--- title: "How to Display WooCommerce Products by Category in WordPress?" url: https://nexterwp.com/docs/display-woocommerce-products-by-category-in-wordpress/ date: 2023-08-09 modified: 2026-09-26 lang: en author: "Aditya Sharma" description: "A landing page about frames should show frames. A listing that shows the whole catalogue makes the visitor do the filtering you should have done for them. Restricting the listing..." image: https://nexterwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/display-woocommerce-products-by-category-in-wordpress-1024x519.jpg word_count: 451 --- # How to Display WooCommerce Products by Category in WordPress? ## Key Takeaways - Nexter Blocks Pro only renders the Product Listing block when Nexter Blocks Pro is active; with Nexter Blocks Pro deactivated, it shows nothing at all, no wrapper, no products, and no prices. - Product Listing restricts its own product query by category, and a published page measured with the Fine Art Prints category returns exactly 6 products with product_cat-prints on every card. - Child categories are not included automatically, so selecting a parent category does not bring in child category products unless the child categories are selected too. A landing page about frames should show frames. A listing that shows the whole catalogue makes the visitor do the filtering you should have done for them. Restricting the listing to a category is a query setting, decided by you rather than by the shopper. [LIVE BLOCK LINK](https://nexterwp.com/nexter-blocks/listing/wordpress-product-listing/) ## Before You Start - **Edition:** **Pro** — the Product Listing block needs Nexter Blocks Pro.- **Block to enable:** Product Listing, switched on under **Nexter > Blocks** in your WordPress dashboard.- **WooCommerce active, with published products.** The block reads your real catalogue, so an empty store renders an empty listing.- **Product categories with products actually assigned.** ## Steps - Select your **Product Listing** block. ![The Product Listing block](https://nexterwp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ql-query-category.webp) - Choose the **categories** the listing should draw from. - Set the number of products to show. - Publish and confirm only that category appears. ## How It Behaves The category selection is applied to the block's own product query. - **Measured on a published page:** restricting the listing to the Fine Art Prints category returned exactly **6 products**, and every card carried `product_cat-prints` with no other category present.- **It is a query restriction, not a filter.** The shopper cannot widen it. For a filter they can use, see [filter products by category](https://nexterwp.com/docs/filter-woocommerce-products-by-category-in-wordpress/).- **Several categories can be selected at once**, in which case products from any of them appear.- **Every card carries its own data.** Measured on a published page, each product renders as an `article` whose classes include its category (`product_cat-...`), its tags (`product_tag-...`), its stock state (`instock` or `outofstock`) and whether it is on sale.- **Measured with Nexter Blocks Pro deactivated:** the block renders nothing at all — no wrapper, no products, no prices. This is a Pro-only block. ## Limitations - **Pro only** — measured with Nexter Blocks Pro deactivated, nothing renders.- **An empty category renders an empty listing.** Nothing on the page explains why, so check the category has published products.- **Child categories are not automatically included** unless you select them, which catches people out on deep catalogues.- **Renaming a category is fine, deleting it is not.** A deleted category leaves the listing pointing at nothing.- **For a category archive page, use archive mode instead** so one template serves every category — see [create a product archive page](https://nexterwp.com/docs/create-a-woocommerce-product-archive-page-in-wordpress/). ## Troubleshooting ### The listing is empty The selected category has no published products, or the selection did not save. Check both. ### Products from other categories are showing More than one category is selected, or the products belong to several categories at once. ### My child category products are missing Selecting a parent does not automatically include children. Select the child categories too. ### I want the shopper to choose That is a filter rather than a restriction — see [filter products by category](https://nexterwp.com/docs/filter-woocommerce-products-by-category-in-wordpress/). ## Related Docs - [Filter WooCommerce products by category](https://nexterwp.com/docs/filter-woocommerce-products-by-category-in-wordpress/)- [Display featured products in WooCommerce](https://nexterwp.com/docs/display-featured-products-in-woocommerce-in-wordpress/)- [Show a WooCommerce product by product ID](https://nexterwp.com/docs/show-woocommerce-product-by-product-id-in-wordpress/)- [Advanced tab settings](https://nexterwp.com/docs/use-advanced-tab-in-nexter-blocks/) ## Frequently Asked Questions **Q: What do I need before I can display WooCommerce products by category in WordPress?** A: The Product Listing block in Nexter Blocks Pro needs three basics before it can show anything: the block must be enabled under Nexter > Blocks, WooCommerce has to be active with published products, and the products must already be assigned to categories. That matters because the block reads your live catalogue, so an empty store or an unassigned category produces an empty listing instead of a placeholder. **Q: Why is my WooCommerce product listing empty after I filter by category?** A: An empty listing usually means the selected category has no published products, or the category selection did not save. The block does not invent content for you, so if the catalogue is empty in that category, the page stays empty too. In practice, this is the first thing to check when a category-based listing renders nothing on a published page. **Q: Can shoppers choose their own product categories on this listing?** A: No. This setup is a query restriction, not a shopper-facing filter. The category choice is decided by you in the Product Listing block, so visitors cannot widen it themselves. If you want users to pick categories on the page, use [filter products by category](https://nexterwp.com/docs/filter-woocommerce-products-by-category-in-wordpress/) instead of a fixed listing. **Q: Do child categories show up automatically when I select a parent category?** A: Child categories are not included automatically. Selecting a parent only targets that parent unless you also select the child categories yourself. That catches people out on deeper catalogues because the listing can look incomplete even though the parent category was chosen correctly. **Q: Is there a better way to build a full WooCommerce category page?** A: For a category archive page, archive mode is the cleaner choice because one template serves every category. The Product Listing block is better when you want to hand-pick which categories appear on a specific page. If your goal is a reusable archive layout, [create a product archive page](https://nexterwp.com/docs/create-a-woocommerce-product-archive-page-in-wordpress/) instead.