Some general advice please…

  • Hi all –

    This may be a really stupid question but I am completely new to e-commerce and woocommerce and Facebook shops and pixels etc, so please bear with me. I’m not a Webmaster either, just a writer and blogger trying to help an artist friend set up an online shop for her greeting cards…

    Cutting to the rub I have been trying for around 2 weeks to connect a Woocommerce shop to Facebook using the ‘official’ Facebook for Woocommerce plug in. Despite posting many tickets and trying many suggested fixes (variations on uninstall/reinstall etc) I’ve got nowhere, which is hardly surprising given the plugin’s rating.

    I’ve found a few reviews for Pixel Caffeine and it looks like it may be a good solution to my woes, but I’m uncertain of exactly what it does and whether it would function as a direct replacement. I’m also worried about the implications of adding a pixel manually to my site that will then compound my problems by embedding a pixel I can’t then delete.

    I’m not, at this stage, bothered about creating targeted ads, etc – as I say I’m a complete novice and am trying to learn to walk before I attempt running. All I really want to do is replicate my Woocommerce shop in Facebook (and Instagram) and link that back to my website for payments. Will pixel caffeine do that, or have I misunderstood what the plugin does?

    Any help greatly appreciated – I’m now on a strict timescale to get Facebook integration sorted. If Pixel Caffeine ISN’T a viable alternative to Facebook for Woocommerce, any suggestions of a freeware of low cost alternative would be really useful.

    Thanks

    David / OddlyActive

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Plugin Author Antonino Scarfì

    (@antoscarface)

    Hi,

    basically, you need to know what Facebook Pixel is and then what Pixel Caffeine does.

    That is, Facebook Pixel is a tool that helps you to create Facebook Ads focused on the behavior of the user, giving you the ability to re-targeting the users and avoiding to waste money without showing ads to users that already purchased something from your shop.

    To do that, you need to add some JS snippets in your web pages and you need the necessary expertise in order to add the needed code. Pixel Caffeine helps you to add everything is necessary, without touching code, such as: add the pixel init snippet, add the DPA events automatically with the WooCommerce (View product, purchase, checkout, ecc…), ecc…

    Evaluate if you need this and then you can use Facebook Pixel and Pixel Caffeine! ??

    Thread Starter Oddly Active

    (@oddly-active)

    Hi @antoscarface –

    Thanks for reply, but that’s my problem – I don’t really know anything about ‘JS snippets’ or anything else you mention! ALL of this e-commerce stuff is completely new to me and my plan is to worry about the fine-tuning later.

    Here’s what I THOUGHT Facebook for Woocommerce did/would do (ads aside):
    1) Add the products from my Woocommerce shop to a Facebook catalogue that would then be visible in my Facebook shop, while linking back to the Woocommerce cart on my website for purchasing.
    2) Link the same catalogue of products to my Instagram account, allowing for ‘tagging’, and directing buyers back to my website / Woocommerce cart to complete their purchases.

    The problem I’ve hit (and seemingly so have many others) is that while the catalogue is definitely visible (via catalogue manager) and the products appear as ‘synced’, they DON’T show up in my Facebook shop, which resolutely displays a banner telling me ‘your shop won’t be visible until you add inventory […]’ I’m HOPEFUL that the existence of the catalogue will allow the Instagram connection to be made but can’t check it out until my partner, currently out of the loop dealing with a family health crisis, get’s back from leave. If it does we’ll bypass a Facebook shop completely other than as a tool for linking the catalogue to Instagram, but if the Facebook ‘non shop’ means Instagram integration is missing too then we need an alternative for integration, which is why I’m asking about Pixel Caffeine.

    I hope all that makes sense, but in a nutshell what I’m asking is whether Pixel Caffeine will do the ‘back end’ stuff in Woocommerce that Facebook for Woocommerce does while offering a reliable connection to our Facebook page shop and catalogue manager so we can actually sell some products on Facebook and Instagram…

    Thanks again for response, and any further help/insight greatly appreciated

    David / OddlyActive.

    Plugin Author Antonino Scarfì

    (@antoscarface)

    Hi,

    about your concern, I suggest you read this post and the linked one at the end of it: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/367782217132798

    It explains the difference between the “Shop” tab of your page and the Product Catalog and how can be linked together.

    Furthermore, Pixel Caffeine creates the Product Catalog for you inside your Business Account.

    Thread Starter Oddly Active

    (@oddly-active)

    Hi again @antoscarface –

    Thank you for your reply / links. It’s greatly appreciated, esp as you’re the developer of a different plugin and not the ‘official’ plugin support team, who remain frustratingly quiet.

    Re your links: I had seen these pages previously and have now looked again, but I’m still not seeing the bit explaining how to make a ‘catalogue’ item (complete with links back to my website shop and shopping basket), show up in my (Facebook) shop. I thought – and it appears many other Facebook for Woocommerce (which I will call F4W from now on as it’s easier to type!) users did too – that this was automatic, but if it is a two stage process the second stage is not explained anywhere. I have read various support files on Facebook, Github, WordPress, Woocommerce forums, but nowhere is there a clear walkthrough on this, or even an indication that it is necessary. F4W has, in fact, a specific ‘hide on Facebook’ setting, which seems completely counterintuitive if ‘show on Facebook’ isn’t the default. I can, of course, add a replica product from the (Facebook) shop tab, but this then won’t have the links to the original catalogue or to my website shop and shopping basket, which defeats the object…

    IF I’m missing something and there is a very simple ‘step two’ to link products in my (Facebook) catalogue – c/w links to my website – to the (Facebook) shop a walkthrough explaining the process would be really helpful, for me and for the countless other users who are equally confounded. The F4W plugin description states:

    “After completing the setup, you’ll be ready to create ads that promote your products and you can also create a shop section on your Page where customers can browse your products on Facebook.”

    so clearly it’s supposed to be viable. What it doesn’t tell you is how, or if indeed it is necessary, to do anything other than link the plugin to Faceook…

    With regard to pixel caffeine, will it connect a woocommerce/wordpress store to a Facebook catalogue AND shop in the way described, and if so can it use the pixel already embedded in my site or does the setup process always create a new pixel? If it can you’re going to have a very successful plugin, because the ‘official’ one seems extremely unreliable, and the support pretty-much non-existent.

    Thanks again for taking the time to respond, and if you can provide a walkthrough to help achieve the catalogue – shop connection you’re a star!

    David / Oddlyactive

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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