If you need a WooCommerce product list view plugin, look no further. This is the complete guide to installing and creating a beautiful WooCommerce product table. You'll learn how to create WooCommerce custom fields and display products in an interactive WooCommerce product list, with extra features such as search and filter.
Learn how to create a simple WooCommerce product table, as well as more advanced lists with extra product data, including add to cart buttons and quick view lightboxes. The ultimate aim is to list WooCommerce products in new ways; to engage customers and increase your sales. You can list products on the main shop and category pages, or on any other page on your WordPress site.
Why the default WooCommerce layout just doesn't work for some products
Nearly all WordPress themes list WooCommerce products in the same layout - a grid with big pictures, 3 or 4 products per row, and maybe 9 products per page. Compare how the products are presented in these two pictures:
As you can see, the default layout is very limited and not suitable for all products. This includes:
- WooCommerce restaurant websites Hungry customers need a quick way to select multiple foods to build their meal. It would be strange to send them to a separate page to choose the quantities and variations of each food they require.
- Technical or non-visual products If your products don't need big images (or maybe they don't need images at all!), then why waste space? Instead, show more products per page and display extra product information to help people make quick buying decisions.
- WooCommerce wholesale stores Wholesale buyers are already familiar with your products and want a quick one-page order form layout. They don't want to waste time visiting a separate page for each product they wish to order.
- 'Build your own' products If you're selling custom gift boxes, hampers, or other 'build-your-own' products then customers need to bulk-select multiple items and add them to the cart together.
Think carefully about the type of products in your store, and whether they'll sell best with the default layout or a WooCommerce product list view.
3 ways to get a WooCommerce product list view
If you're still reading, then you've probably realised that you need a WooCommerce product list view. The next step is to find out the best way to get one. There are a few options:
Option #1 - Do it manually
Of course, you can create a new page in WordPress and list WooCommerce products manually without a plugin. This would be time-consuming and the product list view wouldn't update manually whenever you edit your products. Maybe not.
Option #2 - Create a custom template
You can hire a designer and developer and create a completely bespoke layout for listing WooCommerce products. You can then implement this as a custom template. This gives you full control, but it's going to cost hundreds of dollars - or thousands if you want extra features like, searching, filtering and the ability to select quantities and variations from directly in the product list view.
This is an option for some, but most store owners and developers need a cheaper, quicker and easier way.
Option #3 - Create a product list view with WooCommerce Product Table
Instead of listing products manually or creating custom templates, you can add a product list view in minutes with the WooCommerce Product Table plugin:
With dozens of easy-to-use options, Product Table has everything you need from a WooCommerce product list view plugin. You can:
- Display products anywhere. As well as enabling the product list view on your default store pages (e.g. the shop or category pages), you can display WooCommerce products on custom pages anywhere on your site.
- List all WooCommerce products or products from specific categories (or even specific tags, WooCommerce custom fields, custom taxonomy terms, ID's, etc.).
- List products and/or variations. You can choose whether to list variations as dropdowns for each product, or with each variation listed on its own row.
- Create simple lists with the product name only, or more advanced lists with multiple columns of product data.
- Make it easy to find products with column sorting, keyword search and product filters.
- Transform the product list into a complete WooCommerce order form, with product variations, product add-ons, add to cart buttons and more.
- Choose how many products per page are listed before pagination links appear at the bottom.
If you want to list 100's or 1,000's of products, there's a lazy load option to boost performance.
- Used with its sister plugin, WooCommerce Quick View, you can even add quick view lightboxes to your product lists!
Next, keep reading to learn exactly how to add WooCommerce product list views to your own store.
How to create a WooCommerce product list view
Follow these steps to create your first product lists in minutes! (I'm assuming that you already have a WordPress website with WooCommerce installed and some products added. Use the official WooCommerce documentation if you haven't already done this, and then you'll be ready to start creating WooCommerce product lists.)
- Get WooCommerce Product Table. Download the plugin files and copy your license key from the confirmation email.
- In the WP admin, go to Plugins → Add New and upload the plugin files before activating the plugin.
- Go to the plugin settings page: WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Product table. Enter and save your license key, and choose the default options for your product tables.
- Now it's time to start listing products! There are 2 ways to do this:
- Use the options on the settings page to automatically enable the WooCommerce product list view on the shop and/or category pages.
