1.0. Connection Wizard

When you download Store Manager, it already contains a sandbox database that you can view and modify to learn the possibilities of Store Manager. However, if you want to manage your real store, you need to establish connection to your store database.

Connection Wizard will help you to configure connection to your store step by step.

To launch the Wizard, navigate to Preferences (F12) -> Database Connection -> Connection Wizard:

Create New Store Connection

In the welcome window, press [Create New Store Connection]:

Provide Store URL

Open your store URL in a browser to make sure the website is accessible and can be opened. Then copy and paste your store URL in the wizard.

To verify the address, press [Test Store URL].

If the URL is correct, you will receive a confirmation message. Click [OK] and then click [Next] on the wizard:

Advanced Settings

If you use a proxy server, expand the Advanced Settings section and select the “HTTP Proxy Settings” check box. Enter your credentials and click [Test Store URL] to verify data.

If your website uses https protocol, select the “Use Server Name Indication” check box and click [Test Store URL] to verify data.

What to do if you receive an error while testing store URL:

1. Check if the URL is spelled correctly, can be opened in any browser, and takes you to the homepage of your store.

2. If you use a proxy server, specify the credentials in the “Advanced settings”.

3. If you use an https protocol, check the option “Use server name indication” in the “Advanced settings”.

4. If you still receive an error message, contact our support team for assistance.

Select a Type of Store Connection

The Wizard will offer you three types of connections to your online store:

Direct connection to remote database links Store Manager to the live store database. All the changes made in the program are applied to your live store instantly. With this connection, there is a possibility to work with the store from multiple computers simultaneously. We recommend up to 4 people using 4 Store Manager applications (4 seats) to work with the same database at a time. More simultaneous connections can lead to data conflicts.

Note: Some hosting companies forbid this type of connection by default. In this case, you can enable it in your hosting control panel (open port 3306 for your local IP) or contact your hosting provider for assistance.

In case direct connection cannot be established, you can use Bridge connection or Module Connector.

PHP Bridge connection allows you to work with your store locally (a local copy of database is stored on your computer).

The process is as follows: you execute the “Get” command in Store Manager to get a local copy of your live store database, make necessary operations with the database, and execute the “Post the changed to web” command to apply the updates to the live store.

PHP Bridge connection allows you to manage your store when you are offline and synchronize with the live store when you are online.

Connect via native WooCommerce module – the connector is installed and configured in your WordPress admin panel in the “Plugins” section. Same as PHP Bridge connection, you have a local copy of your live site database to work with. In order to see your live site database you need to perform the “Get data from the store operation. After that you can work with it locally. Once changes are made, apply them with the “Post Changes to Web” button.

Find a detailed comparison of connection types in the article "What Type of Connection to the Online Database to Choose".

Below, we’ll explain how to set up each type of connection.

If you cannot connect to the FTP server, you may be using incorrect login details (host address, username, or password).

You can check the correctness of the FTP details using some external FTP client software like FileZilla.

Click [Test Connection] to verify the data. If it is correct click [Next] to proceed.

2. Database host and port

This data is filled automatically, based on your previous entries.

A database host is usually your website name, such as "mystore.com" (do not include the 'http://www.' prefix). You can enter IP address or domain name as well. In most cases, the database port is 3306, but it can be different. If port 3306 doesn’t work, contact your hosting company to get precise information.

Click [Test Host Address] to verify the data. If it is correct click [Next] to proceed.

While testing the host address you may get the following warning :

Cannot connect to host

Connect timed out.

Please, check host and port settings

The reason may be that your hosting is blocking external IPs. Therefore, you need to add your IP address to the Access list in your Hosting Control Panel in the “Remote MySQL” section.

If direct connection via port 3306 is not allowed, you can use secure SSH connection. Follow this link to setup the SSH Tunneling.

Click [Test Host Address] to verify the data. If it is correct, press [Next] to proceed.

3. Database Login

Enter your database login and password manually or use the [Autodetect] option to determine them automatically:

Click [Test Database Login] to verify the data. If it is correct, press [Next] to proceed.

4. Database name

Database name and table prefix are filled automatically based on the FTP details you specified earlier.

If you want to connect to another database, press [Get databases] and choose the database with a certain name from the drop-down list.

Use the [Autodetect] option to automatically determine database name and table prefix.

Click [Test Database] to verify the data. If it is correct, click [Next] to proceed.

