How To Add A Column In Woocommerce Menu

How to Add a Column in Your WooCommerce Menu: A Beginner’s Guide

WooCommerce offers a fantastic platform to sell your products online, but sometimes the default menu just doesn’t cut it. You might want to showcase more product categories, highlight special offers, or simply improve the navigation experience for your customers. One powerful way to achieve this is by adding a column to your WooCommerce menu.

This guide will walk you through the process, explaining why it’s beneficial and providing practical steps for implementation, even if you’re a complete beginner.

Why Add a Column to Your WooCommerce Menu?

Imagine you’re running an online clothing store. Your main menu might have items like “Men,” “Women,” “Kids,” and “Sale.” Adding columns allows you to showcase subcategories within each of these main categories.

Think of it like this:

Without columns: Clicking “Women” might take the user to a generic page with all women’s clothing.
With columns: Hovering over “Women” reveals columns displaying “Dresses,” “Tops,” “Jeans,” “Shoes,” and “Accessories,” allowing customers to quickly find exactly what they’re looking for.

Adding columns offers several advantages:

Improved Navigation: Makes it easier for customers to find specific products.
Enhanced User Experience: Creates a more visually appealing and intuitive browsing experience.
Increased Sales: By showcasing a wider range of products and promotions, you can encourage more purchases.
Better Organization: Keeps your menu clean and uncluttered, even with a large inventory.

Methods to Add a Column in Your WooCommerce Menu

There are a few ways to add columns to your WooCommerce menu, each with its own pros and cons. We’ll focus on the easiest and most recommended methods for beginners:

1. Using a Mega Menu Plugin

2. Custom Coding (For Advanced Users)

We highly recommend using a Mega Menu plugin for beginners. It’s the simplest and most flexible way to create stunning, multi-column menus without writing a single line of code.

Adding Columns with a Mega Menu Plugin

Mega Menu plugins transform your standard dropdown menus into visually rich, multi-column menus. They often come with drag-and-drop interfaces, making customization a breeze.

Here’s a general outline of how to use a Mega Menu plugin (specific steps may vary slightly depending on the plugin you choose):

1. Install and Activate a Mega Menu Plugin:

Go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
Search for “Mega Menu” (we recommend “Max Mega Menu” or “WP Mega Menu”).
Click Install Now and then Activate.

2. Configure the Plugin:

Navigate to the plugin’s settings page (usually found under “Appearance” or a dedicated menu item).
Enable the plugin for the menu you want to modify (usually your main navigation menu).

3. Edit Your Menu:

Go to Appearance > Menus.
You’ll now see options related to the Mega Menu plugin when you hover over a menu item.
Enable Mega Menu for the menu item you want to transform into a multi-column dropdown.

4. Add Columns and Content:

The plugin will usually provide a visual editor where you can:
Add columns to your dropdown menu.
Drag and drop widgets, product categories, images, text, and other content into each column.
Customize the appearance of your menu (colors, fonts, spacing, etc.).

For example, to add columns under “Women” menu item:

Enable Mega Menu for “Women”.
Add 3 columns.
In the first column, add a “Product Category” widget showing “Dresses”.
In the second column, add a “Product Category” widget showing “Tops”.
In the third column, add an image banner advertising a “Summer Sale”.

5. Save Your Menu:

Click Save Menu to apply your changes.

Real-Life Example:

Let’s say you use the “Max Mega Menu” plugin. You’d go to Appearance > Menus, find your “Shop” menu item, enable the mega menu, and then use the drag-and-drop interface to add columns containing product categories, featured products, and even promotional banners. This creates a visually engaging and informative dropdown that encourages customers to explore your products.

Custom Coding (Advanced Users)

If you’re comfortable Read more about How To Use Woocommerce Api In Android with coding (HTML, CSS, and PHP), you can create a multi-column menu by modifying your theme’s files. This method offers the most flexibility but requires technical expertise.

Important Note: Always back up your website before making any code changes. Incorrect code can break your site. Consider using a child theme to prevent your changes from being overwritten during theme updates.

Here’s a high-level overview of the steps involved:

1. Create a Custom Walker Class: This class extends WordPress’s default menu walker and allows you to modify the menu output.

2. Modify Your Theme’s `functions.php` File: Register your custom walker class and tell WordPress to use it for your menu.

3. Add CSS Styling: Write CSS Explore this article on Avada How To Woocommerce to style your multi-column menu, controlling the layout, appearance, and responsiveness.

Example (Simplified):

 // functions.php (in your child theme)

// Custom Walker Class (simplified)

class My_Custom_Menu_Walker extends Walker_Nav_Menu {

function start_lvl( &$output, $depth = 0, $args = array() ) {

$indent = ( $depth > 0 ? str_repeat( “t”, $depth ) : ” );

$output .= “n” . $indent . ‘

}

// Register the walker

function register_my_menu() {

register_nav_menu( ‘primary’, __( ‘Primary Menu’, ‘theme-slug’ ) );

}

add_action( ‘after_setup_theme’, ‘register_my_menu’ );

/* style.css (in your child theme) */

.sub-menu.columns-3 {

display: flex;

flex-wrap: wrap;

}

.sub-menu.columns-3 li {

width: 33.33%; /* 3 columns */

}

Reasoning:

The PHP code adds a class `columns-3` to the submenu `
- The CSS code uses flexbox to arrange the submenu items into three columns.

This is a very basic example, and you’ll need to customize the code to fit your specific needs. This method is not recommended for beginners.

Conclusion

Adding columns to your WooCommerce menu can significantly improve your website’s navigation and user experience. While custom coding offers the most flexibility, using a Mega Menu plugin is the easiest and most practical solution for beginners. Experiment with different plugins and configurations to find the perfect setup for your online store and watch your sales grow!