How To Use Woocommerce Functions

Unleashing the Power of WooCommerce Functions: A Beginner’s Guide

WooCommerce, the leading e-commerce platform for WordPress, is incredibly flexible. A big part of that flexibility comes from its extensive library of functions. These functions are like pre-built tools that allow you to customize your online store, from displaying product prices differently to adding custom checkout fields. But don’t worry, you don’t Explore this article on How To Get Current Product Category In Woocommerce need to be a coding wizard to use them effectively!

This guide will introduce you to the basics of WooCommerce functions and show you how to use them with real-life examples. We’ll focus on simple scenarios and provide clear explanations, so even if you’re a complete beginner, you’ll be able to start tweaking your store in no time.

What are WooCommerce Functions?

Think of WooCommerce functions as building blocks for your store. They perform specific tasks, like:

• Retrieving product information (name, price, description)
• Adding products to the cart
• Displaying product categories
• Modifying the checkout process
• And much more!

Instead of writing complex code from scratch, you can simply call these functions to achieve your desired result. This saves time and effort and makes your code cleaner and easier to maintain.

Where to Use WooCommerce Functions?

The primary place you’ll be using WooCommerce functions is within your WordPress theme’s `functions.php` file (or a child theme’s `functions.php` file). Always use a child theme when making customizations to your theme. This protects your changes from being overwritten when the main theme updates.

Why `functions.php`? This file is designed specifically for adding custom functionality to your WordPress site.

Another location where you might use these functions is within custom plugins that you develop yourself.

Caution: Editing theme files directly can break your website if you’re not careful. Always back up your website before making any changes to your `functions.php` file or any theme file.

Getting Started: A Simple Example

Let’s start with a basic example. Suppose you want to add some text before the product price on your single product pages.

Here’s how you can do it using a WooCommerce function called `woocommerce_before_single_product_summary`:

1. Access your `functions.php` file: Go to Appearance > Theme Editor in your WordPress dashboard. Choose your child theme (if you’re using one) and then select `functions.php`.

2. Add the following code:

 add_action( 'woocommerce_before_single_product_summary', 'add_custom_text_before_price' ); 

function add_custom_text_before_price() {

echo ‘

Special Offer:

‘;

}

3. Save the changes.

Explanation:

• `add_action()`: This is a WordPress function that lets you “hook” your own function into a specific point in the WooCommerce template. Think of it like saying, “Hey WooCommerce, when you’re about to display the single product summary, run my function too!”.
• `woocommerce_before_single_product_summary`: This is the “hook” in WooCommerce that runs before the main product information is displayed on the single product page.
• `add_custom_text_before_price`: This is the name of the function you’re creating. You can name it whatever you want, but it’s good practice to use a descriptive name.
• `function add_custom_text_before_price() { … }`: This is the actual function that contains the code you want to execute. In this case, it simply echoes out the text “Special Offer:”.
• `echo ‘

  Special Offer:

  ‘;`: This line of code prints the text “Special Offer:” wrapped in a paragraph tag.

Now, when you visit a single product page on your store, you should see “Special Offer:” displayed right before the price.

Retrieving Product Information: A More Useful Example

Often, you’ll want to retrieve specific information about a product and display it in a custom way. Let’s say you want to display the product SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) on the single product page, above the product title.

Here’s how you can do it:

1. Add the following code to your `functions.php` file:

 add_action( 'woocommerce_before_single_product_summary', 'display_product_sku', 5 ); 

function display_product_sku() {

global $product;

if ( $product ) {

$sku = $product->get_sku();

if ( $sku ) {

echo ‘

SKU: Explore this article on How To Change Product Order On Shop Page Woocommerce ‘ . esc_html( $sku ) . ‘

‘;

}

}

}

2. Save the changes.

Explanation:

• `global $product;`: This line makes the `$product` variable available within your function. The `$product` variable contains all the information about the current product being displayed.
• `$product->get_sku();`: This function retrieves the SKU of the product.
• `if ( $sku ) { … }`: This checks if the SKU exists. Some products might not have an SKU assigned.
• `echo ‘

  SKU: ‘ . esc_html( $sku ) . ‘

  ‘;`: This line prints the SKU wrapped in a paragraph tag with a class of `product-sku`. `esc_html()` is an important function that sanitizes the output to prevent security vulnerabilities (like cross-site scripting).

