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Sample Data Plugin

The J2Commerce Sample Data plugin lets you populate a new store with realistic sample products, customer accounts, and orders. This is essential for testing payment gateways, evaluating shipping options, and demonstrating store features before adding real inventory.

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The Sample Data plugin will only work on a new website that has no products. If you have any products set up, then you will not see the Sample Data plugin in the J2Commerce Dashboard

Enable the Plugin​

  • Go to System -> Manage -> Plugins.

  • Search for Sample Data - J2Commerce.

  • Click the checkbox next to it and then click Enable in the toolbar.

What Sample Data Creates​

When you run the sample data plugin, it creates the following types of content:

Categories​

Sample product categories organized into a hierarchy with parent and child categories:

Parent Categories: Examples: Electronics, Clothing, Home & Garden, Sporting Goods, Books & Media

Child Categories: Examples: Laptops & Computers, Smartphones & Tablets, Men's Clothing, Women's Clothing, Kitchen & Dining

Each category includes SEO-friendly aliases and can be nested up to two levels deep.

Manufacturers​

Brand names associated with products:

Manufacturer Examples: TechNova, StyleCraft, EcoHome, ActivePro, ReadWell Publishing, GadgetPrime, UrbanWear, GreenNest, SportMax, MediaHouse

Products​

The plugin creates several product types with realistic names, descriptions, and pricing:

Simple Products: Standard products with a single SKU and fixed price

Variable Products: Products with variants (size, color, etc.) that have different SKUs and prices

Configurable Products: Products with customer-selectable options

Flexivariable Products: Advanced variable products with flexible attribute combinations

Downloadable Products: Digital products with file downloads

Each product includes:

  • Product name and description
  • Main image (SVG placeholder)
  • Price and special pricing
  • Stock quantity
  • Category assignment
  • Manufacturer association

Customers​

Sample customer accounts with realistic names, email addresses, and complete address data:

Names: Examples: James Smith, Mary Johnson, John Williams, Patricia Brown

Locations: Examples: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Toronto, London, Berlin, Sydney

Addresses: Examples: Complete billing and shipping addresses with zone and country

Orders​

Complete orders with:

  • Order status history (Pending, Confirmed, Shipped, Delivered)
  • Multiple products per order
  • Customer billing and shipping addresses
  • Payment method records
  • Order totals and tax calculations

Coupons and Vouchers​

Discount codes for testing the checkout process:

Coupons: Percentage or fixed-amount discounts applied at checkout

Gift Vouchers: Fixed-value vouchers that can be applied as payment

How to Run Sample Data​

Step 1: Access the Sample Data Screen​

  1. Go to J2Commerce -> Dashboard.
  2. Click the Sample Data tab in the left sidebar.
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The Sample Data option only appears when the J2Commerce Sample Data plugin is enabled.

Step 2: Choose a Profile​

The plugin offers three preset profiles with different amounts of data:

ProfileCategoriesProductsCustomersOrdersCouponsVouchers
Minimal37 (5 simple + 2 variable)51022
Standard517 (10 simple + 5 variable + 2 configurable)205053
Full10100 (40 simple + 25 variable + 15 configurable + 10 flexivariable + 10 downloadable)100500155

Choose the profile that fits your needs:

  • Minimal — For quick testing on local development environments. Creates enough data to verify functionality without cluttering your store.
  • Standard — For thorough testing and demonstration. A good balance between realism and manageability.
  • Full — For performance testing and comprehensive evaluation. Creates a large dataset that mimics a real store.

Step 3: Run the Installation​

  1. Select your preferred profile by clicking the radio button.

  2. Click Install Sample Data.

  3. A progress bar appears showing four steps:

    • Step 1: Categories and manufacturers created
    • Step 2: Products and images created
    • Step 3: Customers and orders created
    • Step 4: Coupons and vouchers created

  4. Wait for the progress bar to reach 100%. A success message confirms completion.

Each step must be completed successfully before the next begins. If any step fails, an error message displays with details.

After Installation​

Verify the Data​

After the sample data installation completes:

  1. Go to J2Commerce -> Catalog -> Products to see the sample products.
  2. Go to J2Commerce -> Sales -> Orders to see sample orders.
  3. Go to J2Commerce -> Customers to see sample customer accounts.
  4. Go to J2Commerce -> Marketing -> Coupons to see discount coupons.

Test Your Store​

Use the sample data to:

  • Add products to the cart and test checkout flow
  • Apply coupon codes at checkout
  • View order history as different sample customers
  • Test search and filtering functionality
  • Verify category navigation and product listing pages

Removing Sample Data​

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Removing sample data permanently deletes all products, categories, customers, orders, and coupons created by the plugin. This cannot be undone.

To remove sample data:

  1. Go to J2Commerce -> Dashboard.
  2. Click the Sample Data tab.
  3. Click Remove Sample Data.
  4. Confirm the removal when prompted.

The plugin identifies sample data by a special tag (j2commerce-sample-data) in the database, ensuring only sample data is removed without affecting your real products or orders.

Tips​

  • Run sample data on a fresh installation for the cleanest results. Adding sample data to a store with existing products may cause category or naming conflicts.
  • Use the Minimal profile for quick testing during development. Switch to Standard or Full when demonstrating to clients or testing performance.
  • Sample products use SVG placeholder images. Replace them with your own product images for realistic demonstrations.
  • Customer accounts created by sample data use realistic email patterns (e.g., james.smith@example.com). These are not real addresses, but you may want to verify no real customers use similar addresses.
  • Orders created by sample data are marked with order statuses that progress through the typical order workflow. This lets you test status change notifications and filters.

Troubleshooting​

The Sample Data option does not appear in the Dashboard​

Cause: The plugin may be disabled, or the J2Commerce component is not properly installed.

Solution:

  1. Go to System -> Manage -> Plugins.
  2. Search for Sample Data - J2Commerce.
  3. If the plugin exists but shows as Disabled, click to enable it.
  4. If the plugin is missing, reinstall the J2Commerce component package.

Installation fails at Step 1​

Cause: Database permission issues or existing data conflicts.

Solution:

  1. Verify your database user has CREATE and INSERT permissions.
  2. Check that the #__j2commerce_* tables exist (J2Commerce should be fully installed).
  3. Try removing any existing sample data before running again.
  4. Check the Joomla error log at administrator/logs/error.php for specific database errors.

Products appear but have no images​

Cause: The media folder permissions may prevent image copying.

Solution:

  1. Verify the media/plg_sampledata_j2commerce/images/ directory is readable.
  2. Check that images/ the directory in your Joomla root is writable.
  3. The plugin uses SVG placeholder images. Ensure your server serves SVG files with the correct MIME type (image/svg+xml).

Sample data appears incomplete​

Cause: A step failed silently, or the browser timed out during installation.

Solution:

  1. Remove existing sample data using the Remove Sample Data button.
  2. Increase your PHP timeout settings (max_execution_time and request_terminate_timeout for PHP-FPM).
  3. For the Full profile, ensure at least a 120-second timeout.
  4. Re-run the sample data installation.

Cannot log in as sample customers​

Cause: Sample customer accounts are created with randomly generated passwords that are not displayed.

Solution:

Sample customer accounts are designed for order data and address testing, not for logging in. To test the customer login experience:

  1. Go to Users -> Manage.
  2. Find a sample customer account.
  3. Click to edit and set a known password.
  4. Log in from the frontend with that email and password.