Displaying Products in a Specific Order

Oct 13, 2025 by thesweetdesigns.com 13 views

Are you looking for a way to display WooCommerce products in a specific order using the [products] shortcode? While the default behavior of the shortcode is to display products in a random or default order, there are ways to customize the order to suit your needs. In this article, we will explore how to display products in the order of their IDs specified in the shortcode parameter.

Understanding the `[products]` Shortcode

The [products] shortcode is a powerful tool in WooCommerce that allows you to display a list of products on your website. It can be used to display products in various ways, such as by category, tag, or even by a specific set of IDs. The shortcode has several parameters that can be used to customize its behavior, including ids, per_page, columns, and more.

Displaying Products in a Specific Order

To display products in a specific order using the [products] shortcode, you can use the ids parameter to specify the IDs of the products you want to display. However, by default, the shortcode will display products in the order they are returned from the database, which may not be the order you specified.

To get around this limitation, you can use a custom function to sort the products by ID before displaying them. Here is an example of how you can do this:

Step 1: Create a Custom Function

First, you need to create a custom function that will sort the products by ID. You can add this function to your theme's functions.php file or a custom plugin.

function custom_products_shortcode($atts) {
    // Get the products IDs from the shortcode parameter
    $ids = explode(',', $atts['ids']);
// Get the products from the database
$products = wc_get_products(array(
    &#39;include&#39; =&gt; $ids,
    &#39;status&#39; =&gt; &#39;publish&#39;,
));

// Sort the products by ID
usort($products, function($a, $b) {
    return $a-&gt;get_id() - $b-&gt;get_id();
});

// Display the products
$output = &#39;&#39;;
foreach ($products as $product) {
    $output .= &#39;&lt;div&gt;&#39; . $product-&gt;get_name() . &#39;&lt;/div&gt;&#39;;
}

return $output;

}

Step 2: Add the Custom Function to the `[products]` Shortcode

Next, you need to add the custom function to the [products] shortcode. You can do this by adding the following code to your theme's functions.php file or a custom plugin:

function custom_products_shortcode_handler($atts) {
    return custom_products_shortcode($atts);
}
add_shortcode('products', 'custom_products_shortcode_handler');

Step 3: Use the Custom Shortcode

Finally, you can use the custom shortcode to display products in the order of their IDs. Here is an example of how you can use it:

[products ids="53,68,1"]

This will display the products with IDs 53, 68, and 1 in that order.

Displaying Products with a Specific Order and Layout

In addition to displaying products in a specific order, you can also customize the layout of the products using the [products] shortcode. For example, you can use the columns parameter to display products in multiple columns.

Here is an example of how you can display products in 3 columns with a specific order:

[products ids="53,68,1" columns="3"]

This will display the products with IDs 53, 68, and 1 in 3 columns, with the product with ID 53 on the first column, the product with ID 68 on the second column, and the product with ID 1 on the third column.

Conclusion

In this article, we explored how to display WooCommerce products in a specific order using the [products] shortcode. We created a custom function to sort the products by ID and added it to the [products] shortcode. We also showed how to use the custom shortcode to display products in a specific order and layout. With this knowledge, you can customize the display of your WooCommerce products to suit your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I display products in a specific order using the `[products]` shortcode?

A: To display products in a specific order using the [products] shortcode, you can use the ids parameter to specify the IDs of the products you want to display. However, by default, the shortcode will display products in the order they are returned from the database, which may not be the order you specified. To get around this limitation, you can use a custom function to sort the products by ID before displaying them.

Q: How do I add a custom function to the `[products]` shortcode?

A: To add a custom function to the [products] shortcode, you can use the add_shortcode function to add the custom function as a handler for the [products] shortcode.

Q: How do I use the custom shortcode to display products in a specific order?

A: To use the custom shortcode to display products in a specific order, you can use the [products] shortcode with the ids parameter to specify the IDs of the products you want to display. For example:

[products ids="53,68,1"]

In our previous article, we explored how to display WooCommerce products in a specific order using the [products] shortcode. We created a custom function to sort the products by ID and added it to the [products] shortcode. We also showed how to use the custom shortcode to display products in a specific order and layout. In this article, we will answer some frequently asked questions about using the [products] shortcode.

Q&A

Q: How do I display products in a specific order using the `[products]` shortcode?

Q: How do I add a custom function to the `[products]` shortcode?

A: To add a custom function to the [products] shortcode, you can use the add_shortcode function to add the custom function as a handler for the [products] shortcode.

Q: How do I use the custom shortcode to display products in a specific order?

[products ids="53,68,1"]

This will display the products with IDs 53, 68, and 1 in that order.

Q: Can I display products in a specific order and layout using the `[products]` shortcode?

A: Yes, you can display products in a specific order and layout using the [products] shortcode. You can use the columns parameter to display products in multiple columns. For example:

[products ids="53,68,1" columns="3"]

Q: How do I display products in a specific category using the `[products]` shortcode?

A: To display products in a specific category using the [products] shortcode, you can use the category parameter to specify the category ID. For example:

[products category="12"]

This will display products in the category with ID 12.

Q: Can I display products in a specific order and category using the `[products]` shortcode?

A: Yes, you can display products in a specific order and category using the [products] shortcode. You can use the ids parameter to specify the IDs of the products you want to display and the category parameter to specify the category ID. For example:

[products ids="53,68,1" category="12"]

This will display the products with IDs 53, 68, and 1 in the category with ID 12.

Q: How do I display products in a specific order and layout using the `[products]` shortcode and WooCommerce 3.x?

A: To display products in a specific order and layout using the [products] shortcode and WooCommerce 3.x, you can use the ids parameter to specify the IDs of the products you want to display and the columns parameter to specify the number of columns. For example:

[products ids="53,68,1" columns="3"]

Q: Can I display products in a specific order and layout using the `[products]` shortcode and WooCommerce 4.x?

A: Yes, you can display products in a specific order and layout using the [products] shortcode and WooCommerce 4.x. You can use the ids parameter to specify the IDs of the products you want to display and the columns parameter to specify the number of columns. For example:

[products ids="53,68,1" columns="3"]

Conclusion

In this article, we answered some frequently asked questions about using the [products] shortcode to display WooCommerce products in a specific order and layout. We hope this article has been helpful in answering your questions and providing you with the information you need to use the [products] shortcode effectively.

Additional Resources

WooCommerce documentation: https://docs.woocommerce.com/
WooCommerce shortcode documentation: https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/shortcodes/
WooCommerce product shortcode examples: https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/product-shortcode-examples/