This guide explains the key terms and core concepts behind your EDD store. Whether you’re brand new to ecommerce or just new to EDD, it will help you understand how everything fits together.
Unless otherwise noted, everything in this document covers core EDD functionality.
Easy Digital Downloads for Digital Products
Easy Digital Downloads was built from the ground up to sell digital products: software, ebooks, music, courses, templates, and any other downloadable file. Every option and feature is built specifically to help you sell digital products.
Easy Digital Downloads for Physical Products
EDD is designed for selling digital products. If you want to sell simple physical products alongside them, the Simple Shipping feature adds shipping support. If physical products with complex shipping needs are your main business, a general ecommerce solution may be a better fit.
Basic Terminology
Here are the terms you’ll see throughout EDD and its documentation:
- Download (or Product): these terms are used interchangeably. A download is a product. It’s the “thing” available for sale.
- Order: a record of a purchase. Every purchase creates an order, even failed or incomplete ones, and a single order can contain multiple downloads. You can view them under Downloads » Orders. Older documentation sometimes calls these “payments.”
- Sale: recorded per product whenever an order contains that product. If one order contains 3 different products, each product records a sale.
- Customer: a customer profile is created when an order is completed. It collects all of one person’s orders in one place, along with their email addresses, name, notes, and more.
- User: users are part of WordPress core, and EDD connects them to customers. A customer can have a user attached, which is what lets them log in to view their account. Users have a username and password; customers do not.
- File Download: recorded each time a customer downloads a file, so you can track how often a product’s files are downloaded. See the File Downloads report under Downloads » Reports.
- Gateway: the payment service that processes transactions for your store, like Stripe, PayPal, or Square.
- Features: the add-on functionality included with EDD Pro plans, like Subscriptions, Software Licensing, and email marketing integrations.
- Pass: an EDD pricing plan. Each Pass tier includes a different set of Pro features.
- Blocks: WordPress blocks that display your store’s products, cart, checkout, and more on any page.
- Test Mode: a setting that lets you simulate orders without moving real money, so you can safely test your store before launch.
Product Options
Here are some of the capabilities that products have:
- Product title, description, and featured image
- Single or variable pricing
- File uploads right in the Download Details metabox on the product edit screen
- Custom notes that can be added to receipts
- Single or bundled products
- Categories and tags
- Download limits (how many times a buyer may download the item they purchased)
- Sales and earnings data on each product’s edit screen
Payment Gateways
EDD has dozens of payment gateways available, from a variety of sources. Some of the most popular ones you can connect to in just a few clicks:
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Square
Additional gateways like Authorize.net and Braintree are also available, along with more from third-parties. See the Payment Settings doc for setup details and the full list of options.
Product Delivery
When a customer completes a purchase, they land on a purchase confirmation page. It shows the details of their order along with download links, so they can download their products immediately.
In addition, two emails are sent automatically.
Customer Email
This email is the receipt. It contains the order’s financial details and download links for the purchased products.
Seller Email
This email alerts you to a new sale and includes the order details.
Both emails are customizable, including how much detail each one includes. See Email Setup and Configuration to learn more.
Blocks
EDD includes a full set of WordPress blocks, so you can display your store anywhere on your site without code. Core blocks include:
- EDD Products: show a list or grid of your products
- EDD Buy Button: add a purchase button for any product
- EDD Cart: display the shopping cart on any page
- EDD Checkout: the checkout form
- EDD Order History and EDD User Downloads: let logged-in customers see their orders and download their files
- EDD Receipt: the order receipt
- EDD Login, EDD Registration, and EDD Profile Editor:account management for your customers
See the Easy Digital Downloads Blocks doc for the full list and setup details.
Prefer shortcodes? They’re still supported. See the Shortcodes Overview for documentation. Note that not all shortcodes have block equivalents.
Discounts
EDD has a built-in system for discount codes. Discounts can:
- Be a percentage or flat rate
- Match product-specific requirements before taking effect
- Have an expiration date
- Have a limited number of total uses
- Be limited to one use per customer
Reports
EDD’s reporting lives under Downloads » Reports and covers your store from every angle: an earnings overview, top-selling products, refunds, payment gateway usage, taxes, file downloads, discount usage, and customer metrics.
Reports and logs can also be exported as CSV files from the Export tab, including earnings reports, orders, customers, products, API request logs, and file download logs.
Importing and Exporting
EDD includes built-in tools for moving data between sites. Go to Downloads » Tools » Import/Export to import orders, products, and settings, or to export your store settings as a JSON file you can upload to another site.
Templates
For developers: EDD follows the standard WordPress template convention. Core templates live in the plugin’s templates folder and can be copied into an edd_templates folder in your active theme, where your customized versions take priority.
Miscellaneous
- Default styles can be disabled with a settings switch, making it easier to apply custom styles
- EDD has flexible national, international, and local tax settings
- Test Mode lets you safely process orders without moving real money
- EDD Pro plans include an extensive library of features
Easy Digital Downloads Server Requirements
See the current server requirements and hosting recommendations for the recommended PHP, WordPress, and database versions.
Note: we recommend you test all updates on a staging site before applying them to your live site.
