Would you like your customers to be able to search for your WooCommerce products using a SKU code?
Because SKU codes uniquely identify your products, searching for them will help users quickly find exactly what they are looking for. The challenge is that SKU search is not enabled in WooCommerce by default.
In this article, we’ll show you how to enable search by product SKU in WooCommerce.
Why Enable Search by Product SKU in WooCommerce?
To run a successful WooCommerce store, it’s important for your customers to easily find the products they wish to purchase. To make this simple, most eCommerce platforms use SKUs, or Stock Keeping Units, to uniquely identify each product.
If a customer knows the SKU for the product they wish to purchase, why not let them search for the SKU to instantly find the correct product in your store?
The problem is that WooCommerce SKUs are stored in custom fields, and these are not indexed or included in search results by default. As a result, searching for the SKU won’t help.
Let’s take a look at how to solve this problem by enabling users to search by SKU in WooCommerce using a product search plugin.
How to Enable Search by Product SKU in WooCommerce
The first thing you need to do is install and activate the SearchWP plugin. You’ll need at least the Pro plan to access WooCommerce integration. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
SearchWP is the best custom search plugin for WordPress and is used by over 30,000 websites. It lets you customize the search algorithm, add live Ajax search for real-time results, and more.
Upon activation, you need to visit the SearchWP » Settings page and switch to the ‘Support’ tab to enter your license key. You can find it in your downloads area for your account on the SearchWP site.
Next, you need to install and activate the WooCommerce Integration extension for SearchWP.
You’ll find this in the downloads area for your account on the SearchWP website, too. You should install it as you would install any other WordPress plugin.
Now you are ready to customize the SearchWP search engine to index your product SKUs.
Simply go to the SearchWP » Settings page and make sure you’re on the ‘Engines’ tab. Once there, you need to click the ‘Sources & Settings’ button.
This will bring up a popup where you should make sure the checkbox next to ‘Products’ is checked. This will allow SearchWP to index your WooCommerce products.
Also, if you’d also like to include WooCommerce product reviews in your search results, then make sure you check the ‘Comments’ box, too. That’s because product reviews are actually stored as comments in WooCommerce.
Once you’ve done that, click on the ‘Done’ button to close the popup and get ready to add the SKU search.
Now you need to scroll down to the ‘Products’ section. Notice that by default, the plugin will only look at the product title, content (description), slug, and excerpt (short description).
You can extend SearchWP’s reach to include SKUs by clicking on the ‘Add/Remove Attributes’ button. This will bring up a popup where you can include specific custom fields and taxonomies in searches.
You’ll need to type ’SKU’ into the Custom Fields field and choose the _sku option from the dropdown menu. This will add SKUs to WooCommerce search results pages.
You can now click the ‘Done’ button.
Notice that there is now a new section labeled ‘Custom Fields’ with the _sku field underneath.
To begin with, the relevance slider will be set all the way to the left, which means that SKU search results will be given the lowest priority in search results.
Since SKUs are an important way to find your products, you should move the _sku slider all the way to the right, as you can see above.
When you’re done, go ahead and click on the ‘Save Engines’ button at the top of the screen to save your settings.
SearchWP will then start rebuilding your search index in the background. It may take a few minutes to complete, but after that, you will be able to search your WooCommerce store by product SKU.
SearchWP will automatically use any search forms on your online store, so there is no need to take any additional steps if you have them on your site already.
Are you looking to display recently registered users in WordPress?
Sometimes you may want to display your recently registered users on your site to create a sense of community and encourage others to become a member, join your forum, or simply create an account.
In this article, we’ll show you how to display recently registered users on your WordPress site.
Why Display Recently Registered Users in WordPress?
If you run a membership site, online course, forum, or any other type of WordPress website that allows for user registration, then you may want to display your recently registered users.
This adds social proof an also give other members a chance to welcome new members to the community. If you run a small business website, then you can even create a filterable directory of your team members or contributors.
There are all kinds of reasons to display your recently registered users in WordPress:
Highlight a list of recently registered business owners
Encourage new forum sign ups by showing a large and active community
With that said, let’s show you how you can display recently registered users in WordPress. Simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.
It comes with advanced features that let you format, filter, and display user-submitted data on the front end of your website, including user profile data.
You can use it to create all kinds of useful online tools like web directories, online calculators, user directories, and more. Plus, you have complete control over how your user directories look and function.