- Add the WooCommerce product list shortcode
[product_table]to a page. You need this if you want to display woocommerce products on custom pages, posts widgets and so on. Use the shortcode options to list specific products only and make other changes.
This will list WooCommerce products in a table with the columns and options you chose on the settings page. It will look something like this. The exact styling is inherited from your theme so that everything matches the rest of your website:
Next, I'll provide examples of other ways you can use the plugin to create a WooCommerce product list view.
Simple WooCommerce product list with product name only
While a WooCommerce list view can include images, these aren't essential. Lots of people use product table plugins to display products in an information-only format. Listing products and variations without pictures provides a much simpler way for visitors to find and view products.
Perhaps you want a very simple list of WC products, with the product name but no other information. That's fine - just because the list view plugin lets you add extra columns of information doesn't mean you have to!
The following simple product list shortcode will list products in alphabetical order. I have hidden all the extra fields such as the search box, product count and filters. (Tip: If you already selected any of these options on the product table settings page, then you don't need to include it in the shortcode as it will happen automatically.)
[product_table columns="name" sort_by="name" search_box="false" reset_button="false" page_length="false" totals="false"]
Product list with image, name, reviews, price & add to cart with variations
You're not just limited to creating a list of WooCommerce product names. If you prefer, you can display more product data in the list. Each piece of data is listed as a separate column.
To do this, you need to expand your product table shortcode to specify the columns you'd like to include in the list. For example, the following shortcode will create a product list view with columns for image, name, reviews, price and add to cart buttons. I've activated the 'variations' option so that if you have variable products, customers can choose options before adding to cart. I've also added filters, hidden the total product count and changed it to list 5 products per page:
[product_table columns="image,name,reviews,price,buy" variations="dropdown" filters="true" rows_per_page="5"]
Check out the knowledge base article on which columns you can add to the product list, and how to use them. Use the rest of the plugin documentation to change any other elements in your product list view.
Add quick view to your WooCommerce product list
By now, you'll have gathered that a WooCommerce product list view is a brilliant way to speed up the buying process. It works by keeping customers away from the single product page. They find products in the product list and add them to the cart without clicking away from the list. This encourages them to buy more and more, and there's no risk that they'll get lost!
You can improve this even further by adding quick view to your product listings. This adds optional quick view buttons to the product list view, and/or replaces the links to the single product page with quick view links.
It's a great way to show extra information that you can't realistically fit into the product list. If you have lots of variations or add-ons for your product listings, then there may be too many to fit nicely into your neat list view. Instead, customers can view the basic product information in the product list; and choose options and add to the cart from a quick view lightbox.
How to set up WooCommerce quick view
- Follow the instructions above to create your WooCommerce product list view with the WooCommerce Product Table plugin.
- Next, get its companion plugin - WooCommerce Quick View Pro. (Tip: You can either get it as a separate plugin, or if you buy the Agency license for WooCommerce Product Table then you'll receive the quick view plugin free of charge.)
- Go to Plugins → Add New and install and activate WooCommerce Quick View Pro.
- Go to the WooCommerce Product Table plugin settings page at WooCommerce → Products → Settings → Product tables and add
quick-viewto the list of columns. - Finally, go to the Quick View plugin settings page at WooCommerce → Products → Settings → Quick view and choose the layout for your quick view lightboxes and what information to include in them. There are lots of options, so read through them all.
Think carefully about which information to include in the quick view. Ideally, this should display information that you haven't included directly in the product list view. For example, if you haven't included a reviews column in the product table then you can add this to the quick view. You can also show the full image gallery in the lightbox.
Multiple column layout with a different product list in each column
If you only need a small amount of information about each product, then you can use product list views within a multi-column layout.
You can do this by creating a page with a 3-column layout and adding a different product table to each column.
If you use the WordPress Gutenberg editor or have a page builder plugin installed (e.g. Visual Composer, Divi Builder or Elementor) then you can use this to create the columns. If you don't have a page builder then you can also do this with the free Shortcodes Ultimate plugin.
Once you've added the columns, put a product table shortcode in each one. Each shortcode should list products from a different category.
Examples of websites needing a WooCommerce list view
By now, you know how to use the product table plugin to create a dynamic WooCommerce list view. To bring it to life, let's look at examples of the sorts of websites that will benefit from listing products and variations in this way.
