How To Display Woocommerce Products By Category

How to Display WooCommerce Products by Category: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction:

WooCommerce is a powerful platform for creating online stores, offering a wide range of customization options. One of the most common needs is to display products by Check out this post: How To Split Test Upsells Woocommerce category, allowing customers to easily browse and find what they’re looking for. This improves user experience, increases sales, Learn more about Woocommerce How To Edit Shop Landing Page and helps with SEO. This guide provides you with several methods to effectively showcase your products by category in WooCommerce.

Main Part:

Displaying your WooCommerce products by category can be achieved through various methods, ranging from built-in options to plugins and custom coding. Let’s explore the most popular and effective techniques:

1. Using the WooCommerce Product Category Widget

The simplest way to display product categories is using the built-in WooCommerce Product Category widget.

• How to Use It:
• Go to Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress dashboard.
• Find the “WooCommerce Product Categories” widget.
• Drag and drop it into your desired sidebar or widget area.
• Configure the widget options:
• Title: Set a title for the widget (e.g., “Shop by Category”).
• Display as dropdown: Choose whether to display categories as Explore this article on How To Add Remove Coupon Functionality In Woocommerc a list or a dropdown menu.
• Show product counts: Display the number of products in each category.
• Hierarchical: Show categories and subcategories in a nested structure.
• Order by: Choose how to order the categories (e.g., name, slug, count).
• Hide empty categories: Hide categories that don’t contain any products.
• Click “Save”.
• Benefits: Easy to set up, no coding required.
• Limitations: Limited customization options.

2. Shortcodes for Category Display

WooCommerce provides shortcodes that allow you to Check out this post: How To Override Woocommerce Css In Child Theme embed product categories directly into pages or posts.

• The `[product_category]` Shortcode: This shortcode displays products from a specific category.
• Example: `[product_category category=”clothing” columns=”4″]` This displays products from the “clothing” category in a grid with 4 columns.
• Key Attributes:
• `category`: (Required) The slug of the product category.
• `columns`: (Optional) The number of columns in the grid (default is 4).
• `orderby`: (Optional) How to order the products (e.g., date, title, price).
• `order`: (Optional) The order direction (ASC for ascending, DESC for descending).
• `limit`: (Optional) The maximum number of products to display.
• The `[product_categories]` Shortcode: This shortcode displays a list of product categories.
• Example: `[product_categories number=”5″ parent=”0″]` This displays the top 5 parent product categories.
• Key Attributes:
• `number`: (Optional) The number of categories to display. Defaults to all categories.
• `orderby`: (Optional) How to order the categories (e.g., name, slug, count).
• `order`: (Optional) The order direction (ASC for ascending, DESC for descending).
• `hide_empty`: (Optional) `1` to hide empty categories, `0` to show them.
• `parent`: (Optional) The ID of a parent category. Use `0` for top-level categories.
• `columns`: (Optional) The number of columns to display the category list in.
• Benefits: More flexible than widgets, allows embedding categories into content.
• Limitations: Requires understanding of shortcode attributes.

3. Using WooCommerce Blocks (Gutenberg Editor)

If you’re using the Gutenberg editor, WooCommerce offers blocks specifically for displaying product categories.

• How to Use It:
• Open the page or post you want to edit.
• Click the “+” icon to add a block.
• Search for “WooCommerce” to find WooCommerce blocks.
• Choose the “Products by Category” block or the “Product Categories List” block.
• Configure the block settings in the sidebar:
• Select the desired category.
• Adjust the number of columns and rows.
• Choose the ordering options.
• Benefits: Visual editing, easy to use within the Gutenberg editor.
• Limitations: Dependent on the Gutenberg editor.

4. Custom Coding (Advanced)

For advanced users, custom coding provides the most flexibility. You can use WooCommerce hooks and functions to create highly customized category displays.

• Example (Displaying products in a specific category):

 'product', 'posts_per_page' => 12, 'product_cat' => 'your-category-slug' // Replace with your category slug ); 

$loop = new WP_Query( $args );

if ( $loop->have_posts() ) {

echo ‘

‘;

while ( $loop->have_posts() ) {

$loop->the_post();

wc_get_template_part( ‘content’, ‘product’ );

}

echo ‘

‘;

} else {

echo ‘

No products found in this category.

‘;

}

wp_reset_postdata();

?>

• Important: Place this code in your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin. Remember to replace `”your-category-slug”` with the actual slug of your desired category. Always back up your site before making any code changes.
• Benefits: Maximum customization, complete control over the display.
• Limitations: Requires coding knowledge, potential for errors if not done correctly.

5. Using WooCommerce Plugins

Many plugins offer advanced features for displaying products by category, including:

• WooCommerce Category Accordion: Displays categories in an accordion style.
• WooCommerce Product Table: Displays products in a sortable and filterable table.
• WooCommerce Grid/List Toggle: Allows users to switch between grid and list views.
• Benefits: Extends WooCommerce functionality, often provides user-friendly interfaces.
• Limitations: Requires purchasing and installing plugins, potential compatibility issues.

Conclusion:

Displaying WooCommerce products by category is essential for creating a user-friendly and navigable online store. Whether you choose the simple WooCommerce Product Category widget, the flexibility of shortcodes, the visual editing of Gutenberg blocks, the power of custom coding, or the advanced features of WooCommerce plugins, the key is to choose the method that best suits your needs and technical expertise. By implementing these techniques, you can significantly improve the shopping experience for your customers and boost your sales. Remember to always test your changes on a staging environment before applying them to your live site. Good luck!