private WooCommerce products in this category.
Repeat steps 4-6 for all the categories that you wish to make private. (Remember that you don't need to do this for sub-categories as they are protected automatically.)
Save changes to make the products private on your live site.
And that's it! When a logged in user with access to a private product category visits your store, they will be able to see your public products plus their private products.
Feel free to add links to the private categories or their products to your navigation menu (Appearance → Menus). These will only be visible to users with access to the category and can make the private products easier to find.
Method 2: Create private WooCommerce products with password protection
Choose this method if you answer "Yes" to both of these questions:
Do you want to make some of the products in your WooCommerce store private, while leaving other products public?
Do you want customers to be able to unlock the private products by entering a password, without needing their own user account?
With this method, we'll use the same plugin as Method 1 - WooCommerce Protected Categories. But this time, we'll be setting it up slightly differently so that people can unlock private product categories simply by entering a password. They don't need their own account on your store.
It works like this:
Make some or all of your product categories private by creating one or more passwords.
You can create shared passwords to give to multiple customers, or create individual passwords for different people.
The plugin creates a customizable login landing page where customers can enter the password. When they enter a correct password, they are automatically redirected to the private category which matches the password.
Users who haven't entered the password can only see your public products.
When you password protect a product category, all its sub-categories are automatically made private with the same password.
Setup instructions
The steps to create private product categories with password protection are identical to Method 1 (above), with 3 exceptions:
In the setup wizard, you should configure the settings for your password login page. For example, you can add custom text to appear on the page.
Step 6 is different. Here, instead of selecting the users or roles who can access the private products, you should select 'Password protected'. You can then enter 1 or more passwords which can be used to unlock the category.
Finally, you should create a new page for the password login form. Do this by adding the shortcode [category_login] anywhere on your WordPress site.
You can mix and match Methods 1 and 2 as needed. For example, you can set the same category to both 'Password protected' and automatically unlock it to certain users and roles. As a minimum, I recommend making your WooCommerce password protected categories available to the Administrator role so that you can see them when you view the store.
Method 3: Make the whole of WooCommerce private & hidden
Choose this method if you answer "Yes" to this question:
Do you want to make ALL of the products in your WooCommerce store private, with no products available for public visitors to view or purchase?
This method involves making ALL your WooCommerce products private. To do that, you need a different plugin - WooCommerce Private Store.
WooCommerce Private Store makes it easy to make an entire store private, including all its products. This creates a 100% hidden WooCommerce shop. The private area includes your main shop page, product pages, product categories, tag archives, cart and checkout. It will leave the other parts of your website public. (E.g. the Homepage, About page and blog).
To unlock the WooCommerce private content, customers must enter a password or log into their user account. (Depending on which options you choose on the settings page.)
Use the setup wizard to set up the plugin as follows:
Activate your license key.
Tick the 'Logged In Users' box if you want to unlock the private products for logged in users (and select which roles and/or users should have access if required); or add a password if you're using the password protection option.
Finally, go and make yourself a drink - you've finished work and your WooCommerce products are now private ☺️
Where to get the plugin
In this article, we have discovered 2 easy-to-use plugins for creating WooCommerce private products:
Choose WooCommerce Protected Categories to create specific categories of private products, while also having public products which everyone can access.
Use WooCommerce Private Store if you want to make all your products private, with no public eCommerce area.
Both plugins come with a 30-day guarantee, so you can try them on your site risk-free.
Are you considering setting up WooCommerce private products in your online store? We'd love to learn more about the nature of your online store and the method that suits you best when it comes to hiding products in WooCommerce. Share your thoughts and insights by leaving a comment below on how to hide products in WooCommerce!
This is the ultimate guide to WooCommerce for photographers. WooCommerce offers some fantastic opportunities to sell photos online, whether this is to the general public or specific clients. I'll walk you through the best WooCommerce photography plugins and WooCommerce gallery plugins , as well as provide tips on how to sell more photos on your WordPress website.
Not all photographers want to sell their images to the general public. If you provide bespoke photography services, you'll want to sell photos in secure areas of your website that only certain clients can access. Fortunately, WooCommerce for photographers is straightforward. And if you're not a photographer, don't worry! These solutions are suitable for anyone wanting to create client-specific products or categories in WooCommerce.
By the end of this article, you'll know how to choose the best WooCommerce for photographers plugins and set them up:
Skip straight to the section you're interested in for detailed written instructions. To bring it all together, we've also created this video tutorial on how to create a complete WooCommerce photography website. It covers all the features you need, including quick bulk upload, photo order form pages with variations, plus a password protected category for each client:
WooCommerce & WordPress for Photographers: how useful is it?
Does just what I needed. I list the set of photos based on each client.
Good adjustment and easy to use.
There a huge number of WooCommerce gallery plugins, WooCommerce gallery plugins and other miscellaneous plugins for photographers. A huge number already have WordPress websites. It's hardly surprising given that WordPress powers over 1/4 of all websites. A huge number of WordPress photography themes and plugins are available. This makes WP for photographers easy: you can create professional websites using flexible, off-the-shelf solutions.
WooCommerce is the world's biggest e-commerce platform. As well as powering a huge 94.3% of all WordPress e-commerce websites, it's used by over 41% of all e-commerce sites worldwide. Wow.
While popularity isn't everything, WooCommerce is obviously here to stay. It's well supported with a huge ecosystem of Woo experts behind it. With so many plugins and add-ons available, there are plenty of options for selling client-specific products in WooCommerce. Not to mention all the other great plugins and features for displaying photos in WooCommerce.
Types of photography you can sell with WooCommerce
You can use WooCommerce to sell absolutely any tip of photography product - digital or printed. For example:
Type of photography Artistic photography, aerial or drone images, client photography (e.g. family, couple or wedding photos), editorial images, event photos, portraits, stock photos.
Image genres Animals, architecture, beaches, holidays and travel, business, celebrities, cities, fashion, food and cookery, home and lifestyle, natural photography, panoramas, seasonal photography, sports and fitness, technology.
Delivery mechanism Digital photos, printed photos, or images printed onto other media such as stationery and promotional materials.
Whatever type of photos you need to sell, you can do it with WooCommerce. Keep reading to find out how.
WooCommerce for Photographers case study – Photo Studio TNK WooCommerce photography website
Photo Studio TNK is a WooCommerce for photographers website run by Thierry in Paris, France. His clients book him for photoshoots, he then sells the prints to them on his WooCommerce website. Selling prints is a big part of his business, so Thierry's clients each need access to a private space where they can view and purchase their photos. That’s why Thierry’s WooCommerce website is powered by our WooCommerce Protected Categories and WooCommerce Product Table plugins.
This is how it works. After a photoshoot, Thierry uploads the images into the client’s hidden WC category. The client is sent a password. They log on to their hidden area to view the images. Each image is displayed in one table than can be filtered. Clients can view images, select variations and add multiple photos to the cart, all from this one table.
It works well for customers as they can view the images on their mobile or laptop and they don't need to leave the page to purchase their chosen images.
You can read more about Thierry’s WooCommerce photography website here. Or read on to find out more about how to make WooCommerce gallery plugins work for your photography business.
Why sell client-specific products in WooCommerce?
There are lots of reasons why a photographer might want a WooCommerce photography plugin to sell client-specific products. Woo for photographers is highly flexible. Let's take a look:
Event or wedding photography
Wedding photographers take photos of a specific event such as a wedding. Afterwards, they need to upload the photos of the event for the couple to view.
A wedding photographer will typically charge a fixed fee for the event itself, with perhaps a photo album included in the price. They may earn extra revenue from the wedding by selling extra options to the couple and their guests. For example, the photos can be bought individually (either as photo prints with different framing options, or as digital prints for download) via the photographer's website. The photographer might also sell packages via their website, such as additional albums or photo montages.
The images must be uploaded to a secure area of the WooCommerce photography website that only the couple - and possibly their guests - can access. People with access to the photos should be able to buy them online.
Family photographer
A family photographer is similar to a wedding or event photographer in that they're commissioned to do a photoshoot of a specific family. They might do the photoshoot for free, with the family just paying for the photos they actually want.
After the photoshoot, the photos need uploading to a private area on their website. The family can login, choose their photos and buy online.
School photography
School photographers take individual and class photos of school children. After visiting the school (which they typically won't charge for), they earn money by selling the photos to parents. The same often happens in nurseries, pre-schools and kindergardens.
Traditionally, school photographers would print a preview of each photo which the school would distribute to parents. This still happens, but parents are typically directed to the school photographer's website where they can view all the images of the class and buy online. The website often sells many options such as different packs and framing choices, and even other objects printed with the photo (e.g. mugs or mouse mats).
Given the confidentiality around photos of children, it's important that school photography is uploaded to a secure area. Only the individual parents - or perhaps the parents for the whole class - can access the photos.
How photographers can sell client-specific products in WooCommerce
There's an excellent plugin to sell client-specific products to photography clients. It involves creating hidden areas of your WordPress WooCommerce website that only the appropriate client can access. It does this by password protecting a category so that only people with the correct password can view and buy the hidden photos.
Password protected categories are better than creating a separate login for each user and giving them access to specific photos in WC. This is because:
You don't have to spend time creating a separate user login for each client.
You can easily give multiple clients access to a hidden category of photos. For example, wedding photographers can give a shared password to the bride and groom, and all their wedding guests. Everyone can access the protected category and buy the photos, resulting in more sales for you! (Tip: You can create multiple passwords for each customer, if you want to. This is still easier to manage than creating a full WordPress user login for each person who accesses your protected photos.)
