How to Show Recent Products in WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
Want to boost your WooCommerce sales? Showing off your newest products is a fantastic way to grab customer attention! Think of it like this: walking into a store and seeing a brightly lit display showcasing the “latest arrivals.” It immediately sparks curiosity and encourages browsing.
This guide is designed for WooCommerce beginners, walking you through simple and effective ways to display your recent products. Let’s get started!
Why Showcase Recent Products?
Showing your recent products offers several benefits:
- Increases Visibility: New products might get buried quickly on your site. Highlighting them ensures customers see them.
- Encourages Exploration: Seeing something new piques interest, leading customers to browse and potentially make a purchase.
- Highlights Freshness: It shows your store is active and continuously updated with new offerings. This can build trust and encourage repeat visits.
- Boosts Sales: Promoting new products often leads to quicker sales, as customers are eager to try the latest items.
Method 1: Using the WooCommerce Shortcode
The easiest way to display recent products is using the built-in WooCommerce shortcode. Think of a shortcode like a special instruction you give to WordPress/WooCommerce.
What to do:
1. Identify Where to Display: Decide where you want to showcase your recent products. This could be your homepage, a dedicated “New Arrivals” page, or even in a sidebar.
2. Add a Text Block or HTML Block: Edit the page or post where you want the products to appear. Use the WordPress block editor and add either a “Text” block or an “HTML” block. The choice depends on your comfort level – the Text block lets you add basic HTML (and shortcodes), while the HTML block is for pure HTML/code.
3. Insert the Shortcode: Paste the following shortcode into your chosen block:
[products limit="4" columns="4" orderby="date" order="DESC"]
Explanation of the Shortcode Attributes:
- `limit=”4″`: This tells WooCommerce to display only 4 products. You can change this number as needed.
- `columns=”4″`: This defines the number of columns you want the products to be arranged in. Adjust this based on the width of the area you’re displaying them in. A typical website often uses 4 columns across the page.
- `orderby=”date”`: This sorts the products by their publication date (i.e., when you added them to WooCommerce).
- `order=”DESC”`: This orders the products in descending order, meaning the newest products will appear first. `DESC` stands for descending.
Real-Life Example:
Imagine you’re selling handcrafted soaps. You’ve just added a new lavender-scented soap. Using the shortcode, you could display your four newest soaps on your homepage, enticing visitors with the fresh scents and appealing designs.
Customizing the Shortcode:
You can customize this shortcode further. For example, to only show products from a specific category (e.g., “Skincare”), add the `category` attribute:
[products limit="4" columns="4" orderby="date" order="DESC" category="skincare"]
Method 2: Using a WooCommerce Widget
WooCommerce also provides widgets, which are pre-built modules you can easily add to your site, typically in sidebars or footers.
What to do:
1. Navigate to Widgets: Go to Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Find the “WooCommerce Recent Products” Widget: Look for the “WooCommerce Recent Products” widget in the list of available widgets.
3. Drag and Drop: Drag the “WooCommerce Recent Products” widget to the sidebar or footer area where you want to display the products.
4. Configure the Widget: The widget settings will appear. Here, you can configure:
- Title: A title for the widget (e.g., “New Arrivals,” “Latest Products”).
- Number of Products to Display: The maximum number of recent products to show.
- Hide Out of Stock Products?: Choose whether to hide products that are currently out of stock.
- Order by: You can choose to order by title or date, with ascending or descending.
5. Save: Click the “Save” button.
Real-Life Example:
If you run a clothing store, you could use the “WooCommerce Recent Products” widget in your sidebar to showcase the latest additions to your collection, such as new t-shirt designs or trendy accessories.
Reasoning for using a Widget:
Widgets are ideal for sidebars and footers because they provide a consistent display of recent products across your website. They are also very user-friendly to configure.
Method 3: Customizing with Code (Advanced)
If you’re comfortable with code (specifically PHP), you can create a custom function to display recent products. This offers the most flexibility but requires more technical knowledge.
Caution: Always back up your website before making code changes. A mistake in your code could break your site. It’s generally safer to make these changes within a child theme.
Example Code:
Here’s a basic example of how you could create a custom function to display recent products:
'4', 'columns' => '4', ), $atts, 'my_recent_products' );
$args = array(
‘post_type’ => ‘product’,
‘posts_per_page’ => $atts[‘limit’],
‘orderby’ => ‘date’,
‘order’ => ‘DESC’,
);
$products = new WP_Query( $args );
if ( $products->have_posts() ) {
$output = ‘
- ‘;
while ( $products->have_posts() ) {
$products->the_post();
ob_start();
wc_get_template_part( ‘content’, ‘product’ );
$output .= ob_get_clean();
}
$output .= ‘
‘;
wp_reset_postdata();
} else {
$output = ‘
No products found.
‘;
}
return $output;
}
add_shortcode( ‘my_recent_products’, ‘my_recent_products’ );
?>
Explanation:
1. `my_recent_products()` Function: This function fetches the recent products based on the defined arguments.
2. `shortcode_atts()`: This allows you to define default attributes for your custom shortcode (like `limit` and `columns`).
3. `WP_Query()`: This is the core WordPress function used to query the database for posts (in this case, products).
4. Loop: The `while` loop iterates through each product and displays it using WooCommerce’s template part (`wc_get_template_part( ‘content’, ‘product’ )`). This ensures your products are displayed using WooCommerce’s standard styling.
5. `add_shortcode()`: This registers your custom function as a shortcode that you can use in your pages or posts.
How to Use:
1. Add to `functions.php`: Add this code to your theme’s `functions.php` file (ideally, in a child theme).
2. Use the Shortcode: Use the shortcode `[my_recent_products limit=”6″ columns=”3″]` in your pages or posts. Adjust the `limit` and `columns` attributes as needed.
Benefits of Custom Code:
- Full Control: You have complete control over how the products are displayed.
- Customization: You can easily add custom styling, filtering, or other advanced features.
Reasoning for choosing this method:
This method is best for developers who need highly customized solutions. It requires coding skills and familiarity with WordPress and WooCommerce. It avoids plugin bloat by using the existing WooCommerce functions.
Choosing the Right Method
- Beginners: The WooCommerce shortcode is the easiest and recommended method. It’s simple to use and provides enough flexibility for basic displays.
- Intermediate Users: The WooCommerce widget is a good option for displaying recent products in sidebars and footers.
- Advanced Users/Developers: The custom code method offers the most flexibility but requires coding skills.
No matter which method you choose, showcasing your recent products is a proven way to enhance your WooCommerce store and boost sales. Good luck!