WooCommerce wholesale area
Wholesale or trade stores list products in a very practical, factual layout.
Unlike retail customers, wholesale users are already familiar with your product list and know what they want. They don't want to spend extra time scrolling between your retail store pages, with large images and other distractions.
A WooCommerce product list view is perfect for WC wholesale stores. It lists products in a compact tabular layout with all the information that wholesale customers need. This will include practical data such as name, price and product attributes. The product list won't include marketing information such as big images, reviews or descriptions.
Read-only WooCommerce product catalogues
Not all WooCommerce websites actually sell products online. If this sounds strange, think about it for a minute. WooCommerce offers cost-effective, easy-to-use ways of adding and managing products on your website. This is useful, even if you don't offer a full e-commerce facility.
A WooCommerce product list view plugin offers an easy way to display products without letting customers order via your website. To do this, simply use the WooCommerce Product Table plugin to list products without an add to cart column. Disable the links option on the plugin settings page to prevent customers from clicking through to the single product page.
This will create a read-only product catalogue. It will list your products in a neat list view, without the ability to buy online.
WooCommerce events website with list of upcoming events
As the world's biggest e-commerce plugin, WooCommerce isn't just about selling products. With extensions such as The Events Calendar, you can transform it into a full events system. You might want to create a simple list of events, or sell tickets by creating fully bookable event 'products'.
If you're using WooCommerce to take event bookings, you can use the product list view plugin to automatically list all your event tickets in a table. Include information such as price and add to cart buttons, and take event bookings directly from the list view!
WooCommerce food order system
WooCommerce is hugely popular with restaurants and takeaways, who use it to take online food orders. The only problem is that the standard WooCommerce layouts aren't very well-suited to food delivery ordering.
By using a WooCommerce product list plugin, restaurant owners can easily create a layout that replicates a traditional paper menu.
You can add a product list for each section on the menu (e.g. starters, mains and desserts), with BUY buttons so that customers can add to cart directly from the list view. This is much more customer-friendly than using WooCommerce to take food orders without a list view plugin.
Tip: We also have a dedicated restaurant plugin for listing food products - WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering.
List view as an alternative to product variations
One of our customers - First Kitchens - uses product list views as an alternative to variations.
Lots of people dislike WooCommerce variable products because they're so fiddly to set up and manage. Especially if you have large numbers of variations.
Instead of using variations, First Kitchens have created a category of products for each type of kitchen door. They list all the available options as separate products, presented in a product list view. Customers can add as many options as they like to the cart to create a bespoke kitchen package.
Here's an example of a product list on their website.
'Build your own' WooCommerce product configurator with lists
A WooCommerce list view is also perfect for websites offering a 'build your own product' system. You might want to list lots of products as part of a vegetable box, build a box, create a luxury hamper, build a burrito or create your own sandwich order form.
By listing each category one at a time, you can take customers on a journey to build a custom product.
For example, they can choose the style of box, choose the box contents and then choose how it will be wrapped and decorated. You can provide extra product options - either by using variable products, or by using WooCommerce Product Table with the WooCommerce Product Options plugin.
Case study - A WooCommerce product list view plugin for Dunbar Sales
Jupiter Multimedia were developing a WP website for Dunbar Sales, a leading supplier of MIL-spec adhesives, paints, coatings, lubricants and corrosion preventatives. The website would be selling highly technical, non-visual products that did not require large images. As a result, the default WooCommerce grid layout was inappropriate for their client's industry.
The developer said:
"I needed a TRUE list view and nothing else I tried could produce the results I required, short of trying to rebuild the entire archive page by hand. I wasn't into the idea of doing that due to the time involved and ability to upgrade as woo changes."
They were delighted to discover WooCommerce Product Table, which offered the list view and Woo custom fields they needed. This allowed them to deliver the website on time and on budget.
Jupiter Multimedia added extra functionality to their product list view by using WooCommerce Product Table with some third party plugins. They used an Add to Quote plugin to allow customers to request a quote; and an extra product options plugin to add an extra text field to the list.
Want to set up a WooCommerce product list view in just 15 minutes?
WooCommerce Product Table is a plug-and-play solution that 1000's of store owners have already used to grow their sales. No technical knowledge is required - just follow the steps in this tutorial and you'll be up and running in minutes.
