Programmatically Accessing WooCommerce Product Categories: A Step-by-Step Guide

by

Introduction

WooCommerce, the leading eCommerce platform for WordPress, offers extensive customization options to help you tailor your online store to meet your needs. One such customization is accessing and displaying product categories programmatically. In this article, we’ll delve into how you can access WooCommerce product categories using PHP code, with practical examples to guide you through the process.

Why Access WooCommerce Product Categories Programmatically?

Accessing product categories programmatically offers several advantages:

  1. Customization: By using code, you can create custom templates, plugins, or functions that display product categories in unique and visually appealing ways.
  2. Dynamic content: Programmatically accessing categories allows you to create dynamic content based on specific criteria, such as displaying related products from the same category.
  3. Automation: Writing code to access product categories can help automate tasks, such as updating product information, managing stock levels, or generating reports.

Getting Started: WooCommerce Product Category Basics

In WooCommerce, product categories are managed using WordPress’ built-in taxonomy system. Each product category is a term within the “product_cat” taxonomy. To access product categories programmatically, you’ll need to interact with WordPress functions that handle taxonomies and terms.

Here are some fundamental functions you’ll encounter when working with WooCommerce product categories:

  1. wp_get_post_terms(): This function retrieves the terms associated with a given post (i.e., a product) within a specified taxonomy.
  2. get_term_by(): This function retrieves a term based on a specified field (e.g., slug, ID, or name) and its value.
  3. get_terms(): This function retrieves terms within a specified taxonomy based on a set of arguments.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the functions involved let’s dive into some practical examples.

Example 1: Displaying a Product’s Categories

In this example, we’ll demonstrate how to display a product’s categories on a single product page. Add the following code to your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin:

function display_product_categories() {
    global $product;

    $product_categories = wp_get_post_terms($product->get_id(), 'product_cat');

    if (!empty($product_categories)) {
        echo '<h3>Categories:</h3><ul>';
        foreach ($product_categories as $category) {
            echo '<li><a href="' . get_term_link($category->term_id) . '">' . $category->name . '</a></li>';
        }
        echo '</ul>';
    }
}
add_action('woocommerce_after_single_product_summary', 'display_product_categories');

This code defines a function called display_product_categories() that retrieves the product categories using wp_get_post_terms(). The function then outputs an unordered list of the product’s categories with links to each category’s archive page. Finally, the add_action() function hooks our custom function into the ‘woocommerce_after_single_product_summary’ action, so it displays after the product summary on single product pages.

Example 2: Retrieving a Category by Slug

In this example, we’ll show how to retrieve a product category by its slug. This can be useful when you want to display a specific category’s products or information.

$category_slug = 'shoes';
$category = get_term_by('slug', $category_slug, 'product_cat');

if ($category) {
    echo 'Category ID: ' . $category->term_id . '<br>';
    echo 'Category Name: ' . $category->name . '<br>';
    echo 'Category Description: ' . $category->description . '<br>';
} else {
    echo 'Category not found.';
}

This code uses the get_term_by() function to retrieve a product category based on its slug. If the category exists, the code outputs the category ID, name, and description. If the category isn’t found, it displays an error message.

Example 3: Displaying All Product Categories

In this example, we’ll demonstrate how to display all product categories on a custom page or template. Add the following code to your desired location:

$args = array(
    'taxonomy' => 'product_cat',
    'hide_empty' => true,
    'orderby' => 'name',
    'order' => 'ASC',
);

$product_categories = get_terms($args);

if (!empty($product_categories)) {
    echo '<h2>All Product Categories:</h2><ul>';
    foreach ($product_categories as $category) {
        echo '<li><a href="' . get_term_link($category->term_id) . '">' . $category->name . '</a></li>';
    }
    echo '</ul>';
} else {
    echo 'No product categories found.';
}

In this example, we use the get_terms() function to retrieve all product categories. We pass an array of arguments to the function, specifying the taxonomy (‘product_cat’), whether to hide empty categories (true), and the order in which to display the categories (alphabetically). If categories are found, the code outputs an unordered list with links to each category’s archive page. If no categories are found, it displays an error message.

Example 4: Displaying Products from a Specific Category

In this example, we’ll show how to display products from a specific category. This can be useful when creating custom category pages or displaying related products.

$category_slug = 'shoes';
$category = get_term_by('slug', $category_slug, 'product_cat');

if ($category) {
    $args = array(
        'post_type' => 'product',
        'posts_per_page' => -1,
        'tax_query' => array(
            array(
                'taxonomy' => 'product_cat',
                'field' => 'term_id',
                'terms' => $category->term_id,
            ),
        ),
    );

    $products = new WP_Query($args);

    if ($products->have_posts()) {
        echo '<h2>Products in ' . $category->name . ':</h2><ul>';
        while ($products->have_posts()) {
            $products->the_post();
            echo '<li><a href="' . get_permalink() . '">' . get_the_title() . '</a></li>';
        }
        echo '</ul>';
        wp_reset_postdata();
    } else {
        echo 'No products found in this category.';
    }
} else {
    echo 'Category not found.';
}

In this code, we first retrieve the desired category using get_term_by(), as demonstrated in Example 2. Next, we create a WP_Query object to fetch products from the specified category. We pass an array of arguments to the query, including the post type (‘product’), the number of posts to retrieve (-1 for all posts), and a tax_query to filter the products by the category’s term_id. If products are found, the code outputs an unordered list of product titles with links to their respective pages. If no products are found, it displays an error message.

Conclusion

Accessing WooCommerce product categories programmatically offers a powerful way to customize your online store and create dynamic content based on your products. By understanding the functions and methods involved, you can unlock a whole new level of customization for your eCommerce website. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different approaches and leverage the power of PHP code to create unique and engaging shopping experiences for your customers.

Leave a Comment