WooCommerce: Display Long Description Instead Of Short One @ Single Product Page

Especially when you migrate from a different ecommerce platform to WooCommerce, you may end up placing or importing content in the wrong place.

A lot of confusion, for example, arises when a new WooCommerce store owner needs to understand the difference between the “Long” and the “Short” description. Well, the “Long description” is the one that displays inside the “Description” tab, below the product summary (that section that features the image on the left + add to cart on the right), usually in full width. The “Short description“, on the other hand, is the one that shows on the right hand side of the product image, and is usually… shorter.

Now, what if you don’t use the “Short description” in your WooCommerce store, and you wish to display the “Long description” on the right hand side of the featured image instead? Well, here’s a simple snippet for you. Enjoy!

PHP Snippet: Show Long Description Instead of the Short Description @ Single Product Page

Note: to avoid duplicate content, you may also need to hide the “Description” tab of course, otherwise the Long Description will display twice once the snippet below is installed.

/**
 * @snippet       Long Instead of Short Description @ WooCommerce Single Product
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 8
 * @community     https://businessbloomer.com/club/
 */

remove_action( 'woocommerce_single_product_summary', 'woocommerce_template_single_excerpt', 20 );
add_action( 'woocommerce_single_product_summary', 'bbloomer_template_single_long_description', 20 );

function bbloomer_template_single_long_description() {
	strip_tags( the_content() );
}

Where to add custom code?

You should place custom PHP in functions.php and custom CSS in style.css of your child theme: where to place WooCommerce customization?

This code still works, unless you report otherwise. To exclude conflicts, temporarily switch to the Storefront theme, disable all plugins except WooCommerce, and test the snippet again: WooCommerce troubleshooting 101

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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. Follow @rmelogli