Get your first wishlist live

Open WishlistGenius from WordPress

Choose WishlistGenius in the main WordPress menu. You can also use Open WishlistGenius on the Installed Plugins screen. Both open the same workspace; its sidebar contains Free setup and styling; the activated Pro add-on also supplies customer wishlist inspection and its other tools.

Exit focus shows the WordPress menu again. The workspace still requires permission to manage WooCommerce; moving the menu does not grant access to other accounts.

When updating an existing Free and Pro pair, update Free first and Pro second without uninstalling. If an older Pro version is still active, the entry temporarily stays under WooCommerce until both plugins are updated. Existing workspace bookmarks continue to work.

1. Back up a staging copy of your store. Use single-site WordPress 6.7+, PHP 8.2+ and a WooCommerce 10.0+ release compatible with your WordPress version. WordPress 6.7 was tested with WooCommerce 10.3.8; newer WooCommerce releases can require newer WordPress.
2. Free 0.5.9 is available on WordPress.org. If you use Pro, check the available add-on package and its Free requirement before updating.
3. For a fresh installation, open Plugins → Add New in WordPress, search for WishlistGenius by Plugins.shop, then select Install Now → Activate. You can also download Free from WordPress.org and use Upload Plugin. If you have Pro, confirm that your available package supports Free 0.5.9 before installing it after Free; keep both active. For a manual ZIP installation, use the download guide.
4. For an existing Free and Pro installation, upload the Free 0.5.9 ZIP from WordPress.org through Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin and choose to replace the installed version. Check Pro compatibility before replacing either plugin. Update Free first and Pro second without uninstalling, then test the installed pair on staging before configuring integrations.
5. If you use an older companion or an earlier Free release with cart save-for-later or public discovery, contact support before upgrading. Keep your existing plugins and backup until you have checked the upgrade path.

Keep your database backup with the matching old plugin files. New alerts and connections start off; review their settings separately before enabling them.

Individually activating Free from the WordPress Plugins screen opens guided setup in focus mode, including after reinstalling with retained settings. Step 1, Storefront setup, uses your existing settings and wishlist page. Choose Create wishlist page, or select an existing published wishlist page by name; unrelated pages are preserved. Review Save button placements and header/mobile access, then choose Save and continue once a wishlist page is ready. This single action saves your storefront settings and then opens step 2, your optional sharing and email choices. If saving fails, setup stays on step 1 with your edits available to retry.

Use Open guided setup in Setup & settings whenever you want to repeat these steps. Opening it explicitly enters focus mode again. Back to WordPress opens your dashboard. Exit focus keeps this workspace open and reveals the surrounding WordPress navigation. Refreshing guided setup preserves that choice in this browser; choose Focus mode to hide the WordPress navigation again. Bulk activation, command-line activation and automatic updates do not redirect you into setup.

The Free and Pro merchant workspace uses a consistent light appearance, independent of the computer’s colour setting. Focus mode remains available. The interactive demo is a separate installation; check its stated version before comparing the controls.

The first step keeps the essentials together: your wishlist page, catalog/product Save buttons, and header/mobile wishlist access. Open Customize further for appearance, category restrictions, shopping behavior, privacy and backup controls. These use the same draft; Save and continue applies all your changes together.

For manual placement, you can leave the automatic catalog and product-page buttons off and use the Save button block, [wishlist_genius_button] shortcode, or Elementor widget. Open a storefront page with your Save button, save a product and check the wishlist. After checking, choose Mark setup complete under Setup & settings → Check your storefront, or Customize further → Check your storefront inside guided setup.

WishlistGenius remembers the last available admin section in this browser tab. You can return to your settings at any time. If settings or templates have unsaved changes, choose Save and continue, Discard changes, or Keep editing before switching sections. Pro-only sections are skipped when only Free is active. Optional local usage counts are under Setup & settings → Diagnostics in both editions; they start off and are not required for any plugin feature.