- Instant plug-and-play setup
- FREE knowledge base and tutorials
- Technical support is available if you need any help
- 30 day money back guarantee. Love it or get a full refund, zero risk.
Get the plugin here, and start getting more orders TODAY →
Amanda
Hello - I have a presale question. I have a large amount of products under one category. I want to use the simple list format. Is it possible for your table to span across three columns with the same category? So once it hits around 50 products in the first column, it would go to column 2 and continue listing products from there? Thank you for your feedback!
Jae Narra
Hi Amanda,
Our product table allows you to display your WooCommerce products in a dynamic table which you can filter, sort and search.
You can choose which columns to display and create a product table that displays only a specific category.
If you only want to display the product name in the table, you can do so. However, if you want to use a page builder to display 3 product tables in 3 columns on a page, you will need to manually Include products by ID for each of the 3 separate tables in the 3 columns.
I hope this helps. Should you have any other questions/concerns, kindly fill up a form at our Support Center so we can get back to you much sooner.
Thorvar Hafsteinsson
Is it possible to show WC hidden products?
EJ
Hi, Thorvar.
WooCommerce Product Table doesn't have its own visibility settings and it just inherits the settings from the WooCommerce plugin. I believe we already replied to this query that you also sent in via our Support Center, in which we also included a few suggestions for how you can hide products from your WooCommerce shop/store and display them in the product table.
We also added your "vote" for this feature and we will let you know if we add this in the future.
In the meantime, I hope you consider the options we mentioned.
Balint F.
Hi!
Is there an option in the plugin, to toggle list view one and off? I would like to have a button on my site for the visitors, to be able to change between grid and list view.
Another question - can I display any product attribute as a column with this plugin - for example, if I'm selling monitors, can I have a size column?
Thank you in advance for your answer.
Katie Keith
Hi! The plugin doesn't include an option to let users switch between views but you could do this as a custom development. For example you could do it by customizing the product archive template to work in this way, perhaps with two tabs (one for the standard layout and one with a product table) or a button to switch views.
Or you could have 2 separate pages for each product category - the standard product archive page and a normal WordPress page with a product table, and buttons letting the user switch between the two. For example, one of our other customers does this on their website at https://tcctc.org/courses-table.
If you don't know how to do something like this yourself, I recommend that you post a job on Codeable where their pre-approved WordPress experts will send you a quote. We have partnered with them to provide plugin customizations for our customers.
Christian
Is it possible to choose which users will have access to the list, respectively to which users the list is shown?
We just need the list for fastening our order process at exhibitions, so its just one user-account, that needs access to the list.
Is it either all or none see it?
Thanks in advance.
Katie Keith
Hi Christian, WooCommerce Product Table doesn't have any features to restrict access but you can achieve this by using it with our other plugin, WooCommerce Protected Categories. This lets you restrict any or all of your product categories to specific user accounts, so that no one else can see the products within them. You would also need to make the page that the product list view is on active.
Or if you literally only use WooCommerce for this user account then you can use our Ma href="https://barn2.com/wordpress-plugins/woocommerce-private-store/">WooCommerce Private Store plugin instead, which hides ALL your products and other WooCommerce content on a global basis.
Ahmed
Thank you so much. It is very useful!
Pradeep Ma
Hi,
I want to create Page like https://www.kabinetking.com/jsi-essex-lunar-kitchen-cabinets.html using "WooCommerce Product Table". If its possible please let me know.
Also, do the plugin have ajax functionality when click on add to cart button
Katie Keith
Hi Pradeep
Thanks for your in interest in WooCommerce Product Table.
Yes, you can use the plugin to create something very similar to the tables on https://www.kabinetking.com/jsi-essex-lunar-kitchen-cabinets.html.
Some notes:
Please note that the page https://www.kabinetking.com/jsi-essex-lunar-kitchen-cabinets.html is loading a huge amount of data all at once. You would need a very fast server to do this. The plugin has lazy load and caching options which can help, but if you get any performance issues then you could set up the product tables to show fewer on each page, with pagination buttons underneath. You can use trial and error to find the best options once you start using the plugin.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
walcee
Thanks for both the plugin and tutorial. I just bought the plugin and will be giving you a heads of how it will be looking as soon as i'm done with the setup.
Katie Keith
Thanks for buying the plugin, I'd love to see your finished site once you have finished adding your product lists!