---
title: 'Getting started: Basic setup | Shopware Community Hub'
description: >-
Get started with Shopware 6 by understanding the essential building blocks of
ecommerce and how they are integrated into the Shopware administration.
canonical_url: 'https://hub.shopware.com/learn/unit/user-getting-started'
---
# Getting started: Basic setup
- Understand the fundamental building blocks of an online shop and their roles.
- Navigate and identify key areas in the Shopware administration interface.
- Recognize how ecommerce components like products, orders, customers, and marketing map to Shopware modules.
- Learn to access and use essential administration tools, including menu navigation, search, notifications, and help.
- Set up the default storefront sales channel for product assignments.
- Apply useful browser tips to improve efficiency when working in the Shopware administration.
- Gain awareness of how extensions and settings enhance and customize your Shopware installation.
- Prepare for practical application by understanding the initial setup for a new online shop scenario.
# Getting started: Basic setup
In this learning unit, we will first provide an overview of the fundamental building blocks of ecommerce. Understanding these components is crucial as they form the foundation of any online retail operation. We will then explore how these foundational elements are reflected in the Shopware administration interface.
Then, we will cover some useful navigation, browser tips, and suggested settings. Following this, we will examine the possibilities for extending your Shopware installation to best suit your needs.
So, let's roll into the details.
## Building blocks of your online shop
To establish a successful online shop, it's essential to understand the fundamental components that make up your ecommerce platform.
In a nutshell:
> Your **products** are ordered by **customers** through a smooth **checkout** process. An engaging **shopping experience**, and effective **marketing** drive sales. Reliable **payment** options, **shipping methods**, and **inventory management** support operations. **Analytics** help track performance, and **extensions** ensure scalability and efficiency.
Prepare to recognize these components right in front of you.
## The administration
Let's now dive into the administration interface by accessing your Shopware Learning Environment (or chosen alternative). Please open the administration with your individual access data.
The Shopware Administration supports working with multiple tabs at the same time. Each open tab displays its own icon, making it easy to identify which section or record is currently open. This helps you switch between tasks more efficiently during your daily work.
> **Note:** The Shopware Administration communicates with the Shopware Core through the API. This means that almost every action you perform in the Administration such as creating products, categories, or orders, can also be carried out by external systems like ERP, PIM, or other integrations. Throughout this learning path, we use the Administration to demonstrate the core concepts and features.
### Administration interface overview
The Shopware administration interface is designed to be most user-friendly and intuitive. Here's a breakdown of its main components:
- **Menu on the left side**: The main navigation menu is on the interface's left side. This menu is organized into several categories (from top to bottom):
- **Navigation items**: The menu includes items for Dashboard, Catalogues, Orders, Customers, Content, Marketing, Extensions and Settings. Hover over a menu item to view its sub-items, or click on it to expand and access additional options.
- **Sales channels**: Below the main navigation items, you will find a list of your sales channels. This offers the possibility of connecting different sales channels via a shop system. This can be a classic storefront. However, it is also possible to transfer data to comparison portals (e.g.,billiger.de or Google Shopping) or integrate social shopping (e.g., Instagram).
- **Collapse menu**: The whole menu can be collapsed to save screen space.
- **Profile**: You will also find profile settings here, where you can adjust your user interface language, update your password, and configure other personal preferences, and log out.
- **Central search**: Located prominently on top, the central search function lets you quickly locate products, categories, customers, orders, media, or other functionalities within the administration interface.
- **Notification center**: Positioned at the top right, the notification center provides updates and alerts related to your shop's activity, system messages, and other important information.
- **Help**: The question mark icon on the right provides useful links to documentation and support. You can also create and copy an access link that is handy in the support process, letting externals enter your administration without the hassle of sharing passwords.
## Recognize the building blocks of ecommerce in your installation
Let's now identify the building blocks of ecommerce in the Shopware administration and cover the modules in a nutshell. We will get into each and every module in detail in this and the following courses!
- **Dashboard** is your entry view. Here, you will find useful information and statistics about your shop.
- **Catalogues** form the core of your store, encompassing several critical elements, including
- **Products** module allows you to view all products and add new ones. Products are fundamental to every online store, acting as the primary items that customers purchase.
- **Reviews** submitted through the Storefront, offers valuable customer feedback and insights.
- **Categories** module enables you to manage your store's category structure, which is essential for organizing your shop. Essentially, it helps structure your shop's top and footer navigation.
- **Dynamic product groups:** This functionality allows you to create dynamic rules for grouping products, which can be used for product listing pages or explicit landing pages with ecommerce components.
- **Properties**: Depending on your needs, you can define various properties for your products, such as colors, sizes, materials, and ingredients. This flexibility ensures that your product catalog accurately represents your offerings.
- **Manufacturers**: This section provides the ability to create new manufacturers. Manufacturers can be crucial for how products are presented and filtered within your catalog, allowing products to be associated with specific manufacturers.
- The **Orders** section lets you get an overview of incoming orders. This aspect will be explored in greater detail later in the course, providing a comprehensive understanding of order management.
- The **Customers** section provides a comprehensive overview of your customers. It also includes tools for managing PayPal disputes, as PayPal is preinstalled as a payment method in your system.
- The **Content** section is where you craft the shopping experiences for your customers.
- The **Shopping Experiences** module provides is the visual and structural design for your Storefront. Using a drag-and-drop interface, you can create layouts for landing pages, category listing pages, product detail pages, and static content pages. These layouts combine text, images, products, and interactive ecommerce elements to enhance the customer journey and brand storytelling.
