WooCommerce: Vanishing Act! How to Stop Pagination From Showing (Even When It’s Not Needed)
Pagination. We all know it. Those little numbered links at the bottom of your WooCommerce shop page that let customers browse through product pages. It’s usually Read more about How To Turn Off Purchase Cability Woocommerce a helpful tool, *especially* when you have a massive product catalog. But what happens when you *don’t* need it? Maybe you only have a few products, or you’re showcasing a curated collection. That pesky pagination staring back at you can look unprofessional and unnecessary.
Fear not! This guide is for WooCommerce newbies and pros alike. We’ll walk through different ways to make that pagination disappear like a magician’s trick!
Why Bother Hiding Pagination?
Before we dive into the “how,” let’s understand the “why.” Here’s why you might want to hide pagination:
- Aesthetics: A clean, uncluttered design is crucial for a positive user experience. If pagination serves no purpose, it’s just visual noise. Imagine you’re selling high-end handcrafted jewelry, and your entire collection fits on one page. Seeing “1 of 1” with pagination looks… well, pointless.
- User Experience: Less is often more. If all the products are already visible, why make the user think they need to navigate further? Removing unnecessary elements streamlines the browsing process.
- Mobile Optimization: On smaller screens, unnecessary elements take up valuable real estate. Eliminating needless pagination improves the mobile browsing experience.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): While pagination *can* be good for SEO when implemented correctly (allowing search engines to crawl all your product pages), a single unnecessary pagination link saying “1 of 1” can dilute the value of the page. Focus instead on internal linking between your products themselves.
Method 1: Adjusting Products Per Page in WooCommerce Settings
This is the simplest and often the most effective way to get rid of pagination.
1. Navigate to WooCommerce Settings: In your WordPress dashboard, go to WooCommerce > Settings.
2. Click on the “Products” tab.
3. Look for “Products per row” and “Rows per page”.
4. Calculate and Set Products Per Page: *This is the crucial part.* Set “Products per row” and “Rows per page” so that when multiplied, the result is *equal to or greater than* the total number of products you want to display on your shop page.
* Example: If you want to display 9 products, set “Products per row” to 3 and “Rows per page” to 3 (3 x 3 = 9). Or, set “Products per row” to 4 and “Rows per page” to 3 (4 x 3 = 12). Both ways will hide pagination.
5. Save Changes: Click the “Save changes” button at the bottom of the page.
Reasoning: WooCommerce only displays pagination if the total number of products exceeds the number of products you’ve specified to show per page. By increasing the “Products per page” setting, you ensure that all products fit on a single page, eliminating the need for pagination.
Method 2: CSS Magic (Hiding Pagination with Custom CSS)
If you’ve adjusted your “Products per page” and pagination is *still* stubbornly showing up (sometimes this happens due to theme conflicts), Explore this article on How To Activate Paypal For Subscriptions Woocommerce you can use CSS to hide it.
1. Identify the CSS Class: Inspect the HTML of your shop page using your browser’s developer tools (right-click on the pagination element and select “Inspect”). Look for the CSS class associated with the pagination element. Common classes include `.woocommerce-pagination`, `.pagination`, or `.page-numbers`.
2. Add Custom CSS: There are a few ways to add custom CSS:
* WordPress Customizer: Go to Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS.
* Theme Options: Some themes have a dedicated section for custom CSS.
* Child Theme: (Recommended for more advanced customizations) Create a child theme and add your CSS to the `style.css` file.
3. Add the CSS Rule: Add the following CSS rule, replacing `.woocommerce-pagination` with the actual class you identified in step 1:
.woocommerce-pagination {
display: none !important; /* !important ensures the rule overrides other styles */
}
4. Save Changes: Save your changes in the Customizer, theme options, or child theme’s `style.css` file.
Reasoning: CSS allows you to selectively hide elements on your website. The `display: none;` property completely removes the specified element from the page, making the pagination invisible. `!important` forces the style to take precedence over other styles that might be applied to the pagination element.
Method 3: Code Snippet (Using `woocommerce_pagination` filter)
This method offers more control and is the most reliable if you’re comfortable with a little bit of code.
1. Access Your Theme’s `functions.php` File (or use a code snippets plugin): *Important: Editing the `functions.php` file directly is risky. A small mistake can break your site. It’s HIGHLY recommended to use a code snippets plugin like “Code Snippets” (search for it in the WordPress plugin repository) or create a child theme.*
2. Add the following PHP code:
add_filter( 'woocommerce_pagination', '__return_false' );
3. Save Changes: Save the `functions.php` file (or activate the code snippet).
Reasoning: WooCommerce uses filters to allow developers to modify the output of various functions. The `woocommerce_pagination` filter controls whether the pagination is displayed. `__return_false` is a built-in WordPress function that simply returns `false`. By hooking into this filter and returning `false`, we effectively tell WooCommerce *not* to display the pagination.
Method 4: Conditional Logic with PHP (For Specific Categories)
What if you only want to hide pagination on *specific* category pages? You can use conditional logic in your `functions.php` file (or code snippet).
1. Find the Category ID: Go to Products > Categories in your WordPress dashboard. Hover over the category you want to target. You’ll see a URL in the bottom left corner of your browser. The category ID is usually at the end of the URL, after `taxonomy=product_cat&tag_ID=`. For example, the URL might look like `edit-tags.php?taxonomy=product_cat&tag_ID=12&post_type=product`. In this case, the Category ID is 12.
2. Add the Explore this article on How To Make Product Images Native Size Woocommerce following PHP code (adjusting the category ID):
add_filter( 'woocommerce_pagination', 'hide_pagination_for_category' );
function hide_pagination_for_category( $pagination ) {
if ( is_product_category( 12 ) ) { // Replace 12 with your actual category ID
return false;
}
return $pagination; // Return the default pagination if not in the target category
}
3. Save Changes: Save the `functions.php` file (or activate the code snippet).
Reasoning: This code uses the `is_product_category()` function Explore this article on How To Set Default On Order Status Woocommerce to check if the current page is a specific product category. If it is, the function returns `false`, hiding the pagination. Otherwise, it returns the default pagination HTML, ensuring that pagination is still displayed on other category pages.
Troubleshooting
- Cache: Clear your website’s cache after making any changes. Caching plugins can sometimes prevent changes from appearing immediately.
- Theme Conflicts: Try temporarily switching to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Three) to see if the issue is related to your theme. If the pagination disappears with a default theme, the problem lies within your original theme.
- Plugin Conflicts: Deactivate plugins one by one to identify if a plugin is interfering with WooCommerce pagination.
By following these methods, you can easily remove unwanted pagination from your WooCommerce store, resulting in a cleaner, more user-friendly shopping experience. Choose the method that best suits your technical comfort level and needs. Good luck!
