WooCommerce: Display a Product Categories Dropdown Select

There is already a widget that allows you to place a “Product Category Dropdown” in your sidebar areas. The problem is that lately, sidebars have become kinda 1990. So, what if you want to place a “Category Select Box” anywhere in your WooCommerce website, and (in this case study), exactly on the Product Category pages, so that you can switch from one category to the other?

Well, in this snippet you will learn a lot of things. For example, the wc_product_dropdown_categories() function magically displays a category dropdown, while the wc_enqueue_js() function allows you to inject jQuery (responsible to trigger the category page redirect).

You can demo this snippet on this live WooCommerce website of mine: A Piece of Sicily – Sicilian Crafts Category. Enjoy!

Here’s my “Product Category Switcher” in action on the Product Category pages. As soon as a different category is selected, a redirect take place.

PHP Snippet: Show a Product Category Switcher and Redirect Upon Selection

Please note in the “location.href” section you have to make sure you enter the correct permalink base for product categories, otherwise you will get error 404. In this case, I’m using the default product category permalinks, “/product-category/“.

/**
 * @snippet       Product Category Switcher @ Product Category Pages
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 4.0
 * @donate $9     https://businessbloomer.com/bloomer-armada/
 */

add_action( 'woocommerce_before_shop_loop', 'bbloomer_filter_by_tag', 31 );

function bbloomer_filter_by_tag() {		
	if ( is_product_category() ) {		
		wc_product_dropdown_categories();	
	} 
	wc_enqueue_js( "
		$('#product_cat').change(function () {
			location.href = '/product-category/' + $(this).val();
		});
	" );
}

Where to add this snippet?

You can place PHP snippets at the bottom of your child theme functions.php file (delete "?>" if you have it there). CSS, on the other hand, goes in your child theme style.css file. Make sure you know what you are doing when editing such files - if you need more guidance, please take a look at my free video tutorial "Where to Place WooCommerce Customization?"

Does this snippet (still) work?

Please let me know in the comments if everything worked as expected. I would be happy to revise the snippet if you report otherwise (please provide screenshots). I have tested this code with Storefront theme, the WooCommerce version listed above and a WordPress-friendly hosting on PHP 7.3.

If you think this code saved you time & money, feel free to join 14,000+ WooCommerce Weekly subscribers for blog post updates or 250+ Business Bloomer supporters for 365 days of WooCommerce benefits. Thank you in advance :)

Need Help with WooCommerce?

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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

19 thoughts on “WooCommerce: Display a Product Categories Dropdown Select”

Rahul

February 19, 2022

If you get 404 when selecting the “select category” from drop-down try this it will also show on shop page as well

add_action( 'woocommerce_before_shop_loop', 'bbloomer_filter_by_tag', 31 );
 
function bbloomer_filter_by_tag() {      
   if ( is_product_category() || is_shop() ) {      
      wc_product_dropdown_categories();   
   } 
   wc_enqueue_js( "
      $('#product_cat').change(function () {
	  	 if($(this).val() != ''){
		 location.href = '/product-category/' + $(this).val();
		 }
         else{
		 location.href = '/shop/'
		 }
      });
   " );
}

Rodolfo Melogli
March 6, 2022

Cool

Reply

pdegeus
November 10, 2020

What a great source for Woocommerce tweaks! However i can’t seem to fix the category selector on my page(?)

also the No products were found matching your selection snippet aint working for me.
Any idea what i might overlook?

regards

Reply
1. Rodolfo Melogli
  November 25, 2020
  
  Hey there, thanks so much for your comment! I’m afraid this is custom work. If you’d like to get a quote, feel free to contact me here. Thanks a lot for your understanding!
  
  Reply
Manish Chaubey
September 2, 2020

Hi rodolf, I am following your bl9g since a while and commenting first time. A lot of things about woocommerce i found here. Thank you.

Could you please mail me your ebook if have?

Reply
1. Rodolfo Melogli
  September 10, 2020
  
  Thanks Manish
  
  Reply
Lykke
August 17, 2020

Hi Rodolfo,

if I only want to display the subcategories of the specific category as a dropdown, what would I need to change?

Thanks!
Lykke

Reply
1. Rodolfo Melogli
  August 18, 2020
  
  Hey Lykke, thanks so much for your comment! Yes, this is definitely possible, but I’m afraid it’s custom work. If you’d like to get a quote, feel free to contact me here. Thanks a lot for your understanding!
  
  Reply
  1. Scott
    January 14, 2021
    
    Yes, I need this too! Lykke did you find plugin?
    
    Rodolfo you provide an amazing resource!
    
    Reply
Shayed
July 29, 2020

Hi i am trying to use this code for oceanwp theme but its not working. I am trying to display in shop page

Reply
1. Rodolfo Melogli
  August 18, 2020
  
  Does it work on 2020 or Storefront theme? If yes, you need to adapt it to OceanWP
  
  Reply
Vishven Solanki
May 29, 2020

I want to change URL after selection of Dropdown Because i am selecting Sub Category So URL cannot be Form like
Siteurl/Category/Subcategory

Reply
1. Rodolfo Melogli
  June 2, 2020
  
  Hi Vishven, thanks so much for your comment! Yes, this is definitely possible, but I’m afraid it’s custom work. If you’d like to get a quote, feel free to contact me here. Thanks a lot for your understanding!
  
  Reply
netgoondoo
May 12, 2020

Hi Rodolfo,

Thank you for this snippet!

May I know how to add a little space in front of it please?

See: https://d.pr/free/i/dEgpdx

Reply
1. Rodolfo Melogli
  May 13, 2020
  
  Sorry, no. But you can just use simple CSS margin
  
  Reply
Yiannis
April 9, 2020

Hello
Great idea. I found one problem though. It does not work in my mobile. Also Is there a shortcode to add it wherever you want ? for example this should be in the home page too (in my case) that is not the shop page
Yiannis

Reply
1. Rodolfo Melogli
  April 9, 2020
  
  Hey Yiannis, thanks for your feedback! Maybe you have JavaScript disabled on mobile? Otherwise try to clear its cache. The shortcode, yes, it’s possible, but it’s custom code I’m afraid. Thanks!
  
  Reply
  1. Yiannis
    September 26, 2020
    
    Hello
    I don’t have js disabled in my mobile and I open the page as private in iPhone which means that there is no cache !! I still cannot see the menu in the mobile
    
    Reply
    1. Rodolfo Melogli
      October 1, 2020
      
      Disable all plugins but Woo and switch theme temporarily. Does it work?
      
      Reply

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