n a recent Business Bloomer Club Slack thread, a WooCommerce user recently brought up a common but tricky customization challenge: hiding product gallery thumbnails while ensuring only selected variation images appear.
This type of customization can improve UX, focusing customer attention on their selected product variation without visual clutter from thumbnails. Our community brainstormed some effective solutions to streamline this visual experience without compromising functionality.
Here’s a breakdown of the steps discussed to achieve a seamless view that only displays variation-specific images.
The initial goal was clear: the user wanted to hide the entire product gallery, retaining only the images tied to specific product variations.
However, a simple CSS approach to hide the gallery posed a problem. Hiding the gallery through CSS meant that no images appeared when a user selected a variation—leaving a blank space instead of displaying the chosen product.
A suggestion emerged from our Business Bloomer Club thread to explore WooCommerce’s built-in product settings. Instead of using CSS alone, the solution involves a reconfiguration of the product image setup.
Here’s how it can work:
Leave the Product Gallery Empty
Rather than adding multiple images to the general product gallery, leave it blank. This way, the page won’t load extra thumbnails or gallery items that might interfere with the mobile experience.
Add Images for Each Variation
Assign an image to each individual product variation. WooCommerce allows for images at the variation level, and by setting each one separately, the main product image will dynamically switch to the selected variation’s image. This method eliminates the need for a product gallery, as each selection automatically updates to show the corresponding image.
This approach keeps the design straightforward and ensures the desired variation image is displayed without a gallery, creating a focused, user-friendly view on mobile.
For WooCommerce users looking to enhance their mobile shopping experience, selectively displaying variation images without a product gallery is an effective technique. By adjusting product settings to include images at the variation level only, users can bypass potential conflicts that might arise from hiding galleries via CSS alone. With a more focused display, customers can better engage with specific product selections, making this a practical solution for stores with visually distinct product variations.