Create a password protected category for each client
To use the plugin, photographers can create a separate product category for each client in WooCommerce. You can then upload all the photos for that client to the relevant category. For regular clients, you can create sub-categories - one for each event or photoshoot.
How to create client-specific WooCommerce password protected categories
In Pages > Add New, create a page called 'Client Login' (or similar). Leave this blank and Publish the page.
Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Password Protected Categories. De-select the options to show protected categories and products in the public areas of the site. This will hide your client-specific products so no one else will know they exist. Change any other settings as needed, for example to customise the text on the WooCommerce category login form.
Go to Products > Categories and create a category (plus any sub-categories) for each photography client. In the 'Visibility' section, choose 'Password protected' and enter 1 or more passwords. (Tip: Don't password protect any sub-categories - they will automatically inherit the same password as the parent category.)
Upload the photos that you want to sell to each client by creating products in WooCommerce and assigning them to the correct category. (If you've already added your photos products for the client, go to the main Products list in WP. Use Quick Edit to categorise them quickly.)
Finally, go to Appearance Menus and add your Client Login page to the menu. Or if you prefer, link to this page from the header, footer or anywhere else on your site. (Or just keep it hidden from your public website and send the link to your clients.) You can also add a login form to a text widget using the shortcode: [category_login].
And that's it!
That's all you need to do to sell client-specific products and categories for a WooCommerce photography website. When a client visits your website, they can click on the 'Client login' link to view the login page. On entering the correct password, they will be automatically directed to their own category. They won't be able to see your other clients' categories - just their own.
The plugin is simple but secure. Visitors will be prompted for a password whether they try to access the login page, the category page, a sub-category or a specific product page. Once they've unlocked their client-specific category, they can navigate anywhere within that category without having to re-enter the password.
It's the perfect way for any photographer to securely sell customer-specific products in WooCommerce.
Bonus! Tips on using WooCommerce for a photography website
So far, you've discovered an easy way for photographers to use WooCommerce to sell photos to specific clients. Then some tips on how photographers can use WooCommerce more effectively.
Sell physical photo prints, downloadable digital photos & other types of product
One of the best things about WooCommerce for photographers is that you can sell multiple product types. The ones most suited to a WooCommerce photography website are:
Standard products This is a traditional 'physical' product which you will ship to the customer. With this product type, you can add postage costs.
Downloadable products You can also use WooCommerce to sell downloadable products. These don't have a shipping cost. When you create a downloadable product, you can upload the digital image file of the photo. Once a client has purchased the digital version of a photo, they will be given access to a secure link where they can download it.
By combining simple and downloadable products, you can design a WooCommerce photography website where you can sell photo prints and digital versions. If you only want to sell one of these product types (e.g. some photographers refuse to sell digital versions of their photos), that's fine too!
Use WooCommerce Product Table to list more photos per page
Most themes have a fairly typical WooCommerce category layout, which may or may not be suitable for selling client-specific photography products. This tends to have big images with the product name, price and add to cart button.
The usual layout is pretty good on most WooCommerce for photographers websites due to the big images. However, it's less appropriate for selling photography products that aren't so visual. For example, a product category for framing options and photo bundles may not need big images. Instead, you might prefer to list as many products per possible, with extra information to make it easy to compare products such as size and colour.
If that applies to any of your products then WooCommerce Product Table offers a better photo gallery layout. It lists products in a searchable, sortable table or grid with filters.
You can make the product images as big or as small as you like (or hide them completely). This is better for less visual products such as frames or bundles, where you just want to list the options on a single page.
How to use WooCommerce Product Table to sell photos with password protected categories for each client
WooCommerce Product Table is fully compatible with the Password Protected Categories plugin that I told you about earlier. To use the two plugins together, you just need to follow these instructions to automatically add the product table layout to your category archive template file.
When your photography clients log into their hidden password protected category, they will see their photos presented in a product table layout.
What if my client has already paid for their photos?
Some photographers upload photos so that clients can buy them individually, whereas others take payment as a package beforehand. You can let clients order photos without having to pay for each one. The exact method depends on whether you're selling physical or digital downloadable photos.
Photo prints and physical products
Add your photos as WooCommerce products using the method that I described above. Instead of requiring payment online, choose an offline payment gateway such as 'Invoice'. You can rename this to anything you like, so the word 'invoice' won't appear anywhere.
When the customer adds photos to the cart and the checkout, they can use this pseudo payment method to complete their order without having to pay.
If you still want to take payment for other types of product, then that's fine too. Simply use the Conditional Shipping and Payments plugin to show the pseudo payment method for specific categories only.
Downloadable digital photos
Your customers can also download their pre-paid photos from their private portal, without having to pay online. To do this, I recommend using the following plugins alongside WooCommerce Protected Categories and WooCommerce Product Table:
Free Downloads WooCommerce - Add each photo as a downloadable WooCommerce product, and use this free plugin to allow customers to download them without having to check out or pay online.
WooCommerce Quantity Manager - If a client has pre-paid to download a specific number of photos, then use this plugin to restrict the number of products they can download. For example, if they have purchased a package of 20 photos then you should set a maximum quantity of 20. You can set limits on the client's whole category, or individual products/photos.
Use quickview to show multiple photos and image zoom
WooCommerce Product Table is ideal for listing photography products. However, the size constraints of the image column mean that it can only show one static image of each product.
You can show extra images by adding the WooCommerce Quick View Pro plugin. This handy plugin displays the full image gallery for each product, and customers can scroll between images by clicking on the thumbnails or using navigation bullets.
You can hover over an image to zoom in on it, showcasing your photos in full high definition that will inspire people to buy them.
The quick view plugin is very flexible and you can choose which style of photo gallery to show, and whether to include images only or whether to add extra product data and purchase options. It's the perfect way to provide further information and show off your photography more effectively without taking people to a separate page for each product.
Use product variations or add-ons to provide multiple options
WooCommerce photography websites often need to sell products with several options. For example, you might sell a photo print in multiple sizes. You might offer a choice of framing options. You could offer different file formats for your photos.
Give customers a choice with product variations
Use variable products in WooCommerce to add extra options. Customers can select the combination of variations they need and see the updated price before adding photos to the cart.
Sell optional extras and customizations with Product Add-Ons
If you need extra flexibility (e.g. multi-select checkboxes or space for the customer to add a personal message), then you can use the WooCommerce Product Options plugin.
This WooCommerce extension adds extra add-on fields to the product page where clients can add text, upload a file, or choose additional options.
The add-on options will appear in the add to cart column of your product table. Customers can select them before adding to the cart.
Add a watermark to protect your images
Many photographers who sell photos in WooCommerce wish to protect their images and prevent people from downloading them without making a purchase. After all, the product featured image is available for people to see before they buy. Anyone with basic computer knowledge knows how to right click on a photo to download it, or how to take a screenshot of it.
There are several easy ways to protect your photos:
When you add the product featured image, make sure it's low resolution. That way, if anyone downloads it then it won't be print quality. They must pay for the high resolution downloadable product in order to get the full quality version. (Of course, they can still share the low res photo on social media, so you may want more protection.)
You can also use the YITH WooCommerce Watermark plugin to automatically add a watermark to your featured images. This is a neat compromise because while it doesn't prevent people from downloading the image, the watermark will prevent them from using it. They must buy the photo in order to receive the un-watermarked version.
Bulk import photo products: WooCommerce import and WooCommerce Gallery plugins
Since publishing this tutorial, lots of you have asked how to bulk import photos to sell in WooCommerce for photographers. For example, a photographer might want to upload an entire photoshoot to their website and sell each image as a separate product. It would take too long to do this manually, so you need a WooCommerce gallery import plugin that can import simple, variable and downloadable products.
You can do this using the official Product CSV Import Suite plugin. I'll tell you how to import your photos using this plugin now:
Use FTP to upload all the photos to the /wp-content/uploads/ folder on your website. To keep your photos organized, add them under the current month. This is easy, as the uploads folder is already structured by month. (If you haven't used FTP before, learn how here.)
If you want to create a lower resolution version of each photo to use as the main product image, upload these too.
Next, prepare a CSV file containing the product data that you wish to import. The easiest way to create a CSV file is to use spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel or Numbers. When you've finished, use the Save As or Export option to save the file as CSV.
Add all the product data using the column headers in the import plugin documentation. If you want each product or variation to have the same data (e.g. price) then you can copy and paste rows of the spreadsheet to quickly add them - just make sure each row has a unique URL for the actual image.
If you're selling photos as downloadable products, use this section of the documentation to add the downloadable product data to the CSV file. This includes downloadable file URL (this will be the URL of the photo that you uploaded via FTP), download limit and expiry.
When the CSV file is complete, upload it using the Product CSV Import Suite plugin. This will automatically import your photos as WooCommerce products, so you can start selling them.
Preparing your CSV file sounds a bit daunting. Stick with it, as the documentation is excellent and covers everything you need to know. WooCommerce.com also provide excellent live chat support to help with any problems. Once you've created your first CSV file, it will be much easier next time.
WooCommerce for photographers – time to create your website!
I hope this guide has helped you to choose the best WooCommerce photography plugins or WooCommerce gallery plugin for your WordPress website. I'd love to hear how you get on.
Which are the best plugins on WordPress and WooCommerce for photographers in your opinion – are there any I've missed? Please add your comments below.
Are you thinking about creating a WooCommerce shop only for registered users? Looking for a way to limit access to your online store so that only logged in users or those with a password can browse and make purchases? You've come to the right place!
In this article, we'll guide you through the process of hiding your WooCommerce shop from guests with the easy-to-use WooCommerce Private Store plugin.
