How To Use Woocommerce Attributes

Unleash the Power of WooCommerce Attributes: A Beginner’s Guide

Are you running an online store with WooCommerce and selling products with variations like sizes, colors, or materials? Then you absolutely need to understand and use WooCommerce Attributes! Attributes are the key to organizing your products, improving customer experience, and boosting your store’s SEO. Don’t Check out this post: How To Install Storefront For Woocommerce worry if you’re new to this. This guide breaks down WooCommerce attributes in a simple, easy-to-understand way.

What are WooCommerce Attributes?

Think of attributes as characteristics that define your products. They help customers filter and find precisely what they’re looking for. Instead of listing individual products for every possible combination (e.g., Red T-shirt Size S, Red T-shirt Size M, Blue T-shirt Size S), you can use attributes to define the “Color” and “Size” of your t-shirt.

Why are they important?

• Improved Customer Experience: Easier browsing and finding the exact product they want.
• Better Product Organization: Keeps your catalog neat and manageable.
• SEO Benefits: Helps search engines understand your product variations.
• Variable Products: Essential for selling products that come in different options (sizes, colors, etc.).
• Product Filtering: Allows customers to quickly narrow down their choices using filters on your shop page.

Getting Started: Creating Your First Attribute

Let’s dive into creating an attribute. We’ll use the example of a clothing store selling t-shirts.

1. Go to Products > Attributes in your WordPress dashboard.

2. Explore this article on How To Set Up Woocommerce Cart Page Add a New Attribute:

• In the “Name” field, enter the name of your attribute. For example, “Color.”
• The “Slug” field will automatically generate based on the name. You can customize this, but it’s usually best to leave it as is.
• “Enable Archives?” Usually, you’ll want to leave this unchecked unless you want a separate archive page for each attribute term (e.g., a page listing all “Red” products).
• “Default sort order” Use “Name” for alphabetical ordering or “Term ID” for the order you created the terms. “Custom ordering” allows you to drag and drop terms in the order you prefer.

3. Click “Add attribute”.

Now you should see your new attribute (e.g., “Color”) listed in the table.

Adding Terms to Your Attribute (Values)

Each attribute needs terms, which are the specific values that describe the attribute. For the “Color” attribute, terms would be “Red,” “Blue,” “Green,” etc.

1. Click “Configure terms” next to your attribute.

2. Add New [Attribute Name]:

• In the “Name” field, enter the term. For example, “Red.”
• The “Slug” field will auto-generate. Again, it’s usually fine to leave it as is.
• (Optional) Add a description.
• Click “Add new [attribute name].”

3. Repeat this process for each term you need (e.g., “Blue,” “Green,” “Yellow”).

Example for “Size” Attribute:

• Attribute Name: `Size`
• Terms: `Small`, `Medium`, `Large`, `X-Large`

Example for “Material” Attribute:

• Attribute Name: `Material`
• Terms: `Cotton`, `Polyester`, `Linen`, `Silk`

Applying Attributes to Your Products

Now that you have your attributes and terms, it’s time to assign them to your products.

1. Edit the product you want to add attributes to.

2. Scroll down to the “Product data” meta box.

3. Select “Variable product” from the “Product type” dropdown. (If you don’t see this option, make sure WooCommerce is activated!). You’ll also use this type of product for products without variations, but you want to show attributes.

4. Click on the “Attributes” tab.

5. Select your attribute from the “Custom product attribute” dropdown (e.g., “Color”). If you have created your attributes correctly, they should appear here. Click “Add”.

6. Select the terms you want to apply to this product. You can select multiple terms.

7. Check the “Used for variations” box *only if* this attribute is used to define actual product variations (e.g., different color options that customers can select). If the attribute is for display only (e.g., a “Material” attribute on a t-shirt that only comes in cotton), leave this unchecked.

8. Click “Save attributes”.

Creating Variations (If Needed)

If you checked “Used for variations” in the previous step, you’ll need to create the actual product variations.

