The Variable Products feature is very useful in WooCommerce. It allows you to set up multiple variants of the same product, such as different sizes (e.g. large, medium and small) or colors. For each variant, you can set the price, inventory and display image independently. This makes it easy to manage the various size and color options when selling a product like t-shirts so that customers can choose according to their needs.

Add variable products

Adding a variable product is similar to adding a simple product, but requires more details to be considered.

To add a new variable product:

1. Navigate to "Products" in the WP-Admin (administrative area of the site). 

2. Click "Add New Product" at the top of the page.
3. Enter the product name.
4. Select "Variable Products" from the "Product Data" drop-down menu.
5. Click the Properties tab on the left side of the Product Data drop-down menu.
6. Add global/existing attributes or create new ones (for products):

• increaseGlobal Properties::
  1. If you have already created global properties, select the properties you want to use from the "Add Existing" drop-down menu at the top of the setup.
  2. Select the variants/values you want to use from this property. You can add all variants/values by clicking on the "Select All" button below the value box, or you can click on the "Select Values" box and select the specific variants/values you want to use one by one. 

• Add new attribute:
  1. Click the Add New button at the top of the settings. 
  2. Add a name to the attribute (e.g., size) 
  3. Add the desired values (variants). Separate each variant/value with | (e.g. Medium | Large | XL | XXL)

7. Click Save Properties. 

8. Click on the "Variants" tab on the left. 

9. Click any of the following options:

• Generate variants to add all possible variants of all attribute values/variants.
• Add manually to specify which variables are available for the product. 

10. Click on each variant to expand its product menu. 

11. Enter product information: price, stock status, weight, dimensions, shipping class and description. Add linked products if necessary. Repeat this for all variants. 

12. Optional: Use the "Batch operation" drop-down menu at the top of the "Variants" menu to set the settings at once.Product information for all variants.

13. Click on "Save changes" at the bottom of the variant menu. 

14. Click "Publish" in the upper right corner of the screen to publish the product.

Add variable products

Adding Existing Properties

To load all values of a property, use the Select All button. Make sure that the "Use for variants" box is checked and save the added properties.

Adding variant data

Each variant can have the following properties:

• photograph: Click the placeholder to add an image.
• SKU: Enter the SKU or leave it blank.Attention:If you set the SKU at the product level but leave it blank at the variant level, the SKU will default to the product level SKU. 
• enabled: Enable or disable variants.
• Regular Price (Required): Set the price for this variant. Variants without a price will not be shown in your store.
• sales price(Optional): Set the price for this variant at the time of sale.
• downloadable: If this is a downloadable variant. Add the following downloadable fields:
  • Downloadable documents: Add files for clients to download.
  • Download Restrictions: Sets the number of times a client can download a file. Leave it blank to indicate no limit.
  • Download Due: Set the number of days before the download expires after purchase.
• chapel: If this product is not physical or not shipped. Marking the product as virtual removes the following shipping settings:
  • weights: Weight of the variant, leave this blank to use the weight of the main product.
  • sizes: Height, width and length of the variant, leaving this area blank to use the dimensions of the main product.
  • Type of transportation: The transportation category affects the transportation. Set the transportation category for a specific variant here.
• Managing inventory? 
  • stockpile: If selected. Allows setting the current inventory level of the variant.
  • "Allow backorders? ": Allows backorders on variants; if enabled, inventory can be below zero.
  • Low inventory thresholds: The system will send you a notification email when the variant inventory reaches this level. If not already configured, WooCommerce will use product-wide thresholds.

downloadable version

Individual variants of the product can be labeled asdownloadable. To make a downloadable variant, do the following:

