Customer Options

Customer Options controls how visitors interact with your DecoNetwork website based on their login status, including whether they can register, whether they must log in before browsing, and whether prices and cart access are visible to anyone who hasn't signed in. The settings you configure here become the default for every affiliate web store in your network, so they continue to shape the browsing and checkout experience across all your stores unless an individual affiliate overrides them in Store Configuration.

In This Article

• Prerequisites
• Why use this feature?
• Step 1: Open Customer Options
• Step 2: Configure registration settings
• Step 3: Configure login requirements
• Step 4: Save your changes
• Best Practices
• Troubleshooting
• FAQs
• Additional Resources

Prerequisites

Why use this feature?

Customer Options sets the baseline rules for how anyone browsing your website interacts with it before and after they log in. Instead of configuring the same login, registration, and pricing visibility rules separately for every affiliate store, you set them once here and the system applies them as the default across your whole network.

These settings matter because they determine what happens later in the customer journey. Whether registration is open or restricted affects how customer accounts are created and maintained. Whether login is required before browsing, adding to cart, or seeing prices determines exactly when in the workflow a visitor needs to authenticate, which in turn affects checkout progression and how early you can start communicating with a known customer.

• Keep pricing private to registered or approved customers, which suits wholesale and B2B stores
• Reduce spam and fake accounts with reCaptcha on registration
• Set a consistent experience across all affiliate stores without configuring each one individually
• Control exactly when a visitor must log in, whether that's before browsing, before adding to cart, or before checkout

Step 1: Open Customer Options

1. Log in to your DecoNetwork Admin.

2. Go to Admin → Websites and select Customer Options.

   

   

   Navigate to Customer Options from the Websites menu.

   The Customer Options page opens, showing the registration and login settings that apply as the default for all affiliate web stores.

   

   The Customer Options page, where registration and login settings are configured.

Step 2: Configure registration settings

1. On the Customer Options page, configure how new customers can create accounts.

   

   The Customer Options settings you can configure.

   • Enable Allow customers to register online to let customers create accounts and save their details for faster checkout.
     • Enable Force reCaptcha on registration to verify that new registrations are coming from real visitors rather than bots.
   • Enable Customers must use a unique email when registering so each customer account is tied to one email address.

Once saved, these settings are retained and applied every time a customer registers, so new accounts created afterward automatically follow the rules you've set here.

Step 3: Configure login requirements

1. Still on the Customer Options page, configure whether and when customers must be logged in.

   • Enable Customers must be logged in to view the website to hide products and pricing from anyone who hasn't logged in. Once enabled, two login method options become available.

     

     The login method options shown when "Customers must be logged in to view the website" is enabled.

     • Select Customer logs in using their own username/password to let customers log in with their individual accounts. The Login page is displayed as soon as a customer first visits the website.

     • Select Customers can login using a generic password to use a single password shared by all visitors instead of individual accounts. Enter the password to use, then share it with your customers so they can access the website. The Private Login page is displayed as soon as a customer first visits the website, before they can see anything else.

       

       The Private Login page a customer sees first when site-wide login is required.

       Warning: Enabling Customers must be logged in to view the website hides your entire storefront from anonymous visitors, including search engines and potential customers who haven't registered yet. Confirm this matches your business model before turning it on network-wide.
   • Enable Customers must be logged in to add items to cart to restrict cart access to logged-in customers.
   • Enable Customers must be logged in to see prices to keep pricing hidden until a customer logs in, even if cart access remain open.

Step 4: Save your changes

1. Click Save.

Your settings are applied immediately as the default across all affiliate web stores that haven't been individually configured in Store Configuration. Browse your site in a private or incognito window as a guest to confirm the experience matches what you expect.

Best Practices

• Test each setting from a private or incognito browser window as a guest visitor to confirm the actual customer experience before considering the change complete.
• Decide your login and pricing visibility policy once at the network level, then only override individual affiliate stores in Store Configuration when their business model genuinely differs.
• Keep reCaptcha enabled on registration to reduce spam accounts, which keeps downstream customer communication and reporting accurate.
• If you require login to add items to cart, make sure the registration process is quick and easy to find, since it now happens earlier in the purchase workflow.

Troubleshooting

Problem: Customers say they can't see any products on the site.
Cause: Customers must be logged in to view the website is enabled network-wide.
Solution: Confirm this is intended for your business model. If it isn't, disable the setting, or direct customers to register or log in before browsing.

Problem: A specific affiliate store isn't using the settings configured here.
Cause: That affiliate store has its own Customer Options configured in Store Configuration, which overrides the network default.
Solution: Open Store Configuration for that affiliate store and adjust its settings directly.

Problem: The site is receiving a high number of spam or fake registrations.
Cause: Enable reCaptcha on registration is turned off.
Solution: Enable reCaptcha on registration and save your changes.

Problem: Customers can add items to their cart but can't see prices.
Cause: Customers must be logged in to see prices is enabled while Customers must be logged in to add items to cart is not, which is an expected, independent combination.
Solution: Enable both settings together for a fully gated experience, or leave them as-is if hiding prices only, while still allowing cart access, is the intended behavior.

FAQs

Does this setting apply to every affiliate store automatically?
Yes. Customer Options sets the default for all affiliate web stores. Any affiliate store with its own configuration in Store Configuration uses its own settings instead.

What's the difference between individual and generic password login?
Individual login gives each customer their own username and password. Generic login uses a single shared password that gates the whole site without creating individual customer accounts.

Will requiring login to view the site affect search engine visibility?
Yes. If customers must log in before viewing any page, search engines can't index your product pages, which reduces organic discoverability. Weigh this against the benefit of keeping pricing and products private.

Can customers add items to cart without logging in but still not see prices?
Yes. The cart and pricing login requirements are independent settings, so you can enable one without the other.

Does this affect guest checkout?
It can. If login is required to view the site, add to cart, or see prices, guests won't be able to reach checkout without registering or logging in first. See the Additional Resources below for more on guest checkout.

Additional Resources

• Checkout Options
• Store Customer Options
• Customer Registration
• Can I enable guest checkout in my DecoNetwork store?