[]You’d think that this was a core WooCommerce setting – it’s not.
[]In fact, from the WordPress “Customizer“, you can set the product category page display to “Show products” only, “Show subcategories” only, or “Show subcategories and products” (see screenshot below). But these 3 options, in my opinion, could and should do much better.
[]For example, if you assign a product “ABC” to a parent category “X“, and a product “DEF” to a child category “X->Y“, and if you choose “Show products“, the parent category page will show both “ABC” and “DEF” products, while there should only be 1.
[]If you select “Show subcategories“, the same page will only have the link to the subcategory, but the product belonging to the parent category, “ABC“, won’t be visible, which doesn’t make sense.
[]If, even worse, you pick “Show subcategories and products“, the parent category page will display the subcategory link, as well as both products “ABC” and “DEF“, which once again is a bit weird.
[]Let’s fix this with a simple snippet – enjoy!
These are the three options regarding the WooCommerce Product page display that you can find under WordPress Customizer > WooCommerce > Product Catalog.
PHP Snippet: Hide Subcategory Products @ WooCommerce Parent Category Page
/** * @snippet Hide Subcat Products @ WooCommerce Category Page * @how-to Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE * @author Rodolfo Melogli * @compatible WooCommerce 8 * @donate $9 https://businessbloomer.com/bloomer-armada/ */ add_action( ‘woocommerce_product_query’, ‘bbloomer_hide_products_subcategory’, 9999 ); function bbloomer_hide_products_subcategory( $q ) { if ( ! is_product_category() ) return; $parent_id = get_queried_object_id(); $subcats = woocommerce_get_product_subcategories( $parent_id ); if ( empty( $subcats ) ) return; $tax_query = (array) $q->get( ‘tax_query’ ); $tax_query[] = array( ‘taxonomy’ => ‘product_cat’, ‘field’ => ‘slug’, ‘terms’ => array_column( $subcats, ‘slug’ ), ‘operator’ => ‘NOT IN’ ); $q->set( ‘tax_query’, $tax_query, true ); } []Once this snippet is active, the display in case of “Show products” option will go from:
[]to:
[]because the first two products in the first screenshot belong to a subcategory of “Newsletters” called “Sponsorships” in my test website.
[]The snippet also works to – finally – fix the “Show subcategories and products” option, because it hides the two subcategory products, which will be visible only when you click on the “Sponsorships” subcategory:
Where to add custom code?
[]You should place PHP snippets at the bottom of your child theme functions.php file and CSS at the bottom of its style.css file. Make sure you know what you are doing when editing such files – if you need more guidance, please take a look at my guide “Should I Add Custom Code Via WP Editor, FTP or Code Snippets?” and my video tutorial “Where to Place WooCommerce Customization?”
Does this snippet (still) work?
Please let me know in the comments if everything went as expected. I would be happy to revise the snippet if you report otherwise (please provide screenshots). I have tested this code with Storefront theme, the WooCommerce version listed above and a WordPress-friendly hosting.[]If you think this code saved you time & money, feel free to join 17,000+ WooCommerce Weekly subscribers for blog post updates and 250+ Business Bloomer supporters for 365 days of WooCommerce benefits. Thank you in advance!
Need Help with WooCommerce?
[]Check out these free video tutorials. You can learn how to customize WooCommerce without unnecessary plugins, how to properly configure the WooCommerce plugin settings and even how to master WooCommerce troubleshooting in case of a bug!
Rodolfo Melogli
[]Business Bloomer Founder
[]Author, WooCommerce expert and WordCamp speaker, Rodolfo has worked as an independent WooCommerce freelancer since 2011. His goal is to help entrepreneurs and developers overcome their WooCommerce nightmares. Rodolfo loves travelling, chasing tennis & soccer balls and, of course, wood fired oven pizza.
