Get WooCommerce product categories from WordPress

Question

I am trying to get the product categories from WooCommerce through a function in my WordPress theme

    function get_me_list_of($atts, $content = null)
    {   
        $args = array( 'post_type' => 'product', 'posts_per_page' => 10, 'product_cat' => $atts[0]);

        $loop = new WP_Query( $args );

        echo '<h1 class="upp">Style '.$atts[0].'</h1>';
        echo "<ul class='mylisting'>";
        while ( $loop->have_posts() ) : $loop->the_post(); 
        global $product; 

        echo '<li><a href="'.get_permalink().'">'.get_the_post_thumbnail($loop->post->ID, 'thumbnail').'</a></li>';
     echo '<li><a href="'.get_permalink().'">'.$loop->post->post_title.'</a></li>';

echo '<li><a href="">'.get_categories().'</a></li>';
        endwhile; 

        echo "</ul>";

        wp_reset_query(); 


    }

    ?>

The above code returns some products, but the product categories.

When I included echo '<li><a href="">'.get_categories().'</a></li>'; in the code above it returns as an array. How do I fix this?

How do i change this to get the product categories from WooCommerce?

print_r(array); , see whats all coming --> use relevant data — Prince Singh, Jan 09 '14 at 04:20

score 191 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 10 '16 at 09:25

191

<?php

  $taxonomy     = 'product_cat';
  $orderby      = 'name';  
  $show_count   = 0;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no
  $pad_counts   = 0;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no
  $hierarchical = 1;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no  
  $title        = '';  
  $empty        = 0;

  $args = array(
         'taxonomy'     => $taxonomy,
         'orderby'      => $orderby,
         'show_count'   => $show_count,
         'pad_counts'   => $pad_counts,
         'hierarchical' => $hierarchical,
         'title_li'     => $title,
         'hide_empty'   => $empty
  );
 $all_categories = get_categories( $args );
 foreach ($all_categories as $cat) {
    if($cat->category_parent == 0) {
        $category_id = $cat->term_id;       
        echo '<br /><a href="'. get_term_link($cat->slug, 'product_cat') .'">'. $cat->name .'</a>';

        $args2 = array(
                'taxonomy'     => $taxonomy,
                'child_of'     => 0,
                'parent'       => $category_id,
                'orderby'      => $orderby,
                'show_count'   => $show_count,
                'pad_counts'   => $pad_counts,
                'hierarchical' => $hierarchical,
                'title_li'     => $title,
                'hide_empty'   => $empty
        );
        $sub_cats = get_categories( $args2 );
        if($sub_cats) {
            foreach($sub_cats as $sub_category) {
                echo  $sub_category->name ;
            }   
        }
    }       
}
?>

This will list all the top level categories and subcategories under them hierarchically. do not use the inner query if you just want to display the top level categories. Style it as you like.

edited Mar 10 '16 at 09:25

subZero

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answered Jan 09 '14 at 05:28

Suman.hassan95

3,895
8
26
24

@Suman.hassan95 :grt dear its working but one question is can we give link to subcategory as well?? – Montiyago Sep 17 '14 at 08:08
@Tester: is there something like subcategory of a subcategory in woocommerce?? – Montiyago Sep 17 '14 at 10:14
Is there any way to avoid the first main category? like use child_of for the first loop? When I try doing that... doesnt work – jpganz18 Dec 05 '14 at 17:37
@Suman.hassan95 i want only three category so how to set limit? – Nisarg Bhavsar Sep 07 '15 at 11:25
we can also use is_array() to extract categories to from n depth. – Faisal Naseer Feb 08 '16 at 22:17
This was so helpful – Christopher M. Oct 17 '16 at 12:37
Why would this not work from `functions.php`? It works great in templates e.g. `page.php`, but when I try to use the same code in `functions.php`, it returns nothing. – Circle B Aug 20 '17 at 22:48
I have tried this within a template file and it works but this does not working in plugin file is there any reason for this? – mapmalith Mar 13 '18 at 10:11
@Suman.hassan95 How to add current-cat class to href? – Pat Jun 16 '21 at 09:36
A perfectly witter code snippet and easily customizable for any implementation. – Frank Oct 08 '21 at 09:31
This works only for one sub-category depth and uses multiple queries to query data that has already been queried. Have a look at my answer below for something more efficient that also gets sub-categories at all depth levels. – Maciej Krawczyk May 09 '22 at 09:27

score 24 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 25 '14 at 16:01

Improving Suman.hassan95's answer by adding a link to subcategory as well. Replace the following code:

$sub_cats = get_categories( $args2 );
    if($sub_cats) {
        foreach($sub_cats as $sub_category) {
            echo  $sub_category->name ;
        }

    }

with:

$sub_cats = get_categories( $args2 );
            if($sub_cats) {
                foreach($sub_cats as $sub_category) {
                    echo  '<br/><a href="'. get_term_link($sub_category->slug, 'product_cat') .'">'. $sub_category->name .'</a>';
                }
            }

or if you also wish a counter for each subcategory, replace with this:

$sub_cats = get_categories( $args2 );
            if($sub_cats) {
                foreach($sub_cats as $sub_category) {
                    echo  '<br/><a href="'. get_term_link($sub_category->slug, 'product_cat') .'">'. $sub_category->name .'</a>';
                    echo apply_filters( 'woocommerce_subcategory_count_html', ' <span class="cat-count">' . $sub_category->count . '</span>', $category );
                }
            }

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 28 '19 at 19:49

11

You could also use wp_list_categories();

wp_list_categories( array('taxonomy' => 'product_cat', 'title_li'  => '') );

answered Oct 28 '19 at 19:49

Etienne Dupuis

13,548
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2

This doesn't show child categories which is often going to be important – AdamJones Dec 10 '19 at 19:53
2

This is very useful! Using wp_list_categories for product cats is slick. It gives all the WordPress built-in goodies like the .cat-item classes and the .current-cat class for the active category. Good looking out on the share @Etienne Dupuis – Taine Feb 20 '21 at 07:05

Maciej Krawczyk · Answer 4 · 2022-07-01T06:41:28.273

Efficient solution for getting all categories and sub-categories, no matter the depth.

    /**
     * Lists all product categories and sub-categories in a tree structure.
     *
     * @return array
     */
    function list_product_categories() {
        $categories = get_terms(
            array(
                'taxonomy'   => 'product_cat',
                'orderby'    => 'name',
                'hide_empty' => false,
            )
        );

        $categories = treeify_terms($categories);

        return $categories;
    }

    /**
     * Converts a flat array of terms into a hierarchical tree structure.
     *
     * @param WP_Term[] $terms Terms to sort.
     * @param integer   $root_id Id of the term which is considered the root of the tree.
     *
     * @return array Returns an array of term data. Note the term data is an array, rather than
     * term object.
     */
    function treeify_terms($terms, $root_id = 0) {
        $tree = array();

        foreach ($terms as $term) {
            if ($term->parent === $root_id) {
                array_push(
                    $tree,
                    array(
                        'name'     => $term->name,
                        'slug'     => $term->slug,
                        'id'       => $term->term_id,
                        'count'    => $term->count,
                        'children' => treeify_terms($terms, $term->term_id),
                    )
                );
            }
        }

        return $tree;
    }

It's also much more efficient than the current top answer as it uses only one query.

This part: 'children' => treeify_terms($terms, $term->term_id), coule be modified not to add 'children' node if empty - but apart from that - excellent solution. Thank you. — Andrzej Dzirba, Mar 22 '23 at 06:04
@Andrzej Why would that be better? You'd get extra processing overhead to check if the property is defined rather than just iterating an array - whether it's empty or not. — Maciej Krawczyk, Jul 05 '23 at 13:31
@MaciejKrawczyk It depends what you're trying to do with that data. If you'd want to send it over rest api, for example - the less you sent the better. That's why I prefere not to have empty properties. — Andrzej Dzirba, Jul 06 '23 at 14:45

Abdel Rahman Kamhawy · Answer 5 · 2020-04-01T11:55:35.497

In my opinion this is the simplest solution

$orderby = 'name';
                $order = 'asc';
                $hide_empty = false ;
                $cat_args = array(
                    'orderby'    => $orderby,
                    'order'      => $order,
                    'hide_empty' => $hide_empty,
                );

                $product_categories = get_terms( 'product_cat', $cat_args );

                if( !empty($product_categories) ){
                    echo '

