Setting up plentyShop LTS

plentyShop LTS is the official template plugin for the default online store of PlentyONE. plentyShop. In plentyShop, design and logic are separated from each other. The shop is integrated into your PlentyONE system via 2 plugins.

The plentyShop LTS plugin contains plentyShop’s standard design and can be customised to meet your needs. The IO plugin contains the logic of plentyShop, is a general basis for all design plugins and can also be used by other plugins.

1. Preparation

1.1. Assigning rights for back end users

Users with roles that are not of the type Administrator can only see certain sections and menus in PlentyONE. This means they only have limited access to the system. If employees carry out plentyShop LTS settings and create shop pages, they need at least the following rights:

  • CMS

  • Plugins

  • Setup » Assistants

Tip: How to grant rights

Note that only users with roles of the type Administrator can grant rights.

Assigning rights:

  1. Open the menu Setup » Account management » Roles.
    → The roles overview opens.

  2. Click on New (add).
    → The role creation menu opens.

  3. Enter a name for the role.

  4. Switch to the advanced mode by toggling Advanced (toggle_on) slider.

  5. Assign the rights for the respective section by ticking the check boxes indicated above.
    Note: You can either grant rights for complete sections or limit the rights you grant the user. To only grant limited rights in a certain section, expand the section.

  6. Save (save) the settings.

The simple mode and advanced mode are connected. If you check menu visibilities in the simple mode the corresponding permissions in the advanced mode will be checked automatically. The connection only exists in this direction. If you check permissions in the advanced mode no menu or plugin visibilities will be checked automatically.

1.2. Setting up the standard country of delivery

Set up a standard country of delivery for each activated language of your plentyShop. When switching the language in a plentyShop, the country of delivery will automatically adapt in the header and in the checkout. For further information aboutsetting up countries of delivery, refer to the Setting up countries of delivery manual page.

Setting up the standard country of delivery:

  1. Go to Setup » Client » Select client » Orders.

  2. Select a country of delivery for each language under Standard country of delivery.

  3. Save the settings.
    → The countries of delivery will automatically change when switching the language in your plentyShop.

1.3. Setting up the default shipping method

Set up the default shipping method for your plentyShop. This shipping method will be used for calculating the shipping costs in the shopping cart before a customer registers in your plentyShop. The default shipping method is preselected in the checkout. For further information about shipping methods and shipping profiles, refer to the Creating a shipping profile manual chapter.

Setting up the default shipping method:

  1. Go to Setup » Client » Select client » Orders.

  2. Select a default shipping method.

  3. Select a default shipping profile.

  4. Save the settings.
    → The default shipping method will be used in the shopping cart and is preselected in the checkout.

1.4. Setting up the default payment method

Set up the default payment method for your plentyShop. Only Payment method plugins can be used in plentyShop LTS. The payment method plugins will be available as default payment methods after the setup. Please refer to the corresponding User guide of the payment method plugin in the plentyMarketplace.

Setting up the default payment method:

  1. Go to Setup » Client » Select client » Orders.

  2. Select a default payment method.
    → A payment method plugin must be selected for the use in your plentyShop. Save the settings.
    → The default payment method is preselected in the checkout.

1.4.1. Activating the payment method Already paid

The placeholder payment method Already paid is automatically selected for orders where the outstanding amount is zero, for example due to the redemption of a coupon. In order to offer this payment method to your customers in the checkout, you first need to activate the respective delivery countries in the plentyShop LTS assistant and afterwards link the desired customer classes. To do so, proceed as follows.

Activating the placeholder payment method Already paid:

  1. Go to Setup » Assistants » Plugins » plentyShop LTS.
    → The assistant opens.

  2. In the Offer placeholder payment method Already paid in the checkout setting of the Online store step, select the delivery countries that you want to activate for this payment method.

  3. Optionally select an Individual icon URL.
    Note: In case you don’t select anything here, the default icon is used.

  4. At the end of the assistant, click on Complete (check) to save your settings.

  5. Afterwards, go to Setup » CRM » Classes.
    → The customer classes are displayed.

  6. At the top left, click on the small plus to open the settings of the respective customer class.

  7. In the Allowed payment methods setting, select the payment method Already paid.

  8. Save (save) the settings.

  9. Repeat this step for all desired customer classes.

1.5. Storing legal information

plentyShop LTS provides specific templates for your legal information. You can save and display your legal information in different languages. In the Legal information menu, you can save your terms and conditions, cancellation rights, the cancellation form, privacy policy and legal disclosure for your plentyShop.

Entering the terms and conditions in clear text:

  1. Go to Setup » Shop » (Select client) » Legal.

  2. Expand a language.

  3. Click on the Terms and conditions tab.

  4. Click on the Text tab.

  5. Enter the text for your terms and conditions.

  6. Save the settings.

Alternatively, save your legal texts in HTML format. For this purpose, use the features of the HTML editor or enter the HTML as Source code.

Entering the terms and conditions in HTML format:

  1. Go to Setup » Shop » (Select client) » Legal.

  2. Expand a language.

  3. Click on the Terms and conditions tab.

  4. Click on the HTML tab.

  5. If you want to enter your text as HTML code, click on Source code.

  6. Enter the formatted text for your terms and conditions.

  7. Save the settings.

Enter the texts for the cancellation rights, the cancellation form, the privacy policy and the legal disclosure of your plentyShop analogously in the desired languages. Alternatively, upload a PDF file for your cancellation form. These texts will be displayed on the corresponding pages in plentyShop LTS.

1.6. Setting up Google reCAPTCHA

To counteract the misuse of e-mail forms, you should set up Google reCAPTCHA for your contact form. plentyShop only allows contact forms to be sent that are protected by reCAPTCHA on the front end.

In the following chapters you will learn how to set up reCAPTCHA in plentyShop.

1.6.1. Get reCAPTCHA keys from Google

To set up reCAPTCHA, you need a Website key and a Secret key, which you get from Google when you register your website for reCAPTCHA. To obtain the keys for your domain, follow these steps:

Getting the reCAPTCHA keys:

  1. Open the Google reCAPTCHA website.

  2. Enter a Label for your shop. The label serves as a way to identify the keys.

  3. Select Point-based (v3) as the reCAPTCHA type.

  4. Enter a domain in the input field Add domain under Domains. Make sure to remove "https://" and any slashes at the end of the URL.

  5. Click Send.
    → You are redirected to the next page, where your reCAPTCHA keys are displayed.

  6. Note down the Website key and the Secret key, so that you have them available when you need to enter them in the plentyShop LTS assistant.

As soon as you have received your reCAPTCHA keys, you must enter them in the plentShop LTS assistant in the next step.

1.6.2. Setting up reCAPTCHA in the plentyShop LTS assistant

Open the PlentyONE back end in order to set up Google reCAPTCHA.