This powerful yet simple plugin enables you create a secret WooCommerce shop only for registered users. It keeps your store exclusive by hiding its pages from the public eye. This ensures that only logged-in users or those with the correct password can access and order your products. It maintains the privacy and exclusivity of your store - an ideal solution for businesses that cater to a specific clientele or want to offer special deals for registered customers.
We'll start by introducing you to the WooCommerce Private Store plugin, its features, and its benefits. Next, we'll take you step by step through the catalog visibility process, ensuring that you're able to set up your private store with ease. We'll also provide tips and best practices for managing your private store and creating a seamless experience for your registered customers.
By the end of this article, you'll have all the information you need to build a WooCommerce shop only for registered users. So, buckle up and get ready to start a journey to learn how to set up and manage your very own private eCommerce store.
How does it work?
When you install the Private Store plugin, you instantly have a WooCommerce wholesale store that is only available to logged in users. Simply choose how your customers will unlock the hidden store, and you're done!
Maybe you're setting up a WooCommerce shop only for registered users and want to hide it from non-members. Maybe you're building a B2B wholesale store. Whatever your reason, you can easily hide WooCommerce from non-registered users and guests.
3 steps to access your hidden store
It works like this to make sure your WooCommerce products are only for registered users:
A guest user visits your website They can see all your main pages but none of the WooCommerce content. If you have links to the Woo shop page, category pages, product pages, etc. in the menu then these will be hidden from public view. Any WooCommerce sidebar widgets are hidden too. The same applies to other WooCommerce elements such as the cart. The guest user has no idea that your WooCommerce shop exists. Even if they try to access a WooCommerce page directly (e.g. if they know the URL of a product), they will be asked to enter a password.
The user either enters a password or logs into their account Some visitors to your membership site will have an account, which they can log into. They can log in using the usual WordPress/WooCommerce login page. (This might be /wp-login, the WooCommerce 'Account' page, or a front-end login such as Theme My Login. Or if you want people to log in with their Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ account, use the WordPress Social Login plugin.) If you like, then you can also let non-registered users enter a password to unlock the store.
The hidden WooCommerce shop is unlocked After logging in, all the WooCommerce content becomes visible to the specific user. This might include links to the main shop page in the menu, WooCommerce widgets, and all the individual pages within WooCommerce. The logged in user can browse your ecommerce store and buy products with no restrictions.
Alternative option: Want to restrict certain products to registered users, but not your whole store? Checkout the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin instead.
How to make your WooCommerce shop only for registered users
If you like what I've described above, the good news is that it's really easy to set up. Here's how to set up product visibility for your whole store. I have assumed that you already have a WP website with WooCommerce set up, and you're ready to hide your WooCommerce for logged-in users and visitors only.
Buy WooCommerce Private Store. Download the plugin files and license key from the order confirmation page or the email receipt.
Log in to the WordPress admin and go to Plugins → Add New.
Click 'Upload' and then 'Browse' and upload the plugin files you downloaded in Step 1.
Install and activate WooCommerce Private Store.
Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Private Store. Enter your license key and configure the other plugin settings. Make sure you tick the 'Logged In Users' box. (You can ignore the 'Login Form' settings as you won't be using password protection for your store. Instead, you will use the WordPress user login.) If you like, then you can also choose which user roles will have access.
Click 'Save'.
And that's it! Your WooCommerce shop is now completely hidden from public view. Guests can see your normal web pages but none of the WooCommerce content. Once they log in to their account, the whole of WooCommerce is instantly unlocked for them. Simple!
Can I hide the links to my hidden WooCommerce store?
By enabling the log in to see add to cart and prices in the WooCommerce feature, you can restrict access to your WooCommerce shop only for registered users and visitors. This means that all links to your main Shop page, product categories, individual products, and even the WooCommerce widgets that showcase your products, categories, and other relevant information will be hidden.
Furthermore, elements such as the shopping cart icon and other call-to-action buttons will also be concealed. In essence, any content related to your WooCommerce store, including the links to access it, will be inaccessible to guest users.
This feature provides an additional layer of security and privacy to your online store, as it ensures that WooCommerce products only for registered users with valid login credentials can view and purchase your hidden products. It also helps prevent unauthorized access to your store's pricing and other confidential information, which can protect your business from potential threats.
Can I force users to register before they can access my WooCommerce store?
Yes, you can use the WooCommerce Private Store plugin to hide your online store and restrict access to WooCommerce products only for registered users. To do this, you can use the built-in 'Account' page of the plugin or a front-end registration plugin like Theme My Login.
Theme My Login offers various options to moderate new registrations, including the ability to require administrator approval for new accounts. Alternatively, you can use a free plugin like New User Approve to approve new user accounts before they can access your private store. This ensures that only authorized users have access to your store.
When using a registration plugin, customers will need to create an account and have it approved before they can log in and access your hidden store. Once approved, they can log in and browse your products, add items to their cart, and check out just like a regular online store.
What if I don't want my customers to have individual user accounts?
If you want to keep your WooCommerce store private and only accessible to a select few, you may consider using a plugin that allows you to hide your store behind a password. This is a great option for businesses that want to keep their products and pricing information secure and confidential.
The plugin makes it easy to set up a private store login page where your customers can enter a password to access your store. Unlike requiring customers to log in to their accounts, the password option offers a simpler and more straightforward process. Customers enter the password on the login page. If it's correct, they are granted access to the hidden WooCommerce shop.
Once customers have entered the correct password and unlocked the private store, they will have full access to all the main WooCommerce Shop pages, including your products, categories, and product tags. Customers can search for a single product, add them to their cart, and proceed to the checkout page in the usual way.
Here's a review from a customer using WooCommerce Private Store to create team and school stores behind a common password:
This is the most convenient and easy to use plugin for creating team or school stores. My customers love that they have their own custom page to sell on without having to make their own site. Barn2 customer service is very quick efficient. The team really takes care of their customers and products!
If you use the built-in WooCommerce Account page as your register/login page, then you don't need to worry about this. That's because the same page will show a registration and/or login form to guests, and the 'My Account' area for logged in users. This makes it relevant to all types of users like subscribers, whether or not they're logged in.
If you use WooCommerce Private Store with a login plugin such as Theme My Login, then you need to structure your store in an intuitive way. Think about each step of the user journey. For example, you want to add a prominent login link for logged out users. But once people are logged in, then the login page is no longer important to them.
You can add a link to the user login page anywhere you like. For example, you can add it to the menu or header (depending on your theme). This link will be subtle, so it won't bother logged in users. You could also ask your developer to dynamically change it to a logout link for logged in users.
Setting the login page as the homepage might seem like a logical step. However, this can be confusing for users, as even when they're logged in, they'll see the login page with a message indicating they're already logged in. Instead, set another page such as the main 'Shop' page as the homepage. When guest users visit the homepage, they will see a user login form. But when WordPress only for logged in users visit, they will see the shop page. This is a more user-friendly way to set it up.
This lets you lock down specific categories within a Woo store, and hide products within them. Your other categories and main Shop page remain public. This means that you can have public and hidden areas within a single WooCommerce shop.
If you have a WooCommerce store that you want to keep private and accessible to WooCommerce products only for registered users, then using a WooCommerce Private Store or a similar solution can be a great option for you. By hiding your WooCommerce shop only for registered users, you can ensure that your specific products and pricing information are secure and protected.
Deciding between password-protecting or hiding your WooCommerce store until users log in depends on your specific needs and security requirements. If you have a small number of users who require access, password protection may be the better choice. For larger user bases, hiding WordPress only for logged in users may be more efficient.
Some other features that you might expect from a private WooCommerce plugin could include the ability to customize the login page and set up user roles and permissions. As well as track user activity within your store. These features can help you manage your WordPress only for logged in users more efficiently. As well as ensure that your products and pricing information are only accessible to the intended audience.
Please leave your comments below.
Schools are one of the biggest users of the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin. Distributors and edtech companies use this amazing tool to sell uniforms, stationery, and other branded outreach products to parents and schools. Other startups sell booklists, webinars, and professional development courses to schools they supply. Only authorized people can access the hidden store for each school, and it's completely hidden from public view.
And the schools?
School boards, colleges and universities can create hidden and safe areas themselves to sell products for pupils, parents, and alumni.
What is WooCommerce Protected Categories?
WooCommerce Protected Categories is basically a tool to sell anything to anyone in a secure and private way. You can use this WordPress plugin to make your whole online store private, with a separate private area for each stakeholder or user group. Or alternatively, you can use it alongside a public shop, selling a mix of public and school-only products.
With so many educators - from individual K-12 schools and higher education colleges to entire school districts - using the plugin, you can rest assured that it's fully optimized for your use case.
Whether you wish to sell branded products or books to schools, the plugin allows you to create private categories for each school. You can hide each category behind a simple password and give the password to parents, teachers and other customers. Or for added security, you can restrict the category to specific users on your WordPress website, or even entire user roles.
Educators and their suppliers use the WooCommerce Hide Categories plugin to keep information safe and make sure their products are facing the right audience to fit in with their overall marketing strategy. Its central login page gives each school access to their own hidden category. There is no longer a need to create a separate shop and sales process for different clients or schools.
This plugin is easily the most versatile WooCommerce protection suite on the market.
Benefits of the plugin
Here is what one highly satisfied school supplier has to say about WooCommerce Protected Categories
Undoubtedly, one of the main benefits of the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin is the opportunity to create one or more hidden areas to sell to each school.
