How to Customize WooCommerce Product Variants

Experience e-commerce websites that offer a variety of product options are important for maximizing revenue by catering to the preferences of different customers. Product variables can give multiple options for a single product, such as different colors, sizes, or materials.

WooCommerce Add product variables are supported by defaultBut to be more eye-catching to customers in the competitive e-commerce world, one needs to go beyond the basics and customize WooCommerce's product variants that can be more personalized and engaging.

In the article, it will be explored how to customize WooCommerce product variables through programming and plugins to create a more attractive and user-friendly e-commerce website.

What are product variables

Product variants are versions of a specific product with different attributes or options, such as size, color, material, or other characteristics. With product variants, customers can choose the specific product configuration they want to purchase based on their preferences or needs.

Why Customize WooCommerce Product Variables

Customizing WooCommerce product variables can significantly enhance your customers' shopping experience and potentially increase conversions.

Here are some of the key benefits of customizing your WooCommerce product variables:

• Create more visually appealing and user-friendly interfaces.
• Help meet the individual preferences and needs of your customers.
• Efficiently manage inventory by combining similar products into a single list with multiple options.
• Improve the way products are organized on the site.
• Helps to upsell and cross-sell by recommending related products or premium versions of the same product.
• Improved search engine optimization (SEO).
• Streamline the product management process to make adding, editing and deleting product options easier.
• Adjust to market trends, customer preferences and new product releases to keep the store competitive and relevant.

How to Create Variable Products with Attributes for WooCommerce via Code

In this section, a code snippet is shared to define the ID of the variable product through a custom function and actually add or create the product variable. Note that when creating a variable product, you need the parent product to set the attributes such as attribute/value array, SKU, price and stock.

When viewing the code snippet, you will see that the data is stored in a formatted multi-dimensional array. The function I created checks to see if the value of the attribute already exists. If it doesn't exist, it creates an entry for the product attribute and then sets it to the parent variable product.

function create_product_variation( $product_id, $variation_data ){

$product = wc_get_product($product_id);

$variation_post = array(

        'post_title' => $product->get_title(),

        'post_name' => 'product-'.$product_id.'-variation',

  'post_status' => 'publish',

  'post_parent' => $product_id, 'post_parent' => $product_id.

        'post_type' => 'product_variation',

  'guid' => $product->get_permalink()

).

$variation_id = wp_insert_post( $variation_post );

$variation = new WC_Product_Variation( $variation_id );

foreach ($variation_data['attributes'] as $attribute => $term_name )

{

  $taxonomy = 'pa_'.$attribute;

  if( ! taxonomy_exists( $taxonomy ) ){

            register_taxonomy(

                $taxonomy, !

                'product_variation',

                array(

                    'hierarchical' => false,

                    'label' => ucfirst( $attribute ),

                    'query_var' => true,

                    'rewrite' => array( 'slug' => sanitize_title($attribute) ),

          )

      ).

  }

  if( ! term_exists( $term_name, $taxonomy ) )

            wp_insert_term( $term_name, $taxonomy ) ;

  $term_slug = get_term_by('name', $term_name, $taxonomy )->slug;

        $post_term_names = wp_get_post_terms( $product_id, $taxonomy, array('fields' => 'names' ) );

  if( ! in_array( $term_name, $post_term_names ) )

            wp_set_post_terms( $product_id, $term_name, $taxonomy, true );

        update_post_meta( $variation_id, 'attribute_'.$taxonomy, $term_slug ) ;

}

if( ! empty( $variation_data['sku'] ) )

        $variation->set_sku( $variation_data['sku'] ) ;

if( empty( $variation_data['sale_price'] ) ){

        $variation->set_price( $variation_data['regular_price'] );

} else {

        $variation->set_price( $variation_data['sale_price'] ); } else {

        $variation->set_sale_price( $variation_data['sale_price'] );

}

    $variation->set_regular_price( $variation_data['regular_price'] );

if( ! empty($variation_data['stock_qty']) ){

        $variation->set_stock_quantity( $variation_data['stock_qty'] );

        $variation->set_manage_stock(true);

        $variation->set_stock_status('');

} else {

        $variation->set_manage_stock(false);

}

    $variation->set_weight('');

    $variation->save();

}

create_product_variation() function
This function is used to create a new product variable for a WooCommerce product. This function allows you to programmatically create product variables for your WooCommerce store, which is useful when managing a large number of products or when you need to automate the creation process.

WooCommerce Variable Products and their Outputs

WooCommerce Variable Products creates a single list of multiple variables, such as color, size, or material. Each variable has unique attributes, stock levels, and pricing options, giving customers a personalized shopping experience.

To programmatically manipulate WooCommerce Variable Products, you can use these key code snippets and functions, which are added to the functions.php Documentation:

• wc_get_product($product_id): This function gets a product object based on the product ID, which is used to access product data such as attributes, price, and stock levels.
• wp_insert_post($variation_post): WordPress function for creating a new post or updating an existing post. In WooCommerce, can be used to create new product variables.
• WC_Product_Variation($variation_id): Creates an instance of the WC_Product_Variation class representing a specific product variable. You can use this object to get or set the attributes, price, and stock level of the product variable.
• register_taxonomy: Create a new taxonomy for organizing and categorizing website content. In WooCommerce, product attributes are stored as custom taxonomies.
• wp_insert_term: Create a new term (term) in the taxonomy. In WooCommerce, product attribute values are stored as terms. This function is used in IF conditions to check if the term name exists and create it if it doesn't.
• $post_term_names: Stores an array of term names associated with the parent variable product and is used to check whether a particular term has been set as an attribute value for the product.
• wp_set_post_terms: Set or update the term associated with a post. In WooCommerce, this can be used to associate an attribute value (term) with a product or product variable.
• update_post_meta: Updates the metadata associated with a post. Used in WooCommerce to hold attribute data for product variables.
• $variation->set_sku: Method of the WC_Product_Variation class that sets the SKU (stock keeping unit) of a product variable.The SKU is a unique identifier for each product variable that helps manage inventory.
• $variation_data['sale_price']: An array key containing the sales price of a product variable that can be used to set or update the sales price of a specific product variable.
• $variation_data['stock_qty']: An array key containing the inventory quantity of a product variable that can be used to set or update the inventory level for a specific product variable.