Setting up reCAPTCHA for plentyShop LTS:

  1. Open the Setup » Assistants » Plugins » Choose plugin set » plentyShop LTS menu.

  2. Choose a client.

  3. Navigate to the assistant step Online store.

  4. In the Online store step, navigate to the Google reCAPTCHA section.

  5. Select Version 3 as the reCAPTCHA version.

  6. In the input field API key, enter the website key you received from Google.

  7. In the input field Secret key, enter the secret key you received from Google.

  8. If necessary, change the Threshold value.

  9. In the assistant navigation on the left, click on Summary.

  10. In the Summary step of the assistant, click on Finalise.

This completes the setup of reCAPTCHA.
If you still receive spam via the contact form after setting up reCAPTCHA, you can increase the Threshold of the reCAPTCHA in the first step to catch further spam attempts.

Please note that you must inform your customers in your privacy policy that your online store uses Google reCAPTCHA.

2. Setting up the plentyShop LTS plugin

After the preparation for your plentyShop LTS store is done, you can begin setting up the plentyShop LTS plugin. The following chapters lead through the setup of the individual tabs of the plentyShop LTS configuration. You access the plentyShop LTS configuration via the Plugin overview by clicking the plentyShop LTS plugin. No programming skills are necessary for the setup.

2.1. Carrying out global settings

Carry out global settings, which affect the entire template, in the Global tab.
Here, you also set up the contact page of your plentyShop and the contact form for customer requests.

Carrying out global settings:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open. → The tab Global is preselected.

  3. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 1.

  4. Save the settings.

Table 1. Carrying out global settings
Setting Explanation

Company logo

Select the image file for your company logo. The company logo can be uploaded via the Select file button on the right or in the Shop » Webspace menu in the layout folder.

Favicon of the online store

Select the image file for the favicon. The favicon can be uploaded via the Select file button on the right. The image file has to be in .ICO format.

Category to display shipping information

Create and link a content category for displaying information about shipping costs in the plentyShop.

B2B customer class

Enter the ID for the default customer class for business customers. For further information, refer to the Creating a customer class chapter of the manual.

Contact form email address

Enter the email address, to which customers can send the contact form.

Show contact data

Select one, multiple or ALL contact information options to be displayed in the contact data in the plentyShop. The contact information activated here are loaded from the master data of your PlentyONE system.

Google reCAPTCHA Website key

Enter the Google reCAPTCHA Website key in order to integrate a Google reCAPTCHA into your contact form. You receive this key when registering your website for Google reCAPTCHA. Note that you have to select a reCAPTCHA of the type Hidden reCAPTCHA during setup. The reCAPTCHA validates the visitor of your plentyShop in the background and remains invisible for your customers. Please note that the Google reCAPTCHA necessitates the inclusion of a reference in your privacy policy.

Google Maps API key

Enter the API key from Google Maps, in order to display the location of your store on a Google map. For this, you need an API key for Google Maps. Alternatively, enter 0 to hide the map.

Zoom level

Enter a zoom level for the Google map. The default value is 16; higher values zoom in, lower values zoom out.

Show map in mobile view

Activate to show the map on mobile devices.

Enable to display checkbox for confirming privacy policy

Activate to display a checkbox, with which customers can consent to the privacy policy.

In the Global tab, you also link a Category to display shipping cost information in the plentyShop.+ Create a category of the type Content first.

Creating a content category:

  1. Go to Item » Categories.

  2. Click on New category.
    → The Create new category window opens.

  3. Enter a name for the category.

  4. Select the category type.

  5. Click on Create.
    → The new category will be created and displayed in the category tree.

  6. Open the new category in the directory tree on the left.

  7. Select Content from the Type drop-down list.

  8. Activate the Client (store).

  9. Click on the Template tab.

  10. Enter the content that you wish to display in the plentyShop. You can enter either free text or HTML.

  11. Save the settings.

You enter the content of content categories in the Template tab instead of the tabs Description 1 or Description 2.

After saving the category settings, the CategoryTemplates plugin will be available in the Plugin » Plugin overview menu. This plugin provides the contents of content categories for plentyShop LTS. The plugin set has to be deployed by clicking the Save & publish plugin button. Afterwards, link the category in the configuration of the plentyShop LTS plugin:

Linking a category:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.
    → The Global tab is pre-selected.

  4. Click on Search under Category to display shipping information.
    → The Categories window opens.

  5. Select the previously created category in order to link this category for displaying information about shipping costs.

  6. Click on Select.

  7. Save the settings.
    → The category will be linked.

After linking the category, the plugin CategoryTemplates has to be set to Active in the corresponding plugin set. Deploy the plugin set by clicking the Save & publish plugin button.

2.2. Customising the homepage

plentyShop LTS comes with a default homepage as placeholder.
You customise the homepage of your plentyShop with the ShopBuilder. Deactivate the default homepage to replace it with the ShopBuilder homepage.

Deactivating the default homepage:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Homepage tab.

  5. Deactivate the checkbox Show default homepage.

  6. Activate the setting Display ShopBuilder homepage.

  7. Save the settings.
    → The default homepage is deactivated and your ShopBuilder homepage will be displayed.

2.2.1. Creating the plentyShop LTS homepage with the ShopBuilder

With the ShopBuilder, you can create and edit the homepage of your plentyShop. This requires only a few steps in your terra back end.

Please refer to the ShopBuilder manual page for further information on how to set up the ShopBuilder.

2.3. Customising the header and footer (obsolete)

The settings for header and footer are only applicable for Ceres versions up to and including 2.14. Beginning with Ceres 2.15, header and footer are set up via the ShopBuilder.

Customise the header and the footer of your design. Display your own logo and design the footer content according to your requirements. The store features, for example, are a great way to highlight the features of your plentyShop, such as free shipping. You can link content categories in the Footer tab to display aditional information in the footer of plentyShop.

Customising the header and footer:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on Ceres.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Open the Header or the Footer tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 2.

  6. Save the settings.

2.4. Customising the item view

Customise the design of the item view in the Item view tab. Select the item name and item information to be displayed in plentyShop. Furthermore, select which item variations should be displayed in the category view. For further information about saving the displayed texts in PlentyONE. refer to the managing items page.

Customising the item view:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Item view tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 3.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 3. Customising the item view
Setting Explanation

Name of an item to display

Select the name of an item to display in plentyShop.

Item name = Displays the item name.
Variation name = Displays the variation name. If no variation name has been saved, the item name will be displayed.
Item name and variation name = Displays a combination of item name and variation name.

Item name

Select Name 1, Name 2 or Name 3. Texts for these fields are saved in the Texts tab of the item. If Name 2 or Name 3 is selected, but no name was saved in the text field, Name 1 will be used as the item name.

Show item information

Select one, multiple or ALL item information options to be displayed in the More details tab of the item view in plentyShop.

