How to Make WooCommerce Items “Coming Soon” in Elementor: A Beginner’s Guide
Are you launching a new product line and want to build anticipation? Or perhaps you’re updating an existing product but it’s temporarily unavailable? Marking products as “Coming Soon” in your WooCommerce store is a fantastic way to generate excitement and manage customer expectations. This article will guide you through making WooCommerce items “Coming Soon” using Elementor, even if you’re a complete beginner!
Why use “Coming Soon”?
Think of it like a movie trailer. You don’t release the entire movie at once. You tease it with previews, build hype, and then have a grand premiere. “Coming Soon” labels achieve the same effect for your products. Here’s why it’s effective:
- Generates Buzz: Creating a “Coming Soon” page with a product image, description, and expected release date piques customer interest and builds anticipation.
- Captures Leads: Offer an email signup to notify customers when the product is released. This helps you build your email list for future marketing efforts. Think of it like saying, “Want to be the first to know? Sign up here!”
- Manages Expectations: Instead of confusing customers with unavailable products, a “Coming Soon” label clearly indicates that the item is not yet ready for purchase. This prevents frustration and improves the user experience. Imagine walking into a store and finding empty shelves without any explanation – frustrating, right?
- SEO Boost (Potentially): If done correctly, a “Coming Soon” page can rank in search results for the product name, especially if you’re targeting specific keywords.
- Field Label: Coming Soon?
- Field Name: coming_soon
- Field Type: True / False
- UI: Yes (This will display a toggle switch)
- Post Type is equal to Product. This ensures the “Coming Soon” checkbox appears on your WooCommerce product pages.
- The product title (using a “Post Title” widget).
- The product image (using a “Featured Image” widget).
- A compelling description explaining the product and its upcoming release.
- An “Email Opt-in” widget (e.g., from Elementor or MailChimp) to collect email addresses.
- A “Coming Soon” badge or text using a heading or text editor widget. Get creative with your branding!
- Singular > Products > and set it to “All”.
Prerequisites
* A WordPress website with WooCommerce installed and activated.
* Elementor and Elementor Pro installed and activated. While some basic “Coming Soon” functionality can be achieved with free plugins, Elementor Pro offers greater flexibility and customization within your existing workflow.
* A product in WooCommerce that you want to mark as “Coming Soon.”
Method 1: Using Elementor Templates and Custom Fields (Recommended)
This method offers the most flexibility and control over the appearance of your “Coming Soon” page. It involves creating a custom template in Elementor and using custom fields to manage the “Coming Soon” status of your products.
Step 1: Install and Activate the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Plugin
We’ll use ACF to add a “Coming Soon” checkbox to each product. This is much easier than manually editing each product page’s code.
1. Go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Search for “Advanced Custom Fields.”
3. Install and activate the plugin.
Step 2: Create an ACF Field Group
1. Go to Custom Fields > Add New.
2. Give your field group a name, like “Product Coming Soon Status.”
3. Click Add Field.
4. Under Settings > Location, choose:
5. Click Publish.
Step 3: Create an Elementor Template for “Coming Soon” Products
1. Go to Templates > Add New.
2. Choose “Single Product” as the template type and give it a name like “Coming Soon Product Template.”
3. Click Create Template. This will launch the Elementor editor.
4. Design your “Coming Soon” template. This is where you get creative! Include:
5. Crucially: Add a “Dynamic Tag” condition based on your ACF field. Find the “Heading” or “Text Editor” Widget, then in “Text” box go to the Dynamic Tags and select ACF Field, after that select Coming Soon? field that you created. In “Before” box type in “Coming Soon!” or similar text.
6. Click Publish.
Step 4: Set Display Conditions
1. Click the “^” arrow next to “Publish” and select “Display Conditions”.
2. Click Add Condition.
3. Choose:
4. Click Save & Close.
Step 5: Modify Products to be “Coming Soon”
1. Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Edit the product you want to mark as “Coming Soon.”
3. Scroll down to the ACF field group you created (“Product Coming Soon Status”).
4. Check the “Coming Soon?” checkbox.
5. Click Update.
Now, when someone visits that product page, they will see your custom “Coming Soon” template instead of the standard product page. If the checkbox is unchecked, the regular product page will be displayed.