                <ul>';
                    foreach ($product_categories as $key => $category) {
                        echo '

                <li>';
                        echo '<a href="'.get_term_link($category).'" >';
                        echo $category->name;
                        echo '</a>';
                        echo '</li>';
                    }
                    echo '</ul>


                ';
                }

While this code may answer the question, providing additional context regarding how and/or why it solves the problem would improve the answer's long-term value. — Piotr Labunski, Feb 20 '20 at 10:37
the ul schema looks nice and handy. Can I have the subcategories nested under every parent category? — Bill, Jan 24 '21 at 09:33

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered May 09 '21 at 21:48

//Recursive function

function wc_loop_categories($parent = 0)
{

    global $wpdb;

    $query = "SELECT t.term_id AS ID, t.name AS title  
        FROM {$wpdb->prefix}terms AS t
            LEFT JOIN {$wpdb->prefix}term_taxonomy AS ta
                ON ta.term_id = t.term_id            
            WHERE ta.taxonomy='product_cat'
                AND ta.parent=$parent
            ORDER BY t.name ASC";

    $cats = $wpdb->get_results($query);

    foreach ($cats as $key => $cat) {
        // get all sub_cats from current loop item
        $cats[$key]->sub_cats = wc_loop_categories($cat->ID);
    }

    return $cats;
}

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 14 '22 at 08:44

I have prepared the function that recursively creating menu and adding to object child element! masterCategoryId is the category rootId that recursion should work. FYI I did changes on Suman.hassan95 version.

function getWpCat($masterCategoryId = 3360, $returnCategories)
{
    
    $taxonomy     = 'product_cat';
    $orderby      = 'name';
    $show_count   = 1;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no
    $pad_counts   = 1;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no
    $hierarchical = 1;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no  
    $title        = '';
    $empty        = 0;

    $args = array(
        'taxonomy'     => $taxonomy,
        'orderby'      => $orderby,
        'show_count'   => $show_count,
        'pad_counts'   => $pad_counts,
        'hierarchical' => $hierarchical,
        'title_li'     => $title,
        'hide_empty'   => $empty,
        'parent' => $masterCategoryId
    );

    $all_categories = get_categories($args);
    
    foreach ($all_categories as $cat) {
        $returnCategories[$cat->slug] = $cat;
        $child = get_categories(array(
            'taxonomy'     => $taxonomy,
            'orderby'      => $orderby,
            'show_count'   => $show_count,
            'pad_counts'   => $pad_counts,
            'hierarchical' => $hierarchical,
            'title_li'     => $title,
            'hide_empty'   => $empty,
            'parent' => $cat->cat_ID
        ));
        if ( $child ) {
            $returnCategories[$cat->slug]->child =  getWpCat($cat->cat_ID, $returnCategories[$cat->slug]->child);
        }
        
    }
    return $returnCategories;
}

$returnCategories = [];
$categories = getWpCat(3360, $returnCategories);

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered May 04 '22 at 10:10

For better reading I suggest to use a class instead of a function, by the way with the following code you can manage unlimited subcategories:

    class WoocommerceCategoriesDropdown
    {
        const PRODUCT_CAT = 'product_cat';
        const NAME = 'name';
        const SHOW_COUNT = 0;
        const PAD_COUNTS = 0;
        const HIERARCHICAL = 1;
        const TITLE = '';
        const HIDE_EMPTY = 0;
        const INITIAL_LEVEL = 0;
        private $all_categories;
        private $currentCategory;
        private $level;
    
        public function __construct($currentCategory)
        {
            $this->level = self::INITIAL_LEVEL;
            $this->currentCategory = $currentCategory;
            $this->all_categories = get_categories($this->getRootCategoryQueryArgs());
        }
    
        public function render()
        {
            echo '<select class="category-list-dropdown">';
            foreach ($this->all_categories as $cat) {
                $this->level = 0;
                if ($cat->category_parent == 0) {
                    echo '<option ' . $this->getSelected($cat) . ' data-link="' . get_term_link($cat->slug, self::PRODUCT_CAT) . '">' . $cat->name . '</option>';
                    $this->renderSubCategories($cat);
                }
            }
            echo '</select>';
        }
    
