This is really happening!
We are going to create the ultimate ShapeDiver plugin for WooCommerce. OMG
Technically it is a plugin for WordPress that works with WooCommerce, but you know…
It will take some time to create, and I am sorry to say that it will not be free.
I know, I like free stuff as much as everyone else.
But developing and maintaining a plugin like this for years to come is going to require money.
There will be people who start entire businesses on ShapeDiver + WooCommerce.
And it would not be fair if their whole order acquisition system breaks down, because the developer of an essential plugin simply lost interest in maintaining it.
With money comes the possibility of ongoing updates, maintenance, and development.
The plugin will be subscription-based, probably on a year-to-year basis. Just like ShapeDiver.
However, we are going to give first movers an awesome deal
→ Get in on the action early and get lifetime access to the premium version of the plugin.
That way you can help with the early development and get an awesome deal.
So if you want (or need) the ShapeDiver + WooCommerce Plugin then click the link below and join the early bird waiting list.
Thanks for the news, it sounds great! Many ShapeDiver users have been requesting a WooCommerce plugin over the past few years. We fully support this initiative, do not hesitate to use this topic to discuss technical and practical details about this plugin and its functionalities.
It am glad reading your post about writing a wooCommerce-PlugIn for ShapeDiver, since “3D-product-configurators” on the basis of shapeDiver will be a major purpose in future times.
In preparation of two different, upcoming projects, I am currently researching a lot about how to integrate shapeDiver into an eCommerce-Webframework - and Wordpress/WooCommerce, as open-souce, offer big advantages therefor to start.
However I am not quite through, since the level of complexity of both - shapeDiver and WooCommerce - is very high regarding the big variety of particular needs and use-cases of each webshop. I am reffering to:
how will the shapeDiver API communicate with the REST API of WooCommerce
how do you respond to product- and price-variations, including the need of an induvidual SKU, and such
how do you go about handling configured products into the users cart (CoCart-Plugin?)
how will you manage wordpress/wooCommerce Updates that could eventually throw errors, as well as conflicts with other third-party-woocommerce-addons
and so on
I am curious about your concept, features, goals and road-map of that plug-In - perhaps you could update your milestones once-a-while here in this post - which could be also a valid choice then for my next projects.
First I must let you know that I am not a web developer, I am a designer. The actual Plugin will be created by a team of skilled web developers.
But I will try to answer what I can:
how will the shapeDiver API communicate with the REST API of WooCommerce
I can’t answer this. I only know that it is possible, and everything is documented by both ShapeDiver and WooCommerce / Wordpress.
how do you respond to product- and price-variations, including the need of an induvidual SKU, and such
All pricing and product variations will be handled by the Shapediver model. One shapediver model = one SKU in WooCommerce.
how do you go about handling configured products into the users cart (CoCart-Plugin?)
Once the product is configured and added to the WooCommerce cart, the specific Shapediver ticket will be saved in a database until checkout is completed. You can read all this info in ShapeDivers API resources.
how will you manage wordpress/wooCommerce Updates that could eventually throw errors, as well as conflicts with other third-party-woocommerce-addons
The plugin will be updated as needed when WordPress and WooCommerce are updated.
We cannot be accountable for third-party plugin conflicts. Our obligation is to make the plugin work with WordPress and WooCommerce. If conflicts with major plugins occur, we will of course resolve these to the best of our ability.
Concept: Create a plugin for WordPress / WooCommerce that makes it easy and effortless to start a webshop offering parametric custom products uploaded to ShapeDiver.
Amazing. Yes, we need this! I created a prototype integration into WooCommerce for the project/startup we are working on that was totally hacked together.
Now we are getting proper WooCommerce developers to build an integration with Shapediver and our own custom built configurator.
Maybe there is some way of collaboration on this or we can support the plugin development, so we don’t need to develop everything you will develop anyways and rather combine forces. Lets maybe talk about this privately, but definitely very much interested!
Also I would really love to see the same thing for Shopify. I love Wordpress and used to create/develop Wordpress websites professionally for many years, but from a UX and end-user perspective Wordpress is pretty hacky. I love especially the whole checkout experience on Shopify is just pretty close to perfect in terms of usability and design.
Custom WordPress/Woocommerce development is a finicky beast. Integrating ShapeDiver in this environment is relatively straight forward but the key is to design the implementation efficiently. WordPress has a bloat problem and the last thing you want is to contribute more than absolutely needed. Fortunately, there’s precedence for reference:
The development has now started for the WooDiver Plugin.
This will be the easiest way to implement ShapeDiver models into an E-Commerce checkout cart.
By combining WordPress, WooCommerce and ShapeDiver with the WooDiver plugin, you will be able to sell your custom designs within minutes after uploading your Grasshopper file to ShapeDiver.
I have created a walkthrough video of how I see the intended use.
→ Please remember that this is pre-alpha stage here.
