Hide Categories for Woo

A powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to hide WooCommerce product categories from your store's frontend with advanced control over products and subcategories.

Features

Core Functionality

• ✅ Hide Categories - Simple checkbox to hide any product category
• ✅ Bulk Actions - Hide/unhide multiple categories at once from the category list
• ✅ Smart Product Handling - Products exclusively in hidden categories are hidden; products in both hidden and visible categories remain visible
• ✅ Cascade to Children - Automatically hide child categories when parent is hidden (configurable)
• ✅ Block Direct Access - Hidden category URLs return 404 errors
• ✅ Admin Preview - Administrators see hidden content with visual indicators on frontend

Where Categories Are Hidden

• Shop pages and product archives
• Navigation menus
• Category widgets
• Search results
• Direct URL access (404)

Admin Features

• Quick toggle column in category list with visual status indicators
• Bulk hide/unhide actions
• Hidden category overview dashboard
• Settings page under WooCommerce menu
• Admin can preview hidden content on frontend

Installation

1. Upload the plugin files to /wp-content/plugins/WooHide Categories/
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' screen in WordPress
3. Navigate to WooCommerce > Hidden Categories to view settings

Usage

Hide a Single Category

1. Go to Products > Categories
2. Click on a category to edit it
3. Check the "Hide this category from frontend" checkbox
4. Click Update

Bulk Hide Categories

1. Go to Products > Categories
2. Select multiple categories using checkboxes
3. Choose "Hide Categories" from the bulk actions dropdown
4. Click Apply

Quick Toggle

1. Go to Products > Categories
2. Click the visibility icon in the "Hidden" column to instantly toggle visibility

Settings

Navigate to WooCommerce > Hidden Categories to:

• View hidden categories overview
• Enable/disable cascading to child categories
• Quick access to manage categories

How It Works

Product Visibility Logic

When a category is hidden:

• Exclusively hidden products - Products that belong ONLY to hidden categories will be hidden
• Shared products - Products assigned to both hidden AND visible categories will remain visible
• Example: If "Clearance" category is hidden and "Product A" belongs to both "Clearance" and "Featured", the product stays visible because it's also in "Featured"

Parent/Child Categories

When cascade is enabled (default):

• Hiding a parent category automatically hides all child categories
• Children inherit the hidden status from their parent
• Can be disabled in settings

Admin Preview

When logged in as administrator/shop manager:

• Hidden categories are visible on frontend with warning badges
• Visual indicators show which content is hidden from customers
• Preview notices appear on category archives

Requirements

• WordPress 6.0 or higher
• WooCommerce 8.0 or higher
• PHP 7.4 or higher

Technical Details

Hooks & Filters

The plugin uses these WordPress/WooCommerce hooks:

• get_terms and get_terms_args - Filter category queries
• pre_get_posts - Filter product queries
• template_redirect - Handle direct URL access
• woocommerce_product_subcategories_args - Filter shop page categories
• woocommerce_product_categories_widget_args - Filter widget categories

Database

Category hidden status is stored as term meta:

• Meta key: _woohide_hidden
• Meta value: yes (when hidden) or empty (when visible)

Performance

• Results are cached for optimal performance
• Cache is automatically cleared when categories are updated
• Efficient SQL queries for product filtering

Changelog

Version 1.0.0

• Initial release
• Hide categories from frontend
• Smart product visibility handling
• Bulk actions support
• Admin preview mode
• Settings page
• Quick toggle in category list

Support

For issues, feature requests, or questions, please contact support or open an issue on the repository.

Ways to Support

If you find this plugin helpful, consider supporting its development:

💳 PayPal:
paypal.me/TheodoreSfakianakis

💰 Revolut:
revolut.me/theodocmx

License

GPL v2 or later