Getting Started
Setup Wizard
When you first log into the admin panel, the Setup Wizard guides you through 8 steps:
- Identity — Enter your store name, description, and contact email.
- Location & Currency — Set your country, address, currency code and symbol.
- Business Profile — Business type, tax ID, payout email. Optional W-9 collection for US vendors/affiliates.
- Payment Processing — Select and configure your payment processor (Square, Stripe, PayPal, or manual).
- Shipping Basics — Set up a basic shipping rule (flat rate, free over a threshold, or weight-based).
- Email Delivery — Configure SMTP for transactional emails.
- First Product — Create your first product with a name, SKU, price, and images.
- Launch — Review everything and enable the storefront.
You can skip steps and return later. The Setup Checklist widget on your dashboard tracks remaining tasks.
Admin Panel Layout
- Left sidebar — Navigation to all admin sections
- Top bar — Store name, quick links, your account
- Main area — Page content
Dashboard
The dashboard shows an at-a-glance overview: recent orders with status, sales summary (today, this week, this month), setup checklist for remaining tasks, low stock alerts, and pending reviews awaiting approval.
Products & Categories
Creating a Product
- Go to Products > New Product
- Fill in: name, SKU, price, compare-at price, description, and status (active/draft/archived)
- Assign to a category and add tags
- Upload images — drag and drop or browse. First image is primary. Reorder by dragging.
- Click Save
Variants & Options
Products can have options (like Size, Color) that create variants. Each variant has its own SKU, price, stock quantity, weight, and backorder mode. Add options, enter values, and click Generate Variants to create all combinations.
Categories
Categories organize your products and can be hierarchical (parent/child). Each category has a name, slug, optional parent, and optional image.
Collections
Two types: Manual (hand-picked products) and Smart (auto-populated based on rules like tags, price range, etc.).
Product Badges
Visual labels shown on product cards (New, Sale, Featured, etc.). Create badges with custom label, background color, and text color. Assign to products from the product editor or badge manager.
Size Guides
Create measurement tables and assign them to product categories so customers see the right guide on product pages.
Orders & Fulfillment
Order Lifecycle
Orders flow through statuses: Pending, Awaiting Approval, On Hold, In Production, Ready to Ship, Shipped, Completed, Cancelled, or Refunded. Not every order goes through every status.
Managing an Order
From the order detail page: update status, edit items (add/remove/modify with automatic total recalculation), add notes (internal or customer-visible), process refunds, print PDF invoices and packing slips, create shipping labels, and send tracking emails.
Manual Orders
Create orders manually at Orders > New Order for phone orders or in-person sales.
Quotes
Send price proposals before the customer commits. Dual approval workflow — both sides must approve. Any modification resets both approvals. Once approved, the quote converts to a payable invoice.
Invoices
Generated from orders or quotes. Customers with net terms receive invoices they can pay later at a self-service payment page. Supports partial payments.
Customers
Customer profiles show contact info, order history, lifetime spend, saved addresses, group/segment memberships, loyalty points, subscription status, and notes.
Groups & Segments
Groups are manual collections for VIP pricing, restricted access, or targeted promotions. Segments are automatic — customers are included based on rules (spend, order count, location, registration date).
B2B Companies
If B2B is enabled: company accounts with multiple users, purchase orders, net terms (pay later via invoice), and company-specific pricing.
Promotions & Coupons
Create promotions at Promotions > New Promotion:
- Types: Coupon (requires code), automatic (applies when conditions met), sale price
- Discounts: Percentage, fixed amount, free shipping, BOGO
- Conditions: Minimum spend/quantity, specific products/categories, customer eligibility, date range
- Limits: Total usage limit, per-customer limit, max discount cap
- Codes: Single code or bulk generate with prefix
Stacking modes: None (one discount per order), Best Wins (highest value applies), or Controlled (multiple stack). A global max discount percentage cap prevents excessive stacking.
Gift Cards
Enable in Settings > Gift Cards. Configure denominations, custom amount range, expiry, and code prefix. Customers purchase on the storefront and send via email. Recipients apply the code at checkout. Create cards manually for promotions or customer service.
Shipping
Configure shipping rules: flat rate, free shipping (with threshold), or weight-based. Rules can be scoped by region/country. Generate shipping labels from order detail pages. Enter carrier and tracking number to email customers a tracking link.
Payments
Supported processors: Square (cards, refunds, subscriptions), Stripe (cards, refunds, subscriptions), PayPal (checkout, refunds), and Offline (check, bank transfer, PO). Configure in Settings > Payment with sandbox/production modes. Process refunds (full or partial) from the order detail page.
Returns & Refunds
Enable in Settings > Returns. Configure return window, require reason, policy text, and instructions.
Workflow: Customer requests return → admin reviews → customer ships item → admin marks received → refund issued (original payment or store credit).
Exchanges: Customers can request a different size/color instead of a return. Keep-it refunds: For orders under a threshold, the customer keeps the item and receives a partial refund.
Inventory Management
Each variant tracks stock quantity, automatically decremented on order. Set a global low stock threshold (default: 5) with per-product overrides. Backorder modes: disallow, allow, or allow with notification. Inventory reservations prevent overselling during checkout.
Merch Builder
Setup
- Enable in Settings > Merch Builder
- Configure product types (e.g. "Classic T-Shirt") with blank images, print zones, zone pricing, and quantity breaks
- Configure service fees for custom design work and image upgrades
S&S Activewear Integration
If you source blanks from S&S Activewear: enable in settings, enter account credentials, sync the catalog, and optionally enable auto-ordering to automatically place POs when merch orders come in.
Customer Experience
Customers choose a product type, select a blank (brand, style, color), choose print zones, upload artwork, set quantity per size, and see real-time pricing including zone costs and quantity breaks.