Condition = Activate to display the item condition.
Manufacturer = Activate display the item manufacturer. The external name of the manufacturer will be displayed.
Manufacturing country = Activate to display the manufacturing country of the item.
Age rating = Activate to display the item’s age rating.
Item ID = Activate to display the item’s ID.
Technical data = Activate to display the Technical data tab. If you activate the display of Technical data without saving a text in the Technical data field in the Texts tab of an item, the tab will not be displayed.
Description = Activate to display the Description tab in the item overview in the shopping cart. If you activate the Description without saving a text in the Description field in the Texts tab of an item, the tab will not be displayed.
Preview text = Activate to display the preview text of the item.
Strikethrough price = Activate to show the strikethrough price next to the item price.
Variation name = Activate to display the variation name.
External variation ID = Activate to display the external variation ID.
Model = Activate to display the model.
Dimensions = Activate to display the item’s dimensions.
Customs tariff number = Activate to display the customs tariff number.
Net weight = Activate to display the net weight.
Gross weight = Activate to display the gross weight.
Content = Activate to display the item content.

Store specials: Number of decimal places for discounts

Select the number of decimal places for discounts to be displayed for an item in the item list.

Enable image carousel in category view

Activate to display the image carousel in the category view.

Show image carousel dots in category item list

Activate to display dots below the image carousel of an item in the category view. These serve for orientation in the image carousel.

Show image carousel navigation in category item list

Activate to display navigation arrows in the image carousel of an item in the category view. These serve to browse through the carousel images in the front end.

Loading animation

Select a loading animation for the category view.

Blur = The category view will be blurred for a short period of time when loading.
Bars = When loading the category view, a loading animation with bars will be displayed.
Spinner = When loading the category view, a loading animation with a spinner will be displayed.

Activate to display a preview image in the category view.

Activate to display the preview image in the category view. The preview image can be uploaded in the Documents tab of the category and must be set as image 1.

Show category description in category view

Activate to display a description of the category in the category view. The description can be entered in the Description 1 tab of the category.

Require all order properties before add to basket

Activate to allow customers to move items to the shopping cart only after all possible order properties have been selected.

Display categories as filter options for search results

Activate to use your item categories as filter options for search results.

2.5. Setting up item lists

Items can be grouped into item lists and highlighted on the homepage of your plentyShop and in the single item view. The following item lists can be set up in plentyShop LTS:

  • Store specials: Lists with new items, special offers, etc. are set up in plentyShop LTS via tags. For further information about setting up tags, refer to the tags page of the manual. For further information on tagging items, refer to the Adding tags to items chapter of the manual.

  • Cross-selling: Cross-selling items are displayed in plentyShop via relations. For further information, refer to the Setting up cross-selling chapter of the manual.

  • Last seen items: A list of the customer’s last seen items is displayed.

Setting up item lists:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Item lists tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 4.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 4. Setting up item lists
Setting Explanation

Last seen items: Number of last seen items

Select the number of last seen items displayed in item lists of this type.

Cross-selling: Cross-selling relation

Select the relation for cross-selling items. Items with this relation will be displayed in an item list of the Cross-selling type.

Similar = The selected items are similar to the opened item.
Accessory = The selected items are accessories of the opened item.
Replacement part = The selected items are replacement parts for the opened item.
Collection = The selected items are suitable to be sold as a bundle together with the current item.

Cross-selling: Sorting

Select the Sorting option that is selected by default for item sorting in the cross-selling item list.

Tags: Sorting

Select the Sorting option that is selected by default for item sorting in the item list of the tag type.

First/second/third item list

Select the type of the item list. You can edit the names of the item lists in the Shop » Multilingualism menu.

Last seen items = A list of last seen items is displayed in plentyShop.
Cross-selling = A list of cross-selling items with the selected relation is displayed in plentyShop.
Tags = A list of items with the linked tags is displayed in plentyShop.

List of IDs of tags for the first/second/third item list

Enter the IDs of tags. Items linked to these tags will be displayed in the item list of the Tags type.+ Note: Multiple IDs must be separated by commas.

Display item lists in a very convenient way in your plentyShop by linking them to template containers. Proceed as follows to link the item list for last seen items in the single item view of your plentyShop. Link other item lists in the same way.

Linking an item list:

Selecting container links:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin set overview.

  2. Open the plugin set you want to edit by clicking on the table row.
    → The plugin set opens.

  3. Open the settings of the plugin you want to link by clicking on the table row.
    → The plugin settings open.

  4. Click on Container links.

  5. Select a data provider from the drop-down list.

  6. Select the links you want to add.

  7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for all data providers you want to link to containers.

  8. Save () the settings.

  9. From the drop-down list, select the option First item list.
    → The type Last seen is selected for the first item list by default.

  10. Select one or multiple containers in which you want to display your item list, e.g. Homepage: Container 7, Homepage: Container 9 or Single item: Container for item lists.

  11. Save the settings.
    → The item list will be displayed in the selected containers in plentyShop.

Please find a complete list and explanation of the available template containers in our english developers documentation. This documentation is primarily targeted at experienced users and is not necessary for the basic setup of Ceres.

2.6. Customising the shopping cart

Customise the display options of the shopping cart in the Shopping cart tab. Select item and price information to be displayed in the shopping cart and customise the shopping cart preview.

Customising the shopping cart:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Shopping cart tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 5.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 5. Customising the shopping cart
Setting Explanation

Show item information

Select one, multiple or ALL item information options to be displayed in the item overview in the shopping cart store.

Item ID = Activate to display the item’s ID.
Item text = Activate to display the item description. If you activate the Item text without saving a text in the Item text field in the Texts tab of an item, the item description will not be displayed.
Preview text = Activate to display the preview text of the item.
Availability = Activate to display the item’s availability. Variation number = Activate to display the variation number.
Condition = Activate to display the item’s condition.

Display the change variation button

Activate to display the Change variation button in the item overview in the shopping cart. By clicking the Change variation button, customers can change an item’s variation directly in the shopping cart. If you activate the Change variation button, even though the item has no variations, the button will not be displayed.

Add to shopping cart: Show information

Select whether to show the overlay of the shopping cart, toggle the shopping cart preview or display no information after clicking on the Add to shopping cart button.

Type of shopping cart preview

Select whether the shopping cart preview is displayed on the right or toggled by mouse-over over the shopping cart symbol.

Show shipping country selection

Activate to display the selection of the shipping country in the shopping cart. The selection is displayed as a drop-down list. This option is activated by default.

2.7. Customising the pagination and sorting

Customise the pagination, meaning the numbering of pages, of the item overview and plentyShop’s item sorting in the Pagination and sorting tab.

Customising the pagination and sorting:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Pagination and sorting tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 6.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 6. Customising the pagination and sorting
Setting Explanation

Position of the pagination

Select whether the pagination is displayed above, below or above and below the item list.

Always show first page

Activate to always display the first page in the pagination.

Always show last page

Activate to always display the last page in the pagination.

Number of columns per page

Enter the number of columns per page. This number is used for calculating the values in the Items per page drop-down list.

Rows per page

Activate one, multiple or all number values. The activated values are multiplied with the number of columns and displayed in the Items per page drop-down list in the item overview.

SEO: Set the value nindex beginning at page

Enter the page number, at which search engines stop indexing search results.

Enable item sorting by

Activate one, several or ALL sorting options for item sorting.

Default sorting value for category view

Select the Sorting option that is selected by default for item sorting in the category view.

Recommended item sorting: First/second/third sorting option

Select the Sorting option for the recommended item sorting in the category view. Up to three sorting options can be concatenated, the first of which assumes the highest priority.

