Skip to main content

Onboarding

Overview​

When you install Digital Content Manager, a Setup Guide appears at the top of your Dashboard. It tracks your progress through five steps, and checks each one off as you complete it. Below is a breakdown of each step, with some extra help.

The guide is optional. You can dismiss it at any time, and bring it back with Restore Setup Guide in the Support section at the bottom of the Dashboard.

Step 1: Add & Configure Content​

Go to the Content page and click Add Content. Choose File or Link, fill in the details, and save. See Adding Content for more details,

Once it's added, you can optionally give that piece of content its own download limit or time limit. See Download Limit and Time Limit. Both are optional, and can also be set store-wide instead.

Step 2: Configure Your First Product​

Product types​

Every product you configure is one of two types:

  • Download Only — customers get access to your content, no license key involved.
  • Download & License — customers get access to your content and a license key(s).

How to add a product​

On the Products page, click Configure New Product in the top right. This opens Shopify's product picker, where you select an existing Shopify product. You then land on that product's configuration page, where you choose its type, link content, add license keys (if applicable), adjust settings, and enable it. See Configuring a Product for a full walkthrough.

Linking content​

Content can be linked to a product via the Content Actions in the top right of a product page. This allows you to link content by either adding it (creating it and linking it right now) or linking existing content (content you previously added and want to link). Once linked, this content will be available for download from all customers who purchase this product.

You can link multiple pieces of content to a single product, and content doesn't have to be linked before a sale happens. Link it ahead of time so it's ready for every order, or link it afterwards and it becomes available to past customers as well. For Custom Products, you can also add content to one order's line item. See Linking Content for more details.

License keys (Download & License products only)​

Add keys to the product's pool ahead of time, and they're assigned automatically the moment an order comes in. License keys can be added from the product page, through License Key Actions in the top right, or from the License Keys page, with Add License Keys. See Adding License Keys for more details. Each key belongs to one product. Currently, you can't share a key between products.

Enabling the product​

Once everything is set up the way you like, remember to Enable the product. A product's Active Status (Enabled/Disabled) controls whether new orders for it get processed at all — see Enabling and Disabling for the full behavior, including what disabling does and does not affect. A product configured but left Disabled will not deliver content or keys to new customers.

Step 3: Configure Settings​

Settings are split across up to three tabs, depending on your permissions:

  • Admin: staff members and their permissions. Store owners are always admins. See Staff & Permissions.
  • Global: default behavior for all products, unless a product or piece of content overrides it. See Global Settings and Setting Priority.
  • Checkout Extension: how the downloads block on the order status page looks and behaves, including its button text and messages. See What Customers See. Messages support Dynamic Text formatting.

The defaults work for most stores but be sure to review them and adjust to your preferences. Two worth checking before your first order:

Product and Content overrides​

Some global settings can also be set on a single product or variant, or on a single piece of content, to override the global value there only:

  • On a product or variant: Download Button Text, Multi-Content Button Text, License Key Terminology, Auto Sync Inventory, and Auto Restock Inventory. Set them on the product's page. See Product Settings.
  • On a piece of content: Download Limit and Time Limit. Set them on the content's page. See Download Limit and Time Limit.

Every product and piece of content starts as Not Set, so it follows your global settings until you change it. Set an override to On to use its own value, or Off to switch the setting off for that product or content only. See Setting Priority for how each combination of settings is applied.

Step 4: Add the Extension to Checkout​

What this is​

This is the customer-facing piece: a block on the Order status page that provides the customer their content and/or license keys for that order. Without it added, customers have no way to see their content or keys. See What Customers See for a tour of the block.

How to add it​

The Add to Checkout button opens Shopify's checkout and accounts editor. If you can't find that button, go to Settings → Checkout in your Shopify admin, and under Configurations, click Edit.

From there:

  1. Use the page selector to go to Customer accounts → Order status.
  2. Click Add block.
  3. Choose Digital Content Manager from the list of app blocks.
  4. Position it wherever you'd like on the page.
  5. Click Save.
note

This step in the onboarding guide checks itself off once the block renders on an order status page for any order, not the moment you save. Place a test order (Step 5) and open its order status page to complete it.

If you're stuck​

  • Double check the block was actually saved in the editor — go back in and confirm "Digital Content Manager" shows under the Order status page's added blocks.
  • Place a test order (Step 5) and open that order's status page yourself.

Step 5: Process Your First Order​

Two ways to get here​

  • Wait for or place a new order — a real order, including a test order, works the same way.
  • Import existing orders — use the order import tool to pull in orders that already exist in Shopify. See Importing Orders.

The order must include at least one enabled product. Once it's processed by the app, open it from the Orders page to view and manage all order details. See Customer Activity and Editing an Order.

If you're stuck​

  • If you placed a test order and this still isn't showing, confirm the product on that order is both configured in the app and its Active Status is Enabled.
  • If you're importing, make sure the order you select actually includes a product you've configured — importing an order made up entirely of untracked products won't create an order in the app.
  • Orders created before you installed the app are imported without license keys. Place a new test order to see keys assigned automatically. See Orders From Before the App Was Installed.