It even integrates with MemberPress, so you can easily display a list of your recently registered members on your membership website.
Note: Formidable Forms won’t automatically display all new users. Instead, it gives you complete control over which users and what information is displayed. To display a user in your directory, a separate form will need to be created and filled out. We’ll show you how.
Upon activation, you need to go to Formidable » Global Settings and then click the ‘Connect an Account’ button or manually enter your license key and click the ‘Save License’ button.
You can find this information under your account on the Formidable Forms website.
Next, you need to install the Formidable Directory addon. Depending on your plan, this addon may already be active.
If not, then you need to go to the Formidable Directory page and click the ‘Get Formidable Directory’ button. After you complete the purchase, it will automatically be added to your account.
Next, go to Formidable Forms » Add-Ons and search for the ‘Directory’ addon.
Then, click the ‘Install’ button.
After that, navigate to Formidable » Global Settings.
Then, click the ‘Directory’ menu option.
This will automatically start the setup wizard to help you create your user directory. If you haven’t connected your site to Formidable Forms, then you’ll be asked to do that now.
Then, click the ‘Install & Activate’ button to install and activate any required addons.
Next, click the ‘User/Member’ box to display your recently registered users and choose a ‘Two Column’ or ‘Table List’ display.
Then, enter a page name for your listing form and your directory page and click the ‘Create Now’ button.
This will automatically create the necessary forms, views, and pages to display your users, but it doesn’t publish them yet, so you can still make changes.
After that, click the ‘View Page’ button in the ‘Customize Your New Pages’ section.
This will automatically take you to a page with your registered user list.
It includes a search bar, A-Z filter, and boxes containing each of your registered users.
After that, you need to make your page live.
To do this, simply click the ‘Edit Page’ button at the top of the screen.
This brings you the page editor screen. You can edit this page just as you would any other WordPress page.
When you’ve finished editing the page, you need to click the ‘Publish’ button to make it live.
If you want to customize how your registered user directory looks, then go to Formidable » Views.
Then hover over the view that was just created and click ‘Edit’.
This brings you to the view editor screen.
Here, you can fully customize how your user directory looks. For example, you could limit the number of users per page, filter and sort the user entries, or add more content to their individual profiles.
Once you’re finished making changes, click the ‘Update’ button.
It will automatically update the user directory you published earlier.
Publish Your Form to Collect Information From New Users
After you customize and publish your user directory, you’ll need to publish the form connected to the directory too.
Users who have already registered on your WordPress site will need to fill out this separate form to be listed in the user directory.
First, you need to go to Pages » All Pages and then click on the page that was created earlier, in this case, it’s ‘Add a Listing’.
This brings you to the page editor screen, where you’ll see the page title and a shortcode.
Next, click the ‘Publish’ button to make your page live.
After that, you can view your page with the user registration form.
New users can use this form to fill out their user directory profile information on your website.
If you want to customize the form fields, then navigate to Formidable » Forms.
Next, click on the form you named earlier, in this case, it’s ‘User Directory Profile’.
This will bring up the form builder.
If you want to add new form fields, then simply drag them from the options panel on the left onto your form.
To delete existing form fields, click on the field and click the ‘Three Dots’ menu option.
Then, click ’Delete’.
Once you’re finished customizing your form, make sure to click the ‘Update’ button to save your changes, and your form will automatically update.
Method 2. Display Recently Registered Users with Dynamic User Directory
Another way to display recently registered users is with the free Dynamic User Directory plugin.
It’s not as advanced or customizable as Formidable Forms, but it lets you display a simple list of your recently registered users.
First thing you need to do is install and activate the plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
After that, you need to go Settings » Dynamic User Directory to configure your directory settings.
First, you can control how your registered user list is sorted in the ‘Sort Field’ drop down and choose which kind of directory type you want to display in the ‘Directory Type’ drop down.
After that, you can enable a directory search feature by checking the ‘Directory Search’ box.
If you want to exclude certain user roles, or specific users, then you can select them from the drop down list.
Next, you can control how your directory looks and the user information that will display in the ‘Listing Display Settings’ section.
You have control over the user’s name, avatars, borders, and more.
Below that, in the ‘Directory Totals Settings’ meta box, you can choose the total number of users, customize the text, and more.
Displaying the total number of users can be helpful if you want to use social proof to encourage new users to create an account on your site.