Default sorting option for item search results

Select the Sorting option that is selected by default for the sorting of item search results.

Recommended search results: First/second/third sorting option

Select the Sorting option for the recommended sorting of item search results. Up to three sorting options can be concatenated for the item serach, the first of which assumes the highest priority.

Forward to single item view

Activate to forward cutomers to the single item view when clicking search results.

Sorting options

Not selected = Select no value.
Item ID ⬆ = Display items by item ID in ascending order.
Item ID ⬇ = Display items by item ID in descending order.
Item name A-Z = Display items in alphabetical order by item name (A-Z).
Item name Z-A = Display items in alphabetical order by item name (Z-A).
Price ⬆ = Display items by price in ascending order.
Price ⬇ = Display items by price in descending order.
Newest variation = Display the newest item variations first.
Oldest variation = Display the oldest item variations first.
Variation ID ⬆ = Display item variations by variation ID in ascending order.
Variation ID ⬇ = Display item variations by variation ID in descending order.
Variation number ⬆ = Display item variations by variation number in ascending order.
Variation number ⬇ = Display item variations by variation number in descending order.
Availability ⬆ = Display item variations by availability in ascending order.
Availability ⬇ = Display item variations by availability in descending order.
Last update = Display the last updated item variation first.
First update = Display the first updated item variation first.
Top seller ⬆ = Display the least sold item variation first (ascending order).
Top seller ⬇ = Display the most sold item variation first (descending order).
Variation position ⬆ = Display item variation by position number in descending order* Variation position ⬇ = Display item variation by position number in ascending order. Important: In order for this function to work, a position number has to be saved for each of the item variations within the variation tab.
Manufacturer A-Z = Display items in alphabetical order by manufacturer.
Manufacturer Z-A = Display items in inverted alphabetical order by manufacturer.
Manufacturer position ⬆ = Display items by manufacturer position in ascending order.
Manufacturer position ⬇ = Display items by manufacturer position in descending order.
Stock ⬆ = Display items by stock in ascending order.
Stock ⬇ = Display items by stock in descending order.+ Random = Display items in random order.

2.8. Customising the checkout and the My account area

Customise the display options of the checkout in the Checkout and My account tab. Select the fields to be displayed and validated in the address form. Here, you also set up the My account area and returns for your plentyShop. Returns will be displayed in the return history and can be processed in the My account area of plentyShop.

Customising the My account area:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Checkout and My account tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 7.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 7. Customising the My account area
Setting Explanation

Number of orders per page in order history

Enter the number of orders to be displayed per page in the order history.

Allow returns in My account

Activate to allow customers to return items in the order history of the My account area in plentyShop.

Number of days to return items of an order

Enter the number of days to return items of an order. Customers will be able to return items of an order within this time period. This time period begins when the order is created. After the specified time period, the Return items button will be hidden in the order history in the My Account area of plentyShop. Customers will not be able to return items of an order after this time period.

Default status for returns

Enter the default status for returns. For further information about order statuses, refer to Order status.

Allow customers to change the payment method

Activate to allow customers to change the payment method after the checkout. If deactivated, any change is impossible.
Note: This setting is selected by default.

Forward to login page after clicking link in order confirmation

Activate to forward registered customers to the login page after clicking the link in the order confirmation. After logging in successfully the order confirmation page will be displayed.
Note: Customers ordering as a guest are not affected by this setting. Guests will be directly forwarded to the order confirmation page.

Customising the checkout:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Checkout and My account tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 8.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 8. Customising the checkout
Setting Explanation

Show invoice address fields in address form (DE)

Select one, multiple or ALL address fields to be displayed in the address form for the country of delivery Germany of the checkout.

Enable invoice address field validation (DE)

Select one, multiple or ALL address fields to validate these fields when entering the address.

Show delivery address fields in address form (DE)

Select one, multiple or ALL address fields to be displayed in the address form for the country of delivery Germany of the checkout.

Enable delivery address field validation (DE)

Select one, multiple or ALL address fields to validate these fields when entering the address.

Show invoice address fields in address form (UK)

Select one, multiple or ALL address fields to be displayed in the address form for the country of delivery United Kingdom of the checkout.

Enable invoice address field validation (UK)

Select one, multiple or ALL address fields to validate these fields when entering the address.

Show delivery address fields in address form (UK)

Select one, multiple or ALL address fields to be displayed in the address form for the country of delivery United Kingdom of the checkout.

Enable delivery address field validation (UK)

Select one, multiple or ALL address fields to validate these fields when entering the address.

Address fields

Company
VAT number
Form of address
Title
Date of birth
Name affix
Phone
Additional address 1
Additional address 2
State
Address 2
Address 3
Address 4

2.9. Setting up languages

Carry out language settings in the Languages tab. By default plentyShop is available in German, English, French, Dutch, and Polish. Select these languages in the header area of your plentyShop. plentyShop LTS supports all PlentyONE system languages. You can translate your plentyShop and your items into other languages.

Setting up plentyShop languages:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Language tab.

  5. Activate additional languages under Active languages.

  6. Save the settings.
    → The selected languages will be displayed in the language selection of your plentyShop.

2.10. Carrying out currency settings

In the Currencies tab, you carry out settings for the availability and display of currencies in your plentyShop. Here, you specify, e.g. whether your customers are allowed to change the currency in the plentyShop. You also activate the available currencies and determine how these currencies are displayed.

Carrying out currency settings:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Currencies tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 9.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 9. Carrying out currency settings
Setting Explanation

Format of currencies

Select the format of currencies. The selected currency format will be used globally in plentyShop.

ISO code = Display the currency as ISO code in plentyShop. For the currency Euro the ISO code EUR will be displayed.
Symbol = Display currency as a symbol in plentyShop. For the currency Euro the symbol € will be displayed.

Allow customer to change the currency

Activate to allow customers to select a different currency in the header of plentyShop. Select the available currencies below.

Format of currencies in header

Select the format of currencies for the header.

ISO code and symbol = Display the currency as ISO code in the header.
Symbol = Display currency as a symbol in the header.
ISO code and symbol = Display currency as ISO code and symbol in the header. The currency symbol will be displayed in brackets next to the ISO code.

Available currencies

Activate currencies available to customers in the header of plentyShop. For further information about supported currencies, refer to the Supported currencies manual page.

2.11. Carrying out settings for search engine optimisation

In the SEO tab you carry out settings for optimising your plentyShop for search engines. Enter a meta description for the static pages of your plentyShop, for example, and control access to your plentyShop pages by robots.

Carrying out settings for search engine optimisation:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the SEO tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 10.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 10. Carrying out settings for search engine optimisation
Setting Explanation

Robots for homepage

Select All, index, nofollow, noindex or nofollow, noindex to control access to the homepage of your online store by robots. Values of the meta element Robots are analysed by search engine crawlers. These values tell the crawler how to deal with the page and any links on that page.

All = Include the homepage of your plentyShop in the search engine index and follow links on the page.
index = Include in the search engine index.
nofollow = Do not follow links on the page.
noindex = Do not include in the search engine index.
Nofollow, noindex = Do not follow links and do not include the homepage of your plentyShop in the search engine index.

