How to Sort Featured Products in WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
Want to put your best products front and center in your WooCommerce store? Featuring products is a great way to highlight specific items, boost sales, and draw attention to special offers. But what if you want to control *how* those featured products are displayed? This guide will show you how to sort your featured WooCommerce products, even if you’re a beginner.
We’ll cover different methods, from simple plugin solutions to a bit of code customization, so you can find the perfect fit for your needs. Think of it like organizing the shelves in your shop – you want to make sure the most attractive items are easily visible!
Why Sort Your Featured Products?
Before diving into *how*, let’s quickly discuss *why* you’d want to sort your featured products. The default WooCommerce behavior might not always be ideal.
* Maximize Sales: Highlighting new arrivals, bestsellers, or sale items at the top can directly impact sales. Imagine walking into a clothing store and seeing the latest collection beautifully displayed right at the entrance.
* Promote Specific Items: Maybe you want to push a particular product line or clear out seasonal inventory. Sorting allows you to strategically place these items where customers will see them first.
* Improve User Experience: A well-organized storefront is easier to navigate, leading to happier customers and increased conversions. If customers can quickly find what they are looking for, they’re more likely to buy.
* Control the Visual Appeal: Sorting can help you create a more visually appealing and curated shopping experience. Think of it as interior design for your online store.
* Personalized experience: You can sort products based on things like popularity, reviews, or recently viewed, to provide a more relevant experience to your customers
Method 1: Using a WooCommerce Sorting Plugin (Easiest)
The easiest and often most user-friendly approach is to use a WooCommerce plugin. Several plugins are available that offer drag-and-drop interfaces for sorting products, including featured products.
Example: Imagine you have a small online bakery. Using a plugin, you could easily move your “Chocolate Chip Cookies” (your bestseller) to the top of the featured products list, followed by your new “Vegan Brownies”.
Here’s a general approach using a plugin (specific plugin names are omitted as availability changes):
1. Search for a “WooCommerce Product Sorting” plugin in the WordPress plugin repository. Look for plugins with good reviews and active installations. Common search terms include “WooCommerce product sorting,” “WooCommerce product order,” or “WooCommerce drag and drop product sorting.”
2. Install and activate the plugin.
3. Access the plugin’s settings. This is usually found in the WooCommerce settings or under a dedicated menu item in the WordPress admin panel.
4. Find the product sorting options. The plugin should provide a visual interface to drag and drop your products into the desired order, often with a separate section for featured products.
5. Save your changes.
6. Check your store’s front end to ensure the featured products are displayed in the correct order.
Pros:
* Beginner-friendly: No coding required.
* Visual Interface: Easy to drag and drop products.
* Fast Implementation: Get up and running quickly.
Cons:
* Plugin Dependency: Relies on a third-party plugin.
* Potential Cost: Some plugins may be premium (paid).
* Plugin conflicts: The plugin can have conflicts with other plugins
Method 2: Custom Code (For More Control)
For those comfortable with a bit of PHP code, you can directly modify the WooCommerce query to sort featured products. Always back up your website before making any code changes! This method requires a bit more technical knowledge, but gives you the most control.
Explanation: WooCommerce uses “queries” to retrieve products from the database. We can modify this query to change the order in which featured products are displayed.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
1. Access your theme’s `functions.php` file. You can find this file by going to Appearance > Theme Editor in your WordPress admin panel. Warning: It’s best practice to use a child theme to avoid losing your changes when the parent theme is updated.
2. Add the following code snippet to your `functions.php` file:
function custom_woocommerce_featured_products_orderby( $args ) { // Modify the orderby parameter to sort by title (alphabetical order) // You can change 'title' to 'date', 'price', 'popularity', 'rating', etc. $args['orderby'] = 'title'; $args['order'] = 'ASC'; // Or 'DESC' for descending order
return $args;
}
add_filter( ‘woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args’, ‘custom_woocommerce_featured_products_orderby’ );
function custom_pre_get_posts_featured_products( $query ) {
if ( ! is_admin() && $query->is_main_query() && ( is_shop() || is_product_category() || is_product_tag() ) ) {
$tax_query = (array) $query->get( ‘tax_query’ );
$tax_query[] = array(
‘taxonomy’ => ‘product_visibility’,
‘field’ => ‘term_id’,
‘terms’ => ‘featured’,
‘operator’ => ‘IN’,
);
$query->set( ‘tax_query’, $tax_query );
}
}
add_action( ‘pre_get_posts’, ‘custom_pre_get_posts_featured_products’ );
3. Customize the code:
* `$args[‘orderby’] = ‘title’;`: This line determines *how* the products are sorted. Replace `’title’` with one of the following options:
* `’date’` (Newest first)
* `’price’` (Lowest price first)
* `’popularity’` (Best selling first)
* `’rating’` (Highest rated first)
* `’rand’` (Random order – use with caution, as it can be confusing for customers!)
* `’menu_order’` (This is the default manual sorting in WooCommerce edit product page, under product data -> advanced tab. You can assign a number and products will sort according to that number)
* `$args[‘order’] = ‘ASC’;`: This line determines the sort direction. Use `’ASC’` for ascending order (A-Z, lowest to highest) or `’DESC’` for descending order (Z-A, highest to lowest).
Important Considerations:
* The code above sorts *all* catalog products (shop page, categories, etc.), not just featured products. Explore this article on How To Complete An Order Woocommerce To target only featured products, you would need to add a conditional check within the function to see if it’s querying featured products specifically. This requires more advanced coding knowledge.
* Caching: After making code changes, clear your website’s cache (if you’re using a caching plugin) to ensure the changes are reflected on the front end.
Example:
To sort featured products by price, from highest to lowest, the code would be:
function custom_woocommerce_featured_products_orderby( $args ) { $args['orderby'] = 'price'; $args['order'] = 'DESC'; return $args; } add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args', 'custom_woocommerce_featured_products_orderby' );
function custom_pre_get_posts_featured_products( $query ) {
if ( ! is_admin() && $query->is_main_query() && ( is_shop() || is_product_category() || is_product_tag() ) ) {
$tax_query = (array) $query->get( ‘tax_query’ );
$tax_query[] = array(
‘taxonomy’ => ‘product_visibility’,
‘field’ => ‘term_id’,
‘terms’ => ‘featured’,
‘operator’ => ‘IN’,
);
$query->set( ‘tax_query’, $tax_query );
}
}
add_action( ‘pre_get_posts’, ‘custom_pre_get_posts_featured_products’ );
Pros:
* Full Control: Customize the sorting exactly to your needs.
* No Plugin Dependency: Avoid relying on third-party plugins.
* Potentially More Efficient: Direct code modification can be faster than some plugins.
Cons:
* Requires Coding Knowledge: Not suitable for complete beginners.
* Potential for Errors: Incorrect code can break your site. Always backup!
* Theme Updates: Changes to `functions.php` in the parent theme will be overwritten by theme updates (use a child theme!).
Conclusion
Sorting your featured products in WooCommerce is a simple yet powerful way to optimize your online store for sales and user experience. Whether you choose a beginner-friendly plugin or a code-based approach, you can tailor your storefront to highlight your best offerings and attract more customers. Remember to always back up your site and test your changes thoroughly! Good luck and happy selling!
