Overview of Multi-vendor

🌐 Language: 🇻🇳 Tiếng Việt · 🇬🇧 English (current)

Multi-Vendor — Part 1: Setup

Introduction

This document walks you through installing S-Cart 3.x, installing and enabling the Multi-Vendor plugin (free edition), adding the Pro edition if you bought it, creating your first shop and checking that the marketplace works. It is written for site owners or administrators with basic technical skills; follow the steps and it will run — no programming required. How the marketplace operates and what each setting means is covered in Part 2 — Operations.

Before you start

PHP 8.3 or newer, Composer, MySQL/MariaDB (SQLite only for a quick trial).
S-Cart 3.x with gp247/core 3.0 and gp247/shop installed (the plugin builds on shop products, carts and orders).
Multi-Store not installed on the same website — the two models are mutually exclusive.
Permission to run php artisan on the server, or use the admin-interface install method in Step 2.

Step 1: Install S-Cart 3.x

Skip this step if your S-Cart 3.x site is already running.

Open a Terminal ("Command Prompt" on Windows) in the folder where the website should live, type these two lines exactly and press Enter:
```
composer create-project gp247/s-cart website-folder
cd website-folder
```
If it succeeds, a website-folder directory appears with a ready-made .env file.

Open .env in a text editor and fix the database connection for your machine:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=s-cart
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

Generate the application key:
```
php artisan key:generate
```
Initialise S-Cart (tables, default data, admin account):
```
php artisan gp247:install
```
Answer the on-screen questions. If it succeeds, the command prints the admin URL and your login — save them.
(Optional) Load sample store data so you have products to test with:
```
php artisan gp247:shop-sample
```

Step 2: Install the Multi-Vendor plugin (free edition)

Pick one of three methods.

Method 1 — From the GP247 library (recommended)

Log into the admin → Extensions → Plugins.
Open the Library tab, find MultiVendor, click Install.

Method 2 — Import a zip file

Go to Extensions → Plugins → Import file tab.
Choose the plugin zip file and upload it.

Method 3 — Copy manually (when the first two fail)

Unzip and copy the source folder to app/GP247/Plugins/MultiVendor/.
Copy the plugin's public folder to public/GP247/Plugins/MultiVendor/.
Go to Extensions → Plugins → Stored locally tab, find MultiVendor, click Install.

If it succeeds, the plugin appears in the list with an Enable button. Details: Extension installation guide.

Step 3: Enable it and configure the marketplace

In the plugin list, click Enable on the MultiVendor row. A Marketplace menu appears in the admin sidebar.
Go to Marketplace → Quick config and set the basics:
- Commission rate (%) the marketplace keeps.
- Allow vendor registration — turn on if sellers should sign up themselves.
- Auto-approve vendors / Auto-approve products — turn off if you want to moderate manually.
Click Save. Every setting is explained in Part 2 — Operations.

On the free edition, Pro-only switches appear locked with a link to an explanation page — that is the correct state, not a bug. A locked switch always shows what is actually running, not a value saved earlier: if the site once ran Pro and then switched it off, those boxes read off and Vendor order actions reads Shipping status only, because that is what the free edition really applies. The value you saved is not lost: turn Pro back on and it comes back.

Step 4: Create your first shop

Option A — The admin creates it

Marketplace → Vendor stores → Add new: enter the shop code (letters and digits only, max 20 characters, e.g. vendor01), name, description → Save.
Marketplace → Vendor users → Add new: enter email, password, pick the shop you just created, status Active → Save.
Open https://your-domain/vendor_admin and sign in with that email/password. If it succeeds, you land on the shop dashboard.

Option B — The seller registers (once "Allow vendor registration" is on)

The seller opens https://your-domain/vendor_admin/register, fills in their details and a shop code.
If "Auto-approve vendors" is off, the shop stays pending; the admin opens Vendor stores and switches it on so the seller can sign in.

Sample data for a quick trial (test sites only):

php artisan gp247:vendor-sample

The command creates three sample shops, vendor01–vendor03. Each comes with a login account, a supplier, 3 own categories and 9 products spread 3 per category, so both the shop page and the category filter have something to show:

Shop page	Seller account	Password
`/shop/vendor01`	`[email protected]`	`123456`
`/shop/vendor02`	`[email protected]`	`123456`
`/shop/vendor03`	`[email protected]`	`123456`

Three shops is exactly the free edition's limit, so the sample data works on both editions. Running the command again replaces those sample shops rather than adding more, and never touches shops you created yourself. Change or delete these accounts before the site goes live.