Specify availabilities for search engines

This setting provides a mapping with which the availabilites set in the Setup » Item » Availability menu can be mapped onto the Schema.org availabilites. This serves to improve SEO omptimisation.

Select source for the brand in Rich Snippets of the item page

With this setting you can determine if you want to provide the brand of an item as a Rich Snippet to search engines.

Do not display = The brand is not provided as a Rich Snippet.
External name of the manufacturer = The external name of the manufacturer linked to the item is provided as a Rich Snippet.
Use brand name from variation property of the type short text = You can use a property of the type "short text" to define a brand name you want to provide as a Rich Snippet. If you select this option, enter the ID of the property in the subsequent field Take ID from variation property of the type short text.

Select source for the manufacturer in Rich Snippets of the item page

With this setting you can determine if you want to provide the manufacturer of an item as a Rich Snippet to search engines.

Do not display = The manufacturer is not provided as a Rich Snippet.
External name of the manufacturer = The external name of the manufacturer linked to the item is provided as a Rich Snippet.
Name of the manufacturer = The name of the manufacturer linked to the item is provided as a Rich Snippet.

Select source for GTIN barcode in Rich Snippets of the item page

With this setting you can determine if you want to provide the GTIN barcode of an item as a Rich Snippet to search engines.

Do not display = The GTIN barcode is not provided as a Rich Snippet.
Take specific GTIN barcode by ID = Select this option and enter an ID of a GTIN barcode you created in the Setup » Item » Barcodes menu in the following input field Take ID from variation barcode to provide this barcode as a Rich Snippet.
Take first GTIN from variation barcode = Select this option to provide the variation’s GTIN barcode that is listed first as a Rich Snippet.

Select source for GTIN-8 barcode in Rich Snippets of the item page

With this setting you can determine if you want to provide the GTIN-8 barcode of an item as a Rich Snippet to search engines.

Do not display = The GTIN-8 barcode is not provided as a Rich Snippet.
Take specific GTIN-8 barcode by ID = Select this option and enter an ID of a GTIN-8 barcode you created in the Setup » Item » Barcodes menu in the following input field Take ID from variation barcode to provide this barcode as a Rich Snippet.
Take first GTIN from variation barcode = Select this option to provide the variation’s GTIN-8 barcode that is listed first as a Rich Snippet.

Select source for GTIN-13 barcode in Rich Snippets of the item page

With this setting you can determine if you want to provide the GTIN-13 barcode of an item as a Rich Snippet to search engines.

Do not display = The GTIN-13 barcode is not provided as a Rich Snippet.
Take specific GTIN-13 barcode by ID = Select this option and enter an ID of a GTIN-13 barcode you created in the Setup » Item » Barcodes menu in the following input field Take ID from variation barcode to provide this barcode as a Rich Snippet.
Take first GTIN from variation barcode = Select this option to provide the variation’s GTIN-13 barcode that is listed first as a Rich Snippet.

Select source for ISBN barcode in Rich Snippets of the item page

With this setting you can determine if you want to provide the ISBN barcode of an item as a Rich Snippet to search engines.

Do not display = The ISBN barcode is not provided as a Rich Snippet.
Take specific ISBN barcode by ID = Select this option and enter an ID of an ISBN barcode you created in the Setup » Item » Barcodes menu in the following input field isbnID to provide this barcode as a Rich Snippet.
Take first GTIN from variation barcode = Select this option to provide the variation’s ISBN barcode that is listed first as a Rich Snippet.

Select source for MPN barcode in Rich Snippets of the item page

With this setting you can determine if you want to provide the MPN barcode of an item as a Rich Snippet to search engines.

Do not display = The MPN barcode is not provided as a Rich Snippet.
Show external variation ID = The external variation ID is provided as a Rich Snippet.
Use MPN from variation property of the type short text = You can use a property of the type "short text" to define an MPN barcode you want to provide as a Rich Snippet. If you select this option, enter the ID of the property in the subsequent field Take ID from variation property of the type short text.

Select source for price validity in Rich Snippets of the item page

Take ID from variation property of the type short text or date: You can use a property of the type "short text" or "date" to define the prive vailidty you want to provide as a Rich Snippet. Enter the ID of the property in the field Take ID from variation property of the type short text or date.

skuMapping

With this setting you can determine if you want to provide the SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) of an item as a Rich Snippet to search engines.

Use variation ID = Die ID der Variante wird als Rich Snippet weitergeben.
Use variation number = Die Nummer der Variante wird als Rich Snippet weitergeben.
Use SKU from variation property of the type short text = You can use a property of the type "short text" to define a SKU you want to provide as a Rich Snippet. If you select this option, enter the ID of the property in the subsequent field Take ID from variation property of the type short text.

In the Shop » Multilingualism menu, you can enter meta descriptions for the static pages of your plentyShop. Carry out the SEO settings for the contact page as well as the pages cancellation rights, cancellation form, legal disclosure, privacy policy and terms and conditions in the same way.

2.11.1. Editing trailing slashes

You can carry out settings pertaining to trailing slashes of the URLs of your plentyShop in the Setup » plentyShop » (Select client) » SEO » URL structure menu.

Editing trailing slashes:

  1. Go to Setup » plentyShop » (Select client) » SEO » URL structure » Other.

  2. Select the desired option from the Trailing slash drop-down list.

  3. Save the settings.

If you select Do not change, the URLs of your plentyShop will remain accessible with and without an appended trailing slash. The option Always remove removes all trailing slashes from your URLs. The option Always append will equip all of your URLs with a trailing slash.

This feature is currently in its beta phase. Changing this setting may initially have negative effects on the SEO ranking of your plentyShop.

2.12. Carrying out settings for the design of your plentyShop

In the Design tab you carry out design settings for your plentyShop. Here you can set the colour schemes for buttons and notifications in your plentyShop.

Carrying out settings for the design of your plentyShop:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Design tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 11.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 11. Carrying out design settings
Setting Explanation

Primary colour

Select the primary colour of your plentyShop. This determines the colouring of the buttons in your plentyShop. Enter the hex value of the colour you want to use into the input field.

Secondary colour

Select the secondary colour of your plentyShop. This determines the colouring of the category preview. Enter the hex value of the colour you want to use into the input field.

Success colour

Select the colour for success notifications in your plentyShop. Enter the hex value of the colour you want to use into the input field.

Information colour

Select the colour for information notifications in your plentyShop. Enter the hex value of the colour you want to use into the input field.

Warning colour

Select the colour for warning notifications in your plentyShop. Enter the hex value of the colour you want to use into the input field.

Danger colour

Select the colour for danger notifications in your plentyShop. Enter the hex value of the colour you want to use into the input field.
Deploying the plugin set again

Please note that changes to the design settings necessitate that you deploy the plugin set again before the changes can be displayed in plentyShop.

2.13. Settings for plugin developers

Settings specifically targeted at plugin developers are available in the Logging and performance tab. Here, you can set the information to be logged during plugin development and the performance mode for plentyShop.

