Deploy WooCommerce with DeployHQ

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress installation with WooCommerce
• SSH or SFTP access to your server
• A Git repository for your theme or plugin
• A DeployHQ account

Deploying WooCommerce Projects

WooCommerce is the world's most popular e-commerce platform, powering over 5 million stores. Deployment typically involves custom themes, child themes, or custom plugins — not the entire WordPress installation.

Important: Never put all of WordPress in Git. Deploy only your custom code (theme or plugin), and manage WordPress core and WooCommerce updates separately via WP-CLI or the admin dashboard.

What to Deploy

Option A: Custom Theme / Child Theme

my-woo-theme/
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   ├── js/
│   └── images/
├── src/                    # Source files (SCSS, ES6)
│   ├── scss/
│   └── js/
├── template-parts/
│   ├── content-product.php
│   └── content-cart.php
├── woocommerce/            # WooCommerce template overrides
│   ├── single-product.php
│   ├── cart/
│   └── checkout/
├── functions.php
├── style.css
├── package.json
└── webpack.config.js

Deployment path: /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/my-woo-theme/

Option B: Custom Plugin

my-woo-plugin/
├── includes/
├── assets/
├── templates/
├── my-woo-plugin.php
├── composer.json
└── package.json

Deployment path: /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/my-woo-plugin/

Build Pipeline

Most WooCommerce themes compile assets (SCSS → CSS, ES6 → bundled JS):

Build command: bash cd %path% && npm ci && npm run build

If using Composer for PHP dependencies: bash cd %path% && composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader && npm ci && npm run build

Deploy with DeployHQ

1. Create a project and connect your Git repository
2. Add your server (SSH/SFTP)
3. Set Deployment Path to:
   • Theme: /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/my-woo-theme/
   • Plugin: /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/my-woo-plugin/
4. Configure build commands
5. Add Post-Deployment SSH Command (optional): bash cd /var/www/html && wp cache flush && wp rewrite flush
6. Push and deploy

Shared Paths

If your theme generates cache files or has an uploads directory, configure as shared paths to persist across deployments.

WooCommerce Template Overrides

WooCommerce templates can be overridden by placing them in yourtheme/woocommerce/. When WooCommerce updates, check if your overridden templates need updating:

wp wc template-check

Include template version comments in your overrides so WooCommerce warns about outdated templates in the admin.

Staging Workflow

Use a staging copy of your WordPress installation with a separate database for testing.

Troubleshooting

File Permissions After Deployment

WordPress expects specific permissions. Add a post-deploy command: bash cd /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/my-woo-theme && find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \; && find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Caching Plugin Conflicts

Object caching plugins (Redis, Memcached) may serve stale content after deployment. Flush caches post-deploy: bash wp cache flush

Page caching plugins (WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache) may also need purging: bash wp w3-total-cache flush all

Database Migrations

WooCommerce handles its own database migrations on update. If your plugin includes custom database tables, use WordPress's dbDelta() function on activation and run it via WP-CLI post-deploy if needed.

Conclusion

Deploy your WooCommerce customisations with confidence — themes, plugins, and template overrides — while keeping WordPress core and WooCommerce updates managed separately.

Sign up for DeployHQ — free for one project.

Questions? Contact support@deployhq.com or on Twitter/X.