• `add_action( ‘woocommerce_before_single_product_summary’, ‘display_product_sku’, 5 );`: The ‘5’ defines the priority of the hook execution. Lower numbers means earlier execution.

Now, visit a single product page on your store. You should see the product’s SKU displayed above the product title. You can then use CSS to style the `.product-sku` class to change the look and feel.

Modifying the Checkout: Adding a Custom Field

Let’s move on to modifying the checkout process. Suppose you want to add a custom “Gift Message” field to the checkout page.

1. Add the following code to your `functions.php` file:

 add_filter( 'woocommerce_checkout_fields' , 'add_gift_message_field' ); 

function add_gift_message_field( $fields ) {

$fields[‘billing’][‘gift_message’] = array(

‘label’ => __(‘Gift Message’, ‘woocommerce’),

‘placeholder’ => _x(‘Enter your gift message here…’, ‘placeholder’, ‘woocommerce’),

‘required’ => false,

‘class’ => array(‘form-row-wide’),

‘clear’ => true

);

return $fields;

}

add_action( ‘woocommerce_checkout_update_order_meta’, ‘save_gift_message_field’ );

function save_gift_message_field( $order_id ) {

if ( ! empty( $_POST[‘gift_message’] ) ) {

update_post_meta( $order_id, ‘_gift_message’, sanitize_text_field( $_POST[‘gift_message’] ) );

}

}

add_action(‘woocommerce_admin_order_data_after_billing_address’, ‘display_gift_message_in_admin’, 10, 1 );

function display_gift_message_in_admin($order){

echo ‘

‘.__(‘Gift Message’).’: ‘ . get_post_meta( $order->get_id(), ‘_gift_message’, true ) . ‘

‘;

}

2. Save the changes.

Explanation:

• Adding the Field (`add_gift_message_field`):
• `add_filter(‘woocommerce_checkout_fields’, ‘add_gift_message_field’);`: This uses a filter hook to modify the checkout fields.
• `$fields[‘billing’][‘gift_message’] = array(…);`: This adds a new field called `gift_message` to the billing section of the checkout. The array defines the properties of the field:
• `label`: The label displayed next to the field.
• `placeholder`: The placeholder text displayed inside the field.
• `required`: Whether the field is required (set to `false` in this example).
• `class`: CSS classes applied to the field.
• `clear`: Adds a “clear” element after the field.
• Saving the Field (`save_gift_message_field`):
• `add_action(‘woocommerce_checkout_update_order_meta’, ‘save_gift_message_field’);`: This uses an action hook to save the value of the `gift_message` field to the order meta.
• `update_post_meta($order_id, ‘_gift_message’, sanitize_text_field($_POST[‘gift_message’]));`: This saves the Check out this post: How To Use Woocommerce Reccomendation Plugin value of the field (taken from the `$_POST` array) as order meta. `sanitize_text_field()` is used to sanitize the input data for security. The `_` prefix in `_gift_message` is a convention for private meta fields.
• Displaying in Admin (`display_gift_message_in_admin`):
• `add_action(‘woocommerce_admin_order_data_after_billing_address’, ‘display_gift_message_in_admin’, 10, 1 );`: This adds an action hook that triggers after the billing address section in the order edit page within the WordPress admin area.
• `echo ‘

  ‘.__(‘Gift Message’).’: ‘ . get_post_meta( $order->get_id(), ‘_gift_message’, true ) . ‘

  ‘;`: This displays the gift message within the order details section of the admin area.

Now, go to your checkout page. You should see a “Gift Message” field in the billing section. When someone places an order, the gift message will be saved with the order and displayed in the order details in the WordPress admin area.

Finding More WooCommerce Functions

WooCommerce has a *huge* number of functions. The best way to find them is to refer to the official WooCommerce documentation. Search for specific functionalities you need to add, using keywords like “WooCommerce filter checkout”, “WooCommerce change price format”, etc.

* WooCommerce Code Reference: The official WooCommerce code reference is a great resource for finding functions and their parameters.

Remember to always prioritize security. Sanitize and validate any user input before saving it to the database. Following these principles will help you create a secure and reliable online store.

Conclusion

This guide provides a basic introduction to WooCommerce functions. By experimenting with these examples and exploring the WooCommerce documentation, you can unlock the true power of WooCommerce and create a unique and personalized online store. Don’t be afraid to experiment and learn – that’s how you become a WooCommerce master!