Carrying out settings for plugin development:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.
    → The plugin overview will open.

  2. Click on plentyShop LTS.
    → The plugin will open.

  3. Click on Configuration in the directory tree.

  4. Click on the Logging and performance tab.

  5. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 12.

  6. Save the settings.

Table 12. Carrying out settings for plugin development
Setting Explanation

Activate logging options

Activate one, multiple or ALL logging options.

Print errors = Print error messages in plentyShop.
Print success = Display success messages in plentyShop.
Print warnings = Display warnings in plentyShop.
Print information =Display information in plentyShop.
Print stack trace = Display the stack trace.
Log messages = Log messages.
Show error codes = Display error codes.

Performance level

Select a performance level.

Live = Select the live mode when using plentyShop as a productive system. Files will be minified and bundled.
Development = Select the development mode to use debugging functionality. Files will not be minified and bundled.

3. Carry out additional settings

The following chapters cover shop-relevant settings that you cannot carry out via the plentyShop LTS configuration. This includes the Editing of plentyShop texts, the setup of Filters and Order properties.

3.1. Editing plentyShop texts

You can manage language-dependent texts of your plentyShop, such as the name of your plentyShop or SEO-relevant meta descriptions, in the Shop » Multilingualism menu. Select the plugin set for which you want to edit text elements from the drop-down list on the left. Select a Source language on the left side of the bilingual view and a Target language on the right side of the bilingual view. Here you can import and export language files, add new languages, edit individual text elements or reset translations to the default value. The language entries of each plugin are grouped together and are categorised in sections. The individual sections can be expanded and collapsed via the arrow on the right.

In order to display the edited texts in plentyShop, the selected language has to be set to active. It is possible that certain entries of the source language, such as brand names, are locked for translation.

Deploying the plugin set

In order to display the translated entries in plentyShop, you have to deploy the plugin set via the Save & Publish plugin set button after you have modified the language files.

Adding a language for your plentyShop:

  • Go to Shop » Multilingualism.
    → The bilingual view opens.

  • Select a target language for which no translations have been saved from the target language drop-down list.
    → The language will be added.

  • Save the settings.

Editing individual text elements of plentyShop languages:

  1. Go to Shop » Multilingualism.
    → The bilingual view opens.

  2. Select the Source language from the drop-down list on the left side.

  3. Select the Target language from the drop-down list on the right side.

  4. Click on an input field of the target language to edit a text element.

  5. Enter the text.

  6. Save the settings.

You can export the language file so that an external translation agency can prepare translations for your plentyShop. You can import the translations via the Import*button in the target language area. The files are imported and exported in CSV format. When you *export a language file, the translations are collated into a single file, even if the language data comprises multiple plugins.

Exporting language files:

  1. Go to Shop » Multilingualism.
    → The bilingual view opens.

  2. Click on Export next to the drop-down list of the source language.
    → The language data is exported as a CSV file.

Importing language files:

  1. Go to Shop » Multilingualism.
    → The bilingual view opens.

  2. Select a target language for which you want to import translations from the drop-down list on the right side.

  3. Click on the Import button next to the drop-down list.

  4. Select the CSV file you want to import.
    → If no translations have been saved for the selected target language, the language is added and the edited texts are saved.
    → If translations have been saved for the selected language, you are required to confirm that the import overwrites any existing translations.

  5. Confirm the import.

  6. Save the settings.

If the imported file contains additional entries that were not included in the language file of the source language, a notification will open. This will inform you that the import has been successful, but the additional entries will be ignored.

You can reset the changes to the default values at any time. If a plugin does not include translations for the selected language, resetting the values will delete them. If a plugin includes translations for the selected language, these constitute the default values.

Resetting translations to their default values:

  1. Go to Shop » Multilingualism.
    → The bilingual view opens.

  2. Click on Reset on the right side of an input field of the target language.
    → The value is reset.

  3. If you want to reset all translations of the target language, click on Reset next to the drop-down list of the target language.
    → A notification opens.

  4. Confirm that all translations of the target language are reset to their default values.
    → All values of the target language are reset.

  5. Save the settings.

3.2. Setting up filters

Set up the filters for the search and category view of plentyShop LTS with the help of facets of the Attribute/property type.

Set up attributes and properties first and link them with your items. Set up the filters for the search and category view of plentyShop LTS with the help of facets of the Attribute/property type. Set up attributes and properties first and link them with your items. For further information about attributes, refer to the Managing attributes chapter. For further information about properties, refer to the Managing properties chapter.

Then, create facets for your attributes and properties. For further information about facets, refer to the Creating facets chapter.

You can find detailed instructions about setting up filters in our Best Practice.

3.3. Setting up order characteristics

With order properties, you allow your customers to enter a text when ordering an item that is linked to the order characteristic. For example, customers choose an individual text that will be printed on an item. Set up order characteristics first and link the characteristics with your items. For further information about characteristics, refer to the Creating an order characteristic chapter.

You can find detailed instructions about setting up order characteristics in our Best Practice.

3.4. Automatically sending order confirmations

Set up an event procedure to automatically send your customers an order confirmation.

Setting up an event procedure

  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Events.

  2. Click on Add event procedure.
    → The Create new event procedure window opens.

  3. Enter a name.

  4. Select the event listed in Table 13 below.

  5. Save the settings.

  6. Configure the settings as described in Table 13.

  7. Place a check mark next to the option Active.

  8. Save the settings.

Table 13. Event procedure for automatically sending order confirmations
Setting Option Selection

Event

Order generation: New order

Procedure

Customer > Send email

Email template Online store: Confirmation of store order;
Select customer

3.5. Final check

  • [] Did you purchase, install and deploy the necessary plugins and did you assign position numbers to the plugins?

  • [] Did you set up a default country of delivery, a default shipping method and a default shipping profile?

  • [] Did you set up and deploy a payment plugin and set it up as the default payment method?

  • [] Did you prepare your legal texts?

  • [] Did you enter the content of your content categories (e.g. for displaying shipping information) in the Template tab of the category?

  • [] Did you deactivate the plentyShop LTS default homepage and activate the ShopBuilder homepage?

  • [] Did you carry out all settings for every tab of the plentyShop LTS configuration?

  • [] Did you prepare your plentyShop texts in multiple languages (if applicable)?

  • [] Did you set up filters and order properties?

  • [] Did you set up an event procedure for automatically sending order confirmations?

  • [] Did you unlock your shop?

  • [] Did you save and deploy the plugin set after making changes to the plugins?

4. Certifying your plentyShop plentyShop LTS with Trusted Shops

DE Ceres einrichten eTrusted Partner Certified Software
Figure 1. Trusted Shops Certified Software

You want to certify your plentyShop with Trusted Shops? plentyShop LTS has been pre-certified by Trusted Shops, so your Trusted Shops certification will be handled as fast and easy as possible. Find all necessary information here.

5. Using the ShopBooster

ShopBooster is an additional module which serves to write plentyShop LTS page contents into a cache. This yields significantly faster loading times in the online shop.

