Setting up WooCommerce for digital products seems straightforward—but in practice, it often involves troubleshooting hosting limitations, plugin conflicts, and theme compatibility issues. In this case, a WordPress site required a full WooCommerce setup for downloadable products, along with a custom sales page and payment integration.
Freshy implemented the store, resolved multiple blocking errors, and ensured a smooth checkout and download experience.
Issue Background
The goal was to:
- Install and configure WooCommerce
- Add two digital products (a PDF book and a lesson bundle)
- Create a custom sales page with “Add to Cart” functionality
- Enable instant downloads after purchase
- Integrate payment processing using Square
During implementation, several technical issues surfaced across the hosting environment, plugins, and theme.
Diagnosis
1. WooCommerce installation triggered a fatal error
Installing WooCommerce on the staging site resulted in a memory-related fatal error:
Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted
This indicated that the staging environment was limited to 128MB of PHP memory, which is insufficient for WooCommerce.
2. Plugin conflict with Gravity Forms
An additional error was traced to the Gravity Forms plugin:
PHP Fatal error: require_once(): Cannot use output buffering in output buffering display handlers in /wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/form_display.php
This conflict prevented WooCommerce from installing and functioning correctly.
3. Staging environment limitations
The staging environment had restricted resources and required hosting-level adjustments to support WooCommerce installation and execution.
4. Theme compatibility issue (Enfold)
After setup, the “Add to Cart” message displayed incorrectly:
"" was added to the cart
This indicated that product data was not being properly passed through the Enfold theme when products were embedded on a custom page.
5. Checkout and configuration issues
Additional issues included:
- Checkout not appearing
- Cart visibility inconsistencies
- Store stuck in “Coming Soon” mode
- Payment gateways not fully configured
- Email delivery issues for downloadable products
Resolution Steps
Step 1: Fix staging environment limitations
- Reset the staging environment
- Worked with the hosting provider to adjust server resources
- Ensured WooCommerce could run without memory errors
Step 2: Resolve plugin conflict
- Identified Gravity Forms as the source of the fatal error
- Temporarily disabled or adjusted the plugin
- Successfully installed WooCommerce
Step 3: Configure WooCommerce for digital products
- Created products as Virtual and Downloadable
- Disabled shipping requirements
- Configured file delivery for PDFs and ZIP downloads
Step 4: Build a custom product page
- Used the theme builder to create a single-page sales layout
- Added pricing and “Add to Cart” buttons
- Organized long-form content using accordion-style sections
Step 5: Implement download delivery
- Enabled downloads via confirmation page and WooCommerce emails
- Ensured files were accessible immediately after purchase
Step 6: Configure payment gateways
- Installed WooCommerce Square plugin
- Used Stripe in test mode for staging validation
- Connected Square on the live site for real transactions
Step 7: Enable checkout
- Updated WooCommerce settings from “Coming Soon” to “Live”
- Restored full checkout functionality
Step 8: Fix theme compatibility (Enfold)
- Patched the issue in the child theme
- Ensured product titles display correctly in cart messages
- Tested across multiple environments and browsers
Step 9: Troubleshoot email delivery
- Installed a mail logging plugin
- Verified WooCommerce email triggers
- Tested email delivery and resend functionality
Step 10: Create a safe testing workflow
- Created a low-cost test product
- Duplicated the sales page for testing
- Validated checkout, payment, and download flow
Final Outcome
- WooCommerce fully configured for digital products
- Successful checkout and payment processing
- Instant download delivery implemented
- Theme and plugin conflicts resolved
- Store successfully launched
Need help setting up WooCommerce or fixing WordPress issues?
From plugin conflicts to checkout errors, WooCommerce setups can get complex quickly. Our team can help you launch and optimize your store with confidence.
Contact Freshy to get expert support.