1. Open a product in a separate browser session and save it.
2. Check its saved state, then try Undo. Save it again.
3. Open the wishlist and add a private note. Editable wishlist quantities require Pro.
4. Add one saved item to the cart and confirm its selected variation. Normal WooCommerce cart quantity controls remain available; Pro adds wishlist quantities and selected/all-item cart actions.
5. Sign in and check that guest items merge without overwriting conflicting account selections.
6. To save a specific variation, select its required options before saving. A variable product can also be saved for later without a selected variation; choose the required options before adding it to the cart.

Check your theme, checkout, caching, product add-ons, and mail provider on staging. Keep backups, review the release notes, and check the wishlist, product options and cart on your staging store. The website preview uses a sample catalog; installing the plugin is the way to test your actual WooCommerce integration.

Pro 0.5.9 is available through protected customer downloads. Use the matching Free 0.5.9 and Pro 0.5.9 pair, updating Free first and Pro second without uninstalling. Pro 0.5.9 requires Free 0.5.9 or a compatible newer 0.5.x release below 0.6.0. Back up your store and test the update on staging. Pro packages are not offered on the public download page. Check your customer account, or contact support if you need help with compatibility or access.

The former public evaluation update service is no longer available. Its optional checks cannot supply a Pro installer. Existing installations continue to work; you can turn off publisher checks under WishlistGenius → Wishlist Pro updates (under WooCommerce while an older Free version is active) to stop future requests. This does not change your installed plugin or stored data.

If you deactivate Pro, your saved lists and quantities are retained. Free still lets shoppers add individual items to the cart, where WooCommerce quantity controls remain available.

Step 2, Optional choices, presents installation reporting and merchant emails as separate unchecked choices on a new installation. Choose either or both and select Save choices & finish, or select the neutral Finish without sharing action at the top. Existing choices are shown and preserved; Finish setup without changing choices keeps them as they are. Sharing or signup is submitted only when you explicitly save these choices. Leaving the step does not submit consent. A successful finish shows Guided setup finished; an unsuccessful request keeps the choices open with its result. Next, Try your wishlist opens a suitable published product or catalog page. Save a product and use View wishlist in the same browser to check it appears. If the quick check cannot find a suitable product, open a public product manually to test your button, or publish one first. Saving setup alone does not verify a shopper save. Installation reporting includes the hostname, reported edition/plugin version and basic compatibility information. Email signup requires confirmation and can be used without sharing the hostname. Read the exact fields, retention and stop controls.

Activate matching Pro after Free. Individual browser activation opens Licence & updates in focus mode, including after a reinstall. Paste your key and choose Activate licence. Review the update-check preference separately. Licence activation does not subscribe you to merchant emails. Advanced controls include staging and releasing a registered site; your account shows plan and site-allowance details.

After a successful connection, Continue setup opens the Pro setup guide. Resume the Pro task you selected, or choose alerts, reminders or reports. You can also open this guide from Setup & settings. Install compatible Pro, then activate an eligible licence to unlock its features for this store. A failed first activation or a status check alone cannot unlock them. After successful activation, installed features keep working through expiry, temporary outages or later remote denial. Under Licence & updates → Advanced: staging and connection management, Release this site locks Pro after the service confirms the release and frees the registered site slot. Forget local credentials locks Pro immediately without freeing that remote slot. Both retain saved wishlists and settings. Ordinary deactivation keeps the earned activation for this same store. A changed store hostname, non-default port or home path requires activation for the new store; an HTTP-to-HTTPS upgrade retains access. Free features, privacy controls and unsubscribe remain available. New downloads and updates require current licence access. Older compatible Free releases return to Setup & settings when the Pro guide is unavailable. The standalone connection page remains the fallback when the workspace is unsupported.

View the complete activation page on mobile. The Pro 0.5.8 activation page on a 390-pixel test viewport; this is browser emulation.

This admin section reviews shoppers’ saved lists. Free gives each shopper one wishlist. Shoppers using Pro can create additional lists on the storefront. Select Open wishlist page to try that shopper experience; creating a merchant-owned collection is not an action on the customer-list overview.

