The plugin follows the WordPress tradition of being extensible. It’s possible to change the look and functionality of the shopping cart. Plus, there’s a massive number of available extensions.

There are pros and cons to this, though. It’s great that you can make WooCommerce your own. But customization comes with risks.

So, how far should you go? Here are some tips for customizing WooCommerce. Along the way, we’ll explore the potential downsides of doing so.

Different Ways to Create a Custom Experience

First, let’s review the different options for customizing WooCommerce. There are three separate approaches, each with their pros and cons.

Think about the future before choosing a method. Be sure that you’ll be able to maintain any customizations you make. Otherwise, things can get messy down the road.

Overwrite the Plugin’s CSS

Style tweaks can be made by overwriting the plugin’s CSS. You can identify specific CSS classes by using your browser’s developer tools. Then, it’s a matter of changing the relevant styles and placing them in your theme.

This method works well for minor changes. For example, changing the color of the “Add to Cart” button.

Want to take things further? You can also disable the default stylesheet. This method is for those who want to rewrite styles from the ground up.

WooCommerce does change its CSS occasionally. Thus, you’ll want to keep up with any changes. You may need to adjust your custom styles accordingly.

Use Hooks & Filters to Modify WooCommerce’s Behavior

WooCommerce includes plenty of hooks and filters for developers. They allow you to modify the plugin output and add custom functions.

Hooks offer several possibilities. You could use them to make small tweaks. Or you might leverage them to create a fully-functioning extension.

This method is also easier to maintain. Updates to WooCommerce don’t impact hooks as often. And you can place code in a custom plugin to keep it organized.

Override the Plugin Templates

There are occasions when overriding a WooCommerce template is unavoidable. The plugin includes templates for every part of the front-end display. And they’re logically organized. It gives you fine-grain control over the process.

But it should probably be a last resort. WooCommerce updates templates frequently. As such, you’ll need to stay on top of changes.

The plugin will warn you if a template is outdated. In this case, you’ll have to grab a fresh copy and make the necessary changes.

Making Smart Woocommerce Design Decisions

Yes, it’s possible to rip apart the look of WooCommerce. But should you? That may be a more difficult decision than you think.

It may not be to everyone’s taste. But there’s nothing inherently wrong with the way WooCommerce looks. And its popularity has benefits.

Users may be familiar with Woo’s established design patterns. That could make the shopping experience more intuitive. There’s some risk in disrupting that flow.

With that, changes to colors, typography, and branding make sense. You’ll have a shopping cart that matches your aesthetic. And you’ll continue to provide customers with a time-tested UX.

It’s possible to create a custom look that maintains Woo’s strength. And it doesn’t have to look like a default installation.

Radical changes can still be a success. But starting from scratch should be carefully considered.

Adding Custom Functionality to Your Cart

There are a myriad of ways to add custom functionality to WooCommerce. An industrious developer can build an extension. Or you can choose from the array of free and commercial products.

This capability is what makes WooCommerce so powerful. It can sell pretty much anything. Expanding its functionality can be done with a few clicks.

It’s worth keeping a few things in mind, though. First and foremost, WooCommerce extensions are WordPress plugins. And they come with the same potential risks.

If a WooCommerce extension is essential to your store, choose wisely. Look for a plugin that is well-maintained and supported. The wrong choice could cost you dearly.

Also, think about why you want a particular extension. Does it provide key functionality? Will it improve the user experience?

Move on if you can’t answer “yes” to either of these questions. No one benefits from more technical debt.

Always Look to the Future

If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: Keep the future in mind when customizing WooCommerce.

Everyone wants to have a successful online store. It starts with building a website that is stable and secure. From there, it’s about optimizing the user experience.

Therefore, any customizations should fit this mold. And not all tweaks are of equal value. Just because WooCommerce is extensible doesn’t mean you have to max out on changes.

You’ll also need a plan for any additions you make. They all require some level of maintenance. It should be a factor in your decision-making.

WooCommerce is every bit as flexible as WordPress. Make sure that you’re using it to your benefit!

The post The Pros & Cons of Customizing WooCommerce appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

No matter what kind of tweaks you’re looking to make, there is most likely a WordPress plugin available to make it a reality. Let’s explore 10 WordPress plugins you can use to personalize the Dashboard to meet your needs.

White Label CMS

A stock installation of WordPress doesn’t feel very personal. That’s why White Label CMS exists. It allows you to integrate your brand into various areas of the back end.

