How to check if your WooCommerce checkout is still working

If you’re ambling in the world of WooCommerce and eCommerce, you might stumble across errors throughout your journey. Many revolve around the checkout process, the pivotal point of making a sale. “Is my WooCommerce checkout working?” – question that often strikes in the darkest hours.

This step-by-step guide is incredibly user-friendly, but, you’ll have to do this whenever your WordPress site has any update. That’s not so friendly 😬. So, let’s see what’s involved!

The Usual Suspect: Manual Testing

Sometimes, you’ve got to become your own customer. To identify issues, we need to step into their shoes (or their mouse pointer) and traverse the path of purchasing. Let’s break this down in short, digestible strides.

1. Make a “test product: Create a new product in your store. Set a spiffy price of €0.01. No one wants to cast away their savings on test runs, do we?
2. Act as a Customer: After updating the product, hop onto the consumer’s side with the User Switching plugin. Go through the flow they would experience – add the item to the cart and gleefully head to checkout.
3. Evaluate the Checkout: Fill in those fields. Continue towards payment. Any obstacles? Record them.

Plugin Play-around: Debugging 101

Got stuck on the checkout page? We have a potential culprit in our sight: a rogue plugin. Let’s roll up our sleeves and dive into some debugging action.

1. Deactivate: On your WordPress dashboard, head over to ‘Plugins’. Deactivate them all, a dreaded fear we share.
2. Test Time: Let’s revisit the checkout page. Does it unfurl without hiccups? If it’s a yes, high-five! We’re narrowing it down.
3. Activate, one-by-one: Now, activate each plugin one by one. After each activation, conduct a quick test run on the checkout page. Repeat until you find the rotten apple in the batch.

The Case of the Conflict: Theme and Plugins

Alright, Sherlock. We’ve got another suspect on board. What if our precious plugins are clashing with our WordPress theme? Let’s find out.

1. Switch to Default: Temporarily switch your WordPress theme to a basic one. My professional recommendation is Twenty Twenty-One, it’s a classic.
2. Time for Enterprise-level Investigation: Take a trip back to your checkout page after the theme change. Any improvements? Write them down.

Offbeat advice: Always take a full backup before you fiddle around with your themes and plugins. It’s a lot like a safety net – you might not need it, but it feels pretty secure to have one around. Ideally you’re doing all of this on a staging site which is an exact replica of your production site!

Use Health Check & Troubleshooting Plugin

Feeling a little tech-illiterate, no worries! We’ve got a handy WordPress plugin that will carry out due diligence on your behalf.

1. Install and Activate: Look for the Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin on your WordPress dashboard. Install, activate, and let it work its magic!
2. Groove-off Troubles: Once you’ve activated, it’ll automatically go into troubleshooting mode. It deactivates plugins and switches to a default theme without affecting visitor experience.
3. Check, re-check: Go back to your WooCommerce checkout page. Monitor changes if any.

So, there you have it. A guide with a lot of high level steps and a methodological approach to check if your WooCommerce checkout process is in good nick.

Remember: Every problem bears a solution. In your darkest, dire moments of technical troubles, remember to remain calm. Approach it like a detective at a new crime scene. And most significantly, never hesitate to ask for help. With a touch of wit, a loading screen can spark joy. Even an error message can result in a hearty chuckle. Keep tinkering and keep finding solutions!