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Note:
Wherever necessary, the following sections will also link to other articles which explain the topics in fuller detail.
Introduction
Once you have finished with production (setting up your products, images, and design), it's time to get your online store functioning to the public. This guide will give you a step-by-step process on how to go live with your online store.
Setup Email Accounts
You will want to set up an email account to manage some of your online communications. To do this:
- Go to mail.3dcartstores.com
- Login with the information in your Welcome Email
- Select your time zone – click save (this will only happen once)
- Go to Domain Settings >Users, then click Add User
- Type the username password, and modify the mailbox size limit to your needs.
- Click Save.
- Repeat this process for as many users as you would like to setup.
For additional information on email setup and aliases, please Click here
Setup your Merchant Account/Online Payment Gateway
Setting up online payment methods will allow you to accept payment methods such as credit cards, PayPal, and Checkout by Amazon. The advantage to this is that you do not have to process your payments manually, however, you do need to have an account with a payment gateway.
Click here to see the payment gateways 3dcart is integrated with!
If you currently have a merchant account, contact them and let them know you would like to start an account with a payment gateway.
For additional information on Online Payments and gateways, please see our Payment Guide and review the Online Payment Methods section.
Setup Your Offline Payment Methods
Setting up offline payments will allow you to accept checks, money orders, purchase orders, store pickups, etc. All offline payments will have to be manually processed once the order comes through.
For more detailed information on setting up your Offline Payment methods, see the Payment Guide and review the Offline Payments section.
Setup your Invoice Number Sequence
To setup your invoice number, go to Settings >General>Store Settings and click on the "Checkout" tab where you will see a link labeled "Edit Invoice Number." From here, you can edit the number your invoices will start at. All you have to do is change the letter and number you want the orders to start at and click update. When new orders come in, the system will automatically update each order with a new number in numerical order.
Click here for more information.
Create Your Shipping Methods
To begin adding a shipping method, login to your store manager and from the left navigation menu, go to Settings >Shipping and click on the "Enter Settings" button under Shipping Settings.
Update the Real Time Shipping Information field with the address you will be shipping your products from. You will use real time shipping if you want to use UPS, USPS, FedEx, or Canada Post. Furthermore, we do support many different types of UPS, USPS, FedEx, and Canada Post shipping methods. (these can be set up in the "Shipping Method" section of you Shipping page.)
You will use Offline Shipping methods if you want to set up a custom flat rate shipping method, such as by quantity, value, weight, or zip code.
For more information, please see the Shipping Guide.
Setup Your Company Policy Pages
Company policy pages allow customers to get a quick overview of how your company runs and the policies that govern them. It will give your customers confidence in your online store when they see your company information on display. Also, some merchant accounts may require you have certain terms and conditions displayed.
3dcart has created an entire list of company policies/procedures for you to use. Go to Content>Site Content and click on the content button for Terms and Conditions. This is a page we've created for you which uses a Database Feed of terms and policies. From there, you can choose any terms and conditions you want, click on its edit button make changes as needed.
Create Further Checkout Options
At this point, you may have further options for checkout you will want to use. You may want to add Tax options, or allow customers to use Gift Certificates.
The following articles may be useful to you:
Place a Test Order
Once all of your options have been set up, you are ready to place a test order through your online store to make sure everything is functioning properly. Make sure to test out all payment methods and shipping options, just as a customer would.
Point your Domain Name to 3dcart
To change your DNS to point at your 3dcart IP address, you must:
- Login to your registrar
- Find your Domain name
- Change the Name (DNS) server to 3dcart's Name (DNS) Servers
3dcart's DNS Servers are:
- dns1.3dcart.com
- dns2.3dcart.com
- dns3.3dcart.com
If you would like to use a second level domain for your store, i.e. store.mydomain.com, you will require a DNS record change at your current hosting provider:
- You will need to ask your provider to create a CNAME for store.yourdomain.com to point to your store's *.3dcartstores.com URL (see welcome email).
- Then submit a support ticket with 3dcart to let us know the second level domain you are pointing so we can configure it on our web servers.
Note
After your domain name is pointed to 3dcart's name servers, be sure to change your store URL to reflect the newly pointed domain name. This can be done at the bottom of the "Store Settings" page found by going to Settings >General >Store Settings.
Quick Summary Checklist
Here's a quick rundown of your steps to go live with your store:
- Setup your Email Accounts – Setup your company email accounts.
- Setup your Merchant Account/Payment Gateways – Use this to accept online payments such as PayPal, Credit Cards, and Checkout by Amazon, etc.
- Setup your Offline Payment Methods – Use these payment methods to accept checks, money orders, purchase orders, and store pickups, etc.
- Setup your Invoice Number Sequence – Type in the number you want your orders to start at.
- Create your Shipping Methods – Choose between Online methods (FedEx, UPS, USPS, and Canada Post) and Offline methods (by Weight, Value, Quantity, or Zip).
- Setup your Company Policy Pages – Choose the terms and conditions you wish to display on your site.
- Create Further Checkout Options – Setup your tax options and decide if you want to offer other options, such as gift certificates.
- Place a Test Order – Run through a complete order, just as a customer would, to troubleshoot any misconfigurations that may arise.
- Point your Domain Name to 3dcart – Contact your registrar and change your DNS to our Name servers.
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