It starts with a custom login page, then moves on to the admin header and footer areas. But it doesn’t stop there – you can also choose which admin menus to display, and create a completely custom dashboard. As a bonus, it also works with page builders such as Beaver Builder and Elementor.

Remove Dashboard Access

Remove Dashboard Access offers a solution for those who want to keep certain user roles from accessing all or parts of the back end. This is great for membership sites, where users typically have a front-end profile (optional back-end profile access is possible).

In addition, the plugin lets you redirect users to a custom URL and display an optional message on the login screen.

Widget Disable

Widget Disable works on both the front and back ends of your WordPress website. It allows administrators to easily turn off access to specific widgets.

With regards to the dashboard, it’s a great way to remove clutter for your site’s users. Too often, plugins litter the screen with widgets that are little more than advertisements. Widget Disable helps to make for a cleaner back-end experience.

Catch IDs

There are times when you need to access the ID of a particular post, page, category, or user. Catch IDs is a simple plugin that makes this information readily available.

Once installed and activated, the ID number is displayed within the various admin content and user listings. Oh, and it also works for media attachments!

Admin Columns

Admin Columns is a commercial plugin (with a free version) that enables to you add custom columns to page /post listings and more.

There are over 160 columns to choose from. For example, you can easily add a featured image column to the post listing. Not only can you display various columns, but you can also sort and filter posts by them as well. It works with all content types and can integrate with lots of plugins, including Advanced Custom Fields and WooCommerce.

Simple History

Simple History doesn’t add some major functionality to the WordPress dashboard. But it sure is helpful. A widget is added to the dashboard home page that shows you which users recently added or updated posts when a widget has been added or removed or even uploaded an image to the Media Gallery.

It also tracks things like plugin activations, user profile updates, logins, and more. Very useful for administrators who want to stay on top of whom is doing what.

Admin Menu Editor Pro

While somewhat similar to Adminimize, Admin Menu Editor Pro does have some unique features worth checking out. For instance, not only can you hide dashboard menu items in general or by user role, you can create your own items as well.

Those custom menu items can point to any internal or external URL. The plugin also lets you move individual items to different submenus, change titles and even icons. A free version is also available.

Custom Dashboard Widgets

The WordPress dashboard can get a little cluttered. Custom Dashboard Widgets helps alleviate some of that clutter by allowing you to replace all the standard home page widgets with simpler versions.

Consisting of a label and a FontAwesome icon, each widget can be displayed or hidden based on a user’s role. You can also add your own custom links as well.

Ultimate Dashboard Pro

Ultimate Dashboard Pro lets you take control of the WordPress dashboard homepage. You can easily disable any and all default widgets, as well as those from third parties.

Create your own simplified widgets with either text-only or icon-based options. The plugin is compatible with WordPress Multisite. A free version is also available.

Nested Pages

A seemingly ignored part of WordPress is the cumbersome approach to managing large amounts of pages or posts. Nested Pages is a plugin that aims to fix this by turning listings into interactive tree-style menus.

It also allows you to add pages in bulk, right from within the page listing. The slick drag-and-drop interface helps to make repositioning content less stressful. A native WordPress menu is also created and updated to match your nested structure.

Make it Your Dashboard

The main idea behind tweaking the WordPress administration area is to improve your workflow. By adding helpful information and streamlining what gets displayed (and to whom it’s displayed), we’re making site management that much easier.

The plugins above feature creative and practical ideas for lessening the learning curve for new users and saving administrators loads of time.

If these plugins don’t help, you could try these 20 Snippets & Hacks to Help Make WordPress Easier for Your Clients.

The post 10 Free Plugins for Customizing the WordPress Dashboard appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

A very nice aspect of WooCommerce is that you can get all kinds of new functionality through its many available extensions. While most of the official extensions will cost you some money, various free plugins are available to add more features to your store. Here is a collection of free WooCommerce plugins that we think you’ll enjoy.

If you’re new to WooCommerce, we have previously published a guide that will help get you up and running quickly. And if you’re looking for WooCommerce compatible WordPress themes, we have published a collection of those here.

Mailchimp for WooCommerce

Email marketing is such a big part of eCommerce these days, and MailChimp for WooCommerce can help. It populates your Mailchimp audience with purchase data, allows new users to opt into your list, and even sends abandoned cart reminders.

Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce

Drive sales via other essential channels with Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce. The plugin will create product feeds for use with Google Shopping, Facebook, and more. There are no product or feed limits, and you can tweak which attributes are included.