You aren’t just limited to a single product category for each school. That would be confusing and might limit you in terms of setting pricing. You can create multiple categories with different passwords. This allows you to manage and oversee products for different customers (school leaders and decision-makers, parents, alumni, or students).
How to create hidden WooCommerce categories for schools
Setting up your own store for selling to schools - or setting up a store if you are a school - takes less time than you think. Let's take a look at how to do it in a few simple steps:
Download the plugin to start creating the hidden stores for schools or school suppliers.
Step 2: Install the Plugin
Once you have downloaded the plugin, install it and enter the license key you received in the confirmation email.
Step 3: Fill in the plugin settings page
When you open the plugin settings page, stay away from the boxes that show the products and protected categories in the public parts of your WooCommerce store. This keeps the shop for each school secure and hidden from everyone else.
Change any other settings to configure the plugin in the way that best suits your sector of the education industry, be it high school, college, or universities. For example, if you're using it to create WooCommerce password protected categories then you can change the wording on the password login form. If you're restricting each school's category to specific WordPress user roles or users, then you can choose what happens when they're not logged in.
Open the Categories page and create a new category for each school or group you want to sell to. You can make structures based on category and sub-category levels. There is literally no limitation as to how you can organize these - by school age, at the district level, or by some other metric; it's up to you
Step 5: Select ‘Protected’ and choose a protection option
Select 'Protected' to hide the main category for each school or group. You can find this in the Visibility section of the page where you add or edit the category.
For each protected school category, choose whether you want to password protect it, or automatically unlock it for individual logged in users or specific user roles. You can also mix and match these options as needed.
Note: When you add sub-categories, make sure to leave these child categories set to ‘Public’. The main password you set for the ‘Parent’ category will apply to the sub-categories, too.
Example WooCommerce category structure with hidden shops for 3 schools
Step 6: Add the Products
Next, add the products to the category for each school. Keep the default visibility settings of the individual product, as the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin will protect them automatically under the parent category. The product will be secure and hidden even if an unauthorized user tries to access it directly.
Step 7: Add the Shortcode
If you're using the options to unlock the school shops for logged in users or roles, then add each school's category to the navigation menu (Appearance > Menus). Logged out users won't be able to see this menu link. When a school or parent logs into their account, the link will appear so they can access their hidden shop.
Finally, if you're using password protected WooCommerce categories for schools, then you need to create a central school login page. Add the following shortcode wherever you want schools to login:
[category_login]
When a school, organization or parent enters a correct password, the plugin will automatically direct them to the category that matches their password.
That’s all! These really simple steps will give you access to everything you needed to sell securely to schools and parents with WordPress and WooCommerce.
How to create a WooCommerce private store for a single school
So far, we've talked about the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin because it's the only way to create multiple hidden shops - one for each school. If you need a single hidden school shop that is completely hidden to the outside but open to everyone inside, you need the WooCommerce Private Store plugin instead.
WooCommerce Private Store is even easier to use. It will let you use passwords and user logins to hide the school's shop from your website. Your remaining pages will be public, such as the school homepage and other public information.
For example, if you're an individual school then you might want to add a hidden WooCommerce store to your school website. You want to protect all your products so that only authorized parents and teachers can see and buy them. If you want all authorized users to see all your school's products, then WooCommerce Private Store is a quick and simple solution.
While we're talking about using WooCommerce to sell to schools, you might like our other tutorial about how to take school dinner orders online. Parents can select the quantity of each food that is required on each day of the week, and pay online using WooCommerce. It works beautifully with Password Protected Categories, providing an easy way to securely receive orders for school dinners.
Where to get the plugin
The WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin is hugely popular among companies and organizations that sell to schools, as well as schools themselves. Don't miss out - get the plugin today!
The WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin is a tool that helps ecommerce site owners limit access to specific products or pages. It's ideal for creating membership programs or providing exclusive content to select customers. By using the WooCommerce restrict product by user feature, you can limit product access to specific groups of customers.
The WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin is an easy-to-use solution for safeguarding your WooCommerce categories on any WordPress site. Its functionality builds on the existing options to password-protect categories or designate them as private, allowing businesses of any size to protect their content effortlessly.
With this plugin, you can easily secure your website while ensuring a personalized and secure experience for your members. Whether you run a small business or a large enterprise, the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin offers the necessary features to meet your content protection needs, allowing you to use WooCommerce restrict product by user feature to categories by user roles and select specific individual user accounts for access. Take advantage of this plugin to protect your valuable content and provide a secure browsing environment for your users.
In this tutorial, we'll explore the best WooCommerce plugin, so you can keep your exclusive goods under wraps.
Importance of protecting content on an ecommerce website
Protecting content on an e-commerce website is crucial for several reasons. Here are some of the key benefits:
Improved security: Protecting sensitive information such as customer data, financial transactions, and product pages helps to prevent fraud and data breaches.
Increased customer loyalty: Restricting access to exclusive content such as discount pricing, special offers, membership levels programs, or premium add-ons can create a sense of exclusivity that encourages customers to return to your WooCommerce memberships site.
Control over product distribution channels: Protecting content can help your online store maintain control over your product distribution channels by using the WooCommerce restrict product by user access to certain products and ensuring you are only sold through authorized channels.
Brand protection: Protecting content can also help your store maintain your brand image and reputation by preventing unauthorized use or distribution of your products and content.
Improved customer experience: Protecting content can enhance the customer experience by offering personalized or exclusive content, ensuring that customers only see relevant products, and preventing spam or unwanted promotions.
Revenue growth: By restricting access to exclusive products or services using payment gateways like Paypal and Stripe, you can help your WooCommerce store generate more revenue. This creates a sense of urgency among customers, encouraging them to make purchases before the opportunity passes.
Restrict WooCommerce categories by user role
The WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin provides businesses with an easy-to-use solution for restricting access to WooCommerce categories, which has made it an ideal choice for creating a more secure and exclusive e-commerce site. As well as select individual user accounts that can access the category. Customers have given several reasons for wanting to unlock product categories to logged in user profiles based on their role. For example:
If you're using password protected categories then it's a pain for administrators to have to enter the password to view the category. Now you can bypass this by automatically unlocking your password protected categories for administrators.
If you're creating a wholesale store, then you might want a dedicated 'Wholesale' product category that is visible to logged in B2B users with a 'Wholesale' user role but hidden from regular customers. That's possible too!
A private WooCommerce members-only store might create a protected category and make it available to all logged in user roles, but hidden from public view. All its sub-categories and their products will automatically be restricted too. Using the WooCommerce restrict product by user feature, website owners can easily create a members-only shop with several categories that are exclusively visible to logged in WordPress users.
How to Set Up User Role Restrictions with the WooCommerce Protected Categories Plugin
To set up user role restrictions with the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin, start by installing the plugin and heading to the Add/Edit Product Category page in WooCommerce. From there, you can easily control which user roles and individual user accounts can access specific categories. This allows you to offer exclusive content, such as discounts, coupons, or membership programs, to specific groups or individuals. Whether you want to restrict access to entire user roles or grant special privileges to certain users, the plugin provides the flexibility to create a personalized and secure browsing experience for your customers.
For instance, if you want to create a membership program that offers exclusive discounts to certain users, you can create a new category and restrict it to only those users who have signed up for the membership program. This way, only users who are part of the program will be able to see and purchase products in that category, while other users will not have access.
Similarly, if you want to offer discounts to certain user roles (such as wholesale customers), you can create a new category and restrict it to only those user roles. This way, only users with that specific role will be able to see and purchase products in that category, while other users will not have access.
Restrict WooCommerce categories to individual logged in users
If you're using WooCommerce to sell user-specific products, you're likely familiar with the process of creating a separate password protected category for each user. While this option has been popular, it doesn't meet everyone's needs. Asking customers to enter a password to unlock their protected category, and later enter a separate username and password to log into their user account at the checkout can be an issue.
To address this issue, we've developed the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin, which simplifies the process of selling user-specific products. With this plugin, customers can log in once to unlock their hidden products and make a purchase, eliminating the need for duplicating passwords and logins.
Steps in using the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin
Here are the steps you need to follow to use the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin:
Install and activate the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin.
Go to the Add/Edit Product Category screen in WooCommerce.
Select the category you want to protect and choose the users who can access it.
Save your changes, and you're done.
With the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin, you no longer need to create a separate password-protected category for each user registration. Instead, you can easily assign access to specific users for each category, simplifying the process for both you and your customers.
Advanced logic for creating multiple content protection rules
Advanced logic for creating conditional multiple content protection rules allows you to customize your content protection strategy and apply different restrictions to different categories and products. By combining different options, you can create complex protection rules that meet your specific needs.
You may want to protect some single products by requiring users to enter a password, while others may require registered users to have a specific user role or permissions level. You can also restrict access to certain products or categories based on geographic location, device type, or other criteria.
Examples of use cases:
A wedding photographer can create a password protected category and give the password to the happy couple and their guests. They can use the new user access role protection to automatically unlock the category for administrators. This lets the store owner view the customer-specific categories without having to enter a password.
You might create a hierarchical category structure where Category A is password protected and has 3 child categories: B, C, and D. You could leave Categories B, C, and D to inherit the same password protection as Category A.
With sub-categories, you can create a hierarchical structure for your protected content, where each sub-category inherits the protection rules of its parent category. This makes it easier to manage your content protection strategy, especially when dealing with a large number of products and categories.
Steps in creating multiple rules for your WooCommerce content
Here's how you can use the plugin to create multiple rules for your WooCommerce content:
Choose the 'Protected' Option: To create custom protection rules, simply choose the 'Protected' option for any product category that you want to protect. This option allows you to apply various types of protection, including password protection, user role restrictions, and IP address restrictions.
