Store builds and migrations for a research-only business

Three starting points, three different jobs

A store that does not exist yet, a build another developer started and did not finish, and a working store that has to move to a new site or platform are different projects. Each starts from different facts, and each puts different things at risk.

A new build starts from what you will supply: finished branding and product images, or a request for design as part of the scope, plus the catalog and the pages the store needs. An unfinished build starts from what already exists and who can sign in to it. A move starts from the live store: its catalog, its orders, its domain, its checkout, and the payment arrangement it runs on today.

Name the one you have. If more than one applies, such as finishing a build and then moving it to a new domain, say so, so the scope covers both instead of treating them as one task.

What Prism does in a build

Prism builds research-only storefronts on WooCommerce. Depending on the build option agreed, the store is built from finished branding and product images you supply, or design is included in the scope. The pages and features are listed in the written scope, so the finished store can be checked against that list.

The checkout is installed for the payment arrangement your provider has approved, as a hosted or embedded checkout where Prism supports the platform and that arrangement. Installing a checkout does not make the provider approve the business or change the provider's terms.

Taking over an unfinished build

Prism takes over an unfinished build once the business's own access to its accounts is confirmed. On a single-site WordPress install, an Administrator can manage users, plugins, themes, and settings. A contractor who holds that role can change the store, but the role does not show that the contractor's email address belongs to the business. A WooCommerce REST API key belongs to a WordPress user and can be revoked in the store. The payment account is a separate login: the WooCommerce Stripe extension, for example, connects a Stripe.com account, and questions about that account go to Stripe.

If nobody at the business can sign in to an account, Prism does not recover it or work around the lockout. Use the recovery process published by the host, the registrar, or the payment provider for an account the business legitimately owns, and treat the takeover as waiting on that step.

Before quoting the remaining work, Prism examines what was built: the theme, the extensions, the catalog, and the checkout. WooCommerce's system status report lists the theme, template overrides, plugins, and the checkout page separately. A failure confined to checkout is a smaller job than one that runs through the theme or the catalog, so the quote names what it expects to find instead of assuming the unfinished parts work.

Moving a store

A move is planned against a release list: the domain, the catalog, the destination checkout, the payment arrangement, the order emails, and the connection to shipping or fulfillment. Each item is confirmed on the destination, or recorded as open, before customers are sent there. Prism carries out the items in the agreed scope, and the scope says which items stay with you, your provider, or another vendor.

WooCommerce can export and import product data as CSV. That file covers product fields, not payment credentials or user accounts, and a finished import does not mean the destination can take payment. If the current provider is Stripe, Stripe transfers stored card data only to another PCI DSS Level 1 processor through its own process, Link credentials are excluded, and the export does not include payment history. For any other provider, ask that provider in writing whether stored credentials can move.

WooCommerce sends particular emails when order statuses change, so the destination's order emails are their own item on the list. WooCommerce documents a test order as a way to test a checkout, and a test order through the approved payment setup on the destination is the release check. The provider decides whether the destination domain and catalog may use the payment account.

What the written scope names, and what it does not promise

Every build, finished build, or move is agreed as a written scope before work begins. It names the pages and features, what you supply, the delivery period, and the included revision rounds. Hosting, support, and license terms are stated in writing before you decide, and fees are agreed in the same conversation. This page does not publish prices.

Not every build option is available at once. Availability and start dates are confirmed in the consultation, not on this page.

A built, finished, or moved store is not a processing approval. The payment provider decides eligibility and account terms. Prism does not promise uninterrupted checkout during a move.

In the consultation request, give the current store address or say the store is pre-launch, the platform, what is unfinished, and any date that matters.

Store project brief

Fill this from your own records before you write the consultation request. Leave a row blank when you do not know the answer.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.