WooCommerce Blocks

WooCommerce Blocks has brought the eCommerce plugin into the Gutenberg era. This makes it super easy to display specific products or categories anywhere on your site with the block editor.

FiboSearch – Ajax Search for WooCommerce

The ability for customers to quickly find what they’re looking for is crucial. FiboSearch adds helpful “live” search capabilities powered by Ajax. Search by product title, description, or SKU. Product images and pricing are included in the results.

Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce

If you have specialized information that applies to one or more products, Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce is worth a look. It offers the ability to create new custom content tabs that can be applied on a per-product or multi-product basis.

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce

Positive reviews make a big difference. With Customer Reviews for WooCommerce, enhancing the built-in product review functionality is simple. The plugin will add images, voting, ratings, and send review reminder emails. It also integrates with Google Shopping and enables a question-and-answer section.

Table Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce

Shipping is always one of the most challenging facets of eCommerce. Table Rate Shipping lets you create a simple shipping formula based on cart total or weight. There’s plenty of flexibility here – putting you in control of shipping costs.

Sequential Order Number for WooCommerce

Getting the WooCommerce order numbering system to play nicely with your internal data can be a pain. Sequential Order Number for WooCommerce lets you customize things with sequential numbering, a custom prefix/suffix, custom lengths, and more. Admin order search functionality makes it a breeze to find a specific order within the back end.

WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery

When a customer abandons their cart, it doesn’t have to be the end of the road. WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery helps by sending an automated, timed sequence of reminders. It can even generate custom coupon codes that provide an incentive for coming back to your shop.

YITH Essential Kit for WooCommerce #1

YITH Essential Kit for WooCommerce #1 is a collection of plugins that add valuable features to your WooCommerce install. There are plugins for AJAX Search/Product Filtering, Comparing Products, Image Zooming, Quick Views of Products, Infinite Scrolling, Wish/Wait Lists, Advanced Reviews, Multi-Vendor Carts, Tab Manager and a whole lot more.

Fast Simon

Fast Simon for WooCommerce Search provides cloud-based auto-complete search functionality to your WooCommerce Store. The free version is suitable for stores with up to 200 sessions.

Smart Manager for WooCommerce

Stores with a lot of products can be a pain to edit. Smart Manager for WooCommerce lets you edit products, variations, customers, coupons, and orders in a fast, easy-to-read table interface.

WooCommerce Checkout Manager

With WooCommerce Checkout Manager, you can add, remove, reorder, and require fields during the checkout process.

WooCommerce Coupon Shortcodes

Encourage your customers to make purchases using coupons with WooCommerce Coupon Shortcodes. The plugin includes shortcodes for conditionally displaying available coupons and other useful coupon-related information.

EU/UK VAT Compliance Assistant for WooCommerce

EU/UK VAT Compliance Assistant for WooCommerce is a set of tools that takes the pain out of complying with the EU’s VAT law.

WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips

Enhance your site’s customer service with WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips. You have the ability to attach PDF invoices to WooCommerce emails, customers can download their invoice via their account page, and the templates are customizable.

Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce

Some products (like gifts or flowers) may require the customer to pick a desired delivery date. Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce adds a date-picker field to the WooCommerce checkout to allow customers to choose a delivery date.

AfterShip – WooCommerce Tracking

Customers love to receive their order tracking info, and AfterShip – WooCommerce Tracking provides an easy way to add this information.

WooCommerce Digital Signature

If your customers need to provide a signature before purchasing or downloading your product, WooCommerce Digital Signature can add that capability to your site.

WooCommerce Multilingual

WooCommerce Multilingual works in conjunction with WPML to translate your store’s pages to a host of different languages.

The ability to extend WooCommerce means that you can build an online store with just about any functionality you need. Plus, the fact that there are so many great free extensions available means that you can add top-notch features without having to invest a lot of money.

Hopefully, you’ve found at least a few extensions here that will both improve your store’s functionality and boost sales.

The post Top 20 Free WooCommerce Plugins for WordPress appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Whatever site you have, there’s probably a plugin that can make it easier to add and edit content in a more advanced way. This means you can create content that’s just right for your needs without much extra work.

To give you a hand, here are ten free WordPress plugins that can help you make better and more complex content. These plugins can be a game changer for your site, making creating the kind of content you want easier.

