Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting in Content Cart (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting

Answers to the most common questions about working with Content Cart

General Questions

Cart is empty after page reload

Reasons:

JavaScript is disabled in the browser
localStorage is blocked by privacy settings
Cart storage duration (TTL) has expired
JavaScript errors on the page

Solution:

Open browser console (F12) and check for JavaScript errors
Make sure localStorage is accessible (type in console: localStorage.setItem('test', '1'))
Check plugin settings - "Cart storage time (days)" field
Clear browser cache and try again

Quick Check

Open browser console and execute:

<code>console.log(
  localStorage.getItem('contentcart')
);</code>

If you see null - the cart is empty or localStorage is unavailable

"Add to Cart" button is not displayed

Check plugin settings:

Plugin is activated - System -> Plugins -> Content - Cart (status: enabled)
Categories are configured correctly:
- Filtering type: "Include" - item must be in selected categories
- Filtering type: "Exclude" - item must NOT be in selected categories
Areas of application - the correct area is selected (Articles, Category Blog, etc.)
Custom price field - if you use prices, check:
- "Use price?" option = Yes
- Correct price field ID
- The item has the price field filled in

Debug Mode

Enable Joomla debug mode to view diagnostic messages:

System -> Global Configuration -> System -> System Debug = Yes

Product price displays as 0 or is not displayed

Reasons and solutions:

Problem	Solution
Incorrect price field ID	Check the custom field ID in Content -> Fields
Price field not filled in	Open the article and fill in the custom price field
Incorrect field type	The field must be of type "Text" with "Integer" or "Floating point number" filter
"Use price?" option is disabled	In plugin settings, set "Use price?" = Yes

Order Issues

Orders are not received via email

Step-by-step diagnostics:

Check Joomla mail settings:
- System -> Global Configuration -> Server -> Mail
- Send a test email via Users -> Mass Mail
Check administrator email:
- System -> Global Configuration -> Server -> E-mail
- Make sure the address is entered correctly
Check spam folder - emails may go to spam
Check server logs - emails may not be sent due to SMTP errors

Recommendation

Use SMTP for sending mail instead of the standard PHP mail() function. This increases email delivery reliability.

Orders are not saved as articles

Check:

Category for orders is selected - a category must be specified in the plugin settings
Category exists - check that the category has not been deleted
Permissions - make sure Joomla has permissions to create articles
Article status - new orders are created as unpublished articles

Find created orders: Content -> Articles -> Filter by Category

"Invalid Token" error when submitting an order

Reasons:

CSRF token expired (user took too long to fill out the form)
Conflict with page caching
PHP session issues

Solution:

Disable caching for the cart page
Increase PHP session lifetime (session.gc_maxlifetime)
Ask the user to reload the page and try again

Important!

Do not disable CSRF protection! This is critically important for security.

Display and Styling Issues

Cart styles are not applied or look incorrect

Solutions:

Check CSS settings:
- Plugin: Enable CSS = Yes
- Module: check style display settings
Clear Joomla cache:
- System -> Clear Cache
- Clear browser cache (Ctrl+F5)
Check for template conflicts:
- Use browser inspector (F12) to check CSS
- Template styles may be overriding plugin styles
Override styles in your template if necessary

Cart module does not update automatically

Check:

JavaScript loaded - open browser console and check for errors
No script conflicts - disable other extensions one by one to check
Asset Manager is working - contentcart.js and contentcart-init.js files should be loaded
Data-attributes not removed - if you overrode templates, check for all data-attributes

Checking script loading

Open the Network tab in the browser inspector and reload the page. Check if the following files are loaded:

plg_content_contentcart/js/contentcart.js
plg_content_contentcart/js/contentcart-init.js

Compatibility Issues

Conflict with caching (JCH Optimize, Cache Cleaner, etc.)

Recommendations:

Exclude the cart page from caching
Do not combine or minify Content Cart JS files
Add to exclusions:
- contentcart.js
- contentcart-init.js
Do not cache localStorage (if such an option exists)

Conflict with JL No Doubles

Mandatory setting

If you are using the JL No Doubles extension, add to stop words:

<code>cart=1</code>

This will prevent conflicts when the cart is working

Useful Tips

Always back up your site before updating an extension
Test changes on a site copy or in maintenance mode
Enable Joomla debug mode when problems arise
Use the browser console (F12) to diagnose JavaScript errors
Check compatibility with other extensions before installation
Monitor for updates - they contain fixes and improvements

Softmus