Step 1: Accessing WooCommerce Settings
Navigate to WooCommerce
To begin, log in to your WordPress admin dashboard. On the left-hand sidebar, you will see a menu item labeled “WooCommerce.” Click on this to expand the WooCommerce options. This is the central hub for managing all aspects of your online store.
Locate the Settings Tab
Once you’ve clicked on “WooCommerce,” a sub-menu will appear. Within this sub-menu, locate and click on “Settings.” This action will direct you to the main WooCommerce settings page, where you can configure various aspects of your store, including your shop page.
Step 2: Configuring Product Display Settings
Set Your Shop Page
On the WooCommerce Settings page, click on the “Products” tab at the top. Within the “Products” tab, you’ll see several sub-sections. Look for the “General” sub-section. Here, you will find a dropdown menu labeled “Shop page.” Click on this dropdown and select the page you wish to designate as your main shop page. This is typically a page you’ve already created in WordPress (e.g., a page titled “Shop” or “Store”). If you haven’t created one, you can do so by going to Pages > Add New and then returning to this setting.
Choose Your Product Display Option
Still within the “General” sub-section of the “Products” tab, immediately below the “Shop page” dropdown, you’ll find “Shop page display.” This option determines what visitors see when they land on your main shop page. You have three choices:
- Show products: This is the most common and recommended option, displaying all your products directly on the shop page.
- Show categories: This will display your product categories on the shop page, allowing users to click into a category to see products.
- Show categories & products: This option displays both categories and individual products on the shop page.
Select the option that best suits your store’s design and user experience goals.
Step 3: Optimizing Your Shop Page Appearance
Customize Product Catalog Display
Within the “Products” tab of WooCommerce Settings, navigate to the “Display” sub-section. Here, you’ll find “Default product sorting.” This dropdown allows you to control the initial order in which products are displayed on your shop page and category pages. Options include:
- Default sorting (custom ordering + name)
- Popularity (sales)
- Average rating
- Sort by latest
- Sort by price: low to high
- Sort by price: high to low
Choose the default sorting method that you believe will be most helpful to your customers. Additionally, you can adjust “Shop page display” and “Category display” settings here to control whether products, subcategories, or both are shown on these archive pages.
Adjust Product Sorting Options
While “Default product sorting” sets the initial order, the “Product ratings” section within the “Products” > “Display” tab allows you to enable or disable customer reviews and ratings. Ensuring these are active can significantly influence purchasing decisions. You can also control whether “Reviews can only be left by ‘verified owners'” and “Show ‘verified owner’ label on customer reviews” for added credibility.
Step 4: Saving and Verifying Your Changes
Save Changes
After making all your desired adjustments on the WooCommerce Settings pages (especially under the “Products” tab), it is crucial to save your changes. Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the “Save changes” button. Click this button to apply all the configurations you’ve made. If you navigate away from the page without saving, your changes will be lost.
Verify Your Shop Page
Once you have saved your changes, it’s time to verify that everything is working as expected. Open a new browser tab or window and navigate to your website’s front end. Access your designated shop page (e.g., by clicking on a “Shop” link in your main navigation menu, or by directly typing in your website URL followed by “/shop” if that’s your permalink structure).
- Check if the correct page is displayed as your shop.
- Verify that products are appearing as configured (e.g., product images, titles, prices).
- Test the product sorting options if you have them enabled on the front end.
- Ensure that the display of categories or products matches your “Shop page display” setting.
If anything looks incorrect, return to the WooCommerce settings and re-check your configurations.
FAQ: How do I create a new page to use as my shop page?
Go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to “Pages” > “Add New.” Give your new page a title, such as “Shop” or “Store.” You don’t need to add any content to the page itself, as WooCommerce will automatically populate it with your products. Click “Publish” and then return to WooCommerce > Settings > Products to select this new page as your shop page.
FAQ: My products aren’t showing up on the shop page. What could be wrong?
First, ensure you have products published in WooCommerce. Go to “Products” > “All Products” to check their status. Second, verify that you have correctly selected your shop page under WooCommerce > Settings > Products > General. Third, check the “Shop page display” option; if it’s set to “Show categories” and you have no categories or products assigned to them, nothing will appear. Finally, clear any website caching plugins you might be using, as they can sometimes prevent changes from appearing immediately.
FAQ: Can I have multiple shop pages for different product types?
WooCommerce only allows one designated “Shop page” in its settings. However, you can create custom pages or use product category archive pages to achieve a similar effect. For instance, you could create a menu item linking directly to a specific product category (e.g., yoursite.com/product-category/clothing) which would act as a filtered “shop page” for that category.
FAQ: How do I remove the sidebar from my WooCommerce shop page?
Removing the sidebar is typically controlled by your WordPress theme, not directly by WooCommerce settings. Most themes offer page templates (e.g., “Full Width,” “No Sidebar”) that you can apply to individual pages. Edit your designated shop page (Pages > All Pages > Edit Shop Page) and look for a “Page Attributes” or “Template” section, usually on the right-hand side. Select a full-width template if available. If your theme doesn’t offer this, you might need to use custom CSS or a page builder plugin.