Add Protection Settings: After choosing the 'Protected' option, you can add whichever types of protection you require. The WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin lets you with several protection options that you can use to create multiple restriction rules for your WooCommerce content restriction.
Test Your Protection Settings: Once you have added your protection settings, it's a good idea to test them to ensure that they are working correctly. You can do this by logging out of your store and attempting to access the protected content. If everything is working correctly, you should be prompted to enter your login credentials or password to access the content.
Choose what happens when guests try to access protected categories
The WooCommerce Password Protected Categories plugin has the option to show or hide protected categories and their products from the public parts of your store. With password protected categories, guests see a password login page if they ever try to access a protected category or product.
Here are 3 other options for when a logged out user tries to view WooCommerce content that is restricted to specific users or roles:
Show 404 error - The guest user will see a 404 error, so it looks like a broken link. This is a good way to hide the fact that your hidden WooCommerce products exist at all!
Show WordPress login page - You can redirect logged out users to the default WordPress login page (/wp-login.php).
Show custom post type page - This is my favorite option. It lets you redirect logged out users to any shop page on your WordPress website. For example, you could redirect them to a front-end login page. This will look more professional than the back-end WordPress login. Alternatively, you could create a 'Members Only' page that explains that the page is protected and includes a signup form encouraging them to join. The choice is yours.
Where can I get this WooCommerce protected content plugin?
Restricting content by user is a powerful tool for ecommerce store owners who want to offer personalized experiences for their customers. While there are several methods to achieve this, using the WooCommerce restrict product by user can simplify the process and provide advanced features.
If you're new to restricting content by user, there are various plugins and methods available that can help you find the solution that best suits your needs. For instance, You can ensure compatibility between your password protected categories and WooCommerce subscription plugins to offer exclusive content and products to your subscribers only. Whether you choose a plugin or opt for a custom development solution, taking the time to protect your content by a user will provide a better experience for your customers and enhance the security of your store.
You can also watch a video of us setting it up:
If you haven't got the plugin yet, get WooCommerce Protected Categories now and start restricting your content by user. With a quick and easy setup process, you can have your WooCommerce store up and running in no time! Don't forget to ensure compatibility with your WordPress themes for a seamless user experience.
Lots of people ask us how to create a WooCommerce hidden store. This tutorial covers 2 methods to build a private store using 2 plugins: WooCommerce Private Store and WooCommerce Protected Categories. It will also help you choose which WooCommerce hidden store plugin is best for your website.
You might want a public-facing website that anyone can access, with a hidden e-commerce area that only people with the right credentials can see. Or you might want to hide your entire WooCommerce store.
At the end of this tutorial, you'll know how to create a WooCommerce hidden store or temporarily hide a store.
Your categories, products and other WooCommerce content will not appear anywhere on your public website. They won't appear in the navigation menu, sidebar widgets or on your homepage. Read on to learn how, or watch the video:
1. Before you start
To build a WooCommerce hidden store, you need a WordPress website with the WooCommerce plugin installed. You also need a WooCommerce-compatible theme - I used Storefront on my test site.
Once you have done this, you should add your WooCommerce products to their respective product pages in the usual way. You can also create the public pages of your website (if you're having one) such as Home, About and Contact.
Once you've done that, you're ready to hide products and transform your website into a hidden WooCommerce store.
2. Decide which WooCommerce hidden store plugin to use
First, you need to decide which of the plugins described in this tutorial to use for your WooCommerce hidden store. Read the 2 lists below and then skip to the method that best applies to you. Or to make it easier, take our quick quiz!
Do you:
Want to hide your whole WooCommerce store?
Need your WooCommerce shop page and ALL your products, categories and tags to be completely hidden from search engines, sitemaps etc?
Want all customers to have access to all the products within your WooCommerce hidden store?
Want to hide some of your WooCommerce products, while also having a public online shop?
Need to give different customers access to different products within your hidden store?
If you've answered Yes to either of these questions then you need WooCommerce Protected Categories. Build your WooCommerce hidden store using Method 2 of this tutorial.
Method 1 - Hide Products with the WooCommerce Private Store plugin
The WooCommerce Private Store plugin is the easiest way to make WooCommerce private. It creates a 100% WooCommerce hidden store, locking down your entire shop behind a single password. Alternatively, you can automatically unlock your private store for logged in users or specific roles. No one will know your hidden store exists unless you want them to! So if you need to disable a store temporarily, this is a great option.
This video tutorial will tell you how to set up your WooCommerce hidden store. I've also provided written instructions below.
Still not sure if our WooCommerce Private Store plugin is for you? Have a look at this customer review or check out the Montana Medicinals case study below.
This plugin has been a GODSEND for us. Perfect for Wholesale usage. Hide your store with one or two checkboxes within the plugin settings and BOOM! We now have a private store. Only unlockable with a username and password. Thank you, guys :)
Case study #1 - Sprezzatura Imports
Sprezzatura Imports distribute the Italian coffee brand, ICAF, across the US. As wholesalers, they need to keep their WooCommerce wholesale store hidden from the public. That's why they've password protected it with the WooCommerce Private Store plugin.
After registering, distributors can purchase products and gain access to the price list by logging in to the password protected area. Then, to make it even easier for distributors to login, the login page was added to the menu. As a result, the hidden WooCommerce store is just a matter of clicks away from the homepage.
Case study #2 - Montana Medicinals
Montana Medicinals needed to password protect their shop to comply with laws in the state of Montana. That's because Montana Medicinals operate a medical marijuana dispensary and only pre-authorized customers are allowed to access the shop. That's why they used our WooCommerce Private Store plugin.
To limit access to those over 18, they also used a sitewide WordPress age verification plugin.
Within a matter of minutes of installing the WooCommerce Private Store plugin, the developers had created a password protected private store. Customers registered with Montana Medicinals are given a password to access the store. Once a user has confirmed they're over 18, they can access the site. Anyone can read general information about getting prescriptions, but to view products and start shopping you need a password. Clicking on Shop or Products prompts the customer to enter their password. And without a password you can't access the private store.
Read on to find out how to hide WooCommerce stores or even temporarily disable online shops.
Download the plugin files and copy your license key from the confirmation page or order confirmation email.
In the WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New and upload the plugin files.
Activate the plugin.
Next go to WooCommerce → Settings → Private Store and paste your license key. Change the other settings as required.
Create a store login page by adding the shortcode [store_login] anywhere on your site.
And that's it! That's all you need to do to hide products in WooCommerce and make your store private.
The next few steps will let you further configure your hidden WooCommerce store. However you've already done the most important bits and your store is secure and hidden.
2. Customise the WooCommerce login page (optional)
If you like, you can customise the text that appears above the password entry form for your WooCommerce hidden store. You can also change the text on the 'Submit' button. You can do all this on WooCommerce → Settings → Private Store.
Make any changes and then check the WooCommerce login page that you selected in step 1.6 (above) to ensure it looks ok.
You can also add text and other content above and below the password entry form, directly onto the WooCommerce login page.
3. Link to the store login page (optional)
All WooCommerce hidden stores are different. You might want to include a link to your store login page on your public site. For example if you're creating a WooCommerce wholesale shop then you might want to add a 'Wholesale Login' page to the menu or header. Or you might want to keep your WooCommerce store hidden so that only people with the link can ever find it.
You can link to the store login page in the usual way for adding a link in WordPress.
4. Add additional store login forms (optional)
You can also add login forms anywhere else on your public site - for example on another page or sidebar widget. In this screenshot, I've added a login form to a text widget in the right hand column.
To do this, add the shortcode [store_login] to any page, post or text widget. (Or if you're a developer, you can add it elsewhere such as in the header or a popup login form.) This will insert a login form and the text that you added to the settings page in step 2.
Customers can use this to access your WooCommerce hidden store while everyone else remains locked out.
5. Add WooCommerce content to the menu
If you haven't already done this, you can edit your navigation menu to include links to the main WooCommerce store page or to specific products, categories or tags.
Go to Appearance > Menus and select the relevant page/products/categories/tags. Add them by ticking the correct box and clicking 'Add to Menu'. (If you add them as Custom Links then the WooCommerce hidden store plugin won't hide them.)
If you use this method then the shop page/products/categories/tags in your menu will be invisible until you enter the password to unlock the hidden store.
You can see this in action on the password protect WooCommerce plugin demo. When you first view the site there's no menu dropdown under the 'Hidden Shop' link. Once you enter the password, hover over 'Hidden Shop' and you'll see that links to various WooCommerce content have magically appeared!
6. Check your WooCommerce store is hidden
Now comes the fun part. Visit your public website and try to find your WooCommerce hidden store:
Try accessing any of your WooCommerce pages - e.g. your main Shop page, a product or specific category. You'll be taken to the store login page.
Do a Google search for one of your hidden WooCommerce products.
If you have a search box on your site, see if your hidden WooCommerce content appears in the results.
Check your XML sitemap.
Test the navigation menu.
Check that no WooCommerce widgets (e.g. Products, Product Categories or Product Filters) are showing.
We've developed the WooCommerce hidden store plugin to be completely private and hidden. If you find any loopholes (e.g. you might be using a WordPress SEO plugin that we haven't tested), let us know.
Once you're happy that your WC store is 100% hidden, go to your login form and enter the password. Now you can test what customers will see after they unlock the private store.
7. Give the password to your customers
When you're completely happy with your WooCommerce hidden store, you can start using it. Give the password to your customers. And if you haven't added a 'Store Login' link to your public site, give them the URL too.
