How to Show Product Images in WooCommerce Order Emails (A Beginner’s Guide)
WooCommerce is a fantastic platform for selling online, but sometimes its default settings need a little tweaking to make your customers’ experience even better. One common customization is adding product images to the order confirmation emails. Why? Because it’s a small detail that makes a big difference!
Imagine ordering a cool t-shirt from your favorite online store. You get the confirmation email, but it *only* lists the product name. Wouldn’t it be much nicer to see a picture of that awesome t-shirt right there in the email, reminding you exactly what you ordered and getting you even more excited for its arrival? That’s the power of visuals!
This article will guide you through how to display product images in your WooCommerce order confirmation emails, even if you’re a complete beginner. No coding expertise is required for the initial, simplest approach. We’ll cover both the “easy way” using plugins and a more advanced (but still beginner-friendly) coding approach for greater control.
Why Add Product Images to Order Emails?
Adding product images to your order emails offers several benefits:
- Improved Customer Experience: As mentioned, visuals are more engaging and help customers quickly confirm their order details.
- Reduced Confusion: Less chance of customers misremembering what they ordered, leading to fewer support requests.
- Increased Brand Recognition: Reinforces your brand and makes the email look more professional. A visually appealing email reflects well on your business.
- Potential for Upselling: Some plugins even allow you to subtly include related products within the email, potentially boosting sales.
- YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer: A free option with a drag-and-drop interface that lets you easily add product images and customize other aspects of your emails.
- Email Customizer for WooCommerce: Another popular choice offering similar drag-and-drop customization features and a range of pre-designed templates.
- WooCommerce Email Customizer by Themehigh: Provides extensive customization options and integrates well with many themes.
The “Easy Way”: Using a WooCommerce Email Customizer Plugin
The easiest way to show product images in WooCommerce order emails is to use a plugin. These plugins provide a user-friendly interface to customize your emails without touching any code.
Popular Options:
How to Use a Plugin (Example: YayMail):
1. Install and Activate the Plugin: Go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to “Plugins” -> “Add New,” search for “YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer,” install, and activate the plugin.
2. Access the Email Customizer: After activation, a new “YayMail” option should appear in your WordPress menu. Click on it.
3. Select the Email to Customize: Choose the “New Order” email (or any other email you want to modify).
4. Drag and Drop Elements: YayMail’s drag-and-drop interface allows you to add a “Product Image” element to your email template.
5. Configure the Image Size: Adjust the image size to your preference. Smaller images keep the email clean and less overwhelming.
6. Save Your Changes: Click the “Save” button to apply Read more about How To Remove Product Quantity From All Products In Woocommerce your changes.
7. Test Your Email: Use YayMail’s testing feature to send a sample email to yourself and see the results.
Reasoning: Plugins are great for beginners because they abstract away the technical complexities. They provide a visual interface to achieve the desired result quickly and easily.
The “Slightly Advanced” Way: Customizing Email Templates with Code
If you’re comfortable with a little bit of code, you can customize your email templates directly. This method offers more control over the appearance of the product images.
Important: Never edit the core WooCommerce email templates directly! Doing so will make it impossible to update WooCommerce without losing your changes. Instead, you should create an override in your theme or child theme.
Steps:
1. Find the Correct Email Template: The email template responsible for the new order email is usually located in `wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/templates/emails/email-order-items.php`. You can also customize the parent template `wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/templates/emails/email-order-details.php`.
2. Create an Override in Your Theme: Create a directory called `woocommerce` within your theme (or child theme). Inside the `woocommerce` directory, create another directory called `emails`. Finally, copy the `email-order-items.php` file (or `email-order-details.php`) from the WooCommerce plugin directory into your theme’s `woocommerce/emails/` directory.
3. Edit the Overridden Template: Now, you can safely edit the `email-order-items.php` (or `email-order-details.php`) file in your theme’s directory.
4. Add the Product Image Code: Open the `email-order-items.php` file in your editor and find the section where the product details are Read more about How To Make Dropdown Menu On Woocommerce Products displayed (usually within a `foreach` loop iterating through `$item` objects). Insert the following PHP code to display the product image:
get_product_id();
// Get the product object
$product = wc_get_product( $product_id );
// Get the product image URL
$image_url = wp_get_attachment_image_src( $product->get_image_id(), ‘thumbnail’ );
// Display the image
if ( $image_url ) {
echo ‘‘;
}
?>
- Explanation:
- `$product_id = $item->get_product_id();` gets the ID of Discover insights on How To Switch WordPress Site To Woocommerce the product in the order item.
- `$product = wc_get_product( $product_id );` retrieves the product object using the ID.
- `$image_url = wp_get_attachment_image_src( $product->get_image_id(), ‘thumbnail’ );` gets the URL of the product image. The `’thumbnail’` argument specifies the size of the image (you can change it to `’medium’`, `’large’`, or `’full’` if desired).
- The `if ( $image_url ) { … }` condition ensures that the code only attempts to display an image if one exists for the product.
- `
` displays the image. `esc_url()` is used to sanitize the URL for security. The `style` attribute sets the maximum width and height of the image to ensure it doesn’t overwhelm the email layout.
5. Customize the Image Size and Style: Modify the `max-width`, `height`, and `margin-right` properties in the `style` attribute to adjust the image size and spacing. Experiment with different values until you achieve the desired look.
6. Test Your Changes: Place a test order on your WooCommerce store to see the updated email with the product image. You can use a test payment gateway plugin to avoid processing real payments during testing.
Example:
Let’s say you want the product images to be slightly larger and have a bit more space around them. You could modify the code to:
echo '
This would increase the maximum width of the images to 80 pixels, increase the right margin to 15 pixels, and add a 5-pixel bottom margin.
Reasoning: Customizing the template directly provides the most flexibility and control over the image appearance. By overriding the template in your theme, you ensure that your changes are preserved during WooCommerce updates. While it requires a bit of coding, the provided code snippet is relatively simple and easy to understand.
Conclusion
Adding product images to your WooCommerce order emails is a simple yet effective way to enhance the customer experience and improve your brand image. Whether you choose the easy plugin route or the slightly more advanced coding method, the benefits are well worth the effort. Choose the method that best suits your comfort level and technical skills, and start making your order emails more visually appealing today! Remember to always test your changes thoroughly to ensure everything looks and works as expected.
