Headless WooCommerce from setting up to the deployment of - (r)

Aug 1, 2024

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Introduction to WooCommerce without a head.

The APIs define the interactions between intermediaries, which allow companies to change the presentation layer with no impact on the functionality of the layers. They are also able to alter and modify products or even include them across multiple layers.

Furthermore, using the WooCommerce headless edition is a way to ensure your online store is current as it helps you to adapt to changing requirements of customers and technological developments. It's easy to upgrade components on the front end, and also guaranteeing durability and stability which the WooCommerce backend system offers.

Illustration of a traditional CMS and a WooCommerce application backend separated from its frontend communicating through an API
Traditional e-commerce software along with a headless WooCommerce version.

The new method has numerous advantages when compared with conventional WordPress E-commerce settings.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure that you've got these items in your possession:

  • A functional WordPress site
  • An active account

Benefits of headless WooCommerce

If you choose to use the headless option for your WooCommerce apps, you unlock numerous benefits, such as the possibility in having one backend that could be able to support multiple frontends in the application.

This is just one advantages of WooCommerce's headless system:

  • Better web performance It is possible to utilize the speedy web frameworks, such as React or Vue to significantly improve the speed of your site.
  • SEO advantages It gives you more control as well as greater flexibility in SEO techniques to help you reach the objectives you set for your business.
  • More capacity -- Your site is able to scale up efficiently, and ensure seamless performance during times with high volume.
  • The capacity to design a unique customer experiences. It's free from the constraints of templates that are standard. You can create custom customer experiences that are unique for your customers.

Create an headless WooCommerce site

This is a step-by-step procedure to set up your WooCommerce website:

  1. Log into your My dashboard
  2. Browse through to the Add Service section on the WordPress website.
  3. Choose the option to install the WordPress selection.
  4. In the Add New WordPress website page, complete the fields required to install WordPress.
  5. Make sure you check the box to install WooCommerce before pressing for the next step..
Add new WordPress site page showing site title, admin username, admin password, admin email, and language fields. Underneath the fields there are optional plugins including WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, and Easy Digital Downloads. At the bottom of the page are Back and Continue buttons
Installation of WordPress along with using the WooCommerce plugin.

Enable the WooCommerce plugin

  1. In your My Dashboard, click Domains on the left-hand sidebar.
  2. Within on the domains page, click to open WordPress Admin.
  3. Log into your WordPress Admin Dashboard, go to plugins, choose the WooCommerce plugin, then activate it.
WordPress Admin dashboard showing the optional plugins available including the WooCommerce plugin. Each plugin has an Activate and Delete button below the option
Enrolling the account WooCommerce account.

Configure WooCommerce to operate headless

To set up WooCommerce for headless operation:

  1. Sign in to Your WordPress Admin dashboard. From the left-hand sidebar select "WooCommerce" > Options.
  2. On the Settings page, select to go to the Advanced tab. Then, click Rest API.
  3. Click now to confirm. Add key .
Advanced page showing the REST API option selected and an Add key button beside it
Add the key to the API. API.
  1. Click to create the API Key . Provide your REST API an explanation. Then, change the Permissions field read/write. Read/Write  then select Generate API key .
Key details page for the REST API. It has Description, User, and Permissions fields. Underneath the fields there is a Generate API key button
The process of generating your WooCommerce API Key.
  1. The key is copied of the user and secretly store it in a secure place to usage with React. React app.
  2. Then, you can modify Finally, alter the Permalink structure so that JSON data is returned whenever you call the API. In the WordPress Admin dashboard, click Settings > Permalinks Select the name of your post.

Before you proceed, make sure to add products in your WooCommerce store. Go to WooCommerce. Go to the WooCommerce section on the WordPress dashboard. Choose Products, and follow the prompts to create products. It is also possible to incorporate these products to your store online.

When you've got WordPress and WooCommerce configured and WooCommerce in place, it's now time to focus on the front of your headless ecommerce application.

Set up React Project React project

Here's how to create the React project: React project:

  1. If you are in a preferred directory follow these steps to make a React project:
Be sure to replace app-name> to the name you prefer. Use npx to create a react app with app-name> as well as Cd app name> using yarn yarn you can create react-app with app-name> and the cd will be named app-name>.
  1. After your project has been created, after which you are able to create an .env The file should be located in the root directory within your project. You can then add the following:
REACT_APP_CONSUMER_KEY=your_Woocommerce_consumer_key REACT_APP_CONSUMER_SECRET=your_Woocommerce_consumer_secret

Replace the key in this case by the WooCommerce customer's key and secret generated earlier.

  1. Next, use the command below to install a package to manage routes:
 # By using npm, npm will add react-router dom. ## With yarn yarn add react-router-dom
  1. In the end, start React. Then, you can launch the React project with these commands:
## With npm npm start ## With yarn yarn start

Design the frontend for your website headless WooCommerce website.

A store on the internet that is efficient showcases the items it sells and makes it easier to purchase. The first step is to display the products offered in the WooCommerce store on the frontend. It involves making requests to the WooCommerce API. WooCommerce API.