1. Add Variable Productssteps to create variable products and add variants.
2. existProduct Datapanel, select"Variants."Part.
3. Click on the selected variant to expand its details.
4. Check the Downloadable checkbox:
5. Checking this box brings up additional options:
   • Downloadable documents: Add files for clients to download.
   • Download Restrictions: Sets the number of times a client can download a file. Leave it blank to indicate no limit.
   • Download Due: Set the number of days before the download expires after purchase.
6. Select the Add File button and name the file. If the file is hosted elsewhere, enter the downloadable URL, or select the Select File button to insert an existing file from the media library or upload a new file. Upload files and click Insert to set the URL for each downloadable file.
7. Enter "download limit" (Optional).Once a user reaches this limit, they can no longer download the file.
8. Enter "download expiration date" (Optional). If you define a number of days, the download link will expire after this number of days.
9. Once you have finished editing the product, press "Publish" or "Update" as usual.

Combining virtual and downloadable products

For greater choice, only if a product is specifically marked as "virtual" will it not have a shipping information field and will not generate a shipping calculation at checkout. This means that in addition to purely digital products, it is possible to sell both physical goods and digital content, such as user manuals for smart devices. This makes it convenient and environmentally friendly to have the option of providing the user manual digitally, rather than having a printed version of the manual accompanying the box of the physical item.

If the downloadable product does not need to be shipped, checkchapelframeworksDownloadable box.

Sorting attributes and variants of variable products

Attributes and attribute values of variable products can be sorted to change their display on the store front. Product variants can also be sorted in the administration view for easier management. The following sections describe how to sort and organize the various details of variable products

Reorder the properties and values (variants) of the customer view:

You can reorder the properties and their values (variants) for a customer or store view from the Properties tab. You can do this as follows: 

Reordering Properties

In the customer view, the selection fields for variable products are displayed in the order in which you sorted them in the administration area. To sort the product attributes:

1. Click the Properties tab.
2. Drag and drop the properties into the desired order. 
3. Click Save Properties at the bottom of the settings window. 
4. Click "Publish" or "Update" in the upper right corner of the screen to finish. 

Reorder the values (variants) of custom attributes (product-specific):

When you use custom attributes on variable products, the values will appear in the storefront product drop-down menu in the order you enter them in the Value field.

To reorder the values of a custom attribute:

1. Click the Properties tab. 
2. Click Edit to expand the property containing the values to be reordered.
3. Removes/deletes the value in the attribute. 
4. Re-enter the values in the order they appear on the front end. 
5. Click Save Properties at the bottom of the settings window. 
6. Click "Publish" or "Update" in the upper right corner of the screen to finish.

Reordering the values of global attributes (changes)::

Similar to custom attributes, global attribute values are displayed on the product page in the same order as they appear in the Value field of the product data. When you create global attributes, you assign a defined sort order, which determines how they are populated in the Value field.

To change the default sort order of global properties:

1. Navigate to"Product" > "Attributes"The
2. Click the Edit link for the property you want to change.
3. Select the new default sort order.

To reorder property values that have a Custom Sort default sort order:

1. Navigate toProducts > Properties
2. Click on the attribute you want to change in theLink to "Configuration Terms"
3. Drag and drop the values/options in the order they appear on the front of the store.
4. Changes are saved automatically.

Attention:The product page uses manual sort order only if the default sort order for the attribute is set to "Custom Sort".

Reordering variants in the admin view::

If you want to reorder the variants for administrative purposes (i.e.: the change will not be visible to customers), you can follow the steps below: 

1. Click on the Variants tab. 
2. Reorder the variants using one of the following methods:
   • Drag and drop (using three rows of "handles") the variants to reorder them. 
   • Clicking on the three rows of "handles" directly changes the position numbering of the variants. (If there are multiple variants, they can be moved from one page to another in this way.)
3. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the settings. 
4. Click "Update" or "Publish" in the upper right corner to finish.

Navigating between multiple variants

If there are more than 15 variants, the navigation arrows will appear at the top and bottom of the variant list. Use the arrows to navigate through the entire list of variants. Changes are automatically saved when switching to the next page. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the settings to finish.

