A SpringBoard Overview: Your First Steps

This article provides you with an introduction to SpringBoard, FastSpring’s e-commerce platform, and will help you take the first steps in establishing a successful online business. These steps apply to all stores, including those using recurring billing for subscription services. This article will show you the six simple steps that are required to launch your e-commerce store with FastSpring. FastSpring's SpringBoard is highly customizable and can be configured in many different ways in order to meet your diverse needs.

Step 1: Creating Products

When you log in to your SpringBoard account for the first time, a sample product will already be set up for you. By reviewing the product entry we have started, you will get the feel for the minimum information required for you to set up additional products. You should set up each of your products in SpringBoard with a detailed name, description, image, and price. For more detailed information, see Adding Products.

Step 2: Setting Up Fulfillment Actions

For each product, you are required to set up Fulfillment Actions, which are steps needed to complete the order and deliver your product to your customers. The only required one is an email fulfillment, which will send an email to the customer which includes product delivery information. Many digital products will also need a file download fulfillment and a license fulfillment, which are the actions which must be fulfilled to complete the transaction with the customer. For more information about these and other types of fulfillments on digital products, see Adding Fulfillment Actions.

Step 3: Determine How you Want to Link to your FastSpring Store Products

FastSpring offers many different ways that you can link your website to your secure, hosted FastSpring order pages. Page linking options represent different order flows, designed to suit a variety of business needs. To see the different page linking options, go to SpringBoard's Store Home » Products and Pages » select a product » >View Additional Page Linking Options

Simply copy and paste the HTML code for one of the link options into the web page that will host the purchase button / link.

For more detailed information, see Page Linking Options.

Step 4: Run Test Orders

With so many options available to you when setting up your products, it is important to run tests to make sure the settings chosen work the way you expect. Testing is the best way to make sure that the user experience is what you want. It also is a way of confirming how SpringBoard notifies you of completed transactions.

To run a test order in SpringBoard, go to SpringBoard's Store Home » Store Testing and the tab Test Mode Links is selected. Click the product page linking type (see step 3) you will use to connect your website to your FastSpring store. Once you have run test orders within SpringBoard, you should run additional test orders outside of SpringBoard. These test orders should begin on your website, where you will click a Buy Now link for your product, and then you should continue through the FastSpring order process to complete the order.

For more detailed information, see Store Testing within SpringBoard and Store Testing Outside of SpringBoard.

Step 5: Sign FastSpring User Agreement

Whenever you log into your account (until you sign the user agreement), you will see a yellow banner at the top of your account that says “Click here...” To finalize the setup of your account so that your FastSpring store can be live, you must accept the FastSpring user agreement and set up your account. The terms of your agreement with FastSpring and payment preferences are set up during this process.

One important part of the user agreement is in regards to pricing. For more information on FastSpring's pricing, see https://fastspring.com/pricing.

Step 6: Activation

Although you will see a notice in the yellow banner at the top of your SpringBoard's Store Home while your store is in trial mode, your SpringBoard account is completely functional. You can set up products, set subscription and delivery information, and well as utilize all other available functions. This mode allows you to fully set up and test your setup to make sure everything works exactly as expected prior to launching your FastSpring store.

In order for us to activate your store, you will need to make sure you have specific product names and that you have set up Fulfillment actions on all active products. For example, we will not activate a store with a product named Silver Plan. A better product name is Test Company Silver Plan because it reduces chargebacks. Fulfillment actions explain to customers what they should expect to happen next, and how the product will be delivered. If your product is a digital download or contains a license, you will need to set up fulfillment actions to deliver these. If your product is subscription-based or account-based, your Email Fulfillment should at least contain information on how to access that account, a link to where a customer can access the account, and a support email where a customer can contact you in case they have any trouble accessing their account. If information is being sent from your end, the Email Fulfillment should also tell customers the email address from which they can expect to receive that information.

We will also review the location on your site where your products are featured and where you link to FastSpring. Once you are ready to launch your store, just let us know by opening a support ticket and we will activate your store. You will receive confirmation that your store is active and you will then be able to link to your store and / or product pages from your website.

Results in FastSpring Classic Documentation:

Important!