Learn to master SokoDesk

Go to the registration page (register.php). Fill the form with your name, email, password, shop name and WhatsApp number. Click 'Create my account'. You are immediately logged into your dashboard with the Free plan (5 products, 10 customers, 10 orders/month). No credit card required.

After signup, go to Settings → Business. Fill: name, headline (one sentence describing your activity), description, city, WhatsApp number, hours. Add a logo (URL of a square image) and a cover (URL of a 1200×400 image). Click Save. Your shop is accessible at /shop/your-slug.

Logo is configured in Settings → Business → Logo URL. Use a square image (min 200×200px) hosted on your shop or an image service (Imgur, Cloudinary). JPG or PNG format. Avoid files over 500KB for fast loading. For colors, SokoDesk uses the official palette (#155e52 green, #d4a94f gold) — not currently customizable.

Your URL is /shop/your-slug. The slug is auto-generated from your shop name (e.g. 'Fatou Mode' → 'fatou-mode'). To change it: Settings → Business → Shop URL. Use only lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens. Maximum 60 characters. Once changed, the old URL stops working.

The Free plan is for life, no credit card. Paid plans offer more products and features. Subscription paid via SEBPay (MTN MoMo, Orange Money, Wave).

Dashboard → Products → 'Add'. Fill: name (required), description, price in FCFA (required), compare-at price (optional, to show a discount), SKU (internal reference), stock. Paste an image URL in 'Image URL'. Click 'Create'. The product immediately appears on your public shop.

When adding a product, you can create variants. Each variant has: a name (e.g. 'Size'), a value (e.g. 'M'), a price modifier (e.g. +1000 FCFA for XL), separate stock. The customer selects the variant on the shop, the price adjusts automatically. Useful for clothing, shoes, cosmetics.

This feature is planned but not yet available. In the meantime, you can add products one by one (about 1 minute per product). If you have more than 100 products to migrate, contact us on WhatsApp +237 691 562 759 — we will do the import for you free of charge.

Each product has a 'stock' field. When stock drops to 5 or less, the product appears in the 'Low stock' alert on your dashboard, and a WhatsApp notification is sent to you. To adjust stock: Dashboard → Stock → 'Adjust'. Enter +5 (restock) or -2 (damaged, lost) and the reason. The movement is logged.

If stock reaches 0, the product is automatically marked 'Out of stock' on the shop (red badge). The 'Order on WhatsApp' button stays active — the customer can ask when the product will be available. To completely hide a product: Dashboard → Products → Edit → uncheck 'Active' → Save. It disappears from the shop but stays in your database.

Dashboard → Orders → 'New order'. Fill: customer name, phone, product name, quantity, price. Select payment status (paid or not). If paid, choose method (cash, Mobile Money, card). Click 'Create'. The order gets a unique number (e.g. SD-1A2B3C-4D5E). Stock is automatically decremented.

Statuses are: Pending → Confirmed → Paid → Shipped → Delivered. To change: Order detail → corresponding button. Quick actions: 'Confirm', 'Mark paid', 'Delivered'. An order can also be canceled. Each change is logged in audit logs.

On the order Detail page, click 'Generate receipt'. A printable HTML page opens with your shop header, date, order number, item list, total. Click Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P on Mac) and choose 'Save as PDF'. You can send this PDF to your customer by WhatsApp or email.

On the Orders page or Order detail, click 'Confirm on WhatsApp'. SokoDesk opens WhatsApp with a pre-filled message: 'Hello [Name] 👋 Your order #[number] is confirmed. Total: [amount] FCFA. Balance due: [balance] FCFA. View your order: [URL]'. The customer receives a professional confirmation instantly.

To cancel: Order detail → status → 'Canceled'. Stock is automatically increased. To modify: Order detail → 'Edit' (pencil icon). You can change quantity, price, customer name, notes. Caution: modifying a paid order can create inconsistencies — prefer creating a credit note.

Dashboard → Customers → 'Add'. Fill: name (required), WhatsApp phone (required), email (optional), city (optional), notes (optional — e.g. 'prefers evening delivery', 'VIP customer'). The customer is created. When they order, their history fills automatically.