Next, you can customize how the letter links and pagination displays on your user list.
You can set the number of users to show per page, change the spacing, and more.
Once you’re finished, click the ‘Save options’ button at the bottom of the screen to save your directory.
This will create and display a shortcode for your user directory at the top of the page. You need to copy this to add your directory to your site.
Then, open the page, post, or widget area to display your list of users.
Next, click the ‘Plus’ add block icon, search for ‘Shortcode’, and select it.
After that, simply paste the shortcode into the box.
Then, click the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button.
Now, you can view your list of recently registered users on your site.
If you want to add the list of recently registered users to a post or widget area, then simply follow the above steps.
Method 3. Display Recently Registered Users by Adding Code to WordPress
Another way you can display your recently registered users is by adding code to WordPress. If you haven’t done this before, then see our guide on how to copy and paste code in WordPress.
function wpb_recently_registered_users() {
global $wpdb;
$recentusers = '<ul class="recently-user">';
$usernames = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT user_nicename, user_url, user_email FROM $wpdb->users ORDER BY ID DESC LIMIT 5");
foreach ($usernames as $username) {
if (!$username->user_url) :
$recentusers .= '<li>' .get_avatar($username->user_email, 45) .$username->user_nicename."</a></li>";
else :
$recentusers .= '<li>' .get_avatar($username->user_email, 45).'<a href="'.$username->user_url.'">'.$username->user_nicename."</a></li>";
endif;
}
$recentusers .= '</ul>';
return $recentusers;
}
This code snippet creates a simple list of your recently registered users and displays the avatar image and username.
After that, there are two different ways you can display your recently registered users. The first is by adding a template tag to your theme’s template files, like sidebar.php, footer.php, and more.
This code will create the following shortcode you can use in your posts, pages, and widget areas.
[wpb_newusers]
To add the shortcode to your website, simply open the page where you want the list of users to display.
Then, click the ‘Plus’ add block icon, search for ‘Shortcode’, and select it.
After that, paste the shortcode you copied above into the shortcode box.
When you’re done making changes, click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to make your changes live.
You can follow the same steps by adding the shortcode to a post or a widget area.
Now you can view your list of recently registered users. To adjust how they appear, you would need to add custom CSS to your website.
We hope this article helped you learn how to display recently registered users in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to get a free SSL certificate, and our expert picks of the best business phone services for small businesses.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Recently, one of our readers asked if it was possible to create a subscription box service in WordPress?
Subscription boxes are a popular way of selling physical goods that can be delivered on a regular basis. They work especially well in niche markets.
In this article, we’ll show you how to create a subscription box service in WordPress.
What Is a Subscription Box Service?
A subscription box service is a smart way to bring in regular revenue from your online store with recurring deliveries of physical products.
Subscription boxes are more than just a delivery service. They offer a personalized experience of curated products that bring real value to your customers, such as variety, convenience, and saving money. They work well in niche markets and for boutique products.
For example, HelloFresh is a subscription box service where you can sign up to have meal ingredients delivered to your door every week. Other examples are the Dollar Shave Club and Bean Box, which offer grooming and coffee products in subscription boxes.
Subscription boxes are an effective way to make recurring revenue. They usually have a higher profit margin, and over 2/3s of consumers in the United States have tried them. The market seems to double each year.
With that said, let’s take a look at how to create a subscription box service using WordPress.
What Do You Need to Start a Subscription Box Business?
Starting a subscription box company is easier than you might think. You’ll need the following things:
A theme and target audience for your subscription box
Ecommerce and subscription box plugins to create and manage your products and subscriptions
An hour or two to set it all up.
That’s it!
We’ll walk you through every step of the process in this guide. If you get stuck or have any questions, just leave a comment below or see our guide on how to get WordPress support.
Let’s get started.
Step 1: Set Up Your WordPress Website
The best website builder platform to set up and manage your subscription box business is WordPress, because it’s free and gives you maximum control over your site. This is why over 43% of all websites on the internet use WordPress.
Often beginners make the mistake of choosing the wrong type of WordPress. There are actually two different types, which can be confusing.
You don’t want WordPress.com, which is a hosting service that can get expensive and limits the features you have access to.
The one we recommend is WordPress.org, also called self-hosted WordPress. It’s a completely free software that you install on your own hosting and domain. Don’t worry, that’s easier than it sounds.
