WooCommerce: How to Add a Gift Certificate Message Box – A Beginner’s Guide
So, you’re running a WooCommerce store and want to offer gift certificates? Excellent choice! Gift certificates are a fantastic way to boost sales, attract new customers, and let your existing customers share the love. But what if your customers want to personalize the gift? That’s where a message box comes in. This article will guide you through adding a message box to your WooCommerce gift certificates, enabling recipients to include a personal touch. We’ll keep it simple and easy to follow, even if you’re new to WordPress and WooCommerce.
Why Add a Message Box to Gift Certificates?
Imagine this: Sarah wants to gift her best friend, Emily, a gift certificate to your online bookstore. Without a message option, the gift feels impersonal. With a message box, Sarah can write, “Happy Birthday, Emily! Hope you find some amazing new reads! Love, Sarah.” Suddenly, the gift is much more meaningful.
Here’s why a message box is crucial:
- Personalization: Customers can add a personal touch, making the gift more special.
- Improved Customer Experience: A better experience leads to happier customers and repeat business.
- Increased Sales Potential: The enhanced gift experience encourages more gift certificate purchases.
- Reduced Returns: A personalized gift is less likely to be returned or exchanged.
- Enable/disable gift certificates.
- Set the value options for the gift certificate (e.g., $10, $25, $50).
- Design the gift certificate template.
- Enable the message box feature. This is the key! Look for an option that explicitly says “Enable Gift Message,” “Add Gift Message Field,” or similar.
- General Settings: Enable Gift Certificates: [x]
- Value Options: $10, $25, $50, $100
- Design: Choose a template or upload your own.
- Message Options:
- Enable Gift Message Box: [x]
- Message Box Label: Gift Message (optional)
- Message Box Placeholder: Write your personalized message here! (optional)
- Required Field: [ ] (Decide if a message is mandatory)
The Easiest Route: Using a Plugin
For most users, the easiest and safest method is to use a dedicated WooCommerce plugin for adding gift certificates. These plugins often come with built-in message box functionality.
Here’s a general approach, but the exact steps will depend on the specific plugin you choose:
1. Search for a “WooCommerce Gift Certificate” plugin: Go to your WordPress admin area, navigate to Plugins > Add New, and search for relevant plugins. Look for plugins with good reviews, a high number of active installations, and recent updates. Some popular choices include “Gift Cards for WooCommerce” or similar.
2. Install and Activate the plugin: Once you find a suitable plugin, click “Install Now” and then “Activate.”
3. Configure the plugin: Navigate to the plugin’s settings page (usually found in the WooCommerce section of your admin panel). Here you’ll typically find options to:
4. Test it out: Create a test gift certificate order to ensure the message box is working as expected.
Example using a hypothetical “Awesome Gift Certificate” plugin:
After installing and activating “Awesome Gift Certificate,” you might find the following settings:
By ticking the “Enable Gift Message Box” option, you’ve activated the message box on the gift certificate product page.
The Code Snippet Method (Advanced – Use with Caution!)
If you’re comfortable with code, you can add a message box using custom code snippets. However, this method is more complex and requires a good understanding of PHP and WooCommerce hooks. Incorrect code can break your site. Always back up your site before making changes.
Here’s the general process:
1. Access your theme’s `functions.php` file or create a custom plugin: The safest approach is to create a custom plugin. Directly editing your theme’s `functions.php` file can lead to issues when you update your theme.
2. Add the following code snippet:
<?php /**
function add_gift_certificate_message_box() {
// Check if it’s the gift certificate product (replace ‘YOUR_PRODUCT_ID’ with the actual product ID).
if ( is_product() && get_the_ID() == ‘YOUR_PRODUCT_ID’ ) {
echo ‘
echo ‘
‘;
echo ‘‘;
echo ‘
‘;
}
}
/
* Save the gift message to the order meta.
*/
add_filter( ‘woocommerce_add_cart_item_data’, ‘save_gift_certificate_message’ , 10, 2 );
function save_gift_certificate_message( $cart_item_data, $product_id ) {
if( isset( $_POST[‘gift_message’] ) ) {
$cart_item_data[ ‘gift_message’ ] = sanitize_text_field( $_POST[‘gift_message’] );
}
return $cart_item_data;
}
/
* Display the gift message in the cart and checkout.
*/
add_filter( ‘woocommerce_get_item_data’, ‘display_gift_certificate_message’, 10, 2 );
function display_gift_certificate_message( $cart_item_data, $cart_item ) {
if ( isset( $cart_item[‘gift_message’] ) ) {
$cart_item_data[] = array(
‘name’ => ‘Gift Message’,
‘value’ => sanitize_text_field( $cart_item[‘gift_message’] )
);
}
return $cart_item_data;
}
/
* Display the gift message in the order details (admin and customer).
*/
add_action( ‘woocommerce_order_item_meta_end’, ‘display_gift_certificate_message_order’, 10, 3 );
function display_gift_certificate_message_order( $item_id, $item, $order ) {
if ( isset( $item[‘gift_message’] ) ) {
echo ‘
Gift Message: ‘ . sanitize_text_field( $item[‘gift_message’] ) . ‘
‘;
}
}
?>
Explanation of the Code:
- `add_gift_certificate_message_box()`: This function adds the HTML code for the message box (a `