Hide empty categories

Hi, @craigmckee!

I checked the Essentials category on your site, and I do see what you mean. I found a mini-plugin that could help though: Hide categories with no visible products in the Product Category Widget

Can you see if that works for you?

Thank you @dcka, I tried to download it but it’s coming up with “Forbidden” so I’ve emailed to see if I can get a copy.

Thank you.

You’re very welcome!

And as an aside, you can also try downloading the ZIP file from the code’s GitHub page here:
https://gist.github.com/cklosowski/df41c06eb21f0405a618606f2b0daacc#file-woocommerce-hide-empty-categores-php

@dcka Thank you. I was able to upload the plugin but it’s not working. Perhaps because I’m displaying everything through this shortcode rather than a widget?

[product_categories columns=”3″]

I was able to upload the plugin but it’s not working. Perhaps because I’m displaying everything through this shortcode rather than a widget?

[product_categories columns=”3″]

@craigmckee, that would make sense!

I ran some extra tests for you on my site, and I used the same [product_categories] shortcode. I then set up a category, category1, to contain one product that is out of stock.

As you’ll see in this screenshot, category1 shows up in my sidebar, but it is hidden where in the display created by the [product_categories] shortcode:

Link to image: https://d.pr/i/iuT7l8

For reference, my site is using the latest versions of both WordPress (5.7.1) and WooCommerce (5.3). So, I’m wondering if that might be the difference between your site and mine.

Can you please check what version of WooCommerce your site is using? You can check that under WooCommerce > Status > System Status or WP Admin > Plugins.

I’m using WooCommerce 5.3.0, WooCommerce – Exclude empty categories from widget 0.1 and WordPress 5.7.2

But still showing that Essentials category even though when you click it, it’s empty.

Hmmm… that is very strange!

Let’s see if it’s being caused by a conflict, either with your site’s theme or a plugin. If you’re up for that, can you please install this plugin: Health Check?

That plugin has a troubleshooting mode where only you as the admin will see any changes made to the site. The general steps for the conflict test would be:

1. Enable troubleshooting mode on the Health Check plugin. This will deactivate all plugins and switch the site’s theme to a default one like Storefront
2. Activate WooCommerce
3. Check if the Essentials category still shows up

If the problem is gone, then activate plugins one at a time. In between each activation, repeat step 3. If you’re interested, we have a more in-depth guide on using that plugin here:
https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/troubleshooting-using-health-check/

OK, I’ll give it a try.

Hi @craigmckee ????

OK, I’ll give it a try.

Sounds good, keep us posted if you find anything. We’ll be glad to help!

Cheers

Hey @craigmckee,

We haven’t heard back from you in a while, so I’m going to mark this as resolved. If you have any further questions, you can start a new thread.

Best!