# How to Display Subcategories in WordPress WooCommerce: A Beginner’s Guide
WooCommerce is a powerful platform, but navigating its features can be tricky for beginners. One common question is: how do I neatly display my product subcategories? This guide will walk you through several methods, from simple plugins to custom code, ensuring your customers can easily browse your product range.
Why Display Subcategories?
Before diving into the *how*, let’s understand the *why*. Clear categorization is crucial for a good user experience. Imagine a large online bookstore. Would you prefer searching through thousands of books at once, or browsing through categories like “Fiction,” “Non-Fiction,” and then further into subcategories like “Fantasy,” “Mystery,” or “Biographies”? The latter Explore this article on How To Use Australia Post Woocommerce Extension is far more user-friendly. Well-organized subcategories:
- Improve site Discover insights on How To Print Order Invoices In Woocommerce navigation.
- Enhance user experience.
- Boost sales by guiding customers to relevant products.
- Improve your site’s SEO.
- WooCommerce Product Categories: Often provides more customizable layouts and options for displaying categories and subcategories in various areas of your site.
- YITH WooCommerce Product Categories: Another well-regarded plugin, offering similar functionality with potentially different UI elements and customization options.
Method 1: Using WooCommerce’s Built-in Features (Easiest)
WooCommerce offers basic subcategory display through its default product category structure. While not as visually appealing as other methods, it’s the easiest to implement.
1. Create Your Categories and Subcategories: In your WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to `Products > Categories`. Create your main categories, and then create subcategories under them. For example:
* Main Category: Clothing
* Subcategories: Men’s Clothing, Women’s Clothing, Children’s Clothing
2. Displaying in the Shop Page: WooCommerce automatically displays your main categories on the shop page. When a Discover insights on How To Hide Categories On Products On Woocommerce Shop Page customer clicks a main category, they’ll see the products within that category and its subcategories. The subcategories are usually listed below the products. This is a basic implementation, but sufficient for simpler stores.
Method 2: Using a WooCommerce Category Display Plugin (Recommended)
For more control and visual appeal, consider using a plugin. Many plugins offer advanced category display options, including custom layouts, widgets, and Discover insights on How To Customize Woocommerce Invoices more. Some popular choices include:
These plugins typically offer drag-and-drop interfaces, making it easy to customize the appearance without needing coding skills. Install and activate your chosen plugin and follow its instructions. They’ll usually provide a straightforward way to customize category display in your shop page, sidebar, and other areas.
Method 3: Customizing with Code (Advanced Users Only)
This method requires coding knowledge and is not recommended for beginners. Improperly implemented code can break your website. Proceed with caution.
This example shows how to display subcategories within a specific main category using a custom WordPress function. Place this code in your theme’s `functions.php` file or a custom plugin:
function display_subcategories_in_category( $category_id ) { $args = array( 'taxonomy' => 'product_cat', 'parent' => $category_id, 'hide_empty' => 0, // Show even empty subcategories 'orderby' => 'name', 'order' => 'ASC' ); $subcategories = get_categories( $args ); if ( $subcategories ) { echo '- '; foreach ( $subcategories as $subcategory ) { echo '
- term_id ) . '">' . $subcategory->name . '
// Example usage: Display subcategories of the “Clothing” category (assuming its ID is 123)
add_shortcode( ‘subcategory_list’, function() {
return display_subcategories_in_category( 123 );
});
//Then use [subcategory_list] shortcode where you want the subcategories to appear.
Remember to replace `123` with Check out this post: How To Buy Woocommerce Products On Site the actual ID of your main category. You can find the category ID by editing the category in your WordPress admin.
Conclusion
Displaying subcategories effectively is key to a user-friendly WooCommerce store. Choose the method that best suits your technical skills and store’s needs. Start with the built-in features or a plugin for the easiest route. Only resort to custom coding if you are comfortable working with PHP and WordPress themes. Remember to always back up your website before making any code changes.
