WooCommerce: Get Currently Selected Variation ID

We’ve seen a lot of PHP so far on Business Bloomer – WooCommerce after all is a bunch of PHP files! However, sometimes PHP is just not enough, mostly when you need to work with variable products and the “currently selected variation”.

In fact, WooCommerce uses jQuery (a JavaScript Library) to handle variations on the frontend and show conditional content (variation price, description, add to cart) based on the dropdown selection. So, to detect the current variation ID we must use jQuery as well. Here’s how!

WooCommerce: Detect Selected Variation ID

PHP/jQuery Snippet: Get Currently Selected Variation ID @ WooCommerce Single Product Page

I won’t go into too much detail, but in order to “get” the variation ID I thought of a nice workaround. When you select a variation, WooCommerce assigns the variation ID to a hidden input on the frontend (293 in this example):

<input type="hidden" name="variation_id" class="variation_id" value="293">

Therefore, there is no need to “redo” the work – let’s take advantage of this existing script and simply “read” the value of the input when the input changes ๐Ÿ™‚

In my snippet, an alert (see screenshot above) will popup when a variation is found – but of course you can do much more with this, such as loading conditional content, executing PHP, running events, and so on.

/**
 * @snippet       Get Current Variation ID @ WooCommerce Single Product
 * @how-to        Get CustomizeWoo.com FREE
 * @author        Rodolfo Melogli
 * @compatible    WooCommerce 5
 * @donate $9     https://businessbloomer.com/bloomer-armada/
 */

add_action( 'woocommerce_before_add_to_cart_quantity', 'bbloomer_display_dropdown_variation_add_cart' );

function bbloomer_display_dropdown_variation_add_cart() {
	global $product;
	if ( $product->is_type( 'variable' ) ) {
		wc_enqueue_js( "
			$( 'input.variation_id' ).change( function(){
				if( '' != $(this).val() ) {
					var var_id = $(this).val();
					alert('You just selected variation #' + var_id);
				}
			});
		" );
	}
}

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.

8 thoughts on “WooCommerce: Get Currently Selected Variation ID

  1. Hi ,
    Its great article, snippet working on my single product page. But how can i get this javascript var into php variable into single product page ?

    1. Hello Bhuwan, 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!

  2. Hey there – i wonder if you have an article about how to hide certain attributes depending on the selection of another attribute on the product Page. Please let me know, searching this already since a very long time.

    1. I don’t, sorry ๐Ÿ™‚ 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!

  3. Hi,

    I would like for the single product page to display the parent SKU even when a variation has been selected, while ensuring the variation’s SKU is still distinct from the parent SKU.
    As a workaround of the above I would even accept not to display any SKU when a variation is selected.
    I do have a meta.php within my theme that is echoing product meta. The condition there is given by this line:

    <?php if ( wc_product_sku_enabled() && ( $product->get_sku() || $product->is_type( 'variable' ) ) ) : ?>
    

    I am seeking for a condition that defines when a variation is selected.

    Thank you.

    1. Hello Attila – thanks so much for your comment! Yes, this is possible – but unfortunately this is custom work and I cannot provide a complementary solution here via the blog comments. Thanks a lot for your understanding! ~R

  4. Hi Rodolfo, this snippet works perfectly, but please, what about if I need to display the Name of selected variation? (in my case adding this after the title?)

    Tah

    1. Luca – thanks so much for your comment! Yes, this is possible – but unfortunately this is custom work and I cannot provide a complementary solution here via the blog comments. If you’d like to get a quote, feel free to contact me here. Thanks a lot for your understanding! ~R

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