WooCommerce: Displaying Subcategories as a Nested Dropdown – A Beginner’s Guide
Want to make navigating your WooCommerce store a breeze? Displaying your product subcategories as a nested dropdown menu is a fantastic way to improve user experience and help customers find exactly what they’re looking for. This article will walk you through the process step-by-step, making it easy even if you’re new to WooCommerce and code.
Why Use a Nested Dropdown for Subcategories?
Think about browsing an online clothing store. Imagine wanting to find a specific type of shirt, say, a “Slim Fit Cotton T-Shirt.” If the store simply lists all shirt categories in a long, disorganized list, finding your ideal shirt can be frustrating.
A nested dropdown, however, allows you to organize your categories in a hierarchical structure. In this case, it could look like this:
* Shirts
* T-Shirts
* Cotton T-Shirts
* Slim Fit Cotton T-Shirts
This structure makes navigation intuitive and helps users quickly drill down to the products they want. It’s like a digital table of contents for your store! Improved navigation equals happier customers and potentially increased sales.
Step 1: Creating Your Categories and Subcategories
Before we dive into the code, ensure you have your categories and subcategories set up correctly in WooCommerce.
1. Go to Products > Categories in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Create your main categories (e.g., “Electronics,” “Clothing,” “Books”).
3. To create a subcategory, fill in the “Name” and “Slug” fields, and then in the “Parent” dropdown, select the main category it belongs to. For example, you would create “Laptops” and assign “Electronics” as its parent.
4. Click “Add New Category.”
Repeat this process until all your categories and subcategories are structured correctly. Double-check the parent-child relationships; this is crucial for the nested dropdown to work.
Step 2: Adding the Code Snippet
Now, for the magic! We’ll use a short code snippet to generate the nested dropdown menu. There are a few ways to add code snippets to your WordPress site. Using a child theme or a code snippets plugin is strongly recommended. This protects your customizations during theme updates.
Option 1: Using a Child Theme (Recommended)
If you’re comfortable working with themes, create a child theme of your active theme. This ensures that any customizations you make won’t be overwritten when your parent theme updates. Then, edit the `functions.php` file of your child theme.
Option 2: Using a Code Snippets Plugin (Easier)
For beginners, a code snippets plugin like “Code Snippets” is an excellent choice. It allows you to add and manage code snippets without directly editing your theme files.
Once you’ve chosen your method, add the following code:
0, // 1 for showing the number of products within each category 'hierarchical' => 1, // 1 for enabling category nesting/hierarchy 'taxonomy' => 'product_cat', 'orderby' => 'name', 'hide_empty' => 0, // 0 for showing even empty categories 'value_field' => 'slug', 'echo' => 0, // Return the output instead of echoing 'name' => 'product_cat_dropdown', // Name for the dropdown (important for form submission) 'id' => 'product_cat_dropdown', // ID for the dropdown (for styling with CSS) );
$select = wp_dropdown_categories( $args );
$select = str_replace( “id=’product_cat_dropdown'”, “id=’product_cat_dropdown’ class=’form-control'”, $select );
echo ‘
‘;
echo $select;
echo ”;
echo ‘
‘;
}
add_shortcode( ‘nested_product_categories’, ‘woocommerce_nested_category_dropdown’ );
// To display on shop page
add_action( ‘woocommerce_before_shop_loop’, ‘display_nested_category_dropdown’, 20 );
function display_nested_category_dropdown() {
echo do_shortcode(‘[nested_product_categories]’);
}
?>
Explanation of the code:
* `woocommerce_nested_category_dropdown()`: This function creates the HTML for the nested dropdown.
* `wp_dropdown_categories()`: This WordPress function generates the dropdown using your WooCommerce product categories.
* `’show_count’ => 0`: Set to `1` to show the number of products in each category.
* `’hierarchical’ => 1`: This is the key! It tells WordPress to display the categories in a nested structure.
* `’taxonomy’ => ‘product_cat’`: Specifies that we’re dealing with WooCommerce product categories.
* `’value_field’ => ‘slug’`: Important for when the form gets submitted, we need the category slug to find the proper category archive.
* `’echo’ => 0`: Makes the function return the dropdown HTML instead of directly printing it.
* `’name’ => ‘product_cat_dropdown’` and `’id’ => ‘product_cat_dropdown’`: Set name and ID to the dropdown for submitting and CSS.
* `add_shortcode( ‘nested_product_categories’, ‘woocommerce_nested_category_dropdown’ )`: This creates a shortcode `[nested_product_categories]` that you can use to display the dropdown in your pages or posts.
* `add_action( ‘woocommerce_before_shop_loop’, ‘display_nested_category_dropdown’, 20 )`: This adds the dropdown to the shop page before the products are displayed.
Step 3: Displaying the Dropdown
Now that you have the code in place, you need to display the dropdown in your store. There are a few ways to do this:
* In a Page or Post: Use the shortcode `[nested_product_categories]` in the content area of the page or post where you want the dropdown to appear. For example, you could create a custom “Shop by Category” page.
* In the Sidebar: Go to Appearance > Widgets and drag a “Text” widget to your desired sidebar. Then, paste the shortcode `[nested_product_categories]` into the widget’s content area.
* In the Shop Page: This code already adds to the shop page using this snippet:
add_action( 'woocommerce_before_shop_loop', 'display_nested_category_dropdown', 20 );
function display_nested_category_dropdown() {
echo do_shortcode('[nested_product_categories]');
}
Step 4: Styling the Dropdown (Optional)
The default dropdown might not perfectly match your theme’s design. You can customize its appearance using CSS. Use the ID we set (`product_cat_dropdown`) to target the dropdown specifically.
Here’s a simple example to get you started:
#product_cat_dropdown {
width: 250px; /* Adjust width as needed */
padding: 8px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
}
#product_cat_dropdown option {
padding: 5px;
}
Add this CSS code to your theme’s `style.css` file (ideally within your child theme) or using the WordPress Customizer (Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS).
Conclusion
By implementing a nested dropdown for your WooCommerce subcategories, you’re significantly improving your store’s navigability and overall user experience. This simple enhancement can lead to increased customer satisfaction and, ultimately, better sales. Remember to choose the code addition method you’re most comfortable with, and don’t hesitate to customize the styling to match your brand! Good luck!
