WooCommerce: How to Change Products Displayed on Your Home Page
Introduction
Your WooCommerce home page is often the first impression potential customers have of your online store. Strategically displaying your products on this page is crucial for driving sales and improving user experience. Whether you want to showcase your newest arrivals, bestsellers, or a curated selection, WooCommerce offers several ways to customize the products that appear on your home page. This article will guide you through the different methods you can use to change the products displayed on your WooCommerce home page, helping you create a compelling and effective storefront. We’ll cover everything from using built-in WooCommerce options to leveraging custom code and plugins.
Main Part: Customizing Your WooCommerce Home Page Product Display
There are several methods you can employ to control which products are displayed on your WooCommerce home page. We’ll break them down from the simplest to the more advanced:
1. Using the WooCommerce Product Category Display
One of the easiest ways to control what appears on your home page is to utilize product categories. This method assumes you’re using the default WooCommerce product archive to display products on your home page.
- How to set it up:
1. Create Product Categories: Navigate to Products > Categories in your WordPress dashboard. Create or edit existing categories, assigning your products to relevant categories. This is fundamental for organization and filtering.
2. Set Home Page to Display Products: Go to Settings > Reading in your WordPress dashboard. Under “Your homepage displays,” ensure you have selected “A static page (select below).”
3. Create or Choose a Home Page: If you haven’t already, create a page to act as your home page.
4. Edit Your Home Page: Open the newly created (or chosen) home page for editing.
5. Add the Product Category Shortcode: Insert a shortcode like this:
[products category="your-category-slug" limit="8" columns="4"]
* `category=”your-category-slug”`: Replace `your-category-slug` with the actual slug of the product category you want to display. Find this slug in Products > Categories, under the “Slug” column.
* `limit=”8″`: Determines the number of products to show (adjust as needed).
* `columns=”4″`: Sets the number of columns for the product display (adjust for desired layout).
You can use multiple instances of this shortcode to display products from different categories in different sections of your home page.
2. Using the Featured Products Option
WooCommerce allows you to mark products as “featured.” You can then display *only* the featured products on your home page.
- How to set it up:
1. Mark Products as Featured: Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress dashboard. Quickly edit each product you want to feature and check the “Featured” option in the “Publish” meta box (usually on the right side of the screen). Or, you can use bulk actions to quickly mark many products as featured.
2. Use the Featured Products Shortcode: On your home page (using the same process as above to edit it), use the following shortcode:
[featured_products limit="8" columns="4"]
* `limit=”8″`: Determines the number of featured products to show (adjust as needed).
* `columns=”4″`: Sets the number of columns for the product display (adjust for desired layout).
3. Utilizing the “On Sale” Products Option
Showcase products currently on sale to attract customers.
- How to set it up:
1. Set Sale Prices: Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress dashboard and edit the products you want to put on sale. In the “Product data” meta box (usually below the main editor), under the “General” tab, enter a “Sale price.”
2. Use the On Sale Products Shortcode: On your home page, use this shortcode:
[sale_products limit="8" columns="4"]
* `limit=”8″`: Determines the number of on-sale products to show (adjust as needed).
* `columns=”4″`: Sets the number of columns for the product display (adjust for desired layout).
4. Displaying Products Based on IDs or SKUs
For granular control, you can display products based on their IDs or SKUs. This method allows you to choose *specific* products, regardless of category or featured status.
- How to set it up:
1. Find Product IDs or SKUs:
- Product ID: Go to Products > All Products and hover over the product name. The product ID will be visible in the URL in your browser’s status bar (e.g., `post=123`).
- SKU: Edit the product. The SKU is located in the “Product data” meta box, under the “Inventory” tab.
2. Use the `products` Shortcode with `ids` or `skus`: On your home page, use one of these shortcodes:
* Using IDs:
[products ids="123,456,789" columns="3"]
Replace `123,456,789` with a comma-separated list of product IDs.
