One of the unique features of Shoplazza is the ability for our developer partners to build public apps that can be used by our merchants. In this article, we'll explore the steps involved in building a public app in Shoplazza and the benefits it can bring to your business as a partner.
What is a Public App?
A public app is a third-party application that can be installed by any merchant or partner on the platform. These apps can provide additional functionality and features to our merchants, allowing them to improve their online stores and offer a better experience to their customers. Public apps can be built using Shoplazza's API and various developer tools and can be made available for free.
Steps to Build a public app
Creating a Public app
Shoplazza requires a public app to complete OAuth 2.0 authentication before it can use Shoplazza Open API resources. Therefore, during the app development phase, you need to create a public app.
1. Log in to your partner account and go to Partner dashboard, click Apps on the left panel, then click Create app.
2. Here you will add the App name and click Create.
Note
App Name will be displayed in the list of installed apps in Store Admin to help merchants/testers identify your app.
3. Once the app is created, your Client ID & Client Secret will be generated automatically and can be accessed from the App settings page.
App Setup
Before you can test your app on your development store, you need to add a Redirect URL to the App setup so that you can Run validate to unlock Testing.
1. To add the Redirect URL, click Setup under the App setup.
2. Here you can add the App URL and Redirect URL.
Manage Listings
The App listing will be displayed in the App store where merchants can learn more about the app features and installation.
1. From the Apps setting page, go to App listing > Manage listings.
2. Click Start listing to add the required information.
3. On the listing page, you can add Basic App information, Listing content, Pricing details, and Support and resources.
Testing Public app
After completing the app development, you need to test to ensure the usability and stability of the app before submitting it to the App Store for review.
1. After adding URLs and App listing, now it's time to Test your App. Head over to the Apps settings page and click to Select store under Test your app section.
2. Here, you will select your existing development store or click Add Store to create new ones.
Note
If you don't have a development store, you can create one by following this guide or learn more about creating a development store.
3. Click Install app, and you will be redirected to the authorized installation page of the store for testing.
4. After completing the test, you can click Run validate to ensure there are no discrepancies, and you can unlock to submit your App for review.
Submit App for review
The final step in getting your app onto Shoplazza's platform is to submit it for review. Shoplazza makes it easy for partners to get their app reviewed. They only need a full manual review when the app is first launched. Once the app is approved and available on the App Store, subsequent feature updates won't require a full manual review. This helps partners to get their app approved efficiently and allows merchants to quickly access the updates they need, even in a rapidly changing market.
1. From the App setting page, click Submit under the Publish your app section.
Note
Once you submit your app for review, it may take 1-3 businesses to get a result.
App Review Process
When a public app is submitted for review, it goes through a new phase, and its status changes, requiring partners to adjust their response accordingly. Please refer to the Public App Lifecycle for more details.
App Review Rules
Shoplazza Review Team has determined some rules to decide whether an app can be published or not. The rules are:
- Merchants should be able to install the app without OAuth app authorization process.
- Merchants should be able to install the app easily without any errors.
- The app should only request permissions that are necessary.
- The app should not have any errors that stop it from working correctly.
- The app's title and description should be clear and complete.
- The app should not contain any characters that compete with Shoplazza.
- The app should use the Shoplazza Open API.
- The app should not duplicate functionality that is already available in other apps.
- The app should not share merchant data with third parties without permission from the merchant.
- The app should not require additional plug-ins to work properly.
- The app should be stable and work well.
- The app should not pose any security risks to Shoplazza or the merchant.
- The app should not violate merchant or customer privacy.
- The app should respond to urgent merchant requests within 30 days.
- The app listing should not contain inappropriate content.
- Any translated listings should be for languages that the app actually supports.
If an app does not follow these rules during the review process, it will be rejected. The developer will receive an email explaining why the app was rejected and can make necessary adjustments before resubmitting the app for review.
Unpublish your public App
There are two scenarios that your app may get unpublished:
- Shoplazza Review Team regularly cleans up and unpublish apps that violate the review rules described above.
- You have decided to unpublish your apps.
Shoplazza Review Team regularly cleans up and unpublish apps
The Shoplazza audit team will check apps from time to time, and if they don't meet the requirements, they will be taken down to keep the app system healthy and long-lasting. Once an app is taken down, the partner will receive an email notice from the Shoplazza Review Team, providing them with the option to make the necessary changes and resubmit the app for review.
Partners can unpublish their own apps
If partners decide to take down their created apps from the App Store, they can unpublish the app from the Partner dashboard.
To unpublish your app, login to the Partner Center , go to Apps > App List > Manage Apps > Unpublish Apps.
After an app is taken down, merchants will not be able to install your app from the App Store . However, merchants who have already installed the app will not be affected.
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