How To Add A Custom Field To Woocommerce Product

How to Add a Custom Field to WooCommerce Product: A Beginner’s Guide

Want to make your WooCommerce products stand out? Adding custom fields is a fantastic way to provide extra information, tailor your product pages, and improve the overall shopping experience. Don’t worry if you’re not a coding whiz! This guide will walk you through the process step-by-step, even if you’re a complete beginner.

Think of it this way: imagine you’re selling handcrafted wooden bowls. You might want to add fields for:

• Wood Type: (e.g., Maple, Cherry, Walnut)
• Finish: (e.g., Food-Safe Oil, Varnish)
• Approximate Weight: (e.g., 1 lb, 1.5 lbs)

These details go beyond the standard product description and help customers make informed purchase decisions. This can lead to increased sales and happier customers!

Why Add Custom Fields to WooCommerce Products?

Before we dive in, let’s understand why custom fields are so useful:

• Enhanced Product Information: Provide details beyond the standard title, description, and price. This is crucial for complex products or those with unique attributes.
• Improved Customer Experience: Clear and detailed information helps customers make confident purchasing decisions.
• Better Organization: You can easily organize and filter products based on custom field values in the backend.
• Increased Sales: More information often leads to fewer questions and greater trust, ultimately boosting sales.
• SEO Benefits: While not directly impacting SEO, detailed product pages with rich information can indirectly improve your search engine ranking by providing a better user experience and more relevant content.

Methods for Adding Custom Fields

There are several ways to add custom fields in WooCommerce. We’ll focus on the easiest and most beginner-friendly option: using a plugin.

Using a Plugin: Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) is a powerful and popular plugin that simplifies the process of adding custom fields. It’s free to use for basic functionality, and the Pro version offers even more advanced features.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Install and Activate ACF:

• Go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
• Search for “Advanced Custom Fields.”
• Install and activate the plugin.

2. Create a Field Group:

• In your WordPress dashboard, you’ll now see a new menu item called “Custom Fields.” Click on it.
• Click the “Add New” button to create a new field group. A field group is a collection of custom fields.
• Give your field group a descriptive name (e.g., “Product Details”).

3. Add Your Custom Fields:

• Click the “Add Field” button.
• Label: This is the human-readable name of the field (e.g., “Wood Type”).
• Name: This is the unique identifier for the field (ACF will automatically generate this from the Label, but you can customize it). It will be used in the code if you want to display the field value.
• Field Type: Choose the appropriate field type (e.g., “Text” for simple text input, “Select” for a dropdown menu, “Number” for numeric values).
• Instructions: Add clear instructions for yourself or anyone else managing the product (e.g., “Enter the type of wood used to make the bowl.”).
• Conditional Logic (Optional): You can set up rules to show or hide fields based on the values of other fields.
• Repeat this process for each custom field you want to add. Let’s say you want to add the following fields:
• Wood Type:
• Label: Wood Type
• Name: wood_type
• Field Type: Text
• Finish:
• Label: Finish
• Name: finish
• Field Type: Text
• Approximate Weight:
• Label: Approximate Weight
• Name: approximate_weight
• Field Type: Number
• Append: lbs (this will display “lbs” after the number on the product page)

4. Assign the Field Group to Products:

• In the “Location” box (usually at the bottom of the page), specify where you want these custom fields to appear.
• Set “Post Type” to “Product.” This ensures the fields appear on all your product pages.
• You can also add rules to display the fields only for specific product categories or tags.

5. Publish Your Field Group:

• Click the “Publish” button.

Entering Data into Your Custom Fields

Now that you’ve created your custom fields, it’s time to add data to them:

1. Edit Your WooCommerce Product:

• Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress dashboard.
• Edit the product you want to add custom data to.

2. Find Your Custom Fields:

• Scroll down the product edit page. You should see your newly created custom fields in a meta box.

3. Enter the Data:

• Fill in the values for each custom field. For example:
• Wood Type: Maple
• Finish: Food-Safe Oil
• Approximate Weight: 1

4. Update Your Product:

• Click the “Update” button to save your changes.

Displaying Custom Fields on Your Product Page

The final step is to display the custom fields on your product page. This requires a bit of code, but we’ll keep it simple.

1. Edit Your Theme’s `functions.php` File (Use a Child Theme!):

• Important: Always use a child theme when modifying theme files. This prevents your changes from being overwritten when the theme is updated.
• Go to Appearance > Theme Editor in your WordPress dashboard (if you’re using a child theme).
• Find the `functions.php` file.

2. Add the Following Code Snippet:

<?php
add_action( 'woocommerce_single_product_summary', 'display_custom_product_fields', 25 );

function display_custom_product_fields() {

global $product;

// Get custom field values

$wood_type = get_field( ‘wood_type’, $product->get_id() );

$finish = get_field( ‘finish’, $product->get_id() );

$approximate_weight = get_field( ‘approximate_weight’, $product->get_id() );

// Output the custom fields

if ( $wood_type ) {

echo ‘

Wood Type: ‘ . esc_html( $wood_type ) . ‘

‘;

}

if ( $finish ) {

echo ‘

Finish: ‘ . esc_html( $finish ) . ‘

‘;

}

if ( $approximate_weight ) {

echo ‘

Approximate Weight: ‘ . esc_html( $approximate_weight ) . ‘ lbs

‘;

}

}

?>

• Explanation:
• `add_action( ‘woocommerce_single_product_summary’, ‘display_custom_product_fields’, 25 );` This line hooks our function into the `woocommerce_single_product_summary` action, which controls the display of product information on the single product page. The `25` determines the priority
• this will display the fields after the product short description.
• `function display_custom_product_fields() { … }` This is the function that will display our custom fields.
• `get_field( ‘field_name’, $product->get_id() );` This is the ACF function to retrieve the value of a custom field. Replace `’wood_type’`, `’finish’`, and `’approximate_weight’` with the actual “Name” values of your ACF fields. The `$product->get_id()` gets the ID of the current product.
• `echo ‘

  Wood Type: ‘ . esc_html( $wood_type ) . ‘

  ‘;` This line outputs the custom field value within an HTML paragraph. `esc_html()` is used to sanitize the output and prevent potential security vulnerabilities.

• The `if` statements ensure that the fields are only displayed if they have a value.

3. Save the `functions.php` File:

• Click the “Update File” button.

4. View Your Product Page:

• Visit your product page and you should see your custom fields displayed. You might need to adjust the priority number in the `add_action` function to change their placement on the page.

Troubleshooting

• Custom Fields Not Showing Up: Double-check that you’ve assigned the field group to the “Product” post type. Also, make sure the “Name” values in your `functions.php` code match the actual “Name” values in your ACF fields.
• Code Errors: If you encounter errors after adding the code snippet, double-check your syntax. Make sure you have opening and closing parentheses and brackets correctly.
• Plugin Conflicts: Sometimes, other plugins can conflict with ACF. Try temporarily deactivating other plugins to see if it resolves the issue.

Conclusion

Adding custom fields to your WooCommerce products is a powerful way to enhance your store and provide a better customer experience. By using a plugin like Advanced Custom Fields, the process becomes accessible even to those without coding experience. Remember to always use a child theme when modifying theme files, and double-check your code for any errors. With a little practice, you’ll be able to customize your product pages to meet your specific needs!