Or if you've ticked the 'Logged In Users' box in the settings, they just need to log into their account and the store will automatically unlock. There's also an option to choose which logged in users roles can access the store.
Method 2 - Hide Products with WooCommerce Password Protected Categories
WooCommerce Protected Categories is most commonly used to hide one or more product categories within a public online shop. However the plugin can equally be used to create a WooCommerce hidden store. This video and the written instructions below will show you how to create a private shop and hide WooCommerce products.
1. Create a main protected category to hide products
The first step is to create a main product category for your WooCommerce hidden store and protect it, either with a password or user login. By having one protected category, you can then structure your entire store within this category:
In the WordPress admin for your website, go to Products → Categories. This is the standard WooCommerce category page, except that you will see a 'Visibility' section at the bottom left when you create or edit a category. This has been added by the WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin.
Add a new category and call it anything you like. This will be the name of your WooCommerce hidden store.
Click 'Protected' and either enter one or more passwords, or choose which users or roles will have access.
Your new hidden category will appear in the list of product categories on the right. You can see that it's protected in the 'Visibility' column.
Password protected categories is a good option for most WooCommerce hidden stores because you don't have to manage individual logins for each user. Everyone shares the password to your hidden shop, or you can give a different password to each person. Alternatively, choose the user or role protection options if you want each customer to have their own user account.
2. Add sub-categories to your WooCommerce hidden store
You can divide your WooCommerce hidden store into multiple categories if you like. (If not, skip ahead to step 3.)
Everything in your private WooCommerce store must be in a protected category or one of its sub-categories.
Create each of your sub-categories using the 'Add new category' option on the left of Products → Categories.
Select your main protected category as the 'Parent'.
Leave the visibility as 'Public'. This is because the sub-category (and its products) will automatically be hidden using the same type of protection.
Once a customer enters the correct password or logs into their user account, it will unlock the entire WooCommerce store and all the hidden products. This saves them having to re-enter a password for each product as they navigate around the shop.
Note: If you want to create separate protected categories that are unrelated to each other, that's fine. You might want to do this if you want to create different private areas of your shop for different customers. For example, a photographer might create a separate hidden category to sell the photos for each client. You can then have a central login form which will direct each customer to their hidden category.
3. Hide products by adding them to a protected category
Next, it's time to put your products within the protected categories you just created:
Go to the Products section of the WP admin.
Hover the name of each product and click the 'Quick Edit' link that appears.
Select one or more categories and click 'Save'.
Repeat for all your other products.
When you add new hidden products to WooCommerce in future, you will also need to assign them to your store's hidden categories.
4. Link to your WooCommerce hidden store (optional)
Even if you are hiding your Woo shop, you might still want to link to it. For example, you might want to add a link called 'Client login' or 'Trade area' to your homepage, header or footer. You might want to link to it from the navigation menu and either make it publicly visible so that anyone can access the login page, or set it to only appear after customers have entered the password.
Of course if you want to hide the fact that your website even has an e-commerce store, you don't have to link to it at all. Instead, you can give your customers the link directly (e.g. via email).
There are 2 ways to let people find your hidden WooCommerce store. You can either link to a central WooCommerce customer login page, or link to each hidden product category.
Add a central WooCommerce customer login page
If you're using password protected categories, then the shortcode [category_login] will add a WooCommerce customer login form. When customers visit this page, they can enter the password for any hidden WooCommerce product category. If the password is correct then they'll be redirected to the correct category page in your hidden WooCommerce store.
This option works well whether you have one or several protected categories in your WooCommerce hidden store. It's more flexible than linking directly to a protected category because you can add the WooCommerce login form to any page or widget. However I'll tell you how to do that next, just in case.
If you're using role or user protected categories, then you just need to link to a user login page instead. Use the free Peter's Login Redirect plugin to automatically redirect users to the correct hidden category after they log in. You can choose a different category for each user or role to be forwarded to - it's surprisingly flexible for a free plugin.
How to add links to a protected WooCommerce category
Go back to Products → Categories. Hover over the name of your main hidden category. Right-click the 'View' link and copy the link. That will put the URL/address for your hidden category to your clipboard.
Now go to wherever you want to add the link - e.g. your homepage, header or footer. Create a hyperlink in the usual way (either using HTML or the 'Insert/Edit Link' WordPress toolbar icon).
How to link to hidden product categories from the menu
Go to Appearance > Menus.
On the left, open up the 'Product Categories' section.
Tick whichever protected categories you want to add to the menu OR the page where you have added the WooCommerce login form.
Click 'Add to Menu'.
The product categories will be added to the end of your menu on the right. Drag them to the correct position and click 'Save Menu'.
Now go back to your website and click 'Refresh'. If your private categories don't appear in the menu, that's because the plugin is set to only show them in the menu after you have unlocked the category. If you go to the main category for your WooCommerce hidden store and enter the password, the links will then appear in the menu.
To make the menu links visible to everyone, you can change this setting at WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Protected Categories.
5. Choose how your hidden WooCommerce product categories behave
The WooCommerce Protected Categories plugin lets you choose how the hidden part of your store appears publicly. You can change the plugin settings as follows:
Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Products and click the 'Protected Categories' link at the top.
Tick and untick the boxes to choose whether to hide your WooCommerce hidden products and categories from menus etc.
This page also lets you change the text that appears above the 'Enter password' box and the wording of the button. For example you might add instructions on what to do if a customer loses the password.
6. Hide any global links to the WooCommerce cart
Depending on your WordPress theme, there might be publicly visible links to the cart which aren't hidden. If you want to hide a WooCommerce store, you probably don't want this to appear on your public website.
If you use a fully featured theme from ThemeForest or similar then the theme options might let you hide the cart icon. If your theme doesn't have this option then you can hide it using CSS. (We recommend Codeable for small coding tasks like this). Or even better, ask your WordPress developer to code the cart link to only appear when there are products in the cart. This will automatically hide it from your public-facing store because customers can only add products to the cart after unlocking the category!
7. Add the WooCommerce cart widget
If you've hidden the main links to your cart, you can use the WooCommerce cart widget to display the cart in the sidebar. This might be the right or left hand column on your WP site.
Go to Appearance → Widgets.
Find the sidebar area where you want the cart to display.
Drag the 'WooCommerce Cart' widget from the left hand side to the correct sidebar area.
Tick the 'Hide if cart is empty' box in the widget settings and click 'Save'.
By ticking 'Hide if cart is empty', the cart widget will only display when customers have products in their cart. Since your Woo store is hidden and people can only add products after they unlock the category, this stops it from appearing on your public website. Even if you have the same sidebar on the public and private areas of your website, the cart will only appear when there are products in the cart.
This means that it doesn't matter if you have hidden the shopping cart from the header, as it appears in the sidebar instead.
8. SEO - Block your WooCommerce hidden store from search engines
Finally, a note about SEO.
I won't cover this in-depth as it depends on your WordPress SEO plugin. As a general principle, you will want to mark all of the following as noindex:
All the default Woo pages (Cart, Checkout, My Account and Shop).
The Products custom post type.
Product category pages.
Product tag pages.
If you have an XML sitemap then you need to tweak the settings to exclude.
Use the documentation for your WordPress SEO plugin to find out exactly how to do this.
This will hide the hidden areas of your WooCommerce store from search engines while allowing search engines to index your public pages.
9. Hide WooCommerce products from the WordPress search
By default, the products in your hidden product categories will appear in the website search but if you click them then you will be prompted for the password. This also applies to other WooCommerce content such as your main shop page, categories and tags.
You can stop your hidden WooCommerce products from appearing in the WordPress search results at all. To do this, you need to set the "Catalog Visibility" option for each product to "Hidden". You can find this option in the 'Publish' section on the right hand side of the Edit Product screen:
This advice applies to the default search feature that is built into WordPress. If you're using a different search plugin, it's worth testing this to make sure it works for your plugin.
If you're worried about hidden WooCommerce products appearing in the search, you may be better off with Method 1 and our WooCommerce Private Store plugin. That plugin hides products from the search results automatically.
In this tutorial, we have used 2 different plugins to create a WooCommerce hidden store. We've added links to it - either to the menu or to anywhere else on your website. We've dynamically added links and widgets so they only appear once people have unlocked a category.
Both plugins let you hide products and protect a WooCommerce store within your WordPress website. WooCommerce may be most popular for public online shops, but it's just as good for hidden WooCommerce shops. Whether you want to hide WooCommerce wholesale areas, customer-specific products, temporarily hide stores, or create a WooCommerce age restricted area, you can do it with these plugins.
Are you using one of these methods to hide products in WooCommerce? I'd love to hear how it's working for you - please add a comment below.
Adding a WooCommerce storefront to your existing WordPress website can be a very profitable move. An e-commerce area lets you sell products or services directly to visitors, and when set up properly it can practically run itself. However, you’ll need to think carefully about exactly how you add WooCommerce to WordPress without affecting your live site.
For best results, you’ll want to develop your new store privately, and only make it available to customers once it’s completely ready to go.
Most people do this by creating a separate staging site, adding WooCommerce, and then overwriting the main site when it's ready to launch. This causes various problems, such as version control issues and potential loss of data when you need to make changes to the live site. Fortunately, there's an easier way.
In this quick tutorial, we’ll explain how to add WooCommerce to WordPress seamlessly. You'll use the WooCommerce Private Store plugin to create a hidden development area. It's like adding a 'coming soon' page to WooCommerce or putting your store in maintenance mode, while the rest of your website remains public.
When your site goes live, you'll deactivate the private store plugin and your WooCommerce store will instantly become available on your existing website. You won't have to worry about version control or staging sites, and it just takes a few minutes to set up.
