Creating Ticket Type as WooCommerce product

Creating Ticket Type as WooCommerce product

If you've been using Tickera before, you'll notice the significant difference in the process of creating the Ticket Type. However, no need to panic - it is fairly easy process although it may seem overwhelming at first as there is plenty of options. WooCommerce is really powerful tool for creating the complete online store but for this purpose we will focus on creating Ticket Type that works in synergy with WooCommerce and Tickera over the Bridge for WooCommerce.

Right off the bat, after installing WooCommerce, you will notice that there are two more options on the side menu in the WordPress admin panel: WooCommerce and Products. For this purpose, we will be using the Products menu (1). Click on that menu item and you'll be welcomed to, what is still a blank table but also a table where all of your WooCommerce items are going to show (2) and in the upper left corner is the Add Product button (3) which we are going to use just about now.

When you hit the Add Product button, you'll see the Add Product page with all the options WooCommerce is offering. It may seem complicated but if you follow this easy guide, you'll end up with your tickets ready to sell in no time (and have fun doing it too).

Creating Simple Ticket Type

First off, there is a Product Name field which is where you are going to enter what you would like your Ticket Type to be called (1). Right below the name, there is quite large field which is actually the product (in our case it is a ticket) description but it is entirely optional and you may leave it empty or give it short or long description (2).

Below the description field is where all the fun starts. First, you will notice the dropdown menu called Product Data (1). By default it states Simple product and we'll leave like that for now. Next to that dropdown are Virtual and Downloadable checkboxes (2). We'll leave those two unchecked. Right below is the menu with lots of options but for now, we'll use just the General (3) which is already selected by default. Within the General you'll find a few fields. First of those is the SKU field (4). SKU stands for Stock Keeping Unit and it is basically a certain code or identifier if you will, for the product. You may leave that empty if you don't plan using lots of stuff in your WooCommerce store but it may come very handy if you plan using WooCommerce for other stuff except tickets or even if you plan selling lots of different tickets. Below that is the Regular Price field (5). This is where you are going to name the price for your ticket type. Right below that is the Sale Price (6). You may leave that empty but it is very nice to have if you plan, for example, some Early Bird discounts or First Minute / Last Minute sale. You may even schedule when you want to schedule the discount price using the Schedule right beside that field. Now, below is one tiny checkbox which is actually the most important stuff in the whole process. It says Product is a Ticket (7). Since we are creating the ticket type, it is mandatory to check that checkbox! Checked it - OK. But wait... now there are some more options now. What's going on here? Well, you'll agree that the ticket is kinda specific "product" and therefore it must have some additional, specific options.  First one is the dropdown menu where you are able to choose for which event you are creating ticket type (8). Below that dropbox is the Check-ins per ticket field which allows you to define how many check-ins are allowed for each ticket (9). This comes handy when you are hosting multiple day and/or multiple entrance/exit event. By default it states Unlimited but you may define the exact number of check-ins. Below that field is the Ticket Template dropdown menu (10). If you have created some nifty Ticket Template for your ticket type, you may choose it here. Otherwise, you may leave it Default.

On the right side, there are some more options like Product Categories, Product Tags, Product Image and Product Gallery. It is pretty self explanatory but keep in mind that each time you see a "product" in title, it actually means "ticket" for this purpose.

When you are done setting up all of the above, you may hit the Publish button on the upper right corner and that's it. You have just created your first simple Ticket Type. For most of you, this is going to be just enough most of the time. But WooCommerce certainly doesn't stop there and there are a lots more you can do with it. So if you want to add some perks or sell something else WITH the tickets, just continue reading.

Ticket Type as Variable Product

Remember that Product Data dropdown menu which we left with the default value of Simple Product? Now it's time to play around a bit with that by selecting Variable Product (1). Yes, we know there are other options in that dropdown menu too, but we'll leave that to WooCommerce regular products for now.

When you choose Variable product from dropdown menu, you'll probably find yourself confused and with the question "what in the world happened to the price?!" That's ok. We've all been through that. The point is that, since the product (meaning, ticket) is now variable, it is assumed that you will have different types with different prices for the same ticket. For now, just enter your SKU (if you want to), check your Product is a Ticket checkbox and enter information regarding ticket like you would do if the ticket was Simple product.

Now, it becomes tricky. But don't freak out just yet. Just follow this guide and you should be OK. You may also make yourself a nice, warm cup of coffee and then dive in to this next part.

Now, scroll a bit down and select Attributes from the product menu and you'll be welcomed to the, you guessed it right, attributes page. There is a single dropdown menu with just one item enabled called Custom product attribute (1). Right next to that dropdown is the Add button (2). Go ahead and click that Add.

Now some more options popped out. Yeah, we know, it's confusing... But let's say you want to create age related ticket type with different prices for Child, Adult and Student. This is the starting point for that. In the Name field put for example "Type" and the in the Value(s) box enter the following: Adult|Child|Student with the "|" sign between the values (it's the straight line... it is NOT lowercase L or uppercase I). When done, check the "Visible on the product page" and "Used for variations" checkboxes and hit Save Attributes button.

Hey, congrats! You're half way there!

Now, head down to Variation menu item, right below the Attributes. When you click and open Variations you'll find yourself with the... oh no... not the blank page again? Well, yes. But not for long. You'll notice the Add variation dropdown menu on top. Click there and select the other item, called "Create variations from all attributes" and then click Go. Your browser will then pop up something that seems like warning. But it is actually a confirmation that you really want to create variations from attributes. Click Yes and in the next browser pop up click OK. Aaaaaand there you have it. You have successfully loaded your variations.

Now off to setting those up.

When the variations are loaded, you should come up with something like shown on the picture below: basically, it is a list of your variations. But you will notice that if you hover the right side of each of the variations row, a three icons menu will appear: Three dashes icon (used for creating the order by dragging and dropping), The Arrow icon (used to expand the options for each variation) and Remove (used to... well... remove the variation). The most important option for now is certainly the Expand one (1), and although you could expand each variation one at a time, you could expand them all by using tiny little Expand title on the bottom right (2).

When variations are expanded, the whole world of new options will appear. Some of those options are very important for setting up ticket variations and some are not important at all. But let's start from the beginning.

1. Set the image for the ticket variation
2. SKU of the ticket variation (quick reminder: SKU stands for Stock Keeping Unit)
3. Variation options (we'll leave this as is with just Enabled checkbox checked)
4. Regular Price (ticket price for the given variation)
5. Sale Price (you can choose putting some of the ticket variations on sale and even schedule the time when this sale price will be active and for how long)
6. Stock status
7. Weight and Dimensions (just skip this, not relevant)
8. Shipping class
9. Variation Description (description of your variation)

It is important to note that, besides the Regular Price field, all of the others are completely optional and may or may not be set.

When you are done setting all of your variations, just hit Save Changes and that's it! Ready to go! From now on, when customer chooses to buy ticket which has a variations, he/she will be able to choose a ticket variation from the dropdown menu and the price and all of the other parameters set will change accordingly.