When an order is created without payment (or partial payment), SokoDesk automatically creates a debt. Dashboard → Debts: you see all open debts, with customer name, amount due, amount paid, balance, due date. Overdue debts are highlighted in red.

Automatic reminders require a cron job (see README.md). Once configured, SokoDesk sends an automatic WhatsApp message to customers with overdue debts: 'Hello [Name], your order #[number] has a balance of [amount] FCFA. You can pay via Mobile Money or cash on delivery.' The message is sent at 10am daily.

Dashboard → Debts → 'Mark settled'. The debt moves to 'settled' status and disappears from the open debts list. You can also add a partial payment via the Order detail page — the debt is updated proportionally.

Dashboard → Export → type = 'customers'. A CSV file downloads with: name, phone, email, city, order count, total spent, outstanding debts. Usable in Excel, Google Sheets, or for import into another tool.

Dashboard → Online store → 'Share on WhatsApp'. SokoDesk generates a message: '🛍️ Discover my shop: https://sokodesk.com/shop/your-slug'. Paste it in your WhatsApp status, Instagram bio, or send to your contacts. The link opens your shop with all your products.

Use a free service like qrexplore.com or qr-code-generator.com. Enter your shop URL (https://sokodesk.com/shop/your-slug). Download the PNG QR code. Print it on your flyers, business cards, packaging. Customers scan and land directly on your shop.

On Facebook Ads Manager, create a 'Traffic' campaign. Destination: your shop URL. Target: your city (Douala, Yaoundé...), interests (fashion, cosmetics, food). Budget: 5,000 FCFA/day to start. Create 3 different visuals. Test for 3 days. Keep the best. Each click sends a potential customer to your SokoDesk shop.

SokoDesk automatically generates: unique SEO title per page, meta description, hreflang FR/EN tags, JSON-LD schema (Organization, Store, Product). To improve: add detailed descriptions to your products (min 200 words), ask for customer reviews, publish blog articles. The more content your shop has, the better it ranks on Google.

4 KPIs at top: Revenue (total collected), Orders (total count), Customers (count), To collect (outstanding debts). '7-day revenue' chart shows your week's sales. 'Orders by status' breaks down your orders. 'Low stock' lists products to restock.

Displayed revenue is the sum of successful payments (status = success). Outstanding debts are NOT included in revenue — they appear in 'To collect'. When a customer pays a debt, the amount moves from 'To collect' to 'Revenue'. Payments are collected directly by you (Mobile Money, cash) with no platform fee on your sales.

Dashboard → Reports → 'Top 5 products'. SokoDesk counts sales per product over 30 days. Best-sellers are shown with their quantity sold and generated revenue. Use this info to: restock priority, feature on your WhatsApp status, raise price if demand is strong.

Dashboard → Export. 5 types: products, orders, customers, payments, reports. The CSV file downloads immediately. Use Excel or Google Sheets to analyze, create charts, or import into an accounting tool. Format: UTF-8, comma separator, internationally compatible.

Dashboard → Settings → Security → 'Change password'. Enter old and new (min 6 characters, recommended: 12+ with uppercase, number, symbol). The new password is hashed with Argon2id — impossible to reverse even by our administrators.

Dashboard → Team → 'Invite'. Enter email and role (Manager or Staff). The member receives an email invitation. Manager: manages products, orders, customers but not billing. Staff: sees orders, not finances. The Free plan allows no members — upgrade to Lite (2 members) minimum.

Dashboard → Subscription. Compare the 4 plans. Click 'Choose' on the desired plan. Select monthly or yearly (-17%). You are redirected to SEBPay. Pay by MTN MoMo, Orange Money or Wave. The SEBPay webhook immediately activates your new plan. You keep your data.

Dashboard → Subscription → 'Downgrade to Free'. Your plan switches to Free at the end of the paid period. Your data is preserved. If you exceed Free limits (5 products, 10 customers, 10 orders/month), you receive a notification. You can delete old products or upgrade again.

To export: Dashboard → Export → download all CSVs (products, orders, customers, payments). To delete your account: contact us on WhatsApp +237 691 562 759 or email contact@sokodesk.com with 'Account deletion [your email]' as subject. Your data is erased within 30 days, except legal obligations (fiscal logs kept for 10 years).