The post 10 Free Plugins to Help Improve WordPress Content Creation appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

You’ll often need to rely on WordPress plugins to add functionality, customize appearance, and optimize performance. In case you just started with WordPress, plugins are independent pieces of code that can be added to a WordPress website to satisfy a user’s specific customization needs.

There are currently over 60,000 useful WordPress plugins. More are added to the list daily by WordPress developers worldwide.

Having the right set of essential WordPress plugins and tools at your fingertips can help you start your online business or build the websites that your clients need. This collection has eight essential WordPress plugins, all leading products in their particular areas.

Brizy – “No-Code” Website Builder for Agencies & Web Pros

Here’s something you should be aware of. Once you go Brizy, nothing else will ever feel easy. Whether the design team intended that to happen or not, once you start using Brizy, no other website theme builder will feel as comfortable to work with.

Brizy is easy to use, it’s powerful and fast, and it’s free. A Pro version is also available.

• You can start with a blank page and let your imagination guide you. With Brizy’s drag and drop page builder, you can create any page in minutes.
• Or you can import from Brizy’s selections of pages, blocks, and popup designs, or choose from the 150+ high-converting pre-made templates.
• There are also 36+ powerful elements ranging from post elements and content, archives, and breadcrumbs to sidebars, shortcodes, and pagination.
• Customize any part of your WordPress site with Brizy’s global colors and fonts.

You can also build a blog exactly how you want to. It’s easy to do, and no code is required. Click on the banner to get started with Brizy for free today.

wpDataTables – Tables & Charts WordPress Table Plugin

wpDataTables is a power-packed WordPress tables plugin designed to simplify data management and visualization. It enables you to create interactive and responsive tables, charts, and graphs from multiple data sources effortlessly.

Whether you’re a data analyst, business owner, or web developer, wpDataTables empowers you to make data-driven decisions with ease with features that –

• allows you to create interactive and responsive Data Tables and Charts.
• Make your task simpler with its Advanced Data Filtering techniques.
• Provide frontend Table Editing and Sorting for ease in table and chart building and maintenance.
• accept data from Multiple Data Sources and in multiple formats.
• Highlight key data using Conditional Formatting.
• Streamline and speed up both interface and the process using AJAX loading pagination.

You can learn much more about wpDataTables by clicking on the banner.

Amelia – Appointment & Event WordPress Booking Plugin

With Amelia, you can automate your bookings, manage schedules, streamline customer interactions, track payments, and monitor KPIs, all from a single platform.

Amelia is easy to set up and use and can give you an immediate return on your investment in addition to replacing error-prone processes and making appointment bookings easy and stress-free for clients, management, and employees.

• Amelia can schedule and manage individual and group bookings, recurring appointments, and packages of services. Clients can book appointments online 24/7.
• Amelia manages ticket sales and events bookings and maintains calendar views of all bookings.
• Real-time notifications and appointment reminders are automatically sent to clients.
• Displays and other key content can be customized to suit your brand and the needs of your clients.

Click on the banner above to learn more about what Amelia could do for your business.

LayerSlider – Best WordPress Slider Builder Plugin

Choosing LayerSlider to add sliders to a website is a wise choice. It is also the best choice for creating image galleries, popups, landing pages, animated page blocks, and parallax and scrolling scenes.

LayerSlider is the only WordPress plugin you’ll ever need for your creative work for several reasons:

• You can make anything from simple sliders and slideshows to popups and animated rich web content.
• You can create jaw-dropping animations to stand out from the crowd and amaze your audience with unique effects.
• You can easily create shiny new websites or spice up existing ones by giving them a modern look and feel that will impress clients and visitors alike.
• LayerSlider is easy to use and offers a cost-effective solution to the problem of making an expensive-looking website for a fraction of the supposed price.

LayerSlider is an excellent choice for anyone.

Slider Revolution – WordPress Slider Plugin

If you want to inject a healthy dose of spice and flair into a website, consider adding Slider Revolution to your web design toolbox.

Slider Revolution is more than a WordPress slider plugin. Slider Revolution is a visual creation tool for WordPress, and…

• It comes with 250+ pre-built templates that can make a site look like it took months and many dollars to design.
• Offers cutting-edge website animation effects that are accessible to beginners who don’t need to know how to code.

Over 9 million users trust Slider Revolution.

XML Sitemap Generator for Google – WordPress Plugin

The XML Sitemap Generator for Google plugin allows you to improve SEO rankings by creating sitemaps for pages, news, video, HTML, and RSS feeds. XML Sitemap Generator also supports custom post types and taxonomies and ensures your content is being indexed by search engines.

