WooCommerce: Adding a Custom Field After “Accept Terms” – A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction:
WooCommerce, the leading e-commerce plugin for WordPress, provides a solid foundation for building online stores. However, sometimes you need to customize it further to meet specific business requirements. A common request is to add a custom field directly after the “Accept Terms and Conditions” checkbox on the checkout page. This can be useful for collecting additional information from customers before they finalize their purchase, such as subscription preferences, specific delivery instructions, or consent for specific marketing activities. This article will guide you through the process of adding such a field using custom code, ensuring a seamless integration with your existing WooCommerce checkout flow. We will cover the necessary code snippets and explain the process step-by-step, making it accessible even to those with limited coding experience.
Main Part: Adding a Custom Field After “Accept Terms”
This section will walk you through the steps to add a custom field after the “Accept Terms” checkbox. We will utilize WordPress hooks to insert our custom field dynamically.
Step 1: Add the Custom Field
The following code snippet will add a text field after the “Accept Terms” checkbox on the checkout page. Copy and paste this code into your theme’s `functions.php` file or a custom plugin. Ensure you back up your website before making any changes to the `functions.php` file.
/**
- Add a custom field after the 'Accept Terms' checkbox. */ function add_custom_field_after_terms() { woocommerce_form_field( 'custom_field_after_terms', array( 'type' => 'text', 'class' => array( 'form-row-wide' ), 'label' => __( 'Subscription Preferences:', 'woocommerce' ), 'placeholder' => __( 'Enter your subscription preferences here...', 'woocommerce' ), 'required' => false, // Change to true if the field is mandatory ), WC()->checkout()->get_value( 'custom_field_after_terms' ) ); } add_action( 'woocommerce_after_terms_and_conditions', 'add_custom_field_after_terms' );
- `add_action( ‘woocommerce_after_terms_and_conditions’, ‘add_custom_field_after_terms’ )`: This line hooks our custom function, `add_custom_field_after_terms`, into the `woocommerce_after_terms_and_conditions` action. This ensures our field is displayed immediately after the “Accept Terms” section.
- `woocommerce_form_field()`: This WooCommerce function handles the creation of the form field.
- `’custom_field_after_terms’`: This is the unique identifier for your field. Remember this, as you’ll need it to save the field’s value.
- `type`: Specifies the field type. In this case, it’s a `text` field. You can change this to other types like `textarea`, `select`, `checkbox`, etc.
- `class`: Adds CSS classes to the field for styling.
- `label`: Sets the label displayed next to the field.
- `placeholder`: Adds placeholder text within the field.
- `required`: Determines whether the field is mandatory. Setting it to `true` will require the customer to fill it out.
- `WC()->checkout()->get_value( ‘custom_field_after_terms’ )`: This ensures the field retains its value if the checkout page is reloaded (e.g., due to validation errors).
Explanation:
Step 2: Save the Custom Field Value
Next, you need to save the value entered by the customer when they submit the order. Add the following code to your `functions.php` file or custom plugin:
/**
Explanation:
- `add_action( ‘woocommerce_checkout_create_order’, ‘save_custom_field_after_terms’ )`: This line hooks our saving function, `save_custom_field_after_terms`, into the `woocommerce_checkout_create_order` action, which triggers when an order is created. This hook works for WooCommerce version 3.0 and above.
- `$_POST[‘custom_field_after_terms’]`: This retrieves the value Explore this article on How To Hide Cart Button In Woocommerce submitted by the customer from the POST request, using the field’s unique identifier.
- `update_post_meta()`: This WordPress function saves the value as custom metadata associated with the order.
- `$order_id`: The ID of the order being created.
- `’_custom_field_after_terms’`: The meta key used to store the value. The underscore prefix makes it a “hidden” field in the WordPress admin interface, but you can still retrieve it programmatically.
- `sanitize_text_field()`: This function Read more about How To Restrict The Quantity Per Product Attribute In Woocommerce sanitizes the input to prevent security vulnerabilities like cross-site scripting (XSS). Always sanitize user input!
Step 3: Display the Custom Field Value in Order Details
Finally, you probably want to display the custom field value in the order details, both in the admin area and in the customer’s order confirmation email. Add the following code to your `functions.php` file or custom plugin:
/**
if ( $custom_field_value ) {
echo ‘
‘ . __( ‘Subscription Preferences:’, ‘woocommerce’ ) . ‘: ‘ . esc_html( $custom_field_value ) . ‘
‘;
}
}
add_action( ‘woocommerce_admin_order_data_after_billing_address’, ‘display_custom_field_after_terms_in_order_details’, 10, 1 ); // Display in admin order details
add_action( ‘woocommerce_email_customer_details’, ‘display_custom_field_after_terms_in_order_details’, 20, 1 ); // Display in customer email
Explanation:
- `add_action( ‘woocommerce_admin_order_data_after_billing_address’, ‘display_custom_field_after_terms_in_order_details’, 10, 1 )`: This line hooks our display function into the `woocommerce_admin_order_data_after_billing_address` action, which places the output after the billing address in the admin order details page.
- `add_action( ‘woocommerce_email_customer_details’, ‘display_custom_field_after_terms_in_order_details’, 20, 1 )`: This line hooks our display function into the `woocommerce_email_customer_details` action, which displays the output in the customer’s order confirmation email.
- `get_post_meta( $order->get_id(), ‘_custom_field_after_terms’, true )`: This retrieves the custom field value from the order’s metadata.
- `esc_html()`: This function escapes HTML entities Discover insights on Easy Fancybox How To Use With Woocommerce Products to prevent XSS vulnerabilities when displaying the value. Always escape output!
Important Considerations:
- Field Types: You can easily change the `type` parameter in the `woocommerce_form_field()` function to create different types of fields, such as dropdowns, checkboxes, or text areas.
- Validation: For more complex data types, consider adding custom validation rules to ensure the entered data is valid. WooCommerce provides hooks for custom validation.
- Styling: Customize the appearance of the field using CSS. Refer to the WooCommerce documentation for details on available CSS classes.
- Localization: Use `__()` to translate the labels and placeholder text for multi-language support.
- Error Handling: Add error handling to gracefully manage cases where the field value is missing or invalid.
Conclusion: Why Adding Custom Fields is a Powerful WooCommerce Tool
Adding a custom field after the “Accept Terms” checkbox in WooCommerce is a great way to collect additional information from your customers during the checkout process. By leveraging WordPress hooks and WooCommerce functions, you can seamlessly integrate these fields into Explore this article on How To Hide Woocommerce Menu your existing checkout flow. The code examples and explanations provided in this article offer a solid starting point for customizing your WooCommerce store to meet your specific needs. Remember to prioritize security by sanitizing user input and escaping output. With a bit of customization, you can enhance your customer experience and gather valuable insights to optimize your business.