How to Create Variable Products with Attributes for WooCommerce with Plugins

In WooCommerce, product variables can be customized using plugins that provide additional options and features.

Here are some popular plugins that help customize WooCommerce product variables:

• Variation Swatches for WooCommerce
• WooCommerce Additional Variation Images
• YITH WooCommerce Color and Label Variations

In this paper, we use Variation Swatches for WooCommerce Plugin Demo.

Below is a step-by-step guide to creating WooCommerce Variable Products with attributes using the Variation Swatches for WooCommerce plugin:

Step 1: Install and activate the plugin

1. Go to the WordPress dashboard.

2. Navigate to "plug-in (software component)" > "Installation of plug-ins".

3. Search "Variation Swatches for WooCommerce".

4. Click "Installation", and then activate the plugin.

Step 2: Configure Plugin Settings

• Go to "set up".

• Configure plug-in settings as needed, such as adjusting options for style, size, and shape.

Step 3: Create or Edit Variable Products

Go to "offerings" > "additional" to create a new product, or click under existing products to "compiler".

In "Product Data" section, from the drop-down menu select "Variable Products".

Step 4: Add Attributes

• In "causality" tab, add the attributes you want to use for the variable (e.g., color, size).
• Click on "Addplus", fill in the attribute details and check the "for variables"Options box.

• Click "Saving Properties".

Step 5: Generate Variables

• Go to "variant" tab, click "Create variables from all properties"Automatically generate all possible variables.

• Configure the details of each variable, including price, inventory, and images.

Step 6: Save Changes

• After configuring the product variables, click "update"or"post"Save changes.

• Now, you can see the variable you just created.

Recommended Product Variable Customization Plugin

Here are some recommended plugins that help administrators customize product variables on e-commerce sites, mainly for WordPress and WooCommerce:

• Variation Swatches for WooCommerce
• YITH WooCommerce Color and Label Variations
• WPB Product Slider for WooCommerce
• Improved Variable Product Attributes for WooCommerce
• WooCommerce Product Variations Matrix

Best Practices for Customizing WooCommerce Product Variables

Customizing WooCommerce product variables can significantly enhance the user experience. To take full advantage of the customization features of product variables, it's best to follow these rules:

Careful planning and organizationproduct attributes and variables, making sure they are clear and easy to understand.

Give each product variableHigh quality, clear imagesThe product is designed to show different perspectives of the product and to highlight its unique features.

Ensure that product images areWeb optimization, increasing the loading speed.

consistentnaming convention, making similar attributes and option names uniform across all products.

Accurate ConfigurationPrices and stock levels for each product variable to keep prices competitive and stock information up to date.

Periodic testing and reviewProduct variables and customization options to ensure they work properly and are easy to use.

Use WooCommerce plugins and extensions as needed toEnhancements to product variablesThe

Solving common problems with product variables

WooCommerce product variables may sometimes encounter issues that may affect site functionality or user experience. Below are some common problems with WooCommerce product variables and their corresponding solutions:

Problem 1: Variables not displayed or displayed incorrectly

Sometimes variables are set, but they are not displayed correctly. There can be different reasons for this problem and you can try these methods below to fix it:

Solution:

• Ensure that the attributes and variables for the product have been set correctly. Attributes should be added to the "causality" tab, and then in each product's "variant" tab to create variables.

• Check for the presence of themes orplug-in conflict. Test by deactivating plugins one by one and temporarily switching to the default WordPress theme. If the problem is resolved, identify the conflicting plugin or theme and find a suitable replacement plugin.

Issue 2: Ajax add to cart function does not work for variable products

Sometimes the add to cart feature for variable products doesn't work properly.

Solution:

• Ensure that the website theme is compatible with WooCommerce, supports the AJAX Add to Cart feature for variable products, or install the AJAX Add to Cart plugin.

• Check for plugin conflicts that may be causing the problem.

Issue 3: Variable changes cannot be saved

Sometimes it may not be possible to save new variable settings.

Solution:

• Determine that the server meets the minimum requirements for WooCommerce, including PHP version and memory limits.
• Add server php.ini in the file max_input_vars values, as lower values may cause problems when saving large numbers of variables.

Issue 4: Large number of variables causes performance problems

Performance problems may be encountered when the product is set up with a large number of variables.

Solution:

• Use a caching plugin such as WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache to improve website performance.
• Regularly optimize the database to keep it clean and efficient.
• Consider using a plugin that specializes in handling large numbers of variables, such as WooCommerce Product Variations Matrix or Variation Swatches for WooCommerce.

summarize

Customizing WooCommerce product variables is a powerful tool for developers to enhance the functionality of their clients' e-commerce sites. By leveraging the flexibility of variable products, developers can create more engaging and personalized shopping sites for their customers, enhancing the shopping experience.