Let’s get to work!
Why you should use a hidden development area to add WooCommerce to WordPress
Many people start up a blog or a small business site, only to later decide to add in a storefront. Selling products and services through your website does take a little work, but the benefits are more than worth it.
WordPress doesn’t offer a lot of e-commerce specific functionality, so you’ll need a dedicated tool for setting up your new shop. We highly recommend WooCommerce:
The free WooCommerce plugin adds a fully-featured store to your website, without disrupting any of your existing pages or content. No matter how established your site is, setting up an integrated WooCommerce shop is quick and painless.
However, you will want to spend a little time working on your store before making it live – creating key pages, uploading products, and so on. You'll want to add menu links to your store pages, and icons linking to the cart and checkout. What’s more, you won’t want this work-in-progress to be publicly available. Instead, you’ll want visitors to continue seeing the original website until the new store is designed and ready.
The easy way to add WooCommerce to WordPress
There are a few ways you can handle this. For instance, you can set up a separate staging site that’s a carbon copy of your live website, add WooCommerce to WordPress, and then merge your changes. Unfortunately, this is a time-consuming, complex process that’s fraught with the potential for errors.
This plugin has a number of useful applications. Its primary use is enabling you to set up a private storefront, where users have to log in before they can view its contents. For example, some people use it to create a private members-only club. However, it also lets you temporarily hide your new WooCommerce store while it’s being developed. Then, you can easily make the shop publicly available when you’re done setting it up.
This is a much simpler and more temporary solution than creating a full staging site and then copying it over your live site. To illustrate, let’s take a look at how the process works from start to finish.
How to add WooCommerce to WordPress using a hidden development area (in 4 steps)
The following steps will show you how to set up a hidden WooCommerce store on your live site. You'll also learn how to make it visible only when you’re ready to do so. All you’ll need to get started is a WordPress site, and the WooCommerce Private Store plugin.
Step 1: Add WooCommerce to WordPress
The first thing you’ll need to do is add WooCommerce to WordPress. You won’t actually be setting up your store yet – after all, you’ll want to be sure it’s hidden first. However, WooCommerce will need to be installed before you configure your hidden development area.
Fortunately, WooCommerce is a free plugin that’s simple to set up. Log into your WordPress dashboard, and navigate to Plugins > Add New. Use the search bar to find 'WooCommerce', and click on the button labeled Install Now:
After a few moments, another button will appear, this one labeled Activate:
Select that one as well, and WooCommerce will be ready to go on your site. At this point, you’ll be able to start setting up your shop and adding products. Before you do that, however, it’s important to make sure your fledgling store is safely locked away.
After that, navigate to WooCommerce > Settings in your dashboard. Select the Private Store tab:
Enter the license key you were given when you bought the plugin. Then, save your changes. This will fully activate WooCommerce Private Store, making it ready to use.
The best part is that this is all you need to do. Once the plugin has been activated using a valid license key, it will automatically hide WooCommerce from public view. This means that all pages, features, and products associated with WooCommerce won’t be available on the front end. If anyone does try to view those areas, all they’ll see is a login form:
You can customize the login form on the plugin settings page. However, it's not very important because it's unlikely that anyone will see it anyway. All the WooCommerce-related pages are hidden from public view, so the only way someone would ever see the login form is if they guessed the URL of one of these pages.
Show the WooCommerce hidden development area to logged in users or specific roles
Of course, you want logged in administrators to be able to access the hidden development area. That's how you'll develop and test your WooCommerce store, while keeping it hidden from other users.
There are two ways to do this. Use the first option if your website isn't set up to allow normal visitors to create accounts. That's how most non-WooCommerce websites work. However, if you let people create accounts for other purposes - such as blog commenting or membership plugins - then use option 2 instead.
Option 1 - Tick the 'Logged In Users' box on the plugin settings page, then select the 'administrator' from the user roles option that appears underneath. This will automatically unlock the store for all logged in administrators, while leaving it hidden from guests and other user roles.
Option 2 - Leave the 'Logged In Users' box unticked on the plugin settings page, and enter 1 password which will unlock the store.
Once administrators have unlocked the store using either of these methods, they will be able to see the full WooCommerce store. This includes viewing menu links to the store pages in the front end, and viewing those pages. They can also add products to the cart and test the checkout process. This lets you and your development team work on the new WooCommerce area while it remains hidden from everyone else.
Step 3: Create your WooCommerce store
Now that you’ve made WooCommerce inaccessible to visitors, it’s time to set up your store:
We won’t go through that entire process here, since there’s plenty of information elsewhere that can help you out. Still, let’s summarize the basic steps involved in getting your WooCommerce store ready to go:
Go through the WooCommerce setup wizard. In just a few screens, you’ll be able to set up your store’s basic features and enter crucial information about pricing, shipping, and more.
Configure your store’s settings. While the WooCommerce wizard covers the most crucial options, there are a lot of other settings you may want to customize to better suit your needs.
Add each of your products or services to the store. This can be done in the Products tab, which offers lots of options to fully customize your offerings.
We recommend taking your time with this process. Check out each product and store page on the front end, and walk through the buying and checkout stages as though you were a customer. You’ll want to ensure that your store looks and acts exactly the way you want it to before you make it live.
Step 4: Make your WooCommerce store visible to the public
When you’re confident that your store is ready to launch, you’ll need to make it visible to the public. Fortunately, this is the easiest part of the entire process.
All you need to do is deactivate the WooCommerce Private Store plugin. To do that, go to the main 'Plugins' list in the WordPress admin, and click to Deactivate WooCommerce Private Store.
This will automatically unhide your hidden development area and make your store available for all to see. At this point, you can uninstall the plugin if you like. Alternately, you can keep it deactivated on your site, in case you need it in the future. (For example, you might want to temporarily hide your WooCommerce store while making changes or updates.)
Conclusion
If you want to build a positive reputation online, your website should always look professional and fully-functional. This means that if you need to make large-scale changes, you’ll want to keep your development work hidden from public view. That includes keeping your in-progress store private while you add WooCommerce to WordPress.
As we’ve demonstrated, the process of doing this is remarkably simple when you use WooCommerce Private Store. It's much quicker than installing WooCommerce on a separate site and merging with the live site, and avoids all the problems.
To recap, here are the four steps you’ll want to follow:
Add WooCommerce to WordPress.
Set up your hidden development area.
Create your WooCommerce store.
Make your WooCommerce store visible to the public.
Do you have any questions about how to add WooCommerce to WordPress? Ask us anything in the comments section below!
If you’re running a wholesale ecommerce store or trade shop, then you know this type of business comes with particular challenges. You’ll need to find a way to display all your items effectively and cater to multiple types of customers. A WooCommerce trade account plugin is an essential part of this.
Fortunately, there are plenty of tools that can help you out. This is especially true if you’ve built your trade shop using WordPress and WooCommerce.
With a WooCommerce trade account plugin, you can get the exact functionality you need to keep your ecommerce platform running smoothly.
In this article, we’ll talk about why your store might need a WooCommerce trade account login. Then we’ll show you how to use the best WooCommerce trade account plugins and explain how to add a trade-friendly order form to your site. Let’s get started!
Introducing WooCommerce trade accounts
In WooCommerce, a trade account refers to a hidden eCommerce area designed for businesses and customers placing wholesale or trade orders. It is a distinct type of account that offers specific pricing and a user experience tailored to the needs of trade customers. Trade accounts provide a platform for trade customers to access these exclusive features.
Benefits of trade accounts in WooCommerce
There are lots of reasons to offer a trade account facility in your WooCommerce store:
Exclusive pricing: WooCommerce trade accounts allow you to offer trade customers exclusive pricing. This enables you to provide wholesale discounts and special pricing based on trade status, order volume, or other criteria. It helps foster stronger relationships with trade customers and encourages repeat business.
Tailored catalogs and products: With trade accounts, you can customize product catalogs specifically for your trade customers. This allows for the presentation of trade-only products or variations. You can highlight trade-specific items, and hide products only intended for retail customers. This improves the browsing experience for trade customers as they only see the products which are aimed at them.
Streamlined ordering process: The best WooCommerce trade account plugins provide a streamlined ordering process tailored to the needs of trade customers. They may include features such as bulk order forms, quick reordering of previous purchases, and advanced search options. This simplifies the buying experience, saves time, and improves efficiency for trade customers.
Account management and insights: WooCommerce trade accounts offer dedicated dashboards where trade customers can manage their account information, track order history, view invoices, and access other account-related features. It provides transparency and convenience for trade customers, enhancing their overall experience and facilitating efficient account management.
Enhanced customer support: Trade accounts often come with dedicated customer support channels, providing trade customers with personalized assistance and faster response times. It ensures that trade customers receive the necessary support and guidance for their specific needs, building trust and loyalty.
Increased order minimums and credit terms: Trade accounts allow businesses to set higher minimum quantities for trade customers, ensuring profitability and efficient order processing. Additionally, trade accounts can offer credit terms or payment methods tailored to the needs of trade customers, enabling them to manage cash flow effectively.
Industries that can benefit from having a trade account
Trade account functionality can benefit a variety of industries that engage in business-to-business (B2B) transactions. Here are some examples:
Wholesale distribution: Industries involved in wholesale distribution, such as electronics, consumer goods, or building materials, can benefit from trade account functionality. It enables them to offer custom pricing, bulk order options, and personalized catalogs to their B2B customers.
Manufacturing and industrial supplies: Manufacturers and suppliers of industrial equipment, machinery, or raw materials can utilize the WooCommerce trade account to provide B2B clients with specialized pricing, product customization options, and streamlined ordering processes.