Important: This template currently applies to ALL products. We need to refine the display conditions.
Step 6: Refine the Display Conditions (Advanced)
We want the “Coming Soon” template to *only* display when the “Coming Soon?” checkbox is checked. Here’s how:
1. In Elementor’s template editor (for the “Coming Soon Product Template”), click the “^” arrow next to “Update” (or “Publish” if you haven’t yet) and select “Display Conditions”.
2. You’ll see the “Include” condition: “Products > All”. We need to add an *exclusion* based on the ACF field. This is where it gets a little tricky, because Elementor doesn’t directly support ACF in display conditions. There are two Check out this post: How To Activate Paypal On Woocommerce approaches:
* (Easiest) Code Snippet: Install a plugin like “Code Snippets” and add the following code:
add_action( 'template_redirect', 'redirect_coming_soon' );
function redirect_coming_soon() {
if ( is_product() ) {
global $post;
$coming_soon = get_field( ‘coming_soon’, $post->ID );
if ( $coming_soon ) {
// Redirect to a specific “Coming Soon” page or show your Elementor template.
// Replace ‘your-coming-soon-page-slug’ with the actual slug of your page.
// This method will replace original product template
echo do_shortcode(‘[elementor-template id=”YOUR_COMING_SOON_TEMPLATE_ID”]’); //replace YOUR_COMING_SOON_TEMPLATE_ID with the ID of your elementor template
exit;
}
}
}
* (More Complex) Custom Plugin/Theme Modification: This involves writing custom code in a plugin or your theme’s `functions.php` file to intercept the product page request and display the “Coming Soon” template if the custom field is true. This is beyond the scope of a beginner’s guide and requires PHP knowledge.
3. Remember to replace `YOUR_COMING_SOON_TEMPLATE_ID` in snippet with real id of template
The code snippet will check the `coming_soon` custom field. If the checkbox is checked, it will display the “Coming Soon” template and prevent the standard product page from loading.
Method 2: Using a Dedicated “Coming Soon” Plugin
While Elementor offers flexibility, dedicated plugins can simplify the process.
1. Install a “Coming Soon” or “Maintenance Mode” plugin: Search the WordPress plugin repository for terms like “Coming Soon,” “Maintenance Mode,” or “Product Catalog Mode.” Popular choices include “Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Landing Pages by SeedProd” (the free version might suffice) and “Product Catalog Mode for WooCommerce.”
2. Configure the plugin: Follow the plugin’s instructions to enable “Coming Soon” mode and customize the display. Many plugins allow you to choose a specific page to display for “Coming Soon” products. You can then design that page with Elementor.
3. Enable “Coming Soon” on individual products: Some plugins provide a setting on the product edit screen to enable “Coming Soon” for specific items. Others might require you to categorize the products and enable “Coming Soon” based on category.
Example:
Let’s say you’re launching a new line of organic dog treats. You can use Elementor to create a visually appealing “Coming Soon” page with high-quality images of the treats, a description of their benefits, and an email signup form. You can even include a countdown timer to the launch date to build anticipation.
SEO Considerations for “Coming Soon” Pages
- Avoid “thin content”: Don’t just put up a page that says “Coming Soon.” Provide valuable information about the product, its features, and the benefits it offers.
- Use relevant keywords: Optimize the page title, description, and content with keywords that people might use to search for the product. For example, if you’re launching “Organic Dog Treats,” include those keywords in your page.
- Set a launch date: Google prefers pages with concrete dates. Provide an estimated launch date so visitors know when to expect the product.
- Consider using a “noindex” tag initially: If the page is truly under construction and lacks substantial content, you can temporarily add a `noindex` meta tag to prevent it from being indexed by search engines. However, remove this tag once the page is complete.
In Conclusion
Marking WooCommerce items as “Coming Soon” using Elementor is a powerful strategy for building anticipation, managing customer expectations, and even boosting SEO. While the initial setup might require some technical know-how (especially with custom fields), Discover insights on How To Change Woocommerce Shop Page Url the benefits of a well-designed “Coming Soon” page far outweigh the effort. Choose the method that best suits your skill level and enjoy the buzz you create around your upcoming product launches! Remember to regularly update your “Coming Soon” pages and promptly remove them once the products are available for purchase. Good luck!