5. Configuration name

All previous entries are saved as a configuration. This allows you to quickly connect to the store database and switch between different store databases without entering the details again.

The name of the configuration is generated automatically. If you want to change it, enter a new one. To check if the name is available, press [Check configuration name].

Click [Next] to proceed:

6. Finish

Click [Finish] to save your entries and close the wizard.

Set Up Bridge Connection

Bridge.php is a file that is uploaded to your server. PHP Bridge is used for two operations – to get data from the remote database and post it to the database.

When you set up Bridge connection via the Wizard, the file is automatically uploaded to your FTP server.

The steps are the following.

1. FTP settings

You will have to specify the following FTP details (if you do not have FTP details please contact your hosting company and ask them for this information):

• "Server address". It is usually your website name like "mywebsite.com" (do not include http://www. prefix); you may use IP address as well.

• "Username (login)", "Password". Specify your FTP username and password. Make sure this user has privileges to view, edit, and create files in your shopping cart folder.

• "Store root directory". This is the catalog that contains the files of your store (shopping cart) that you can find/see via FTP. Click the [Browse] icon to select your shopping cart root folder. To make sure that you have selected the correct folder, check if there are the “wp-admin”, “wp-content” and “wp-includes” folders as well as all other files and folders of your shopping cart inside.

Click the [Test FTP connection] button. If you receive a message “FTP was connected successfully”, proceed with the connection setup by clicking [Next]:

If you can't connect to the FTP server you may be using incorrect login details (server address, username or password). You can check them yourself using some external FTP client software like FileZilla.

Click [Test Connection] to verify the data. If it is correct click [Next] to proceed:

2. Bridge Login and Password

On this step, the wizard will generate login and password to provide security with the PHP-MySQL bridge connection. You can enter the details manually or click the [Generate] button to get new details:

Click [Next] to proceed.

3. Bridge Configuration Complete

Bridge URL, Local database name, and Table prefix are filled automatically based on the FTP details you specified earlier.

If the data is missing, you can use the [Autodetect] option to fill it again automatically.

Click [Test PHP Bridge Connection] to verify the data. If it is correct press [Next] to proceed.

Advanced settings

“Post block size” is the size of a data chunk posted to the server. The maximum size depends on the settings of your server. On this step, you may leave it as it is. If later, when you post the data, the server returns the error “Read timeout” then you should decrease the post block size.

4. Configuration name

All previous entries are saved as a configuration. It is used to quickly connect to the store database and switch between different store databases.

The name of the configuration is generated automatically. If you want to change the it enter a new one and press the button “Check configuration name”. If the name is available click [Next]:

5. Finish

Click [Finish] to save your entries and close the wizard:

After you close the wizard, Store Manager will automatically get data from your website and you will be able to work with your data locally.

Important! This connection type requires synchronization. You need to Get data from the Web each time you start Store Manager in order to be able to work with your data locally. Once any changes are made locally, click the “Post Changes to Web” button to apply them to your live site database. In case any changes were applied to your live site database while you were working, it can prevent you from applying your local changes. It is not recommended to use this connection type to work with your live site from multiple computers simultaneously.

Connect via a native WooCommerce module

Store Manager Connector is a module that is installed and configured in your WordPress admin panel in the “Plugins” section. To install the Connector module, use a direct link to upload the zipped file

Store Manager Connector works similar to Bridge connection: you get data from the store, work with it locally, and send it back.

The process is as follows: you execute the “Get” command in Store Manager to get a local copy of your live store database, make necessary operations with the database, then execute the “Post the changed to web” command to apply the updates to the live store.

With the Connector module, you can manage your store when you are offline and synchronize with the live store when you are online.

After you set up the module in the store admin, open Store Manager and launch the Connection Wizard. On step 2, choose the [Connect via native WooCommerce module] option and follow the instructions.

Read the detailed article on how to Connect through Store Manager Connector.

Important! Same as Bridge connection, native WooCommerce module connector requires synchronization. You need to press the “Get data from the Web” button each time you start Store Manager in order to work with your data locally. Once any changes are made, click “Post Changes to Web” button to apply them to your live site database. In case any changes were applied to your live site database while you were working, it can prevent you from applying your local changes. It is not recommended to use this connection type to work with your live site from multiple computers simultaneously.

For advanced users, there’s an option to configure connections without using Connection wizard. For that, cancel and quit the Connection Wizard, open Preferences (F12) and specify appropriate connection settings (Database connection and FTP connection).

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