Fulfillment
Merch orders have special tools: view artwork and print specifications, track production progress, upload production photos, place S&S orders for blanks, and receive/check in deliveries.
Digital Products
Enable in Settings > Digital Products. Configure download link expiry, max file size, and allowed extensions. Create products with the Digital type and upload files. Customers access downloads from their account after purchase. Supports TwelveTake Vault integration for automatic license key generation.
Subscriptions
Create subscription products with configurable billing intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) and optional free trials. Customers can pause, resume, cancel, skip, or swap plans from their account. Admin panel shows upcoming renewals, payment failures, and subscription analytics (MRR, churn). Dunning management with configurable retry schedule and escalating email notifications.
Marketing
Email Marketing
Full suite: subscriber lists with double opt-in, campaigns (one-time or scheduled), reusable templates, automation rules (welcome series, post-purchase, win-back), email capture forms, and analytics (opens, clicks, conversions).
SMS Marketing
Twilio integration: SMS campaigns, automations, A/B testing, segment targeting, opt-in/opt-out management, quiet hours, and delivery tracking.
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Enable in Settings > Cart Recovery. Configure abandonment window, up to 3 recovery emails with configurable delays and optional discount incentives.
Loyalty & Rewards
Configure earning rules (per dollar, per order, account creation, birthday, reviews, referrals), tiers with increasing benefits, and redemption options (points-to-dollar conversion, redemption catalog, minimum points). Customers view their status, point history, and available rewards from their account.
Vendors
The vendor/consignment system lets third parties sell through your store. Commission types: margin, percentage, or flat fee. Vendors get their own dashboard for sales, orders, and payout tracking. Payout methods: PayPal, Venmo, or manual. Tax compliance: W-9 collection, $599 payout cap tracking, and 1099-NEC PDF generation.
Affiliates
Signup modes: open, invite-only, or approval-required. Commission rates: global default with per-category and per-product overrides. Multi-level commissions (2-tier). Affiliates get referral links, performance stats, earnings history, and W-9 submission. Fraud detection tracks self-referrals, unusual click ratios, and rapid-fire clicks.
Content Management
CMS Pages
Create static pages (About Us, Contact, Policies) with rich text editor, URL slug, and publish/draft status. Served at /shop/pages/<slug>.
Blog
Create and schedule posts with authors, categories, tags, comments, and SEO metadata. Served at /shop/blog/<slug>.
FAQ
Questions and answers organized by category with accordion UI and JSON-LD structured data for SEO.
Navigation
Customize storefront navigation: reorder items, add links to pages/categories/collections/URLs, create dropdown menus with drag-and-drop ordering.
URL Redirects
301 (permanent) and 302 (temporary) redirects with import/export.
Analytics & Reports
Built-In Reports
Sales summary, product performance, category performance, customer report (new vs returning), inventory report, backorder report, tax report, refund report, and shipping cost analysis.
Advanced Analytics
Conversion funnels, customer lifetime value by cohort, cohort analysis for retention, custom report builder, A/B tests, and goal tracking with progress indicators. Export as CSV, PDF, or JSON. Scheduled delivery via email.
Store Settings
Settings are organized in tabs:
- General — Store name, country, currency, brand color, session timeouts
- SEO — Title separator, OpenGraph image, organization type, social links, sitemap, robots.txt
- Orders — Cancellation/refund statuses, custom status labels
- Reviews — Enable/disable, require approval, require purchase
- Tax — Default rate, included vs added, jurisdictions, exemptions
- Payment — Processor selection, credentials, sandbox/production
- Inventory — Low stock threshold, backorder mode, reservations
- Promotions — Enable/disable, stacking mode, max discount cap
- Cart Recovery — Enable, timing, email sequence, discount incentives
- Gift Cards — Enable, denominations, custom range, expiry
- Digital Products — Download expiry, max file size, allowed extensions
- Returns — Enable, window, require reason, policy text
- B2B — Enable, PO numbers, net terms, quotes
- Merch Builder — Enable, S&S Activewear, service fees, DPI limits
- Integrations — TwelveTake Vault, S&S Activewear
Additional Settings Pages
Appearance (theme colors, fonts, logo, favicon), API Keys, Webhooks, Currencies, Languages, Tax Jurisdictions, Tax Exemptions, Custom Fields, and Notifications (email template customization).
Staff & Permissions
Manage staff accounts with role assignment and two-factor authentication. Define roles with granular permissions per module (products, orders, customers, settings, financial data, staff management). Full audit log tracks who did what and when.
Import & Export
Importing Products
- From WooCommerce — Upload CSV, preview data, confirm import
- From Shopify — Upload CSV, preview, confirm
- From Any CSV — Upload CSV, map columns to fields (with auto-matching), preview, confirm
Exporting Data
Export products, orders, and customers as CSV. Use filters for subsets.
Bulk Operations
Products: bulk edit status, category, pricing. Customers: bulk import, add to groups. Orders: bulk update status, bulk export.
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
Orders not processing: Check payment processor configuration and credentials. Check the order events log for error messages.
Emails not sending: Verify SMTP settings or re-run setup wizard step 6. Test with a password reset email.
Products not showing: Ensure status is active, at least one variant has stock (or backorders allowed), and product is assigned to a visible category.
Images not loading: Check that data/uploads/ exists and is writable.
Tax not calculating: Check default rate and jurisdiction configuration. Verify the "tax included in prices" toggle.
Built-In Diagnostic Tools
- API Documentation at
/store/api-docs - Audit Log — Check recent admin actions
- Order Events — Every status change and note is tracked
- Webhook Logs — View delivery attempts and errors
Data Backup
Your entire store data lives in the data/ directory: store.db (database) and uploads/ (media files). Back up this directory regularly. SQLite supports hot backups.