- In the **Themes** section, you configure the look and feel of your Storefront. This customization helps create and reinforce brand awareness, ensuring that the visual aspects of your store align with your brand identity.
- The **Media** area serves as the library for all assets used throughout your shop images, videos, documents, and other media files. Media management includes uploading, organizing, categorizing, and reusing assets across product pages, shopping experiences, categories, and marketing materials.
- The **Marketing** section is dedicated to administering newsletters and promotions for your products. This area helps you manage marketing efforts to enhance your store's visibility and attract more customers.
- You can view and manage all contacts subscribed to your **newsletters**. You can see subscription statuses, organize recipients into groups, and ensure compliance with double opt-in requirements. This module supports you in maintaining a healthy, targeted list for your campaigns.
- The **Promotions** module allows you to create discount campaigns and promotional rules, such as percentage discounts, fixed-amount reductions, or “buy X get Y” offers. You can define eligibility, time periods, usage limits, and conditions to craft effective marketing incentives that drive conversions.
- The **Extensions** section manages free and paid extensions, whether sourced from the Shopware Store or custom-built. This functionality allows you to extend and tailor your installation to suit your business requirements.
- Within the **Store** area, you can browse, search, and purchase extensions directly from the Shopware ecosystem. These extensions can add functionality, integrate with services, or enhance your workflows ranging from payment providers to SEO tools to design features.
- The **My Extensions** area lists all extensions already installed in your system. You can manage updates, activate or deactivate extensions, configure their settings, and install new apps or plugins that you have purchased or uploaded manually.
- The **Settings** section is crucial for tailoring your online store to meet your needs. This area encompasses a variety of configuration options, including shop settings, system settings, extension settings, and account settings. Shopware's extensive configurability allows you to adapt every aspect of your store to suit your unique business requirements, providing a high degree of flexibility.
Understanding and effectively utilizing these building blocks will help you create a robust and successful online store tailored to your business needs.
Let's reiterate the building blocks of your online shop and link to the navigation items you were just introduced to:
> Your **products** (-> **Catalogues**) are **ordered** (-> **Orders**) by **customers** (-> **Customers**) through a smooth **checkout** (-> **Orders**) process. An engaging **shopping experience** (-> **Content**), **branded theme** (-> **Content**), and effective **marketing** (-> **Marketing**) drive sales. Reliable **payment** (-> **Settings**) options, **shipping methods** (-> **Settings**), and **inventory management** (-> **Settings**) support operations. **Analytics** (-> **Dashboard**) help track performance, and **extensions** (-> **Extensions**) ensure scalability and efficiency.
It's important to note that extensions you install may introduce additional navigation items within the **Settings** section. This means that as you customize your store with different extensions, you may encounter new settings and options to manage.
In the upcoming units and courses, we will explore these settings in detail, ensuring you gain a comprehensive understanding of how to configure your store effectively. For a complete and detailed description of all settings items, refer to the [Shopware documentation on configuration](https://docs.shopware.com/en/shopware-6-en/configuration).
Now, we have set up a shop, say Strum & Co. This is a boutique online store specializing in guitars, accessories, and music gear. Founded by passionate musicians, the brand aims to offer high-quality instruments, expert recommendations, and a seamless shopping experience for beginners and professionals alike.
As the owner of Strum & Co., you are launching the business from scratch and must make key decisions on structuring your online shop. Your journey will cover everything from setting up product catalogues and pricing to managing taxes, shipping, and customer engagement.
Throughout this course, you will apply ecommerce best practices to establish a fully functional online store, ensuring that Strum & Co. is competitive in the music retail industry. Each module will focus on a crucial aspect of online business operations, helping you build a robust and scalable ecommerce platform.
### Default sales channel
In this course, we will focus primarily on the **storefront sales channel**. Each demo instance already includes a **storefront sales channel**, which might have a different name.
To streamline our workflow and ensure consistency, it's important to set the Storefront as the default sales channel for all newly created products. Here's how you can do that:
- Under **Sales Channels**, select **Storefront**. Rename as **Strum & Co**.
- Next go to the **Settings** section -> **Products (under Commerce)**.
- At the top, you will see an option to choose the default sales channel. Select **Strum & Co.** from this dropdown menu.
By setting this as your default sales channel, you ensure that all new products are automatically assigned to this channel, aligning with the focus of our course and simplifying the product management process. In the next course, we'll explore the [extended possibilities of the sales channel](/learn/unit/user-sales-channels), but for now, this is everything you need.
To explore your ecommerce platform effectively, set up three browser tabs: **Shopware administration**, **Storefront**, and **Learning tab**. This setup lets you seamlessly switch between interfaces, making it easier to see how administrative changes impact the customer experience.
## Useful tips and settings
Efficient navigation within your ecommerce platform can significantly enhance your productivity - utilize browser functionalities to make your work even smoother:
- **Open modules in new tabs**: To streamline your workflow, take advantage of your browser's ability to open links in new tabs or windows. This allows you to view multiple modules simultaneously. For instance, you might need to compare information between the **Products** and **Orders** sections. You can easily switch between these views without losing your place by using the "open in new tab" or "open in new window" options.
- **Use the "Go Back" button**: Like other web applications, use your browser's "go back" feature to return to previous pages within your ecommerce platform. This can be particularly useful if you navigate away from a page and need to return to your previous location quickly.
- **Share URLs**: You can use the URL in your browser's address bar to share specific pages or modules. This can be helpful for collaborative tasks or for directing team members to particular platform sections.
By leveraging these browser functionalities, you can manage your ecommerce tasks more efficiently and ensure a smoother navigation experience.
## Final thoughts
In the upcoming courses, we will work practically with your shop environment.