How to convert a wishlist into a gift registry

Got a customer planning a wedding, baby shower, or birthday? They can turn one of their wishlists into a public gift registry that friends and family buy from, with no duplicate gifts and no guesswork. This guide shows you (or your customers) how to convert a wishlist into a registry, add the event details, and share the link. It uses SaveTo Wishlist Registry.

Prerequisites

• SaveTo Wishlist Lite installed and active. The Registry extension runs on top of it.
• The SaveTo Wishlist Registry extension installed and active (see Getting started with SaveTo Wishlist Registry).
• You’re signed in and viewing a wishlist you own.

Step 1: Open the Convert to Registry window

1. Go to your wishlist page and find the wishlist you want to convert.
2. Click the Convert to Registry icon (the gift box) on that wishlist.

The gift-box icon only appears on wishlists you own that aren’t registries yet. Once a wishlist becomes a registry, the same spot shows a View Registry link instead.

Step 2: Add your event details

The Convert to Registry window opens. Fill in the event details:

1. Choose an Event Type (such as Wedding or Baby Shower).
2. Pick an Event Date.
3. Enter Your Name.
4. (Optional) Add a Co-Registrant name for a partner or second host.
5. (Optional) Write a Message to Guests.

Event Type, Event Date, and Your Name are required. The event date can’t be in the past, and names are limited to 80 characters. The Create Registry button stays greyed out until those three fields are filled.

Step 3: Add a cover image (optional)

1. Under Cover Image, drag an image onto the drop zone, or click it to browse your computer.
2. Choose a JPG, PNG, or WebP file up to 5 MB.

The cover image sits at the top of the public registry page. To swap it, remove the current image with the × button and upload a new one.

Step 4: Create and share the registry

1. Click Create Registry →. The new registry’s public page opens in a new browser tab on its own.
2. Copy the page link from that tab to share with guests.

If the new tab doesn’t open, a popup blocker likely stopped it. That’s fine, the gift-box icon on the wishlist now works as a View Registry link, so click it to open the registry page.

The wishlist becomes a public registry, and its gift-box icon changes to View Registry. Anyone with the link can view the registry without an account. Guests enter their name and email when buying a gift, and whether checkout itself needs an account depends on your store’s WooCommerce guest checkout setting. While you’re signed in, you can edit the event details, message, location, cover image, and item quantities right on the registry page, and track who bought what from the Gift Registries tab under your account.

What guests see on the registry page

The public page opens with the cover image across the top, followed by the event type, the registrant names, and the event date. If you wrote a message to guests, it appears below the names, along with the event location if you added one.

Below that sits the gift grid. Each gift shows its photo, name, price, a running count such as 2 out of 5 purchased, and a Details button.

Clicking Details opens a quick view of the gift with its photo, price, and a link to the full product page. Guests fill in Your name and Your email, choose a quantity, and click Buy gift to add the gift to their cart. By default the guest is then taken straight to the cart page. Every registry purchase goes through this window, so each gift is matched to the right buyer. To change what happens after the gift is added, see “Choose what happens after Add to Cart” below.

The button label is Buy gift by default and can be changed under SaveTo Wishlist → Settings → Gift Registry → Appearance, in the Buttons section under the Primary Button Label field.

Edit your registry details

While you’re signed in to the account that owns the registry, small pencil icons appear on the registry page. Only you see them. Guests see the same page without any edit controls.

Besides the event details and location below, you can use the pencil icon on your message (Edit message when you hover over it) to change the message for your guests, and the pencil icon on the cover image (Change cover image) to pick a new cover photo. If you have not added a message yet, click Add a message for your guests instead of the message pencil.

Edit the event details

The registry header at the top of the page shows the event type, the registrant names, and the event date. If the registry has no event type, the header shows Gift Registry instead.

1. Click the pencil icon in the header (Edit event details).
2. Change the Event type if needed.
3. Update the Primary name.
4. Update the Second name (optional) field for a partner or second host.
5. Change the Event date if needed.
6. Click Save.

The Primary name and Second name (optional) fields hold up to 80 characters each. The header combines both names, for example “Taylor & Jordan”.

Add or edit the location

A registry has no location until you add one. Until you add one, only you see an Add a location placeholder on the page.

1. Click Add a location.
2. Type the location in the field.
3. Click Save.

If the registry already has a location, click the pencil icon next to it (Edit location) instead. The location can be up to 255 characters.

To add, remove, or change the quantity of gifts, see how to add and manage items in a gift registry.

Choose what happens after Add to Cart

By default, a guest who adds a gift is taken straight to the cart page. You can keep guests on the registry page instead, so they can add more gifts first.

1. Go to SaveTo Wishlist → Settings.
2. Open the Gift Registry tab.
3. Open the General tab.
4. In the Cart Behavior section, turn Redirect to cart after adding a gift off.
5. Click Save Changes.

The switch is on by default. It only applies to gifts added from a registry page. It is separate from the WooCommerce setting Redirect to the cart page after successful addition, which doesn’t change registry gifting.

How gift quantities update

Each gift on a registry has a requested quantity, and its card shows a running count, such as 2 out of 5 purchased, so guests can see what’s still needed.

When a guest’s order is paid, the purchased amount is recorded against that gift and the available count goes down. If someone tries to add more than what’s left, the store blocks it and shows how many remain. Once a gift is fully claimed, its count shows the full amount purchased, for example 5 out of 5 purchased. If an order is later refunded or cancelled, those units are released back to the registry. A partial refund lowers the purchased count by the refunded quantity. See how to view gift purchases and send thank-you notes for the details.

Troubleshooting

The Convert to Registry icon isn’t showing
Make sure the registry extension is active, you’re viewing your own wishlist, and the wishlist hasn’t already been converted. If it has, you’ll see a View Registry link in the same spot.

It says “This wishlist has already been converted to a registry”
Each wishlist can become one registry. Use the View Registry link to open the existing one instead of converting again.

The Create Registry button is greyed out
Fill in Event Type, Event Date, and Your Name. The button enables once all three are filled. It also stays disabled while a cover image is still uploading, so wait for the upload to finish.

Frequently asked questions

Can I turn more than one wishlist into a registry?
Yes. Each wishlist becomes its own registry, with its own event details and public link. The only limit is one registry per wishlist.

Can I change the event details after converting?
Yes. Open your registry page while signed in and use the edit (pencil) icons to change the event details, message, location, cover image, and item quantities. The Gift Registries tab under your account is where you see stats and track who bought what.

Do guests need an account to buy a gift?
Guests can view the registry without an account, and they enter their name and email when buying a gift. Whether checkout itself requires an account depends on your store’s WooCommerce guest checkout setting.

What kind of cover image can I use?
A JPG, PNG, or WebP image up to 5 MB. It appears across the top of the public registry page.

Need help?

• Premium users: submit a support ticket and our team will help you out.
• Free users: post in the WordPress.org support forum.