Overview of WooCommerce Category Hiding

Need WooCommerce category hiding or removing? In the world of online shopping, WooCommerce is a powerful tool that helps you create your very own online store. One of the cool things you can do with WooCommerce is hide certain product categories. This is called “WooCommerce Category Hiding“.

Why would you want to hide categories? Well, maybe you have some products that are only for special occasions, or maybe you have some products that are only available to certain customers. By hiding these categories, you can keep your shop page neat and tidy, and make sure your customers only see the products that are relevant to them.

Importance of Hiding Categories in WooCommerce

Hiding categories in WooCommerce is not just about keeping your shop page organized. It’s also about improving your customers’ shopping experience. When customers visit your shop page, they want to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. If they have to scroll through lots of irrelevant products, they might get frustrated and leave your site.

By hiding irrelevant categories, you can make your shop page more focused and user-friendly. This can help your customers find what they want faster, which can lead to more sales for you.

Ways to Hide WooCommerce Categories

1. Using a Plugin: There are several plugins available that can help you hide categories in WooCommerce. For example, the “Product Catalog Visibility” plugin allows you to hide categories from certain user roles or from all users.
2. Using CSS: If you’re comfortable with coding, you can use CSS to hide categories. You would need to find the CSS class or ID of the category you want to hide, and then use CSS to set its display property to “none”. This method hides the category from the front end of your website, but it doesn’t actually remove the category from your WooCommerce system.
3. Using PHP: Another method for more advanced users is to use PHP to modify the functions of your WooCommerce store. You can add a function to your theme’s functions.php file that removes certain categories from the shop page and other category listings.
4. Using a Child Theme: If you want to make more extensive changes to your WooCommerce store, you can create a child theme and modify the template files to exclude certain categories.

Remember, it’s important to be careful when modifying your WooCommerce store, especially if you’re using CSS, PHP, or a child theme. Always make sure to backup your site before making changes, and consider working with a developer if you’re not comfortable with coding.

How to Hide Categories in WooCommerce

Step-by-Step Guide to Hiding Categories in WooCommerce

Hiding categories in WooCommerce is pretty easy. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Installing the “Hide Categories and Products for WooCommerce” Plugin

The first thing you need to do is install a plugin called “Hide Categories and Products for WooCommerce”. You can find this plugin in the WordPress plugin directory. Once you’ve found it, click “Install Now” and then “Activate”.

Step 2: Accessing the “Hide from categories” Option in WooCommerce

Next, go to your WooCommerce settings. You’ll find a new option called “Hide from categories”. Click on this option to start hiding categories.

Step 3: Selecting the Categories to Hide

Now, you’ll see a list of all your product categories. To hide a category, simply click on the checkbox next to it. You can hide as many categories as you want.

Step 4: Saving the Changes

Once you’ve selected all the categories you want to hide, don’t forget to click “Save changes”. Now, the categories you’ve selected will be hidden from your shop page.

Sure, here’s how you can hide categories in WooCommerce using CSS and PHP. Please note that these methods require some knowledge of coding and should be done carefully to avoid breaking your site.

Using CSS:

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a style sheet language used for describing the look and formatting of a document written in HTML. You can use it to hide categories in WooCommerce by setting the display property of the category to “none”. Here’s how:

1. First, you need to find the CSS class or ID of the category you want to hide. You can do this by inspecting the element on your website. Right-click on the category name and select “Inspect” or “Inspect Element” to see the HTML code for that element.
2. Once you’ve found the class or ID, you can use it to write a CSS rule. Go to your WordPress dashboard, then go to “Appearance” > “Customize” > “Additional CSS”.
3. In the “Additional CSS” box, enter a rule like this:

.category-class-or-id {
    display: none;
}

Replace “category-class-or-id” with the actual class or ID you found earlier.

4. Click “Publish” to save your changes.

Using PHP:

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for web development. You can use it to modify the functions of your WooCommerce store. Here’s how to hide categories using PHP:

1. From your WordPress dashboard, go to “Appearance” > “Theme Editor”.
2. In the Theme Editor, find the functions.php file. It’s usually in the “Theme Files” section on the right side of the screen.
3. In the functions.php file, add a function like this:

add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'custom_pre_get_posts_query' );
function custom_pre_get_posts_query( $q ) {
    if ( ! $q->is_main_query() ) return;
    if ( ! $q->is_post_type_archive() ) return;
    if ( ! is_admin() && is_shop() ) {
        $q->set( 'tax_query', array(array(
            'taxonomy' => 'product_cat',
            'field' => 'slug',
            'terms' => array( 'category-slug' ), // Don't display products in the 'category-slug' category on the shop page
            'operator' => 'NOT IN'
        )));
    }
    remove_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'custom_pre_get_posts_query' );
}

Replace ‘category-slug’ with the slug of the category you want to hide.

4. Click “Update File” to save your changes.

Remember, always backup your site before making changes to your theme files. If you’re not comfortable with coding, consider hiring a developer or using a plugin to hide categories in WooCommerce.

Understanding the Impact of Hiding Categories

Hiding categories can have a big impact on your WooCommerce shop page. The page will be more focused and easier to navigate, which can improve your customers’ shopping experience.

However, it’s important to note that hiding a category doesn’t delete it. The category and its products are still in your WooCommerce system, and they can still be found through a direct link or a search engine. So, if you want to completely remove a category, you’ll need to delete it, not just hide it.

Remember to use your new WooCommerce category visibility powers wisely. Keep your customers in mind, and create a shop page that’s easy to navigate and full of products they’ll love.

Advanced Techniques and Troubleshooting

Advanced Techniques for Hiding Categories in WooCommerce

Hiding categories in WooCommerce can be taken a step further with some advanced techniques:

Using User Roles to Hide Categories

In WooCommerce, you can assign different roles to your users, like “Customer”, “Shop Manager”, or “Administrator”. You can use these roles to control who can see which categories. For example, you might have some categories that are only for your shop managers, or some categories that are only for your VIP customers.

Hiding Categories from Search Engines

If you want to make sure your hidden categories are really hidden, you can hide them from search engines. This can be done with a plugin like Yoast SEO. This plugin lets you set a “noindex” tag for your hidden categories, which tells search engines not to index these categories.

Common Issues and Their Solutions

Even with the best of intentions, you might run into some issues when hiding categories in WooCommerce. Here are some common issues and their solutions:

Issue 1: Hidden Categories Still Appearing on the Shop Page

If your hidden categories are still appearing on your shop page, it might be because your site’s cache hasn’t been cleared. Try clearing your site’s cache and see if that fixes the issue.

Issue 2: Hidden Categories Still Accessible via Direct Links and Search Engines

As mentioned earlier, hiding a category doesn’t delete it. The category and its products can still be found through a direct link or a search engine. If you want to completely remove a category, you’ll need to delete it, not just hide it.

FAQs

WooCommerce Support

Setting up your WooCommerce Category Hiding can feel like a big task. There’s a lot to think about, from which categories to hide to how to do it. But don’t worry, we’re here to help! If you’re having trouble with your WooCommerce Category Hiding, or if you just have some questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re always ready to lend a hand and make sure your online store is the best it can be. So why wait? Contact us today. We’re looking forward to helping you make your WooCommerce Category Hiding a success!