Setting default variants for variable products

If you want users to visit the product page with a variant already selected, set the default form value at the top of the variant settings. Setting the default value allows shoppers to add the variant product to the cart without having to make a selection first.

Default form values can be set only when at least one variant has been created.

Adding images to variants

If you want to add an image for each variant of a variable product, follow the instructions below:

1. click (using a mouse or other pointing device)variants to expand the variant settings.
2. click (using a mouse or other pointing device)Blue image placeholder.
3. optionThe image to be changed.
4. click (using a mouse or other pointing device)"Save" to complete the changes.

Inventory management of variable products

Inventory of variable products can be managed at the product level, variant level, or a mixture of both. Information and instructions for configuring each type of inventory management can be found below.

Product-level inventory management: 

Product-level inventory management sets the amount of inventory that can be shared by all variants.

An example of using product-level management is when you sell both physical products and digital downloads. It looks something like this: 

• Variant 1: Physical products only
• Change 2: Physical Products + Digital Downloads

Setting stock quantities at the product level allows you to track the number of physical products remaining, regardless of whether the customer purchased variant 1 or variant 2. 

Follow the steps below to set inventory levels at the product level: 

1. Check the Inventory Management box on the Inventory tab:
2. Enter product information in the appropriate fields:
   • SKU: Enter the SKU or leave it blank.
   • Stock Quantity: Enter the stock/inventory quantity here.
   • Allow Backorders: Select whether to allow backorders.
   • Low Stock Threshold: Set a low stock threshold to receive low stock alerts via email when stock levels reach that quantity. 
   • Sold Separately: Check this box if you want to restrict customers from buying more than one of these products per order. 
3. Click "Publish" or "Update" in the upper right corner of the screen to save the inventory settings. 

Differentiated inventory management

Variant Level Inventory Management sets inventory quantities for each variant of a variable product. An example of utilizing Variant Level Inventory Management is when there are three different colors of t-shirts and you need to keep track of how many of each color are left. 

• Blue T-shirt - Qty 5
• Green T-shirts - Quantity 10 
• Red T-shirt - Qty 15

When a customer buys a red T-shirt, only the stock of the red T-shirt will be reduced, not the stock of the blue or green T-shirt.

Follow the instructions below to set up inventory at the change level: 

1. Click on the "Variants" tab on the left side of the product menu. 
2. Click on a variant to open its product editing menu. 
3. Check "Manage Inventory:" next to the box, then enter the product information in the applicable fields:
   • SKU: Enter the SKU or leave it blank. Note: If you set the SKU at the product level but leave it blank at the variant level, the SKU will default to the product level SKU. 
   • Stock Quantity: Enter stock/inventory quantity here
   • Allow Backorders: Select whether to allow backorders. 
   • Low Stock Threshold: Set a low stock threshold to receive low stock alerts via email when stock levels reach that quantity. 
4. Click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the menu to save the update. 
5. Click "Publish" or "Update" in the upper right corner of the screen to publish or update products for your customers. 

Combined with Inventory Management System: Change Level + Product Level Management

Deciding whether to manage variant inventory at the product level or the variant level is not an all-or-nothing choice. Any variant configured to manage inventory at the variant level will pull inventory from the variant level. Variants that are not configured to manage inventory at the variant level will pull inventory from the product level inventory (if enabled).

Expanding on our first example, let's illustrate how to use hybrid level inventory management; assuming we still have the deluxe physical version of our product: 

• Variant 1: Physical products only
• Change 2: Physical Products + Digital Downloads
• Variant 3: Deluxe Physical Product + Digital Download

If we leave "Manage Inventory" unchecked at the variant level for the first two variants, they will share inventory and draw from the inventory quantities at the shared product level, just as before. 

For the third variant, we can enable inventory management at the variant level, thus allowing such different physical products to have their own separate inventory tracking.

In this way, it can be decided whether each variant should have its own stock quantity or draw from a shared stock at product level.