The command also settles the Product Rating & Review plugin so the shop pages come with their Reviews tab: an installed plugin is left as it is (only switched on if it was off), and one that is not installed gets installed — from the plugin folder when the files are already on the site, otherwise downloaded from the plugin library. If the site cannot reach the internet, or your copy needs a license, the command still finishes seeding and simply prints the command to run afterwards. To leave other plugins alone entirely:

php artisan gp247:vendor-sample --skip-rating

Step 5: Check that the marketplace works

Open https://your-domain/shop/vendor01 — the shop page shows that seller's categories and products (empty if nothing is listed yet).
Sign in at /vendor_admin and create a product; if auto-approval is off, approve it in the S-Cart admin.
The most important test: buy products from two different shops in one cart and check out — the result must be two orders, one per shop.

Check system health:

php artisan gp247:info
php artisan gp247:doctor

Step 6 (optional): Add the Pro edition

Only do this if you bought the Pro edition. Pro installs on top of the free edition; it does not replace it.

Check that the MultiVendor row in the plugin list is installed and enabled. The Pro plugin declares the free edition as a required extension and refuses to install without it.
Install MultiVendorPro using any of the three methods from Step 2 (usually Import file with the zip GP247 delivered to you).
Click Enable. Installing without enabling means Pro is not active yet — this is the most common cause of "I installed it but still see the explanation page".
Run this command (or clear the cache in the admin) so Pro's routes are registered:
```
php artisan gp247:cache-rebuild
```
Reload the admin and check three signs that it unlocked:
- Marketplace menu → click any item labelled (Pro): it opens the real screen, not the explanation page.
- Quick config: the previously locked switches (quick order, seller order scope, identity verification, disputes, the extra emails) are now editable.
- Sign into a seller account at /vendor_admin: the sidebar now has the Pro items (Identity verification, My plan, Create order, Price groups, Reviews, Shop plugins).

Nothing is reinstalled and no data is migrated: shops, seller accounts, orders and the payout ledger stay as they are. Per-shop commission rates you set while on the free edition take effect immediately.

Turn on what you need — Pro enables nothing that could disturb your sellers:

Setting	Turn on when	Default
Quick order	You sell wholesale and customers order many lines at once	Off
Seller order scope	You want sellers to confirm or complete orders themselves	Confirm + ship
Require identity verification (KYC)	The marketplace must know who a seller is before they sell or get paid	Off
Dispute window / seller response days	You are opening a dispute desk for customers	14 days / 3 days
Extra emails	You want the system to notify sellers and the marketplace automatically	On
Seller-configurable plugins	You want sellers to set their own shipping fees or promotions	No plugin opened

If you disable or uninstall Pro: Pro screens revert to explanation pages and Pro switches return to the locked state, but data created by Pro is never deleted — verification files, disputes, plans and subscriptions, customer price groups and payout batch logs all remain; reinstall and they are all there. The free edition keeps running in both cases: the marketplace does not stop and no orders are lost.

Changing URLs (optional)

Add these to .env to change the default paths, then run php artisan gp247:cache-rebuild:

MULTIVENDOR_FRONT_PATH=shop
MULTIVENDOR_ADMIN_PATH=vendor_admin
PREFIX_QUICK_ORDER_VENDOR=quick-order
PREFIX_CATEGORY_VENDOR=category-vendor

Variable	Which URL it changes	Default
`MULTIVENDOR_FRONT_PATH`	Shop directory and customer-facing shop pages: `/shop`, `/shop/{code}`	`shop`
`MULTIVENDOR_ADMIN_PATH`	The seller admin area: `/vendor_admin`, including its login and registration pages	`vendor_admin`
`PREFIX_QUICK_ORDER_VENDOR`	Last segment of the quick-order page: `/shop/{code}/quick-order`	`quick-order`
`PREFIX_CATEGORY_VENDOR`	A shop's own category pages	`category-vendor`

Four things to note before changing them:

Do not clash with an existing path: the admin prefix (gp247_admin by default), the other variables in this table, or a storefront page/product slug. A clash makes one of the two pages unreachable.
Never use a name that is a real folder in public/ — currently vendor, storage and GP247. Real folders are served by the web server, so the request never reaches S-Cart and the page returns 403 Forbidden (or blank) no matter how it is configured. This is exactly why the default shop path is shop and not vendor. The symptom is easy to misread: individual shop pages /{path}/{code} still work and only the directory /{path} dies — and with the SEO language prefix on, the error is hidden entirely.
Old URLs will return 404. If the site is live and indexed by Google, set up 301 redirects from the old paths before changing them.
Write them without a leading or trailing /. On hosting without command-line access, delete bootstrap/cache/config.php (if present) instead of running gp247:cache-rebuild.

To change on-screen text, email content, shop page design or staff permissions, see Part 3 — Customization.

Conditions & Rules (know before you act)

At install time

The plugin refuses to install if Multi-Store is present — the two plugins share the store mechanism under different models; the installer stops immediately without writing anything. Uninstall Multi-Store first.
gp247/shop must be installed — the plugin builds on shop products, carts and orders.
Pro requires the free edition enabled — Pro is an extension, not a replacement; uninstall the free edition and Pro loses its foundation.
Installing without enabling does nothing — true for both editions.

When creating shops and seller accounts

Shop codes are unique, max 20 characters — the code becomes the /shop/{code} URL, so duplicates would be ambiguous.
Each seller account belongs to exactly one shop — permissions and data (orders, products) follow that shop.
A locked account or a closed shop cannot access the seller area — the system redirects to an "account not active" page; an admin must re-open it.
The free edition is limited to 3 shops — add the Pro edition for more.

When uninstalling

Uninstalling the free edition deletes seller accounts, shop categories and the payout ledger (S-Cart products and orders are untouched) — export anything you need first.
Uninstalling Pro loses no data — data created by Pro is never deleted; reinstall and it is all there.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to do
No Marketplace menu	Check the plugin is enabled (not just installed); run `php artisan gp247:cache-rebuild`
A (Pro) item still opens the explanation page	Check MultiVendorPro is enabled, then run `php artisan gp247:cache-rebuild`
Install reports a missing extension	Install and enable the free MultiVendor plugin first
Install reports a conflict	Multi-Store is installed — the two models are exclusive, uninstall it first
`/vendor_admin` says "account not active"	The admin must open both the seller account status and the shop status
Screens show raw keys instead of text	Open Quick config once (the plugin reseeds its language strings), or disable and re-enable the plugin
Sellers do not see Pro items in their area	Check the account and shop are open, and that the feature is enabled in Quick config
Write permission errors	Grant write access to `storage/` and `bootstrap/cache/`
Database connection errors	Re-check the `DB_*` lines in `.env`
You want the detailed error	Open `storage/logs/laravel.log`

Q&A

Q1: My site runs S-Cart 2.x or still uses the old sc:* commands — can I install this?

→ The plugin requires gp247/core 3.0. Upgrade S-Cart to 3.x first; the gp247:* commands replace the old sc:* ones.

Q2: What if I cannot run commands on my hosting?

→ Use Method 1 or Method 2 in Step 2 (install through the admin interface). The plugin needs neither cron nor a queue to run.

Q3: Where do sellers sign in, and where does the marketplace owner sign in?

→ Sellers: /vendor_admin. The owner: the normal S-Cart admin. The two areas are separate and accounts are not interchangeable.

Q4: Can I change /shop to another path?

→ Yes, set MULTIVENDOR_FRONT_PATH in .env and run php artisan gp247:cache-rebuild. Pick a name that is not a folder in public/ (avoid vendor, storage, GP247) — see the four notes above.

Q5: Must I uninstall the free edition before installing Pro?

→ No. Pro installs on top of the free edition and requires it to stay enabled.

Q6: Is data created on the free edition kept when I move to Pro?

→ All of it: shops, seller accounts, products, orders, the payout ledger, and per-shop commission rates.

Q7: Can the sample data be removed?

→ Delete the vendor01–vendor03 shops and their accounts by hand in Marketplace. Never run the sample command on a live site.

⬅️ Index · Part 2 — Operations ➡️

📅 Last updated: 2026-09-21 · ✍️ Author: GP247