WooCommerce: How to Display All Products on the Shop Page (The Easy Way!)
Are you building an online store with WooCommerce and wondering how to show *all* your amazing products on the main shop page? You’re in the right place! Many newcomers to WooCommerce find the default setup limiting. Sometimes, it only shows a specific number of products, or worse, displays categories instead. This can be frustrating for your customers who just want to browse everything you offer.
Think of it like this: imagine walking into a physical store and only seeing a handful of items on display. You’d probably think they didn’t have much to offer, right? We want to make sure your online store is inviting and shows off *everything* you’ve got!
This guide will walk you through the simple steps to display all your products on the WooCommerce shop page, even if you’re a complete beginner. Let’s get started!
Why Display All Products?
Before we dive in, let’s quickly understand why showing all products can be beneficial:
- Improved User Experience: Customers can easily browse your entire inventory without constantly clicking “Next” or navigating through categories.
- Increased Discoverability: Products that might be buried in subcategories have a chance to be seen. It’s like giving every item in your store a prime spot in the window display.
- Potential for Higher Sales: More visibility often leads to more sales. If customers can *see* everything you offer, they’re more likely to find something they want to buy (even if they didn’t know they wanted it!).
- SEO Boost: A comprehensive shop page can improve your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) by providing more content for search engines to crawl and index.
- Set “Products per row” to your preferred number of columns on the product grid. This will affect how wide the images are.
- Set “Rows per page” to the number of product rows to display per page. The higher the number the more products display. If you want ALL products to display on a single page, enter a very large number like `999`.
Method 1: Using WooCommerce Settings (The Easiest!)
This is the most straightforward method and works for most users. No coding is required!
1. Login to your WordPress Dashboard: Go to your website’s address followed by `/wp-admin` (e.g., `www.yourwebsite.com/wp-admin`) and log in with your administrator credentials.
2. Navigate to WooCommerce Settings: In the left-hand menu, hover over “WooCommerce” and click on “Settings.”
3. Go to the “Products” Tab: Click on the “Products” tab at the top of the WooCommerce settings page.
4. Set “Products per row” and “Rows per page” Look for these settings under the *”Shop page display”* options.
5. “Category Display” and “Shop Page Display” – These settings determine what’s displayed. For our purposes, you probably want “Show products” under “Shop page display” to ensure you’re not just showing categories.
6. Save Changes: Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Save changes” button.
Example:
Let’s say you have 100 products and you set “Rows per page” to `999`. Now all 100 products will show on the shop page. If you have 5 products per row, you will see 20 rows of products.
Method 2: Adjusting WordPress “Posts per page” Settings (If Method 1 Doesn’t Work)
Sometimes, the default WordPress “Posts per page” setting can interfere with WooCommerce. Here’s how to adjust it:
1. Go to Settings > Reading: In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to “Settings” and then click on “Reading.”
2. Find “Blog pages show at most” (or “Posts per page”): This setting controls the number of blog posts (and sometimes WooCommerce products) displayed per page.
3. Set to a High Number: Increase this number to something larger than the number of products you have. Again, `999` is a safe bet.
4. Save Changes: Click the “Save Changes” button.
Why this works: WooCommerce treats products as a type of “post.” If this setting is too low, it can limit the number of products displayed, even if you’ve configured WooCommerce correctly.
Method 3: Using Code (For More Advanced Users)
Warning: Only use this method if you’re comfortable editing your theme’s functions.php file or using a code snippets plugin. Incorrect code can break your website!
This method involves adding a code snippet to your `functions.php` file (or using a plugin like “Code Snippets”).
1. Access your `functions.php` file: You can access this file through your theme’s editor in WordPress (Appearance > Theme Editor) or via FTP. Important: Always back up your website before editing core files!
2. Add the following code:
add_filter( 'loop_shop_per_page', 'new_loop_shop_per_page', 20 );
function new_loop_shop_per_page( $cols ) {
// $cols contains the current number of products per page based on the value set on WooCommerce > Settings > Products
// We’re going to change it to show all products (using -1) on archive pages
return -1;
}
Explanation:
- `add_filter(‘loop_shop_per_page’, …)`: This tells WordPress to modify the setting that controls the number of products displayed on the shop page.
- `new_loop_shop_per_page($cols)`: This is the function that will change the number of products.
- `return -1;`: Setting the value to `-1` tells WooCommerce to display *all* products.
3. Save the `functions.php` file.
Or save the new snippet.
When to Use This Method:
This method is useful if you have a more complex setup or if the other methods aren’t working for some reason (perhaps due to a plugin conflict). It gives you more direct control over the products displayed.
Important Considerations:
- Performance: Displaying a large number of products (e.g., hundreds or thousands) on a single page can negatively impact your website’s performance. It can make the page load slowly, which can frustrate users and hurt your SEO. Consider using pagination or infinite scrolling if you have a vast inventory.
- Mobile Optimization: Make sure your shop page looks good on mobile devices. A long list of products can be overwhelming on a small screen.
- Image Optimization: Large product images can slow down page loading times. Optimize your product images for the web to improve performance.
- Backup: Before making any changes to your website’s code, *always* create a backup of your site. This will allow you to restore your website if something goes wrong.
By following these simple steps, you can easily display all your products on the WooCommerce shop page and provide a better shopping experience for your customers. Good luck!