With ShopBooster, pages are stored in the cache after they have been accessed the first time, thereby making each successive access to the page a lot faster. Certain events trigger the invalidation of the cached contents. This means that they are deleted from the cache, for example if plugin settings are changed.

ShopBooster writes all online shop contents into the cache, with the exception of the My Account, Checkout, Shopping cart, and Order confirmation pages, as well as those pages, that contain customer data.

No additional costs

You can use ShopBooster and all its features at no extra costs.

5.1. Activating cache blocks

By using cache blocks, you can make sure that page contents in the cache are not unnecessarily invalidated. Cache blocks divide the page contents into blocks, which can be invalidated separately. Content that is identical on multiple pages (e.g. the footer) can then be updated once and can be replaced on all cached pages at the same time, without the need to fully invalidate all affected pages.

This improves the cache coverage and, on average, also leads to an improved Time-to-first-Byte (TTFB), which can positively impact your PSI rating.

Adaptations for additional themes

Cache blocks are directly compatible with plentyShop LTS and plentyShop LTS Modern. If you are using an additional theme, you need to adjust it so that cache blocks have an effect. Further information on that can be found in our developer’s documentation.

Activating ShopBooster cache blocks:

  1. Go to Setup » plentyShop » (Select client) » ShopBooster.

  2. Click on Activate cache blocks.
    → The cache blocks are activated.

You can deactivate the ShopBooster in the same way.

Deactivating ShopBooster cache blocks:

  1. Go to Setup » plentyShop » (Select client) » ShopBooster.

  2. Click on Deactivate cache blocks.
    → The cache blocks are deactivated.

5.2. Soft purging

ShopBooster uses so-called soft purging to improve online shop performance. Whenever contents are invalidated, the old cached content is delivered one more time when the page is accessed, while the updated content is written into the cache in the background. Thereby, online shop content can always be quickly loaded from the cache.

5.3. Invalidation of ShopBooster cache

The invalidation of contents that are stored in the ShopBooster cache is necessary to delete content from the cache in order to prevent obsolete content being displayed in your plentyShop.

5.3.1. Triggering the invalidation

The following events and actions trigger a partial or full invalidation of the ShopBooster cache:

  • Editing or deleting a category

  • Deleting the link between a variation and a category

  • Saving changes to the plugin configuration

  • Linking a client to a plugin set

  • Manually invalidating the cache in the Setup » Client » ShopBooster menu

  • Creating, editing, or deleting a live shopping offer

  • Placing an order that includes an item which is part of a live shopping offer. Here, the invalidation is only triggered if the item in question is the last available item of the live shopping offer.

  • Saving changes to the legal texts in the Setup » Shop » (Select client) » Legal menu

  • Saving settings in the plentyShop LTS assistant

  • Editing sales prices in the Setup » Item » Sales prices menu

  • Saving and deploying the plugin set

5.3.2. How long does the invalidation take?

In most cases, it takes about 5 minutes until the contents in the ShopBooster cache have been invalidated. In rare cases this can take up to 10 minutes.

5.4. Deactivate invalidation

In the Deactivate invalidation section, you can deactivate the ShopBooster invalidation until the date you enter. Thereby the item data will always be loaded from the cache until the specified date, without the cache being deleted or updated. This can lead to faster loading times in your plentyShop.

Note that deactivating the invalidation means that changes to the visibility of items will no longer be updated, so that items in your plentyShop can be visible, even though they should not be, e.g. due to a lack of stock. However, your customers will not be able to order items that are not available.

Deactivate invalidation:

  1. Go to Setup » plentyShop » (Select client) » ShopBooster.

  2. Enter the date until which you want to deactivate the invalidation.

  3. Enter a time until which you want to deactivate the invalidation.

  4. Save your input.

5.5. Instantly invalidating the cache

You can remove cached contents from the cache manually. You have 5 invalidations per day at your disposal. The invalidations are reset at 00:00 AM each night. Note that loading times of your shop are slower after invalidating the cache until the pages have been written into the cache again by accessing them.

Manually invalidating the cache:

  1. Go to Setup » plentyShop » (Select client) » ShopBooster.

  2. Click the button Invalidate in the Instantly invalidate cache section.
    → The cache is deleted and the notification Cache has been invalidated is displayed.
    → The number of Remaining invalidations for the day is reduced by 1.

5.6. Additional query parameters

ShopBooster offers you the possibility to add additional query parameters in order to load plentyShop pages with these query parameters from the ShopBooster cache. You can also exclude certain query parameters from ShopBooster caching. When users access a page with excluded query parameters, the same page without parameters will be loaded from the ShopBooster cache instead.

You can add or exclude as many query parameters as you like without adversely affecting your shop performance.

5.6.1. Adding query parameters

In the Setup » Client » [Select client] » Webshop » ShopBooster menu, you can add more parameters in the Query parameters section. There is no minimum or maximum number of characters.
By default, pages with the following query parameters are cached by ShopBooster:

  • ReferrerID

  • ShipToCountry

  • Currency

  • currency

  • page

  • items

  • sorting

  • facets

  • category

To add additional query parameters, proceed as follows:

Adding query parameters:

  1. Go to the Setup » Client » [Select client] » Webshop » ShopBooster.

  2. Click the input field Included query parameters in the Query parameter section.

  3. Enter the query parameter you want to add to the ShopBooster cache.

  4. Click on the plus button next to the input field.
    → The query parameter will be added and is displayed under the input field.
    → Pages whose URL includes this query parameter will now be loaded from ShopBooster cache.

If you want to remove a paramter, click the x button on the parameter in question under the input field.

5.6.2. Excluding query parameters from ShopBooster cache

In the Setup » Client » [Select client] » Webshop » ShopBooster menu you can exclude certain parameters from caching in the Query parameters section. By excluding a query parameter, when a page with this parameter is accessed, the version of the page without this parameter is loaded from the ShopBooster cache instead. For instance, when calling up the URL "plentymarkets.com?gclid=123", the content of the page "plentymarkets.com" is therefore loaded from the cache and displayed.

There is no minimum or maximum number of characters.
By default, the following query parameters are excluded from ShopBooster:

  • gclid

  • idealoid

  • vmtrack_id

  • vmst_id

  • utm_source

  • utm_medium

  • utm_campaign

To exclude certain query parameters, proceed as follows:

Excluding query parameters:

  1. Go to the Setup » Client » [Select client] » Webshop » ShopBooster.

  2. Click the input field Excluded query parameters in the Query parameter section.

  3. Enter the query parameter you want to exclude from the ShopBooster cache.

  4. Click on the plus button next to the input field.
    → The query parameter will be added and is displayed under the input field.
    → Pages whose URL includes this query parameter will now be loaded without this parameter from ShopBooster cache.

If you want to remove a paramter, click the x button on the parameter in question under the input field.

5.7. Checking the cache status of a page

To make sure that the ShopBooster is effective and a page is loaded from the cache, you can use the developer’s tools of your browser. The following instruction is based on the Google Chrome browser.

