How to Sort Products by Categories in WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
WooCommerce is a fantastic e-commerce platform built on WordPress, giving you incredible control over your online store. But sometimes, you need to go beyond the default settings to create a truly user-friendly shopping experience. One common customization is controlling how your products are displayed within categories. This guide will walk you through sorting products by categories in WooCommerce, even if you’re a complete beginner.
Why Sort Products by Categories?
Imagine walking into a physical shoe store. Would you prefer shoes thrown randomly onto shelves, or would you prefer them organized by type (sneakers, sandals, boots) and maybe even size? The same principle applies to your online store. Sorting products within categories makes it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for, leading to:
- Improved user experience: Happy customers are more likely to buy.
- Increased sales: Easier navigation means more potential purchases.
- Lower bounce rate: Customers are less likely to leave if they can find what they want quickly.
- Default sorting (custom ordering + name): This option lets you manually drag and drop products in the order you want them to appear. You’ll need to edit each product individually and use the “Menu Order” field in the “Product data” section. Set numeric values (e.g., 1, 2, 3) to dictate the order, with lower numbers appearing first.
- Popularity (sales): Sorts products by the number of sales, highest to lowest.
- Average rating: Sorts products by average customer rating, highest to lowest.
- Most recent: Sorts products by the date they were published, newest to oldest.
- Sort by price (asc): Sorts products by price, lowest to highest.
- Sort by price (desc): Sorts products by price, highest to lowest.
- WooCommerce Category Sort and Display: Provides a drag-and-drop interface for sorting products within each category.
- Custom Product Sort for WooCommerce: Adds custom sort options and allows you to control the display based on attributes, stock levels, and more.
Methods for Sorting WooCommerce Categories
There are several ways to sort products within WooCommerce categories. We’ll cover the most common and newbie-friendly options:
1. WooCommerce Default Sorting Options: This is the simplest method, using built-in WooCommerce features.
2. Using a Plugin: Plugins offer more advanced sorting options and are often easier to manage than custom code.
3. Custom Code (For the More Adventurous): If you’re comfortable with code, this allows for highly customized sorting.
1. WooCommerce Default Sorting Options
WooCommerce provides basic sorting options directly within the WordPress admin area. These options control the default sort order for *all* categories. While not category-specific, it’s the simplest place to start.
Here’s how to access these settings:
1. Go to WordPress Admin > WooCommerce > Settings.
2. Click on the Products tab.
3. Click on the Display sub-tab.
4. Look for the “Default product sorting” setting.
From the dropdown menu, you’ll find these options:
Example: If you often have new product arrivals, sorting by “Most recent” is a great option to showcase your latest items. If you’re running a sale, sorting by “Sort by price (asc)” can highlight the most affordable deals.
2. Using a Plugin for Category-Specific Sorting
Plugins offer a more flexible and user-friendly way to sort products within specific categories. Several plugins are available for WooCommerce, offering varying degrees of customization. Some popular options include:
How to Install and Use a Plugin:
1. From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for “WooCommerce Category Sort” (or the plugin of your choice).
3. Click Install Now, then Activate.
4. Follow the plugin’s instructions Check out this post: How To Best Integrate Mailchimp With Woocommerce to configure category-specific sorting. This usually involves navigating to the category editing screen and using the plugin’s interface to reorder products.
Example: Imagine you sell both t-shirts and hoodies. Using a plugin, you could prioritize new t-shirt designs in the “T-shirts” category and highlight popular hoodies in the “Hoodies” category.
3. Custom Code (Advanced): Sorting with `woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args` Filter
If you’re comfortable with PHP code, you can use the `woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args` filter to add your own custom sorting options. Use caution when implementing custom code. Make sure you backup your website before making changes. Place the code into your theme’s `functions.php` or a custom plugin.
This filter allows you to modify the query that WooCommerce uses to retrieve products, enabling you to sort them based on any criteria you can define.
Here’s a basic example demonstrating how to add a custom sorting option called “Title (Ascending)”:
add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args', 'custom_woocommerce_catalog_ordering_args' ); add_filter( 'woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby', 'custom_woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby' );
function custom_woocommerce_catalog_ordering_args( $args ) {
$orderby_value = isset( $_GET[‘orderby’] ) ? wc_clean( $_GET[‘orderby’] ) : apply_filters( ‘woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby’, get_option( ‘woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby’ ) );
if ( ‘title_asc’ == $orderby_value ) {
$args[‘orderby’] = ‘title’;
$args[‘order’] = ‘ASC’;
$args[‘meta_key’] = ”; // Remove meta key for title sorting.
}
return $args;
}
function custom_woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby( $sortby ) {
return ‘title_asc’; // Set as default
}
// Add the custom sorting option to the dropdown
add_filter( ‘woocommerce_catalog_orderby’, ‘custom_woocommerce_catalog_orderby_options’ );
function custom_woocommerce_catalog_orderby_options( $sortby ) {
$sortby[‘title_asc’] = ‘Title (Ascending)’;
return $sortby;
}
Explanation:
- `woocommerce_get_catalog_ordering_args` filter: This is the core filter we use to modify the query arguments.
- `wc_clean($_GET[‘orderby’])`: This safely retrieves the selected sorting option from the URL.
- `if ( ‘title_asc’ == $orderby_value )`: This checks if our custom sorting option is selected.
- `$args[‘orderby’] = ‘title’;`: This sets the query to order by the product title.
- `$args[‘order’] = ‘ASC’;`: This specifies ascending order.
- `custom_woocommerce_catalog_orderby_options` filter: This filter adds our custom sorting option to the dropdown menu displayed on the category page. This is what users will see.
- `custom_woocommerce_default_catalog_orderby` filter: This sets our custom ordering method to default.
Important Considerations:
- Performance: Complex sorting logic can impact your website’s performance. Test thoroughly.
- Compatibility: Ensure your custom code is compatible with your theme and other plugins.
- Security: Always sanitize user input to prevent security vulnerabilities.
Example: You could use custom code to sort products by a custom field (e.g., “Release Date”) that you’ve added to your products. This would allow you to prioritize products based on their release timeline.
Choosing the Right Method
- Simple Needs: If you just need basic sorting applied across all categories, the WooCommerce Default Sorting Options are sufficient.
- Category-Specific Sorting with Ease: Plugins offer the best balance between flexibility and ease of use.
- Advanced Customization & Performance Optimization: Custom Code is powerful but requires technical expertise and careful testing.
No matter which method you choose, sorting products by categories is a valuable way to enhance your WooCommerce store and improve the shopping experience for your customers. Good luck!