        /**
         * @return array
         */
        private function getRootCategoryQueryArgs(): array
        {
            return [
                'taxonomy' => self::PRODUCT_CAT,
                'orderby' => self::NAME,
                'show_count' => self::SHOW_COUNT,
                'pad_counts' => self::PAD_COUNTS,
                'hierarchical' => self::HIERARCHICAL,
                'title_li' => self::TITLE,
                'hide_empty' => self::HIDE_EMPTY,
            ];
        }
    
        /**
         * @return array
         */
        private function getSubCategoryQueryArgs($categoryId): array
        {
            $args2 = $this->getRootCategoryQueryArgs();
            $args2['child_of'] = $categoryId;
            $args2['parent'] = $categoryId;
            return $args2;
        }
    
        /**
         * @param $cat
         */
        public function renderSubCategories($cat): void
        {
            $subCats = get_categories($this->getSubCategoryQueryArgs($cat->term_id));
            if (!empty($subCats)) {
                $this->level++;
                foreach ($subCats as $subCategory) {
                    echo '<option ' . $this->getSelected($subCategory) . ' data-link="' . get_term_link($subCategory->slug, self::PRODUCT_CAT) . '">' . $this->getCategoryLevelSpacer() . $subCategory->name . '</option>';
                    $this->renderSubCategories($subCategory);
                }
            }
        }
    
        /**
         * @param $cat
         * @return string
         */
        private function getSelected($cat): string
        {
            $selected = get_term_link($cat->slug, self::PRODUCT_CAT) === get_term_link($this->currentCategory->slug, self::PRODUCT_CAT) ? ' selected="selected" ' : '';
            return $selected;
        }
    
        private function getCategoryLevelSpacer(): string
        {
            $spacer = '';
            for ($i = 0; $i < $this->level; $i++) {
                $spacer .= "-";
            }
            if (!empty($spacer)) {
                $spacer = $spacer . " ";
            }
            return $spacer;
        }
    }

enter code here

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 13 '22 at 15:15

Thanks subZero for the initial code ... I know this is pretty simple but it might just help someone with a quick copy paste!

This returns the categories and subs in a nice array to use for building a menu instead of just echoing it out.

function getCategories(){
    $category = [];
    $taxonomy     = 'product_cat';
    $orderby      = 'name';
    $show_count   = 0;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no
    $pad_counts   = 0;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no
    $hierarchical = 1;      // 1 for yes, 0 for no
    $title        = '';
    $empty        = 0;

    $args = array(
        'taxonomy'     => $taxonomy,
        'orderby'      => $orderby,
        'show_count'   => $show_count,
        'pad_counts'   => $pad_counts,
        'hierarchical' => $hierarchical,
        'title_li'     => $title,
        'hide_empty'   => $empty
    );
    $all_categories = get_categories( $args );
    foreach ($all_categories as $cat) {
        if($cat->category_parent == 0) {
            $category_id = $cat->term_id;
            //echo '<br /><a href="'. get_term_link($cat->slug, 'product_cat') .'">'. $cat->name .'</a>';
            $category[$category_id]['name'] = $cat->name;
            $category[$category_id]['slug'] = get_term_link($cat->slug, 'product_cat');

            $args2 = array(
                    'taxonomy'     => $taxonomy,
                    'child_of'     => 0,
                    'parent'       => $category_id,
                    'orderby'      => $orderby,
                    'show_count'   => $show_count,
                    'pad_counts'   => $pad_counts,
                    'hierarchical' => $hierarchical,
                    'title_li'     => $title,
                    'hide_empty'   => $empty
            );
            $sub_cats = get_categories( $args2 );
            if($sub_cats) {
                foreach($sub_cats as $sub_category) {
                    //echo $sub_category->name;
                    $sub_category_id = $sub_category->term_id;
                    $category[$category_id]['sub_category'][$sub_category_id]['name'] = $sub_category->name;
                    $category[$category_id]['sub_category'][$sub_category_id]['slug'] = get_term_link($sub_category->slug, 'product_cat');
                }
            }
        }
    }
    return $category;
}

Get WooCommerce product categories from WordPress

9 Answers9

Efficient solution for getting all categories and sub-categories, no matter the depth.

Linked