MirandaPlace Docs
Products – Types
MirandaPlace supports four commercial product types:
- Physical
- Digital Download
- Service
- Access
The product type determines the settings available in the editor and how the purchase is handled, including shipping, stock, downloadable files, and access to collections.
Select the type in the product editor under General Information → Product type.
Product Type and Category Mode
Product type and category mode have separate roles.
The product type describes what you offer. The category mode determines whether the item can be purchased online, displayed as a catalog entry, or presented as structured content.
- Ecommerce enables online purchasing.
- Catalog displays product information without online purchasing.
- Content (CCK) provides an editorial profile with commercial functions inactive.
CCK is not a fifth product type. To create structured content, assign the item to a CCK category.
Type Comparison
The following table describes purchasing behaviour in Ecommerce mode.
Feature | Physical | Digital Download | Service | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Main purpose | Tangible goods | Downloadable files | A service or activity | Access to download collections |
Customer account | Optional when guest checkout is enabled | Required | Required | Required |
Physical shipping | Applicable | Not required | Not required | Not required |
Stock management | Supported | Not used | Not used | Not used |
Direct purchased-file downloads | Not provided by this type | Supported | Not provided | Uses collection access |
Access to download collections | No | No | No | Yes |
Single-quantity purchase | Not enforced by type | Not enforced by type | Not enforced by type | Yes |
Use Physical for tangible goods, such as clothing, footwear, furniture, electronics, or packaged food.
Physical products support shipping and stock management. Where required, attributes and variants can describe purchasable combinations such as size and colour.
Main Settings
Depending on the product, configure:
- price and applicable tax settings;
- SKU and other product identifiers;
- availability and purchase quantities;
- stock management;
- shipping weight and dimensions;
- attributes and variants;
- descriptions, images, and specific fields.
Stock control depends on the store and product configuration. Choosing Physical does not, by itself, enable stock tracking.
Customer Account
Physical products can be purchased through guest checkout when it is enabled in Store Config and the cart contains no items requiring an account.
Registered customers can also purchase physical products through their accounts.
Catalog Use
Physical products can also be used in Catalog categories. Their product information remains available, while online purchasing is disabled.
See Products – Prices, Options & Stock for detailed configuration.
Use Digital Download when the customer purchases downloadable files.
Examples include:
- PDF documents and guides;
- software packages;
- downloadable templates;
- other digital resources delivered as files.
How Delivery Works
Associate the files with the product and configure the applicable download conditions.
When the order reaches the stage that grants download rights, the customer accesses the purchased files through the order in their customer account.
Files are served through protected download actions rather than exposed as public storage links.
Main Settings
Depending on the product, configure:
- downloadable files;
- download limits;
- download expiry;
- customer instructions;
- licensing options, where required;
- price, descriptions, and images.
Digital Download products do not use physical shipping or stock management.
Customer Account
A customer account is required, even when guest checkout is enabled for physical products.
Licensing
Licensing is optional and separate from the choice of product type.
A Digital Download product does not automatically become a licensed software product. Configure the licensing settings only when they apply to what you sell.
When to Choose Access Instead
Use Digital Download for files purchased directly as part of a product order.
Use Access when you want to sell a plan that grants access to one or more download collections.
See Products – Digital Downloads & Access for file, download, and licensing configuration.
Use Service when the customer purchases a service or activity rather than a physical item or downloadable file.
Examples include:
- consulting;
- installation or setup assistance;
- maintenance work;
- training or other service activities.
- appointments, scheduled activities and rentals managed through Booking.
Main Settings
Configure the service description and the information needed to explain what the customer is purchasing.
Depending on the service, this can include:
- service-specific fields;
- service instructions or notes;
- price and availability;
- descriptions, images, and supporting media.
- booking settings, when reservations are required.
Service products do not use physical shipping or stock management. Their configuration does not provide the downloadable-file and licensing features of Digital Download products.
Customer Account
A customer account is required to purchase a Service product, including services with Booking enabled.
Service Delivery
The order records the purchased service and its relevant information.
For services without Booking, arrange and carry out the service according to the process described to the customer.
For services that require a reservation, enable Booking and configure the associated resource and availability.
Booking for Services
Booking is an optional feature of Service products. Enable it to let customers reserve appointments, activities, spaces or equipment through the product page.
Each bookable service is linked to a resource, such as a person, space or piece of equipment. The resource calendar determines when the service is available. Multiple services can share the same resource and its capacity.
Depending on the service, configure:
- Duration: fixed by the merchant or selected by the customer within configured limits;
- Reservation mode: exclusive use of the resource or shared capacity with multiple available places;
- Availability: regular schedules, calendar exceptions and booking restrictions;
- Customer information: instructions and conditions displayed during booking.
Customers select an available date, time or period and complete their purchase through the cart and checkout.
The merchant manages reservations through the booking calendar. When enabled, customers can submit rescheduling or cancellation requests from their account for the merchant to review.
Selecting Service does not automatically enable Booking: the booking settings and resource calendar must be configured.
If the main deliverable is a file that the customer should download from their order, use Digital Download instead.
Use Access to sell a plan that grants access to one or more download collections.
A collection groups downloadable resources. The Access product defines the commercial plan through which the customer obtains access to those collections.
Examples include:
- access to a template collection;
- access to a software library;
- access to several resource collections through one plan.
How Access Works
- Create and populate the download collections.
- Associate the relevant collections with the Access product.
- Configure the plan’s duration and applicable conditions.
- Publish the product in an Ecommerce category when it is ready for purchase.
When the purchase grants an active access entitlement, the customer can download eligible files from the included collections.
Access can be time-limited or permanent, according to the plan configuration.
Customer Account and Quantity
Access products require a customer account.
Each Access product is purchased with a quantity of one. This does not determine the number of included files, collections, or permitted licences; those are governed by the plan settings.
Access products do not use physical shipping or stock management.
Collections and Permissions
The public visibility of a collection does not grant permission to download its files.
Download access depends on the customer’s active entitlement and the collections included in the purchased plan.
Access products specifically manage download collections. They do not automatically restrict arbitrary Joomla articles or other website sections.
Renewals, Upgrades and Licences
Access plans can use the supported renewal, upgrade, and licensing features when configured.
See Products – Digital Downloads & Access for the detailed rules and setup procedure.
Customer Accounts and Mixed Carts
Enabling guest checkout does not make every product type available to guests.
If a cart contains a Digital Download, Service, or Access product, the customer must use an account, even when the same cart also contains physical products.
In a mixed cart, physical items retain their applicable shipping requirements.
Changing the Product Type
Choose the product type before completing its specific settings whenever possible.
When changing an existing product’s type:
- review the sections enabled by the new type;
- complete its required configuration;
- check price, availability, and customer delivery instructions;
- verify the resulting frontend presentation before making it available for purchase.
Changing type is different from changing category mode.
To display an existing product without selling it online, use a Catalog category. To present it as structured content, use a Content (CCK) category.
Do not use a product-type change as a way to revise existing customers’ purchased rights. Existing orders can retain the download, licensing, and Access conditions recorded at purchase.