WC Vendors Engage lets customers follow vendors they like on your marketplace. The Follow button appears on vendor store pages and optionally in vendor lists, and customers can see all the vendors they follow in one place from their My Account page. This article walks through the full customer experience: following, unfollowing, and the follower count badge.
What you’ll need
- WooCommerce and WC Vendors (free or Pro) installed and configured
- WC Vendors Engage installed and active
- The Follow button enabled by the marketplace admin. See the WC Vendors Engage Settings Reference
- A customer account. Guests cannot follow vendors
How to follow a vendor
- Visit a vendor’s store page on the marketplace.
- Find the Follow button in the vendor store header.
- Click Follow.
The button switches to Following immediately, no page reload needed. The follower count badge next to the button updates right away to reflect your follow.
How to unfollow a vendor
There are two ways to unfollow a vendor.
From the vendor’s store page: Click the Following button. It toggles back to Follow immediately.
From My Account: Go to My Account → Following and click Unfollow next to any vendor in the Stores tab, which is selected by default.
The follower count badge
Next to the Follow button, a small badge shows the vendor’s current follower count. It appears in the vendor’s store header when the marketplace admin has enabled the Follow Button on Vendor Store Pages setting. It appears in vendor list shortcodes when the Follow Button in Vendors Lists setting is enabled.
The count updates instantly when you follow or unfollow. Updates from other customers’ actions show the next time the page loads.
Managing vendors you follow
Logged-in customers can see all followed vendors in one place: My Account → Following. From the Stores tab on this page you can review every vendor you currently follow and unfollow any you no longer want to track. The Following tab appears in My Account once you follow your first store.
For marketplace admins: enabling the Follow button
The Follow button is on by default when WC Vendors Engage is active. To control where it appears, go to WC Vendors → Settings → Engage → General and toggle the relevant settings:
- Follow Button on Vendor Store Pages: shows the button in the store header on each vendor’s storefront page
- Follow Button in Vendors Lists: shows the button on vendor list shortcodes
- Following Stores page: adds the Following Stores tab to the customer My Account area, where customers manage the vendors they follow. On by default.
For full details on all Engage settings, see the WC Vendors Engage Settings Reference.
Frequently asked questions
Can guests follow vendors without logging in?
No. Customers must be logged in to follow or unfollow a vendor. If a guest clicks the Follow button, they’re taken to the login page and return to the vendor’s store page after logging in.
I clicked Follow but nothing happened. What’s wrong?
Confirm you’re logged in. The Follow button only works for authenticated customers. If you’re already logged in and the button isn’t responding, refresh the page and try again. If the Follow button isn’t visible at all, contact the marketplace admin to confirm WC Vendors Engage is active and the Follow button setting is enabled.
Why did the Follow button temporarily stop working?
Clicking the button very rapidly triggers a rate limit. This is normal spam protection. Wait about a minute without clicking, then try again.
Why don’t I see the Follow button on my own store page?
The plugin hides the Follow button and follower count from the store owner, so you never see it on your own store page. This is expected behavior, not a bug. Visit another vendor’s store page, or view your store while logged out, to see the button.
Need help?
If you have a question or run into any issues, we’re here to help.
- Premium users: Open a support ticket
- Free users: Visit our community forum