# How to Change Product Order in WooCommerce: A Comprehensive Guide
WooCommerce offers a flexible e-commerce platform, but managing product order can sometimes feel tricky. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to changing product order on your WooCommerce store, covering various methods and scenarios. Whether you’re rearranging products on your shop page, within specific categories, or need more advanced customization, we’ve got you covered. This will help improve site navigation, user experience, and potentially your conversion rates.
Understanding Product Ordering in WooCommerce
WooCommerce primarily uses the order products are added to your database. However, you can manipulate this order through several techniques, depending on your specific needs. The core methods we will explore are:
- Manual Ordering (Drag & Drop): The easiest method for simple reordering.
- Using a Plugin: Offers more advanced control and features.
- Customizing the WooCommerce Query (for developers): Provides the most flexibility but requires coding skills.
- Custom ordering criteria: Sort products based on attributes, popularity, price, or custom fields.
- Bulk editing: Modify the order of multiple products simultaneously.
- Improved User Interface: More intuitive interfaces than the default WooCommerce ordering.
Method 1: Manual Reordering (Drag & Drop)
This method is best for simple adjustments to product order on your shop page or within specific product categories.
Steps:
1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Navigate to Products > All Products. This shows a list of all your products.
3. Enable “Quick Edit”: Some WooCommerce themes might require enabling “Screen Options” (usually at the top right of the page) and checking the “Quick Edit” box.
4. Drag and Drop: Click and hold a product in the list and drag it to its new desired position. This directly updates the order within the database.
5. Save Changes: You may need to click “Update” in the Quick Edit window to confirm changes. Alternatively, your theme may update live, so check your front-end storefront to ensure the order is changed as you intended.
This method is quick and efficient for minor changes, but it becomes less practical when managing a large number of products or requiring more complex ordering logic.
Method 2: Utilizing WooCommerce Plugins
Several plugins provide advanced features for managing product order. These plugins often offer features beyond simple drag-and-drop, such as:
Searching the WordPress plugin repository for “WooCommerce Product Ordering” or “WooCommerce Product Sort” will reveal a range of options. Read reviews carefully and choose a plugin that fits your specific needs and technical skills.
Method 3: Customizing the WooCommerce Query (Advanced Users)
For developers, directly manipulating the WooCommerce query offers the ultimate control over product order. This involves modifying the `WP_Query` arguments used to retrieve products. This is not recommended unless you have experience with PHP and WordPress development.
Example (PHP):
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'custom_product_order' );
function custom_product_order( $query ) {
if ( $query->is_main_query() && $query->is_post_type_archive( 'product' ) ) {
$query->set( 'orderby', 'title' ); //Order by product title (ASC)
$query->set( 'order', 'DESC' ); //Order in descending order
}
}
This code snippet orders products by title in descending order. You can replace `’title’` with other relevant parameters like `’menu_order’` (for manual ordering), `’date’`, `’rand’`, or a custom meta key. Remember to place this code in your theme’s `functions.php` file or a custom plugin. Always back up your site before making code changes.
Conclusion
Changing product order in WooCommerce is achievable through various methods. Choose the method that best aligns with your technical skills and the complexity of your requirements. For minor adjustments, the drag-and-drop method is sufficient. For more advanced control, explore the available plugins. And finally, for highly customized solutions, utilize your PHP skills to modify the WooCommerce query directly. Remember to always save your work and test your changes thoroughly before publishing them to your live store.