To get started, you’ll need to get web hosting.
Normally, web hosting costs $7.99 per month, a domain name starts at $14.99 per year, and an SSL certificate costs around $69.99 per year.
This can be a big investment when you’re just starting out.
Luckily, Bluehost has agreed to offer our readers a big 60% discount on web hosting, plus a free domain name and SSL certificate.
Basically, you can get started for as low as $2.75 per month.
Simply click on the Bluehost button below, and the discount will automatically be applied.
Step 2: Create a Subscription Box Service in WordPress
After your WordPress site is set up, there are a few plugins you’ll need to install to create the subscription box service:
WooCommerce, the world’s most popular eCommerce plugin
WooCommerce Subscriptions, a WooCommerce extension for all kinds of paid subscriptions
Subscription Box for WooCommerce, an addon for the Subscriptions extension that lets your customers create their own boxes.
We will walk you through everything, step by step.
If you don’t have an online store yet, then we have a step by step guide on how to start your online store. This will walk you through the first part, installing WooCommerce.
After installing the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin, you need to install and activate the Subscription Box for WooCommerce extension.
This extension adds features that make it easy to create a subscription box service, such as allowing your customers to create their own boxes and change their box plan.
After you setup these plugins, you will also need to ensure that you have chosen a website template (also known as a theme). There are dozens of pre-made WooCommerce themes that you can pick from.
Alternatively, if you’re looking to make a custom website design for your store, then you need to use a drag & drop builder like SeedProd. It lets you create completely custom WordPress themes without any code.
Step 3: Add Subscription Box Products
Once your website is setup, the first thing you need to do is add a subscription box product to sell in your online store.
You’ll need to select Products » Add New from your admin menu and type a name for the subscription box.
You should also fill in the normal WooCommerce product settings, such as a description, image, price, and shipping information.
Next, you need to configure the settings for your subscription box. You should scroll down to the ‘Product data’ section and select ‘Box Product’ from the drop down menu.
This will add a new tab to the side menu where you can build a box.
You need to click on the new ‘Build a Box’ tab so you can configure the settings for your subscription box and what it will contain.
First, you need to type a number in the ‘Box Quantity’ field. This is the number of items your customers can place in the box. After that, you need to select how often the items will be delivered, such as daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
Next, you need to choose a list of products that your customers can select when creating a custom box on your WordPress site. You can select those products individually in the ‘Products’ field, or simply add an entire product category, such as ‘Coffee’ or ‘Fruit’ in the ‘Product categories’ field.
You might like to choose products that have a similar price and weight. This will keep the total cost and weight of the box consistent, which will help when deciding how much to charge for the subscription box and for shipping.
Not everyone will want to take the time to choose products one by one. You can also create a standard box by selecting products in the ‘Default Products’ field.
To add items to the standard box, you need to search for the product you wish to add, type a quantity, then click the ‘Add To Default Product’ button. Simply repeat these steps until your subscription box is complete.
When you’re finished, don’t forget to click the ‘Publish’ button on the right of the screen to add the subscription box to your WooCommerce store.
If you’d like to add more than one subscription box, then simply repeat these steps.
Step 4: Display Subscription Boxes on Your Online Store
Next, you need to display your subscription boxes in your WooCommerce store.
Head over to Pages » Add New on your dashboard to create a new page. Give the page an engaging title, such as ‘Create a Subscription Box’ or ‘Build Your Own Bundle’.
Next, use the Columns block to add enough columns to display your subscription boxes.
For each column, you’ll need to click the ‘+’ button and add a ‘Build a Box’ block.
Using the Block pane on the left, you can choose the subscription box you wish to display from the ‘Selected Box’ drop down menu.
You can also type the other text that will be displayed, including the box heading and name, subscription label, and button label.
Once you’ve added all your subscription boxes, you’ll need to click the ‘Publish’ button at the top of the page to display them on your website.
When a customer clicks on a subscription box, they will be taken to the shop page for that box. Here they will see the list of products that you made available for this subscription box.
They can add individual products to the box by clicking the ‘Add to Box’ button under the product. They can also select how many of those products will be added.
Alternatively, they can click the ‘Add All’ button to create a standard box. Once they do that, all the default products will be added to the box.
Once the customer is happy with the box contents, they can check out.
We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to create a subscription box service in WordPress.
