How to create downloadable products

A downloadable product is used to grant access to a file or page on your site. For example, a site that sells e-books will need to grant access to PDFs for customers who purchased the product. There are two ways to accomplish this.

Using Link Obscurity

The easiest way is to attach a file on your site to the variant. This is a quick and easy way to provide downloadable file. However, anyone who gets hold of the URL, will be able to download your file.

1. From the Storefront administration Catalog > Products, create your new product as usual. See How to create a simple product for more information.
2. Edit the variant details. Under the Resource tab, assign the Download file to an existing file on your site or upload a new file. Click Save.

Using Secure Folder

Your site is capable of securing file access by folder. This means you can upload your file to special secure folders and only grant the user access by a special role. Even if the URL is discovered, the user cannot download the file without permission.

1. From the persona bar, open the Manage > Roles page, click Create New Role. Give it a name (e.g. "Paid Customers") and click Save.
2. From the persona bar, open the Manage > Site Assets page. Start by creating a new folder. Give it a name (e.g. "Private") and choose Folder Type = "Secure" and click Save. Right mouse click the View Properties on the newly created folder. Under the Permissions tab, allow access to your newly created role (e.g. "Paid Customers") and remove access for other non-administrative roles. Click Save.
3. Log in as host (superuser) of the site. From the Storefront administration, open the Configuration > Security settings page, select the Allowed roles to include your newly created role. Click Save. You only need to perform this step once. This is a security feature to prevent employees from creating products and granting themselves higher privilege roles on your site.
4. From the Storefront administration Catalog > Products page, create your new product as usual. See How to create a simple product for more information.
5. Edit the variant details. Under the Resource tab, assign the Download file to an existing file or upload a new file under the secure folder you created (e.g. "Private" folder).
6. Under the variant's Action tab, set the Place order action rule to "Basic" and click Add new. Select "Grant role" and choose the newly created role (e.g. "Paid Customers"). Click Save. Now when the customers buy this product, they will be granted the role allowing them the permission to download the file located in the secure folder.