Hospitality and food service: Industries like restaurants, hotels, or catering services can benefit from trade accounts to access exclusive pricing, bulk ordering capabilities, and specialized product ranges for their specific needs.
Health and beauty products: Suppliers or distributors of health and beauty products, such as cosmetics or salon supplies, can utilize trade account functionality to offer different prices, bulk ordering discounts, and personalized product recommendations to their B2B customers in the beauty industry.
Professional services: Industries offering professional services, such as consulting firms, marketing agencies, or software development companies, can benefit from trade account functionality by providing exclusive access to specialized services, discounted rates, and personalized support for their WooCommerce B2B client portals.
Educational materials: Companies involved in the production or distribution of educational materials, textbooks, or e-learning resources can utilize trade account functionality to offer discounted pricing options, bulk ordering options, and customized catalogs to educational institutions and B2B customers in the education sector.
Why you might need additional tradeshop plugins for your WooCommerce store
When it comes to building an online store of any type, WordPress is an excellent platform. It’s secure, beginner-friendly, and quick to set up. While WordPress does lack specific e-commerce features, these can easily be added using a trade shop plugin such as WooCommerce.
Small, basic shops may not need anything else. However, wholesale stores and trade shops have particular needs, which might not be fully met by WooCommerce. For example, here are just a few of the special challenges facing online trade stores:
Out of the box, WooCommerce doesn't differentiate between different types of customers. There's no way to separate out the experience for retail and trade customers. You can't charge dynamic pricing, show different products, or provide a separate WooCommerce trade account facility.
Trade buyers have different needs from retail shoppers, as they already know what they want and need a quick way to make their selections. You might be selling hundreds or thousands of items, so you’ll need a way to organize them effectively and help trade users find what they need quickly.
WooCommerce assumes that your store will be available to the public. However, if you’re only selling to other businesses, you might want to hide your entire store from public view.
To add these features to your trade shop, you’ll need some additional tools. As it turns out, the WooCommerce Wholesale Pro account login plugin is perfect for the job.
The best WooCommerce trade account plugin
Now, let’s look at WooCommerce Wholesale Pro - a WooCommerce trade account plugin that will help you customize your store. It's perfect whether you're creating a trade-only shop or a WooCommerce store with separate public and trade areas.
WooCommerce Wholesale Pro has all the features you need for trade login and every other part of your B2B area.
Trade account and user registration
Trade users can register for an account and log in on the trade account page. This gives them access to the trade-only section of WooCommerce, which normal retail customers can't see.
As the administrator, you can choose whether to allow trade users to register and log in immediately, or hold their application for approval first. Moderating new B2B users adds an extra layer of security to your trade login.
Here's an example of a WooCommerce trade account and registration form in action. NRD Web Design used WooCommerce Wholesale Pro for their client Best Remy Hair Extensions. They added 'Wholesale Login' and 'Wholesale Registration' links to the website header, intuitively driving trade users to the private section.
WooCommerce trade prices
Nearly all B2B stores offer special trade-only pricing rules to logged-in users. Retail customers pay the recommended retail price (RRP), whereas trade users get variable discounts on the RRP.
WooCommerce Wholesale Pro makes it easy to add product pricing to WooCommerce. Logged in wholesale buyers will see the discounted pricing, and retail customers continue to see the standard pricing.
You can even add multiple wholesale user roles, each with percentage discounts. This is ideal if you offer tiered pricing or role-based pricing in your WooCommerce trade store.
Trade-only products
With WooCommerce Wholesale Pro, you can either sell the same products to everyone (with the correct trade pricing for B2B users, of course) - or you can sell different wholesale products to the two groups.
Each product category has the option to show it to public shoppers, trade users, or both. This makes it easy to sell trade-only products which are hidden from the retail store.
This feature is also ideal for creating a 100% private store, with no retail area. Simply mark all the categories as 'Wholesale Only', and your formerly public shop disappears from view! Only logged in B2B customers can see it from the private WooCommerce trade login area.
How to set up a WooCommerce trade account area
To get started, you’ll first want to purchase and install the WooCommerce Wholesale Pro plugin. Then, you’ll need to activate your license key. Navigate to WooCommerce → Settings, and select the Wholesale tab:
Enter your license key here, and click on Save changes at the bottom of the page.
Next, you’ll want to configure the powerful plugin’s settings. These are all located on the same Wholesale page. Choose a shop page to use for the trade login, and decide whether to enable WooCommerce trade account registration (with or without moderation).
There are lots of other options for customizing your trade login area. Go through all the settings and set it up exactly as you like.
That’s it! Now you can start adding trade users who can log into the B2B area or add them manually via the WordPress admin.
Create trade-only order forms for your WooCommerce store
By now, you know how to add a private WooCommerce trade account area to your store. Trade users can easily log into their accounts and access trade-only products and pricing. But what about the actual experience of using your WooCommerce trade shop?
Retail customers are happy to spend time browsing and choosing products. By default, WooCommerce is set up so that customers have to visit individual product pages to see and purchase each item they want. That's fine for most retail customers, who want to look at large images and read lots of information before making a decision. However, your trade users have completely different needs.
This creates a terrible user experience for a WooCommerce trade store, however. You’re selling a lot of products, and customers are likely to place large orders for multiple items at once. Requiring them to visit each specific product page will only slow them down.
Logged in trade customers already know all about your products. They've bought them before and are simply reselling them to their own customers. They don't want to waste time browsing or looking at pictures. Instead, they need to quickly view a list of all your trade products, where they can choose product quantity and add multiple products to the checkout at once.
You can do this by using WooCommerce Wholesale Pro with its sister plugin, WooCommerce Product Table. This adds a quick order form layout which perfects your WooCommerce trade shop.
What features can your WooCommerce trade order form have?
WooCommerce Product Table makes it easy to create a customizable one-page order form. It lists all of your items on the main trade store page, and also works on product category pages in the trade login area:
Woo Product Table lets you:
Make product comparisons simple, by showing off everything you have to offer side by side.
Help people find what they want quickly, by using searching, sorting, and filtering functionality.
Enable customers to tick all the items they want and purchase them from one page.
Enable the wholesale order form layout in the trade login area without affecting the experience for retail users. Or if you prefer, you can use it in the retail area too!
Where to get the trade order form
When you buy WooCommerce Wholesale Pro, you can choose whether to buy it on its own, or with WooCommerce Product Table for a discount. You'll need both trade shop plugins to get a trade login area complete with trade order forms.
Setting up user roles and permissions for trade customers
Setting up user roles and permissions for trade customers is a crucial aspect of managing wholesale operations using WooCommerce Wholesale Pro. This WordPress buy sell trade plugin offers robust features that allow you to customize user roles and access. Here's how you can set up user roles and permissions for trade customers using the best WooCommerce Wholesale plugins:
Creating custom user roles: WooCommerce Wholesale Pro enables you to create custom user roles specifically for trade customers. You can define roles such as "Wholesaler," "Trade Customer," or any other relevant designation. These roles will differentiate wholesale customers from regular retail customers within your WooCommerce system.
Assigning capabilities: Once you've created the custom user roles, you can assign specific capabilities or permissions to each role. Capabilities determine what actions or features a user with that role can access.
Controlling catalog visibility: WooCommerce Wholesale Pro allows you to control which variable products or product categories are visible to trade customers. You can set up rules that restrict certain products to wholesale customers only, ensuring that they have access to trade-specific offerings. This customization ensures that wholesale customers see relevant products and helps streamline their browsing experience.
Restricting access to non-wholesale areas: WooCommerce Wholesale Pro gives you the ability to restrict wholesale customers' access to non-wholesale areas of your wholesale website. This prevents them from accessing retail-specific features or wholesale prices that are not relevant to their WooCommerce trade account. By limiting access, you create a focused and streamlined experience for wholesale customers.
Integrating with user role management plugins: WooCommerce Wholesale Pro integrates with popular user role management plugins, such as "Members" or "User Role Editor." This integration provides additional flexibility and control over different user roles and permissions. You can leverage these WordPress buy sell trade plugins to fine-tune and customize the capabilities and access levels of WooCommerce wholesale suite further.
Add a WooCommerce trade account area today!
WooCommerce is an excellent way to sell online, but it’s designed to work best for customer-facing retail stores. If you’re building a trade shop, then you’ll need a WooCommerce trade account plugin to add the extra features you need.
The WooCommerce Wholesale Pro plugin adds everything you need for a professional trade account and B2B area. Either use it to power your entire store, or run it alongside your main retail shop.
Complete trade features include trade login and wholesale registration forms, trade cart discounts, trade-only products, unlimited user roles, quick order forms, and more!
Full documentation, support, and video tutorials.
Love it or your money back!
Do you have any questions about how to use WooCommerce tradeshop plugins effectively on your site? Let us know in the comments section below!
This is how it works. After a photoshoot, Thierry uploads the images into the client’s hidden WC category. The client is sent a password. They log on to their hidden area to view the images. Each image is displayed in one table than can be filtered. Clients can view images, select variations and add multiple photos to the cart, all from this one table.
In this article, we'll guide you through the process of hiding your WooCommerce shop from guests with the easy-to-use 
You might want a public-facing website that anyone can access, with a hidden e-commerce area that only people with the right credentials can see. Or you might want to hide your entire WooCommerce store.
distribute the Italian coffee brand, ICAF, across the US. As wholesalers, they need to keep their WooCommerce wholesale store hidden from the public. That's why they've password protected it with the WooCommerce Private Store plugin.