The endpoint to list all products is wp-json/wc/v3/products. This must be added to the host URL. Add this variable to the .env file for your base URL, which is the host's URL that is appended to an endpoint of the product endpoint. Replace http://example.com with the domain of your WooCommerce domain.

REACT_APP_BASE_URL=http://example.com/wp-json/wc/v3/products

If you're making API requests, you must add your key to the information for the consumer as well as your secret in the URL. If these are paired with the consumer's key and secret, the URL should look like this:

 https://woocommerce..cloud/wp-json/wc/v3/products?consumer_key=your_consumer_key&consumer_secret=your_consumer_secret
  1. Within the React application, open the app. App.js The file is in the src directory, and then change the directory using this code:
import Link from 'react-router-dom Import useEffect and state from react; function App() ( ; Export default App

This method retrieves a list of products that are available from WooCommerce API endpoint. WooCommerce API endpoint is accessed using the Fetch API following the time that the component has been installed ( useEffect hook). The endpoint URL is built through the use of the environment variables set prior to the mounting.

Once the data is fetched, it updates the component state (products) using setProducts(response) and sets loading to false using setLoading(false).

The product's name, price, description (rendered using dangerouslySetInnerHTML to inject HTML content), stock status, and a button are displayed for each product.

  1. Within the SRC directory and navigate to in the SRC directory, open index.js File and replace the code with this snippet:
import React from "react"; import ReactDOM from "react-dom"; import BrowserRouter, Route, Routes from "react-router-dom"; import "./index.css"; import App from "./App"; ReactDOM.render( Store /> , document.getElementById("root") );

It displays the application component each time it's used within the browser. is the way is described within the browser.

  1. Run your app to view the updates.
## With npm npm start ## With yarn yarn start

The React application is now showing the items available offered through the WooCommerce store.

Web page displaying a list of clothing products. Each listing has a name, a price, and a description, and is followed by an Add to Cart button
WooCommerce store product list.

Create dynamic product pages

In order to improve the customer experience You can now build dynamic pages to promote your product with the help of the WooCommerce API. This API provides an endpoint to fetch data about a single product: wp-json/wc/v3/products/. For this endpoint to show and retrieve information about a particular product's information in your store, you must follow the instructions:

  1. Make an object ProductDetail.js within the SRC directory that fetches and displays data on a specific product. It retrieves and displays detailed information about a single product.It operates in a similar manner to the code in App.js File. App.js File, however it is only in a position to fetch information about only one item.
Import useState, effect from'react'. useParams from'react' function ProductDetail() ( export default ProductDetail;
  1. Create a new route in index.js and assign it to the ProductDetail A component of it. This code snippet creates the new route in index.js and assigns and then assigns the ProductDetail component. It ensures that, the moment a user clicks a link to a particular item, they will be taken to the correct product's page.
/// index.js ... import ProductDetail from "./ProductDetail"; ReactDOM.render( ... /* the new route

, document.getElementById("root") );

By making these adjustments, clicking one of the items on the page will redirect users to a website that gives more details about the specific product.

Web page displaying detailed information about a clothing product
More in-depth details about the product.

The complete program in the GitHub repository.

Incorporate key WooCommerce features into your headless configuration

You can build upon the basis of listing your goods within the headless WooCommerce application, incorporating crucial features like:

  • Carts to shop handle cart details on the client side or store data locally for users to to add, remove and modify items in real-time.
  • User authentication Utilize security-grade authentication using JSON Web Token (JWT) or Open Authorization 2.0 (OAuth2) to give users a more pleasant experience by allowing the user to register, log in, and password reset options.
  • Manage orders handle orders and the status of orders efficiently using WooCommerce API. Control orders and statuses effectively by using the WooCommerce API. Give customers a variety of options for order records, tracking, returns as well as refunds. You can also streamline processes with Webhooks, or an event-driven framework.

Make sure you have your headless WooCommerce site on

Once you've successfully pushed your code, follow these steps to set up your website:

  1. Log into the dashboard you've made by clicking on My dashboard.
  2. On Add Service, click to Add Service Select Add Service and then go to the static site.
  3. Choose a Git provider, then select Connect the git provider.
  4. Select the repository and the branch you wish to work with. The parameters of the build will be identified automatically.
  5. Include any necessary environment variables from the .env file.
Environment variables page with fields for key and value pairs. There is a Create site button at the bottom on the right
Incorporating environment variables.
  1. Finally you can select "Create Site" to deploy you React application.

Your WooCommerce headless app!

Summary

The article outlined the many advantages and new possibilities for developing dynamic and highly-performing online stores by establishing headless WooCommerce sites.

In separating the frontend and the backend of your site it is possible to personalize your site in order to provide enhanced and personalized user experiences, which benefit from high performance as well as robust security. scaling.

     Are you excited by the many possibilities that are offered by WooCommerce's headless feature to run your online store? Share your insights or questions in the comments section below.

Jeremy Holcombe

The Content and Marketing Editor , WordPress Web Developer, and Content writer. Apart from everything that is related to WordPress I love the beach golf and movies. Also, I have height issues ;).

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