This is How to Fix the Woocommerce 'First Product Title Instead of Category Title' Issue in the Avano Theme
As a web developer, one of the most frustrating things you can encounter is a bug that's preventing your website from functioning properly. This is exactly the issue that many Woocommerce users have faced when using the Avano theme – the theme displays the title of the first product on the category page instead of the actual category title.
Fortunately, there's a simple fix for this problem that you can implement in just a few steps. In this blog post, I'm going to walk you through the process of creating a child theme, adding a custom header-shop.php file, and using the right code to ensure your category titles are properly displayed.
Understanding the Issue
The issue arises because the Avano theme does not include a dedicated header-shop.php file in the root of the theme directory. This file is responsible for controlling the display of the category title on Woocommerce category pages.
Without a header-shop.php file, the theme defaults to using the header.php file, which includes a code snippet that displays the title of the first product on the page instead of the actual category title.
<h1 id="title-page">
<?php the_title(); ?>
</h1>
This code will always display the title of the first product, even if the user is on a category page.
Fixing the Issue
To fix this issue, we need to create a child theme and add a custom header-shop.php file that includes the correct code to display the category title.
Here's how you can do it:
Step 1: Activate the Child Theme
First, you'll need to create a child theme for the Avano theme. This will allow you to make changes to the theme without affecting the original files.
To create a child theme, follow these steps:
- Log into your WordPress admin dashboard.
- Go to "Appearance" > "Themes".
- Click on the "Add New" button.
- Click on the "Create Child Theme" link.
- Enter a name for your child theme (e.g., "Avano Child").
- Click the "Create Child Theme" button.
Once you've created the child theme, you'll need to activate it.
Step 2: Create the header-shop.php File
Next, you'll need to create a new file called "header-shop.php" in the root directory of your child theme. This file will contain the code that will display the category title on Woocommerce category pages.
Here's the code you'll need to add to the header-shop.php file:
<h1 id="title-page">
<?php single_term_title(); ?>
</h1>
This code uses the single_term_title()
function to display the title of the current category, rather than the title of the first product.
Step 3: Copy the Content from the Parent Theme's header.php File
Finally, you'll need to copy the content of the parent theme's (Avano) header.php file and paste it into the header-shop.php file you just created.
This ensures that the rest of the header content, such as the navigation menu and branding, is consistent across all pages of your website.
Once you've completed these steps, your Woocommerce category pages should now display the correct category title instead of the first product title.
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Related Developments in WordPress
This issue is not unique to the Avano theme, and it's a common problem that many Woocommerce users have faced when using different WordPress themes. As a result, the WordPress community has developed a range of solutions and best practices to address this and other similar issues.
One such development is the use of child themes, which has become a widely accepted and recommended practice for customizing WordPress themes. Child themes allow you to make changes to the appearance and functionality of a website without directly modifying the original theme files, which helps to ensure that your changes are not overwritten when the parent theme is updated.
Another relevant development is the increasing focus on coding best practices and standards in the WordPress community. The WordPress Coding Standards, for example, provide a set of guidelines and recommendations for writing clean, maintainable code that adheres to WordPress' conventions and best practices. By following these standards, developers can ensure that their code is more easily understood, debugged, and updated by other developers.
Additionally, the growth of the Woocommerce ecosystem has led to the development of a wide range of plugins and tools that can help users customize and extend the functionality of their Woocommerce-powered websites. These tools can be especially useful for addressing common issues like the one described in this article, as they often provide pre-built solutions or templates that can be easily integrated into a WordPress website.
Overall, the developments in the WordPress and Woocommerce communities have helped to make it easier for developers and users to address and fix common issues like the one described in this article. By leveraging these tools and best practices, you can ensure that your Woocommerce-powered website is functioning correctly and providing a great user experience for your customers.
Flowpoint.ai can help you identify all the technical errors that are impacting conversion rates on your Woocommerce website and directly generate recommendations to fix them