Description

This tutorial will explain you how to make your first order on your own store and have a feel of the HikaShop basic functionalities.

First, we will add a product to the store. Then, we will make it accessible on the front end with a Joomla menu. We will set a payment method and a shipping method and finally make an order.

Add a product

By default, a main product category already exists in HikaShop so if you're planning on selling only a few items, like we want to do in this tutorial, you don't need to add any category and you can directly start to add your products.

First, log in on the back-end and go to the menu Components->HikaShop->Products

Then, click on new to create a new product

You will have to write at least a name for your product. You can also write a description, add categories, related products, images, files, characteristics, etc

By default, the published currency is the euro. If you want to use others currencies please go to the currencies management screen ( HikaShop menu System->Currencies ) to do so.

Once you're done click on the save button.

Add a menu

Now that you have your first product created, you can add a direct link to it via a Joomla menu on the front end.

Go to the menu "Menus" and click on one of your menu areas

Then, click on new to create a new menu

You will have to click on the menu Item Type HikaShop in order to display the list of menu types of HikaShop. Then, click on the Product "Product page" link.

You will be able to set standard Joomla options for the menu as well as select a product to display on the right part of the screen

You're done. If your menu area is already displayed on your front end, you should already see the new menu linking to your product. If you don't see it, you might need to purge your Joomla cache before seeing it.

Payment

Now you need to configure at least one payment method so that you can display it on the checkout process when someone makes an order on your shop.

Go to the Component->HikaShop menu if you're not already in HikaShop and then go to the System->Payment methods HikaShop menu in order to access the payment management screen.

Once there you have to click on "New" in the toolbar and you should see a list of payment methods which are all unpublished. Publish one AND click on its name to edit its information. For the purpose of this tutorial we will use the payment method "bank transfer" which is easy to setup as it doesn't connect to any external payment system and thus doesn't require you to create an account on such system.

When you finish to change the default information, don't forget to enable the option "Publish" and please click on the save button. You're done with the configuration of your first payment method.

Shipping

Now you need to configure a shipping method so that you can display it on the checkout process when someone makes an order on your shop. If your products are virtual ( the weight of the products is 0), then shipping information won't be asked to the user.

Go to the Component->HikaShop menu if you're not already in HikaShop and then go to the System->Shipping methods HikaShop menu in order to access the shipping management screen.

Once there you have to click on "New" in the toolbar and you should see a list of shipping methods which are all unpublished. Publish one AND click on its name to edit its information.

On this screen, you can enter the information of one shipping method and then click on the save button. Our demo website provides an example of shipping methods you could use on your store.

You're done with the configuration of your first shipping method

Checkout

Now, you're ready to order your first product on your store !

Go to the front end and click on the menu you created. The product page will be displayed.

There, click on the "add to cart" button (provided that you product isn't free) which will redirect you to the first step of the checkout process unless you have the cart module displayed (in which case it might update the cart instead of directing you to the checkout based on your HikaShop configuration).

If you're not logged in, you will be asked to login or create an account. If you register, you will have to enter your address here as well which will make you skip next step.

Then, you will be asked to enter an address. You can click on the new button if you don't have one already and a popup will open asking you your address information.

Then, you will be able to choose the payment and shipping option.

Then, you will be able to finish your order and an information screen will be displayed explaining you how to make your bank transfer if you chose this payment method.

You should receive an email shortly after with the detail of the order.

Note that this workflow of the checkout can be changed to suit your shop needs and that each view of the process can be completely customized, first by editing the CSS in the configuration page of HikaShop , or also by customizing the php code of each view (require some PHP knowledge).