Configuring a Download Product

1. Configure the Variant for download: To enable the download feature on a Variant, set the Is Download option to Yes.
2. Limit access to a number of days: You can optionally set Download is Valid for Number of Days to limit the number of days the customer has access to the download. If you leave this field blank, the download will be available to the customer indefinitely. When the number of days has been exceeded, the download will show up in their Expired tab on the downloads page and they will no longer have access to download the file.
3. Set a download location: The download location can be a location on your web server, such as /mydownloads/downloadname.mp4 or a location on an external website such as http://mystore.com/somefile.pdf. 
   
   You can optionally leave the download location blank and set the download location manually after the order has been placed. The download will remain in a pending state until you specify the location and release it on the order in the admin console. If you have the Download.ReleaseOnAction Setting set to anything other than manual, you will be sent a notification that the download item was not released and needs the file location specified.

Configuration Options

• Release of the download item: Download items have three states that are visible to the customer on the https://yourstorename.com/downloads.aspx page: Available, Pending & Expired. Before an item is released, it shows up in the Pending tab of the page, so the customer can see that their order went through but their download is in a pending state. Once it is released, it shows up in their Available tab and they are able to download the item. They also receive an email when their download item is released.
  
  You have three options for how a download will be released and it can be configured via the Setting Download.ReleaseOnAction: Valid configurations are (MANUAL, CAPTURE, AUTO). MANUAL will require admin to release on the order page. CAPTURE will release on payment capture status. AUTO will release the download without any requirements.
  
  If the configuration is set to CAPTURE and the payment type is not a credit card, the download will be placed in the Pending status and will need to be released manually on the order after payment is received.
  
  
• Streaming Download Files: The Setting Download.StreamFile (Yes/No) - If Yes, the file will be streamed and delivered on a button click instead of providing a URL to the file location. Otherwise, a link to the file will be displayed.
  
  If this configuration is set to No and links are displayed, there is nothing keeping customers from sharing the link with others. The advantage for the configuration being set to Yes and streaming the files instead, is that customers must log into a secure page to download their file. That means the link to the file on the server cannot be shared with others and is not exposed to the customer. This should be considered before setting this configuration to No.
  
  
• Optionally copy files for each order: The Setting Download.CopyFileForEachOrder (Yes/No) – If Yes, the software will create a separate copy of each file that is purchased in a subfolder of {root}/orderdownloads. This copy will be completed when the order is released, and the path/name of the file will be stored in the Orders_ShoppingCart table at that time.
  
  If the configuration is set to copy the file (Setting: Download.CopyFileForEachOrder) and the file is not hosted on a different server for the website, the copying logic will be performed.
  
  This feature can quickly use up disk space on a web server if files being copied are large. This should be considered before enabling this feature.
  
  
• Related Products on the Downloads page: The Setting Download.ShowRelatedProducts - If Yes, the product downloads page will display related items based on the download items the customer has purchased. This configuration will honor the DynamicRelatedProducts.Enabled Setting.

Topics

• Downloads.Information: Edit to display content and information for your customers on the download page.
• Download.EmailHeader: Edit to display content at the top of the email notification that gets sent to the customer when the download is released.
• Download.EmailFooter: Edit to display content at the bottom of the email notification that gets sent to the customer when the download is released.
• Download.MobilePageContent: Edit to change the message the customer sees when they attempt to access the downloads page from a mobile device.

Releasing Downloads in the Admin Console

Download items after the order is placed