1. Click on the “Variations” tab.

2. Use the “Add Variation” dropdown. The most common choice is “Create variations from all attributes.” This will automatically create a variation for every possible combination of your selected attribute terms. For example, if you have “Color” (Red, Blue) and “Size” (Small, Medium), it will create:

• Red – Small
• Red – Medium
• Blue – Small
• Blue – Medium

3. Click “Go”. WooCommerce will generate the variations.

4. For each variation, click the expansion arrow to open its settings. Here you’ll need to:

• Set a Price! (This is mandatory)
• (Optional) Set a SKU, manage stock, add a variation image, etc.

5. Save Changes.

Displaying Attributes on the Product Page (Even Without Variations)

Even if you *don’t* need product variations (e.g., selling a single t-shirt that only comes in one color), you can still display attributes on the product page to provide more information. Just follow the steps above to add the attribute to the product, but leave the “Used for variations” box unchecked. The attribute will then be displayed in the “Additional Information” tab on the product page.

Example in PHP code, how to get product attributes

You can fetch and display product attributes programmatically using PHP in your WooCommerce theme. Here’s a basic example:

 <?php // Get the product object (replace with your actual product ID) $product_id = get_the_ID(); // gets the ID of the current product in the loop $product = wc_get_product( $product_id ); 

if ( $product ) {

// Get all product attributes

$attributes = $product->get_attributes();

if ( ! empty( $attributes ) ) {

echo ‘

Product Attributes:

‘;

echo ‘

‘;

foreach ( $attributes as $attribute ) {

$name = wc_attribute_label( $attribute->get_name() );

$values = array();

if ( $attribute->is_taxonomy() ) {

$terms = wc_get_product_terms( $product->get_id(), $attribute->get_name(), array( ‘fields’ => ‘names’ ) );

foreach ( $terms as $term ) {

$values[] = esc_html( $term );

}

} else {

$values = array_map( ‘trim’, explode( WC_DELIMITER, $attribute->get_options() ) );

}

echo ‘

• ‘ . esc_html( $name ) . ‘: ‘ . implode( ‘, ‘, $values ) . ‘

‘;

}

echo ‘

‘;

}

}

?>

Explanation:

• `wc_get_product()`: Gets the product object based on the product ID.
• `$product->get_attributes()`: Retrieves all the attributes associated with the product.
• `wc_attribute_label()`: Gets the user-friendly label for the attribute (e.g., “Color” instead of “pa_color”).
• `wc_get_product_terms()`: If the attribute is based on a taxonomy (like the attributes you create in the WooCommerce admin), this gets the terms (values) associated with it.
• `WC_DELIMITER`: If you’re using a custom attribute, rather than a taxonomy based Explore this article on How To Show Product Image In Woocommerce attribute, it will explode the string on the delimiter set in your WooCommerce settings, defaulting to `|`.
• The code then loops through the attributes and their values, displaying them in a list.

Where to use this code:

• Your theme’s `single-product.php` file: This is the main template for displaying product details. Be *very* careful when editing theme files! Consider using a child theme.
• A custom plugin: For more advanced customization, creating a plugin is the safest and most maintainable option.

Important Considerations and Best Practices

• Consistency is Key: Use consistent naming conventions for your attributes and terms. “Dark Blue” and “Darkblue” are different terms.
• Think Like Your Customer: Choose attribute names that make sense to your target audience.
• Use Global Attributes: Creating global attributes (the way described in this article) is better than creating custom attributes for each product, because you will be able to filter by these attributes on the shop page.
• SEO Optimization: Use relevant keywords in your attribute names and Learn more about How To Search Category In Woocommerce terms. This will help search engines understand your product variations and improve your store’s search ranking. For example, if selling shoes, use size variations that are relevant to the country where your sales happen, ex. “US 9”, “EU 42”, “UK 8”.

By understanding and effectively utilizing WooCommerce attributes, you can significantly enhance your online store’s functionality, improve the customer shopping experience, and boost your SEO. So, go ahead and start experimenting! Happy selling!