This is How to Display Products in One Subcategory in WooCommerce
As an ecommerce store owner using WooCommerce, you may have run into the issue of your subcategory products showing up alongside your main category products, even when you only want to display the items in a single subcategory. This can lead to a cluttered product page and a poor user experience for your customers.
Fortunately, there's a simple solution to this common WooCommerce problem. In this article, we'll walk you through the steps to display products from just one subcategory when the main category is selected.
Understanding the WooCommerce Category Hierarchy
In WooCommerce, you can create a hierarchy of product categories and subcategories to organize your inventory. When you define a subcategory under a main category, the default behavior is for the products in both the main category and the subcategory to be displayed on the category page.
For example, let's say you have a "Electronics" main category, and under that you have subcategories like "Laptops", "Smartphones", and "Tablets". When a customer clicks on the "Electronics" category, they will see products from all of those subcategories.
This can be useful in some cases, but if you want to highlight a specific subcategory, you'll need to adjust the default WooCommerce behavior.
The Challenge: Displaying Products from One Subcategory
The issue arises when you want to display products from just one subcategory when the main category page is visited. For instance, if a customer clicks on the "Electronics" category, you may only want them to see the "Laptops" subcategory products, rather than the entire range of electronics.
This can be particularly important for ecommerce stores with large inventories, where displaying too many products on a single category page can overwhelm and confuse customers.
The Solution: Modify the WooCommerce Category Query
To solve this problem, we'll need to modify the WooCommerce category query to only display products from the specific subcategory we want to highlight.
Here's a step-by-step guide to implement this solution:
- Create a Custom Function: First, let's create a custom function that will modify the WooCommerce category query. You can add this code to your theme's
functions.php
file or a custom plugin.
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'flowpoint_display_single_subcategory' );
function flowpoint_display_single_subcategory( $query ) {
// Check if we're on a WooCommerce category page
if ( $query->is_main_query() && is_product_category() && ! is_admin() ) {
// Get the current category object
$current_category = get_queried_object();
// Check if the current category has any parent categories
if ( $current_category->parent > 0 ) {
// Get the parent category ID
$parent_category_id = $current_category->parent;
// Modify the category query to only show products from the current subcategory
$query->set( 'tax_query', array(
array(
'taxonomy' => 'product_cat',
'field' => 'term_id',
'terms' => array( $current_category->term_id ),
),
) );
}
}
return $query;
}
-
Explain the Code: Let's break down the code:
- The
pre_get_posts
action hook is used to modify the WooCommerce category query.
- We first check if the current query is the main query, if we're on a WooCommerce category page, and if we're not on the admin side.
- We then get the current category object using
get_queried_object()
.
- Next, we check if the current category has a parent category. If it does, we get the parent category ID.
- Finally, we modify the category query to only show products from the current subcategory by setting the
tax_query
parameter.
-
Test the Solution: After adding the code, test your WooCommerce category pages to ensure that the products from the desired subcategory are displayed correctly when the main category is selected.
By implementing this solution, you'll be able to focus your customers' attention on the specific subcategory products you want to highlight, improving the overall user experience and potentially boosting conversions on your ecommerce store.
Additional Considerations
While this solution solves the problem of displaying products from a single subcategory, there are a few additional considerations to keep in mind:
-
Handling Multiple Subcategories: If you have multiple subcategories under a single main category, you may need to modify the code to handle that scenario. You could create a setting in your WordPress admin panel to allow you to select the specific subcategory to display, for example.
-
Pagination and Sorting: When modifying the category query, you'll also need to ensure that pagination and sorting functionality continue to work correctly on the category pages.
-
Performance Considerations: Depending on the size of your product catalog, modifying the category query may have some performance implications. Be sure to monitor your site's performance and consider caching or other optimization techniques if necessary.
-
Accessibility and SEO: Remember to maintain a clean and accessible category structure, as this can also impact your website's search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience.
By considering these additional factors, you can ensure that your WooCommerce store provides a seamless and optimized experience for your customers.
In conclusion, the solution presented in this article will help you display products from a single subcategory when the main category is selected, addressing a common WooCommerce issue and improving the overall user experience of your ecommerce store. If you need further assistance or have additional questions, feel free to reach out to the team at Flowpoint.ai, who can help you identify and resolve technical issues impacting your website's conversion rates.
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