With Pro activated, in Customer wishlists, select a wishlist name (on any screen), or choose View products beside a list on desktop to inspect its saved products, images, selected variations, quantities and current stock status. The read-only viewer includes pagination for longer lists and handles products that are no longer available. Store management permission is required; private shopper notes and shopper identities are excluded. The current-page CSV remains a summary of lists.

Set up your first Pro workflow

1. Choose Restock and price alerts, Optional wishlist reminders or Understand wishlist results in the Pro setup guide.
2. Review the current saved prerequisites. Email workflows show the wishlist page, relevant guest requirements and the store sending state. Reports need recorded activity, but no email setup.
3. Review the genuine example using fictional data. For email workflows, Preview my saved message renders your saved message with sample values and sends nothing.
4. Open the existing workflow editor to review and deliberately save your configuration. For reports, choose dates and build the report. Return to the Pro setup guide to check the result.

The guide confirms a successful configuration save or completed report during your current workspace visit. Opening a guide or preview alone does not complete the task. Configuration, shopper consent and the sending switch remain separate: a saved setup does not mean there are eligible recipients or that an email was delivered.

In Free, contextual suggestions in Setup & settings open clearly labelled Pro examples before the plans link. Hide a suggestion if it is not useful; restore hidden suggestions under Setup & settings → Pro suggestions. Activated Pro provides its working tools without these upgrade suggestions. The merchant product viewer is supplied by the activated Pro add-on. Shopper saving, sharing, variations and basic styling remain Free. Preview screenshots are bundled locally and contain fictional data. Choosing plans from a contextual workflow suggestion saves your chosen task on this store for seven days; it does not send your store address or product details to the publisher.

Explore Pro from the Free workspace

Free includes Automations, Campaigns and Insights navigation entries with a PRO badge. Each opens a local preview with genuine screenshots and clearly labelled demonstration data. Automations shows requested product alerts and reminders; Campaigns has its own campaign example; Insights shows product-demand and performance reports.

Use Get Pro when you want to review plans. Opening these preview pages does not send messages, create campaign jobs, change shopper consent or automatically record purchase intent. After installing the matching Pro add-on and successfully activating an eligible licence for this store, these entries open its functional pages. While Pro is locked, the workspace keeps the Free tools available and shows how to activate your licence.

Use the small switch beside Pro previews. Turn it off to hide the Automations, Campaigns and Insights preview links. Turn it on to restore them. Explore Pro and More Plugins remain available, alongside all working Free tools and Help & manual. The same preference is available under Setup & settings → Show Pro preview tabs in navigation → Save navigation preference. This preference belongs to your WordPress account on this store; it does not hide another user’s previews or change storefront wishlists. Shopper saving, sharing, variations and basic styling remain Free. The merchant product viewer requires activated Pro.

Receive Pro updates in WordPress

1. Keep compatible Free and Pro active and open Licence & updates.
2. Activate a current licence for this site.
3. Separately enable Allow WordPress to check for Pro updates and save.
4. Use the WordPress Plugins or Updates screen when a release is available. Enable auto-updates is a separate WordPress choice.

Checks use your site connection to request a signed release. WordPress installs only a verified compatible package. If access has expired or verification fails, the installed plugin stays unchanged. A manual check does not enable automatic installation.

If WooCommerce Shopper Lists is enabled

WooCommerce’s optional native lists and WishlistGenius store separate lists. In the automatic account-page mode, WishlistGenius keeps its usual Wishlist endpoint when native Wishlist is off; when native Wishlist is on, it uses a separate WishlistGenius account section. Settings also let you keep a separate section or use only your dedicated wishlist page.

Review your product and catalog buttons to avoid confusing shoppers with two save controls. Changing account navigation does not merge, delete or transfer either system’s lists.

An optional honest review

Review invitations are disabled in this release. If a public WordPress.org review destination is later verified and explicitly enabled, a small Overview invitation can appear after at least 30 days of real saving activity, with saves on three distinct days and setup complete. Leave an honest review, postpone it for 30 days, or dismiss it permanently. Eligibility and dismissal stay in your store. The invitation is not shown before the public directory link is enabled.