Please Note: As of Oxygen WooCommerce 2.0, it is now possible to overload template files without this plugin!

As a WooCommerce store owner, you may find yourself wanting to change something in a WooCommerce template from time to time. This might be changing the wording of an email template on the checkout page or something else altogether.

Traditionally, you would add the WooCommerce template to the appropriate directory in a theme. However, since Oxygen disables the WordPress theme system, you’ll need to do this using a custom plugin.

We’ve created the WooCommerce Templates for Oxygen plugin that includes the necessary functions to tell WooCommerce to use its templates first instead of the default templates. 

How to use the WooCommerce Templates for Oxygen. 

• Download the plugin and unzip it to your computer:
• Copy the WooCommerce template you'd like to override to the appropriate directory within this plugin. You may find a list of WooCommerce templates for your version of WooCommerce here: https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/template-structure/.
• Make the desired changes to the overridden template and save. 
• Zip the plugin.
• Upload your zipped version of this plugin to your WordPress install.

A Step-By-Step Example:

Let’s assume you'd like to change the “Proceed to checkout” text on the product page to “Proceed to Shipping Dock”. 

To do this, download the plugin from the link provided above and unzip it on your computer. Next, open the entire folder (woocommerce-templates-oxygen-main) in a code editor, such as Visual Studio Code.

Now, you're ready to get the desired WooCommerce template file. Use the WooCommerce Template Structure link above to be directed to WooCommerce's GitHub and find the appropriate template for the version of WooCommerce you are using.

For this example, the template may be found under Templates > Cart: https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/blob/trunk/templates/cart/proceed-to-checkout-button.php.

The easiest way to get this template into the plugin is to click the Raw button on GitHub and copy the code on that page. 

Go back into your code editor, create a new file under the WooCommerce > Cart directory called proceed-to-checkout-button.php.

It’s crucial that the filenames and locations in your plugin directly match the location in WooCommerce. Otherwise, the override may not work correctly. 

Now you can edit the template as needed. In this scenario, we are simply updating the “Proceed to checkout” text to “Proceed to Shipping Dock”. Once you're happy with the changes, save the file.

Now, all you'll need to do is zip back up the entire woocommerce-templates-oxygen-main directory and upload it to WordPress. 

Once activated, you should be able to navigate to the Cart page and see the changes. 

That’s all there is to it. 

Happy voyages!

Featured Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay

For years, companies and organizations have relied on services and features of social media websites such as Facebook to be their primary location on the internet, or they may sell their products solely on Amazon. While this may seem efficient and easy at the time, it's much more beneficial to build your own site now, so that you have better control of your content, your brand, and your customers.

1. Your Permanent Address on the Internet.

First and foremost, getting a permanent address is as easy as purchasing a domain name. Domain names have the same effect as having a physical street address on the internet. A domain name costs about $10 per year. That's right, for $10 per year, you can ensure that your company will always have a home on the internet. Even if you don't develop a website on it right away, get your domain name reserved as soon as you can to prepare for future development.

Additionally, by purchasing a domain name, you'll be able to have a custom email address, and you can get rid of that @gmail.com, @outlook.com, or another popular email host that your using for your business.

2. You're in Control of Everything.

By having your own website, you're able to control everything about it. The layout of your site, the way it looks to customers, how you sell your products, all of this can be controlled by you.

Furthermore, having your own website can increase the available avenues users have to buy your products, services, and news about your company.

On top of this, most online marketplaces have fees and charges that can cost you a decent portion of your profits. While these marketplaces may bring you more customers, they also cost you more in expenses. Having multiple ways for users to buy your products increases the potential for selling more goods.

3. You Can Naturally Grow Your Audience.

Through the use of SEO-optimization, you'll be able to increase your visibility when people search for your company and the products and services that you have. This will in-turn increase potential sales, clients, and leads to help your business grow. The best thing is that SEO-optimization doesn't require additional advertisement costs.

4. Expand Your Customer Service.

While a website won't replace your Customer Service, which it shouldn't. It can help to answer some frequent questions or concerns from your customers so your Customer Service team can increase more focus on the requests that come in.

You may use the website to display your contact hours, add a Frequently Asked Questions section, or provide Documentation or Tutorials.

The Final Mast

There are a variety of other reasons that having a website may be beneficial to you. If this is something you're interested in, please contact us today, and we'll be glad to help you get started.