Improving the Functionality of a WordPress-based E-Commerce Platform for Simbiotic Digital

Simbiotic Digital, the team behind Amedia Social, approached me with a couple of critical issues affecting their WooCommerce-based platform. Their site, designed to provide safe and effective ways to boost social media performance and online reputation, had been running into functional roadblocks that hindered their core operations. My role was to diagnose and resolve these challenges to ensure a seamless experience for their customers.

The first issue revolved around their shopping cart functionality. Users were experiencing incorrect total calculations whenever they selected product variations. After diving into the codebase, I discovered that the problem stemmed from a JavaScript script responsible for dynamically calculating the cart totals. However, the recent update to their WooCommerce plugin had altered the DOM structure of the cart page, leaving the script outdated and unable to function as intended. By analyzing the new structure and rewriting the script accordingly, I was able to restore accurate pricing calculations, ensuring that users could confidently proceed with their purchases.

The second challenge focused on payment failure messaging. When customers attempted to pay with their cards and the transaction failed, the error messages provided by the system were vague and unhelpful, leading to frustration and confusion. To address this, I implemented a solution using WooCommerce's 'woocommerce_add_error hook'. I created a function to replace the default error messages with more descriptive and user-friendly explanations. This adjustment gave customers a clear understanding of what went wrong and how to resolve the issue, greatly improving the user experience.

By resolving these two key issues, I was able to enhance the platform’s functionality and usability. Accurate cart calculations ensured that the shopping experience was reliable and transparent, while clearer error messaging contributed to smoother customer interactions. It was fulfilling to work alongside Simbiotic Digital to tackle these challenges, delivering solutions that directly improved their platform and helped maintain the trust of their growing customer base.