How to Show Your WooCommerce Cart in the Header (and Why You Should!)
Introduction
In the world of e-commerce, customer experience is king. Making the buying process as smooth and intuitive as possible directly translates to increased conversions and happy customers. One simple yet effective way to improve the customer journey on your WooCommerce store is by displaying the cart in the header. Having the cart readily visible in the header encourages shoppers to proceed to checkout, acting as a constant, subtle reminder of the items they’ve added. This article will guide you through the process of adding a WooCommerce cart icon to your header, outlining different methods and considerations along the way.
Main Part: Adding the WooCommerce Cart to Your Header
There are several ways to add a WooCommerce cart to your header, ranging from plugin solutions to code snippets. Let’s explore a few popular options:
1. Using a WooCommerce-Specific Theme or Plugin
The easiest method is often to choose a WooCommerce-compatible theme that already includes this functionality. Many modern themes offer built-in options in their theme customizer to enable a cart icon in the header.
- Benefits: Simplest solution, often requires no coding.
- Drawbacks: Limited customization options based on the theme.
- WooCommerce Menu Cart: A lightweight plugin specifically designed to add a cart icon and dropdown to your navigation menu.
- Header & Footer Elementor Builder: If you’re using Elementor (or a similar page builder), you can create a custom header with a WooCommerce cart widget.
- Other General Header Customization Plugins: Many header builder plugins offer WooCommerce cart integration.
If your theme doesn’t offer this feature, you can use a dedicated WooCommerce cart plugin. Some popular options include:
Steps (Using a WooCommerce Menu Cart plugin as an example):
1. Install and Activate the Plugin: Navigate to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard, search for “WooCommerce Menu Cart”, install, and activate the plugin.
2. Configure the Plugin: Go to Appearance > Customize > WooCommerce Menu Cart.
3. Customize Settings: You can customize the cart icon, display options (e.g., show number of items, total price), and menu location within the customizer.
4. Publish Changes: Save your changes and view your website to see the cart icon in your header.
2. Adding the Cart via Code (for Advanced Users)
For those comfortable with code, you can manually add the cart to your theme’s header. This provides the most flexibility but requires understanding PHP and WordPress template structure.
Steps:
1. Access Your Theme’s `functions.php` File: Connect to your server via FTP or use your theme’s file editor (Appearance > Theme Editor) and locate the `functions.php` file. Important: Create a child theme before editing the functions.php file directly. This will prevent your changes from being overwritten during theme updates.
2. Add the Following Code Snippet to `functions.php`:
<a class="cart-contents" href="" title="">
cart->get_cart_contents_count(); ?>
<?php
}
function woocommerce_cart_menu_item($items, $args) {
if ($args->theme_location == ‘primary’) { // Replace ‘primary’ with your menu location
$items .= ‘
$items .= woocommerce_cart_link();
$items .= ‘
‘;
}
return $items;
}
add_filter(‘wp_nav_menu_items’, ‘woocommerce_cart_menu_item’, 10, 2);
function woocommerce_cart_link_script() {
?>
jQuery( function( $ ) {
$( document.body ).on( ‘wc_fragments_refreshed wc_fragments_loaded’, function() {
$( ‘.cart-count’ ).text( $( ‘.woocommerce-cart-link’ ).data( ‘cart-contents’ ) );
});
});
<?php
}
add_action( ‘wp_footer’, ‘woocommerce_cart_link_script’ );
?>
3. Add CSS Styling (Optional): Add custom CSS to your theme’s `style.css` file (within your child theme) to style the cart icon and count. This might include:
.cart-contents {
display: inline-block;
text-decoration: none;
color: #333; /* Change to your desired color */
padding: 5px 10px;
}
.cart-count {
background-color: #f00; /* Change to your desired color */
color: #fff;
border-radius: 50%;
padding: 2px 6px;
font-size: 12px;
}
4. Include Font Awesome (If Using Font Awesome Icons): Ensure Font Awesome is loaded on your site. You can do this by adding the following line to the “ section of your theme (usually in `header.php`):
Important: Replace `your-integrity-hash` with the actual integrity hash of the Font Awesome file. It is better to use a local version of Font Awesome or a theme-provided version for better performance and reliability.
5. Adjust Menu Location: In the code snippet, replace `’primary’` with the actual theme location of your main navigation menu (found in Appearance > Menus).
Explanation of the Code:
- `woocommerce_cart_link()`: This function generates the HTML for the cart link, including the icon and item count.
- `woocommerce_cart_menu_item()`: This function adds the cart link as a menu item to your chosen navigation menu.
- `woocommerce_cart_link_script()`: This javascript script is used to update the cart count when items are added or removed from the cart using Ajax requests.
- `wc_get_cart_url()`: This WooCommerce function retrieves the URL of the cart page.
- `WC()->cart->get_cart_contents_count()`: This WooCommerce function retrieves the number of items in the cart.
3. Using Shortcodes (Less Recommended)
Some themes or plugins might provide shortcodes that display the cart. While possible, this is generally less efficient and may require more configuration. Refer to the specific theme or plugin documentation for instructions.
Conslusion
Displaying the WooCommerce cart in your header is a simple yet powerful way to improve the user experience and potentially increase sales. Whether you choose the ease of a plugin, the control of custom code, or leverage your theme’s built-in options, remember to prioritize a clean, visually appealing design that integrates seamlessly with your overall website aesthetic. By making the cart readily accessible, you’re encouraging customers to complete their purchases and enjoy a smoother, more satisfying shopping experience on your WooCommerce store. Remember to test thoroughly after implementation to ensure everything works as expected on all devices and browsers.
