Introduction & Quick Start

Welcome to Shop Craft — a self-hosted e-commerce platform built for small businesses. Shop Craft gives you everything you need to run a professional online store, without monthly fees or technical expertise.

What is Shop Craft?

Shop Craft is a one-time purchase e-commerce script that you install on your own web hosting. Think of it like WordPress, but purpose-built for selling products online. Once installed, you get:

• A customer-facing storefront where buyers browse products, add items to cart, and check out
• An admin panel where you manage products, orders, customers, and settings
• Built-in payment processing with Razorpay, Stripe, PayPal, and Cash on Delivery
• A theme system to customize your store's look and feel
• A plugin system to add extra features like analytics, chat widgets, and shipping integrations

No Monthly Fees

Unlike Shopify or WooCommerce hosting, Shop Craft is a one-time purchase. You own the software and host it yourself on affordable shared hosting.

What's in the ZIP?

When you download Shop Craft, you receive a ZIP file containing:

• The complete Shop Craft application (ready to install)
• The default storefront theme
• A built-in installation wizard that guides you through setup
• This documentation (also available online)

Quick Start (3 Steps)

Getting your store online takes just a few minutes:

Step 1: Upload

Download the Shop Craft ZIP file and extract it to your web hosting account. You can use cPanel's File Manager or an FTP client to upload the files.

Step 2: Point Your Domain

Make sure your domain (or subdomain) points to the public/ folder inside the Shop Craft directory. Most shared hosting providers let you set this in cPanel under Domains or Subdomains.

Important

Your domain must point to the public/ folder specifically — not the root Shop Craft folder. If it points to the wrong folder, you will see a blank page or a directory listing instead of the installer.

Step 3: Open Your Domain

Open your domain in a web browser. The installation wizard will start automatically and guide you through 11 simple steps to configure your store.

That's it! Once the wizard finishes, your store is live and ready for business.

What's Next?

Follow these guides to complete your setup:

Guide	What You'll Learn
Server Requirements	Make sure your hosting meets the minimum requirements
Creating a Database	Step-by-step guide for creating a MySQL database in cPanel
Installation Wizard	Detailed walkthrough of all 11 installation steps
File Permissions	Fix permission issues if you see errors during setup
License Activation	Understand how licensing works and what to expect
Upgrading	How to update to future versions of Shop Craft

Need Help?

If you run into any issues, check the Troubleshooting section or contact our support team.