Checking the cache status of a page:

  1. Open an item or category page in your online shop.

  2. Open the developer’s tools by right-clicking and selecting Inspect.
    → The developer’s tools are opened.

  3. Click on the tab Network in the upper bar.

  4. Click on Doc in the filter bar.

  5. Click the name of the page under Name.

  6. In the detail view of the page, open the tab*Header*.

  7. Check whether the entry x-plenty-cache: hit appears in the section Response header.

If the response header contains the entry x-plenty-cache: hit, the page is loaded from the ShopBooster cache. If you cannot find the entry, the inspected page is not stored in the cache.

Please note that shop pages have to have been accessed once in order to store them in the cache. If the inspected page does not contain the x-plenty-cache: hit entry, reload the page. If the page still does not come from the cache, please create a ticket in the Service Desk.

6. Setting up a blog

With the blog function, you can publish text and image posts in your plentyShop to inform your customers about innovations, changes, and other interesting topics. The blog function must be integrated into your plentyShop via the PlentyONE Blog plugin. You can then create, edit and delete blog entries via the Shop » Blog menu. The blog function has been completely revised and is now more intuitive, easier to use and optimised for SEO.

6.1. Blog UI

The blog UI provides you with a range of filter options that you can use to search through your blog entries.

Table 14. Filters in the blog UI
Filter option Explanation

Client (Shop)

Select a client from the drop-down list, to only display blog entries that are assigned to this client.

Status

Select Public, Open or Private to display blog entries of the corresponding status. Public blogs are entries that are both active and already published. Open entries are active entries that have not yet been published. Private entries are entries that are not published.

Published from/to

Select the start and end date of the period to display blog entries published during this period.

Category

Select blog category to display posts from this blog category.

Author

Select author to display posts written by this author.

Your blog entries are listed in the blog overview. Here you can see the status, the published date, the title, the blog category, the language, the client and the author of each blog entry at a glance.

6.2. Adding a blog category

You can publish your blog entries in special blog categories that are displayed in the category navigation of the blog pages. These categories are used to categorise blog entries under certain topics, for example "News" or "About us". Proceed as follows to create a new blog category.

Adding a blog category:

  1. Open the menu Item » Categories.

  2. Click on New category.

  3. Enter a name and select whether the category is to be created as a main or sub-category.
    → The category is created.

  4. Click on the category in the navigation tree on the left to edit it.

  5. Select the option Blog under Type.

  6. Make further settings if necessary. Please refer to the explanations on the category manual page.

  7. Save () the settings.

6.3. Create a new blog entry

Proceed as follows to create a new blog entry:

Create blog entry:

  1. Open the menu Shop » Blog (New)

  2. Click on Create new blog entry in the toolbar.
    → The New blog entry interface opens.

  3. Make the settings and enter your content. Note the explanations in Table 15.

  4. Save () the settings.

Table 15. Settings for new blog entries
Setting Explanation

Client

Select the client for which the blog entry is to be published.

Language

Select the language in which the blog entry is written.

Category

Select the category of type blog in which the blog entry is to be published. You create and edit categories in the menu Item » Categories.

Author

Select the author of the blog entry.

Tags

Select tags via the tag picker to link the blog entry with tags. You create new tags in the menu Setup » Settings » Tags.

URL

Enter your own URL for the blog entry.

Metadata

Enter your SEO-relevant meta title and meta description for the blog entry here. SEO robots are guided by the robot settings of the respective blog category.

Upload preview image

Upload image file to be displayed as a preview image in the blog overview. All image file formats are permitted. All image sizes are permitted, but image files should have a width of at least 800px.

Upload cover image

Upload image file to be displayed as the cover image above the blog post. All image file formats are permitted. All image sizes are permitted, but image files should have a width of at least 800px.

Scheduler

Use the scheduler to set the time of publication of your blog post.
Active = Activate to set the blog post to active. Inactive blog posts are not published and are given the status Private.
Published on = Select the date on which the blog post will be published. If the publication date is in the future and the post is active, the post is given the status Open.
Published at = Select the time at which the blog post will be published. If the publication time is in the future and the post is active, the post is given the status Open.

Title (H1)

Enter the title of the blog post.

Preview text

Enter the text that will be displayed as preview text in the blog overview.

Text editor

Create and edit the text of your blog post using the text editor.

If you want to display your blog categories directly next to your shop categories in the plentyShop, leave the field Category that redirects to the blog empty. In addition, Blog categories must be activated in the plentyShop LTS settings/assistent for the header. If the option Display in link list is active for the main category of the blog, the blog will be displayed next to the shop categories without redirecting customers to a separate blog page.

7. Customising plentyShop LTS

Various possibilities are available to customise the plentyShop LTS template plugin and tailor it to meet your needs.

7.1. Creating an individual template

plentyShop LTS is a public project and available on GitHub. You can use the plugin code to create your own template plugin. Please note the following when creating your own template on the basis of plentyShop LTS:

For further information about changing the source code, refer to our template guide.

Updating fork

Note that you have to update your template manually if you want to use features of a newer version of the plentyShop LTS plugin. Automatic plugin updates are only available for plugins purchased on plentyMarketplace.

7.2. Purchasing a theme on plentyMarketplace

Theme plugins are an easy way of customising the looks of plentyShop LTS. Various themes for plentyShop LTS are available on plentyMarketplace. Changes made to the theme plugin have no impact on future updates of the template plugin plentyShop LTS.

7.3. Creating an individual theme

Learn how to create your own theme plugin and how to fully customise plentyShop LTS in our theme guide.

7.4. Integrating additional plugins

In addition to theme plugins, which serve to modify the design of plentyShop, the marketplace offers a multitude of different plugins which can be used to tailor the functionality of plentyShop to your personal needs. Apart from the integration of marketplaces, you can find widgets, such as the GoogleAnalytics and customer feedback plugins, payment plugins for the implementation of additional payment methods and integration plugins, such as the plugins of shipping providers DHL and DPD.

Proceed as described below to purchase and install a plugin:

Purchasing a plugin:

  1. Open the plentyMarketplace.

  2. Click on Sign in.

  3. Enter your email adress or your plentyId.
    → Use your account information from the service centre.

  4. Enter your password.

  5. Click on Sign in.

  6. Select a plugin from a category.

  7. Click on Purchase plugin in the detail view of the plugin.
    → The Checkout window opens.

  8. Accept the terms and conditions.

  9. Click on Order now.
    → The purchased plugin is now available in the Plugins » Plugin overview menu.

After you have purchased the plugins, you have to install and activate the plugins in a plugin set.

Installing a plugin:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.

  2. Select a Plugin set.

  3. Activate the filter checkbox Not installed.

  4. Click on Search. → All uninstalled plugins are listed.

  5. For the plugin you want to install, click on Install plugin in the Action column.
    → The Install plugin window opens.

  6. Select the Version to be installed and click on Install. → The plugin will be installed.

After you have installed the plugin, you need to activate it in a plugin set.

Activating a plugin:

  1. Go to Plugins » Plugin overview.

  2. In the line of the plugin you want to activate, click on the globe button in the Active column.
    → The globe icon changes to blue. The plugin is now activated.

  3. Click on Save & publish plugins.