* Using SKUs:
[products skus="SKU1,SKU2,SKU3" columns="3"]
Replace `SKU1,SKU2,SKU3` with a comma-separated list of product SKUs.
5. Customizing with Code (For Advanced Users)
If you need more flexibility, you can customize the product display on your home page using custom code, typically within your theme’s `functions.php` file or a custom plugin. Always back up your site before making code changes!
- Example: Modifying the Main Query (Not Recommended Directly)
While technically possible, directly modifying the main query for your home page to display specific products is generally not recommended as it can lead to conflicts and unexpected behavior. It’s better to use a custom template or a shortcode-based approach.
- Example: Creating a Custom Shortcode:
This is a more robust and maintainable approach. Here’s an example of how to create a custom shortcode to display products from a specific category:
<?php add_shortcode( 'custom_product_category', 'custom_product_category_shortcode' );
function custom_product_category_shortcode( $atts ) {
$atts = shortcode_atts( array(
‘category’ => ”,
‘limit’ => 4,
‘columns’ => 2,
), $atts );
$category = sanitize_title( $atts[‘category’] );
$limit = intval( $atts[‘limit’] );
$columns = intval( $atts[‘columns’] );
$args = array(
‘post_type’ => ‘product’,
‘posts_per_page’ => $limit,
‘product_cat’ => $category,
);
$query = new WP_Query( $args );
if ( $query->have_posts() ) {
ob_start(); // Start output buffering to capture the HTML
echo ‘
- ‘;
while ( $query->have_posts() ) {
$query->the_post();
wc_get_template_part( ‘content’, ‘product’ ); // Use WooCommerce’s standard product loop template
}
echo ‘
‘;
$output = ob_get_clean(); // Get the captured HTML and clean the buffer
wp_reset_postdata(); // Reset the global post data
return $output;
} else {
return ‘
No products found in this category.
‘;
}
}
?>
Explanation:
1. `add_shortcode()`: Registers a shortcode named `custom_product_category`.
2. `custom_product_category_shortcode()`: This function handles the shortcode’s logic.
3. `shortcode_atts()`: Defines default values for the shortcode attributes (`category`, `limit`, `columns`).
4. `sanitize_title()` and `intval()`: Sanitizes the input values to prevent security vulnerabilities.
5. `WP_Query()`: Creates a WordPress query to retrieve products based on the specified category and limit.
6. `wc_get_template_part( ‘content’, ‘product’ )`: This is *crucial*! It uses WooCommerce’s built-in template (`content-product.php`) to display each product, ensuring consistency with your theme’s styling and functionality.
7. `wp_reset_postdata()`: Resets the global `$post` object after the loop, preventing conflicts with other parts of your page.
8. Output Buffering: Uses `ob_start()` and `ob_get_clean()` to capture the HTML output and return it as a string, which is how shortcodes should work. This prevents immediate echoing of the HTML.
How to Use:
After adding this code to your `functions.php` file (or a custom plugin), you can use the shortcode like this on your home page:
[custom_product_category category="clothing" limit="6" columns="3"]
Replace `”clothing”` with your desired category slug.
6. Using WooCommerce Plugins
Many WooCommerce plugins offer advanced options for customizing the product display on your home page, including drag-and-drop interfaces and more sophisticated filtering and sorting. Examples include:
- WooCommerce Product Table: Displays products in a table format with advanced filtering and sorting.
- WooCommerce Product Slider: Creates a visually appealing product slider for your home page.
- Visual Page Builders (like Elementor or Beaver Builder with WooCommerce integrations): Offer drag-and-drop interfaces for building custom product layouts. Elementor’s WooCommerce builder is very popular.
Conclusion
Customizing the products displayed on your WooCommerce home page is an essential part of optimizing your online store for conversions. By using the methods outlined in this article, from simple shortcodes to custom code and powerful plugins, you can showcase your best products, highlight sales, and create a compelling shopping experience for your customers. Remember to test different layouts and product selections to see what works best for your audience. Careful planning and experimentation will lead to a more engaging and profitable online store.
