TOP Tips For Using Shortcodes in WooCommerce Effectively

Online business owners deploy a combination of WordPress, WooCommerce, and an attractive theme to create a professional online store. WordPress allows non-developer users to add functionality to their posts, pages, and widgets without writing long lines of code. It uses Woocommerce shortcodes to add different elements like pricing grids or event calendars into online stores.

What are WooCommerce Shortcodes?

Shortcodes are a feature contained in WordPress, but since WooCommerce is an extension of WordPress, it uses CMS capabilities to make the shortcodes feature naturally available for users. WooCommerce shortcode helps businesses simplify the shopping experience by reducing decision-making time and optimizing your store for faster conversions.

You can use WooCommerce shortcodes for:

• Displaying lists of top-rated products on your homepage
• Showcasing related products when a shopper shows interest in a product
• Highlighting featured products in Gutenberg blocks and sidebars.

You can use shortcodes on different pages and posts of your store. If you use the block editor on your WooCommerce store, you can paste the required shortcode into the shortcode block. However, you can paste the code directly into your page or post using the classic editor.

You can also combine different shortcodes and display them on a single page. For instance, you may offer package tracking services from your store. You can combine the user account shortcode with the order tracking shortcode and display tracking information directly from your homepage.

Common WooCommerce Page Shortcodes

You can add the following WooCommerce shop page shortcodes to your web pages as they require no parameters. Just create a new page from your WordPress dashboard, give it a title and add the following shortcodes to build the page instantly. Delete slash from shortcode.

1. [woocommerce_cart]
   You can use the cart shortcode to display contents, the interface for coupon codes, and other cart-related elements.
2. [woocommerce_checkout]
   You can use the checkout shortcode to display your WooCommerce store’s checkout page.
3. [woocommerce_my_account]
   You can use my account shortcode to create a section where your customers can view their orders, update their personal information, or change their billing/shipping address.
4. [woocommerce_order_tracking]
   You can use the order tracking shortcode to display a form your customers can use to track their orders in real-time by integrating APIs from your shipping partner.

Common WooCommerce Product Shortcodes

Here are some WooCommerce products shortcodes you can use to improve your store’s product pages.

1. [featured products]
   You can use the featured products shortcode to display the most searched/preferred items on your homepage.
2. [sale_products]
   You can use the sale shortcode to immediately add sale prices and tags to products you want to sell.
3. [best_selling_products]
   You can use the best-selling product shortcode to list your most sold items on your home page.

Types of WooCommerce shortcodes

There are numerous types of shortcodes you can use; the most common ones are:

Simple Shortcodes

You can easily write simple shortcodes in square brackets like: [gallery]. This shortcode will embed an image gallery within your WooCommerce store. However, there is no way to specify the gallery category you want to embed, so you must specify it.

Shortcodes with Parameters

You can add shortcodes with parameters to define the purpose of the function you want to use. If you continue with the gallery shortcode, you can add the shortcode like: [gallery order=” ASC” orderby=”post_date”]. Now, your shortcode has parameters that direct the shortcode to display images from your gallery sorted in ascending order according to the date you uploaded them to your WooCommerce store.

Shortcodes with Content

You can also use WooCommerce Shortcodes to wrap around content for additional functionality. You can use a caption shortcode to display a captioned image by inserting: <img src=”yourURL/image.jpg/” />Content

TOP Essential Tips On How To Use WooCommerce Shortcodes

Here are some tips for using shortcodes for your WooCommerce store.

1. Make shortcodes future proof
   Shortcodes are great, but sometimes they are just supported by a theme, and you should think twice before using them. Evolution is real, and if, after a few years, you decide to change your theme, the newer version might not support the old shortcodes. Try using a site-specific plugin to run shortcodes instead of being theme-specific.
2. Use shortcodes in Widgets
   Most WooCommerce store owners think shortcodes are limited to posts and pages, but you can include shortcodes in your WordPress text widgets. You can simply drag and drop a text widget into your sidebar and add the shortcode. However, this feature is not enabled by default, so you must enable it from your theme’s functions.php file.
3. Hide broken shortcodes
   Online store owners occasionally change their themes without realizing that their old shortcodes are incompatible with the new theme. So you can either go through your site and find broken shortcodes or hide them by editing your store’s function.php file.

Conclusion

WooCommerce shortcodes make it easier for businesses to enhance their product pages without adding additional lines of code. With minimal knowledge of WordPress, store owners can add shortcodes by adding a website-specific plugin.