• XML Sitemap Generator supports all types of WordPress-generated pages as well as custom URLs.
• You can include images and videos in your sitemap using the Google XML Sitemap Generator plugin.
• The Google XML Sitemap Generator plugin is compatible with WooCommerce.

XML Sitemap Generator for Google is open-source software and is free to use.

WP Maps Pro – Advanced WordPress Plugin for Google Maps

Are you planning on adding Google Maps to your WordPress site? It’s not that difficult. WP Maps Pro lets you spice up your website with stunning Google maps.

The plugin effortlessly displays posts, pages, and custom post types on Google Maps, including locations, extra fields, and taxonomies in customizable info windows. With WP Maps Pro, you can…

• Choose from various map types such as roadmaps, satellite views, terrain, and hybrid options.
• Include custom markers with icons, labels, and info windows, highlight significant locations, and provide essential details for your visitors.
• Tailor your maps to match your website’s aesthetics using customizable markers, colors, and styles.

Essential Grid – WordPress Grid Plugin

400,000 happy customers will tell you that Essential Grid is, by any measure, the best WordPress grid plugin on the market for injecting new life into your websites.

With Essential Grid, you can create stunning grid layout options that range from boxed layouts to full-width or full-screen layouts with even, masonry and cobble grid items.

• You have 50+ customizable grid templates to select and build your gallery from.
• Fast, responsive, and fully customizable grid designs are also at your fingertips.
• You can feed your galleries with social media content like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

WordPress is a highly flexible CMS for website creation. One of the main reasons for this flexibility is the wide variety of plugins available for adding features and functionality to your site, some of which we covered in this collection.

Our list of essential WordPress plugins in 2023 included must-have plugins and great options for specific types of WordPress sites that can help you develop a state-of-the-art website either for you or for your clients.

The wide range of functionality that the above plugins offer will be able to meet a variety of website projects.

The post 8 Essential Free & Premium WordPress Plugins for 2023 appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Remember, these suggestions are not a replacement for real legal advice. If you have specific questions, it’s best to ask a professional who knows the law.

To help set you on the right legal track, we have a collection of WordPress plugins that can help with many of the different legal aspects of running a website. We’ve organized them by category to make it easier for you to find what you need. These plugins can be a big help in making sure your website is on the right side of the law.

The post 10 Free WordPress Plugins to Help with Legal Compliance appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

It can all add up to something of a nightmare in diagnosing and fixing what would seem to be a simple problem.

That’s where we’ve come in to help. There are tools out there to help simplify the process of satisfying your need for (WordPress) speed. Below, we’ve compiled a collection of plugins that don’t require a rocket science degree.

They will, however, help you build a blazing-fast site. Plus, we’ll offer tips for getting the most performance out of your WordPress website.

The post 6 Best WordPress Plugins to Optimize & Speed Up Your Website appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Now, there are even more options for using and setting up widgets on your site.

Here’s a collection of ten free widget plugins for WordPress. These plugins increase the flexibility and functionality of widgets and sidebars.

We’ve also included some specific widgets that will be really useful for your users. These plugins can make your website more user-friendly and enhance the overall experience for your visitors.

The post 10 Free Plugins for Adding Functionality to WordPress Widgets appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

For WordPress-powered websites, incorporating these functionalities is a seamless process. Thanks to an array of plugins, achieving comprehensive social media integration is both straightforward and efficient. These plugins extend beyond the ordinary share buttons, providing a holistic solution.

In this article, we explore a collection of exceptional free WordPress plugins that encompass the spectrum of social media integration. From advanced sharing automation to fostering a sense of community through social login and comments, these plugins enrich the user experience while effortlessly aligning with your website’s goals.

Dive into the world of streamlined social integration, where your WordPress site becomes a dynamic hub of digital interaction.

The post 8 Powerful Plugins for Integrating Social Media into WordPress appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Issues like spam and the possibility of misuse can be a headache for bloggers. These problems might even make you think about shutting down the comment section. While that’s a reasonable thought, it’s not the only option.

Thankfully, there’s a variety of excellent plugins out there designed to make managing comments easier and more efficient. These tools tackle problems like spam and help keep conversations on your site healthy and productive.

If you’re dealing with comment-related troubles on your WordPress site, consider these ten plugins. They can transform a difficult situation into a more manageable one, making your site a better place for discussions and interaction.

The post 10 Free Plugins to Supercharge WordPress Comments appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.