Site Setup – WooCommerce Runbook

0. Purpose Definition

Before enabling WooCommerce, decide:

Commerce Model

Which are you building?

  • Affiliate/content store
  • Curated product recommendations
  • Digital downloads
  • Physical products
  • Dropshipping
  • Hybrid

Recommended Starting Model for New Sites

Phase 1

Content-first + curated products

Phase 2

Simple WooCommerce products

Phase 3

Automation + integrations

Avoid starting with:

  • complex logistics
  • marketplaces
  • subscription stacks
  • heavy automation

1. Platform Stack

Recommended Stack

Core

  • WordPress
  • GeneratePress
  • GenerateBlocks
  • WooCommerce

Commerce

  • WooCommerce Stripe Gateway

Utility

  • SEO plugin
  • SMTP plugin
  • cache plugin

2. Theme Strategy

Preferred

GeneratePress

Why:

  • lightweight
  • stable
  • WooCommerce compatible
  • mobile fast
  • content-first
  • minimal plugin lock-in

Avoid Initially

  • Divi
  • Elementor-heavy builds
  • “mega-shop” themes
  • marketplace themes

These increase:

  • maintenance
  • plugin conflicts
  • page weight
  • cognitive overhead

3. Baseline WordPress Setup

Complete:

  • WordPress install
  • SSL
  • Cloudflare
  • permalinks
  • admin hardening
  • backups

Before WooCommerce.

Reference existing guide sections:

  • Application Layer
  • Baseline Setup
  • Cloudflare Setup

4. Install WooCommerce

Plugins

Install:

  • WooCommerce
  • WooCommerce Stripe Gateway

Optional later:

  • PayPal
  • Mailchimp
  • Meta/Facebook
  • Pinterest

5. WooCommerce Initial Wizard

Store Details

  • business name
  • address
  • currency
  • email

Industry

Choose closest fit.

Product Types

Initially:

  • physical products only

Disable:

  • subscriptions
  • memberships
  • bookings

6. Payments

Enable

Stripe

Recommended default.

Disable Initially

  • cheque
  • bank transfer
  • COD

Reduce friction.

Recommended Features

This is where WooCommerce starts trying to install half the internet.

TURN OFF:

  • automated taxes
  • Mailchimp
  • Facebook
  • TikTok
  • Pinterest
  • Jetpack
  • ShipStation
  • marketplace integrations

You can always add later.

WooCommerce

→ Settings

Then check:

  • permalinks
  • currency
  • email
  • payments
  • products

7. Stripe Setup

Create Stripe Account

Use business/project identity.

WooCommerce Settings

WooCommerce
→ Settings
→ Payments
→ Stripe

Enable:

  • test mode initially

Webhook

Stripe Dashboard

Developers
→ Webhooks
→ Add Endpoint

Example:

https://example.com/?wc-api=wc_stripe

Select:

  • all events initially

Optimise later.

8. Shipping Strategy

Decide Early

Option A — Affiliate/Curated

No shipping required.

Option B — Simple Physical Products

Use:

  • flat rate
  • local only
  • limited zones

Option C — Dropshipping

Integrate later.

Recommendation

Start with:

  • no shipping
    OR
  • single flat-rate model

9. Disable WooCommerce Bloat

Turn OFF

  • automated taxes
  • Jetpack
  • marketing hub
  • TikTok
  • Pinterest sync
  • Mailchimp
  • ShipStation
  • random “recommended” extensions

WooCommerce tries to become an ecosystem.

Resist this initially.

10. Core WooCommerce Pages

Verify:

  • Shop
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • My Account
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

11. Tax & Legal

Required Pages

Terms & Conditions

Privacy Policy

Refund Policy

Shipping Policy (if applicable)

Australian Context

Eventually:

  • GST consideration
  • ABN/business identity
  • invoicing
  • Stripe reporting

Do not overcomplicate initially.

12. Product Architecture

Create Categories First

Example:

Kitchen Tools

Storage

Baking

Ingredients

Beginner Kits

Flatbread & Pizza

Meal Prep

Product Naming

Keep practical:

  • “Silicone Muffin Tray”
  • “Freezer Prep Containers”
  • “Pizza Tray — Recommended”

Avoid SEO spam titles.

13. Product Philosophy

Your advantage is NOT:
“largest catalog”

It is:

“tested practical recommendations for beginners”

That is valuable.

14. Site Navigation Model

Recommended Structure

Blog

recipes
systems
micro-wins

Shop

tools
kits
recommended products

Start Here

beginner onboarding

15. Homepage Philosophy

Do NOT make homepage:
“BUY STUFF”

Make it:

useful first

Then:
products support the workflow.

This aligns with your broader ecosystem thinking.

16. Media Pipeline

Keep using your R2/media strategy from the main guide:

  • media-public bucket
  • CDN delivery
  • decoupled assets

Reference:
Media / Asset Pipeline

This is actually a strong long-term architecture.

17. WooCommerce Performance

Important

WooCommerce performance problems usually come from:

  • bad themes
  • excessive plugins
  • page builders
  • analytics overload
  • oversized images

Not WooCommerce itself.

18. Minimal Plugin Philosophy

Aim for:

  • fewer plugins
  • stable plugins
  • mainstream plugins
  • slow deliberate growth

19. Backup Strategy

Before:

  • plugin upgrades
  • WooCommerce upgrades
  • payment changes

Take:

  • DB snapshot
  • wp-content backup

WooCommerce changes business state, not just content.

20. Launch Checklist

Infrastructure

  • SSL working
  • backups working
  • Cloudflare active

WordPress

  • permalinks set
  • admin secured
  • theme configured

WooCommerce

  • products added
  • Stripe tested
  • checkout tested
  • emails tested

Content

  • first recipes published
  • categories structured
  • homepage usable

21. Stabilisation Phase

After launch:
STOP adding features for a bit.

Observe:

  • workflow friction
  • mobile usability
  • checkout flow
  • recipe navigation
  • performance

Then iterate.

That aligns perfectly with the philosophy already embedded in your original guide:

reduce friction
capture decisions
enable reuse
prepare for future automation