As part of our work in improving the product editor experience, we have been exploring merging simple and variable products into a unified template. This initiative inadvertently highlighted significant challenges within the current product types system, leading to a debate on whether it’s feasible to replace product types with a more versatile trait system.
Join the GitHub Discussion and share your perspective on evolving product types to a more versatile trait system
The Core Issue
The attempt to streamline the product creation process revealed the limitations of the current product types system. Specifically, the inability to seamlessly integrate multiple product types within a single template led to conflicts and complications, especially when extensions introduce their own templates. This situation underscores the inflexibility of product types, which are designed to be mutually exclusive, preventing a product from belonging to more than one type.
The Proposal: Embracing Product Traits
To address these issues, the proposal suggests shifting focus from product types to product traits. Traits offer a more flexible framework, allowing functionalities to be extended across various product types without the rigid exclusivity imposed by product types.
Regardless of the approach that is decided, we aim to support backwards compatibility
Join the conversation
The discussion is ongoing, and input from the community is crucial to shape the future direction. Whether you’re a developer or simply interested in WooCommerce’s evolution, your insights matter. Join the ongoing discussion on GitHub to voice your thoughts, propose improvements, or share your experiences with product types and traits. Let’s collaborate to build a platform that meets everyone’s needs.
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