WooCommerce 9.4: Supercharging the Product Collection block & more Release Posts

WooCommerce 9.4 has been released on November 11, 2024.

ADVISORY NOTE: 9.4.0 is available on WordPress.org however, we have updated our stable tag to the 9.4.1 dot release.

This post highlights what’s new in this version of WooCommerce.

See our update guide.
Download directly from WordPress.org.

Other important information:

📀 This release does include a database update.
See more

Latest Release:

👉 WooCommerce 9.4.1 (Stable)

About:

✅ Backwards compatible
Commits: 320
Contributors: 80

Product collection block

This release will see a number of improvements in the Product collection block. The block will now only render when it contains products or when a “no results” block is explicitly present, ensuring a cleaner display for empty collections. This ensures a cleaner UI and a faster experience for users.

We’re also introducing new JS events as we move toward consolidating all product grid functionalities within the Product Collection block. This shift will enhance the experience by integrating features from existing product grids into the Product Collection block. To support this, new JS events have been added to replace actions previously emitted by other grid blocks. Check out our advisory on migrating to the new event structure or refer to our documentation for more details.

Product details block

Add: ‘Show tab title’ attribute to the Product Details blockPull Request #50884

By default, the Product Details block displays a non-customizable large title of the currently selected tab. In this release, we add a new Show tab title in content attribute to the Product Details block, so the user can customize if the title will be displayed or not.

More options for express checkout

[Feature] Express Checkout Improvements #50791

We’ve improved the functionality of the express checkout in the Cart and checkout blocks, introducing customization options for express payment buttons (adjustable height and border radius), displaying an active express payment methods list upon clicking the Express Payment block, and fixing layout issues like button container breaks and improper rendering at certain widths. While style control is currently limited to a few payment extensions, we’re working on expanding support.

The editor now displays active payment methods in real-time, improving layout accuracy. Currently, these styling controls are supported by select payment extensions, and we encourage developers to update their payment integrations for full compatibility with these new features.

Searching inside of WooCommerce

In app search improvements feature branch #51413

Search in WooCommerce > Extensions page has been improved, now enabling you to explore the complete extensions catalog on WooCommerce.com from the comfort of your own dashboard.

Remote error logging

We are now ready to ship this feature which we originally announced in 9.3. Since then, we’ve made changes to make it easier for store owners to debug fatal errors. The feature is meant to improve the stability and reliability of WooCommerce stores by logging WooCommerce Core PHP and JavaScript fatal errors to a remote logging service when users opt-in to tracking. The feature will allow us to identify and fix issues more quickly, improving debugging capabilities and enhancing store owners’ support.

Brands Added with Feature Flag

The Brands feature is now available for testing. It is currently turned off for all customers, however please visit our detailed post on technical implementation and testing feedback for this release cycle.

Brands allows you to create and manage brands for stores and assign them to products, similar to Categories. With brand short-codes, widgets, and blocks, you can create dedicated brand pages, display brand details on product pages, and help shoppers navigate stores using brand-specific navigation menus. Additionally, you can now limit coupon use to specific brands.

API Updates

Add filter to overwrite response of wc_rest_should_load_namespace #50902
Add global_unique_id parameter to products REST API #51264

Other important information

🚨 Known issues: Translation loading changes in WordPress 6.7

WordPress 6.7 introduces changes to how translations are loaded, aligning with best practices for internationalization. These updates may trigger debug warnings for some plugins, including WooCommerce, particularly when other plugins load WooCommerce code early. While we’ve made adjustments in WooCommerce 9.4 to mitigate this, production sites are advised to set WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY to false to prevent notices from showing on the frontend. For more guidance, check out developer advisory.

Database updates

💿 wc_update_940_add_phone_to_order_address_fts_index → Makes phone numbers searchable via full text search for orders #51065

💿 wc_update_940_remove_help_panel_highlight_shown → Cleans up unused meta data related to the help panel spotlight feature (which is no longer used) #51249

Changelog

See all bug fixes and improvements

Fix – Product grid blocks: fix Image aspect ratio with WordPress 6.7 #52431
Fix – Product Image Gallery: Render placeholder in Editor in WordPress 6.7 #52432
Fix – Support situations in which (WooCommerce) translations are inadvertently loaded too early. #52199
Fix – Add a retry mechanism to the query to obtain the SKU lock for product creation through the API. #51735
Fix – Fix Error: Failed opening required '.../wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/src/StoreApi/Schemas/V1/AI/ProductsSchema.php fatal error #51912
Fix – Resolved fatal error when applying Brands-restricted coupon #51577
Fix – Fix CSS issue with Safari 18.0 on the product form page. #51734
Fix – Add a new notice to the plugins list for products used without subscriptions reminding them to purchase. #51060
Fix – Added missing wp-block- classes to order confirmation, store notices, and breadcrumb blocks. #51380
Fix – Added pre-API call permission checks for some API calls that were being called on non-admin accessible screens #51406
Fix – Add focus styles to the Checkout block select field. #51332
Fix – Adds a function_exists() check so that we don’t add a secondary fatal in remote logging if wp_get_current_user does not exist yet #51302
Fix – Adjust Mongolia postcode validation to be 5 digits or 5 digits followed by 4 digits. #50279
Fix – Bust WC object cache on direct post meta update to prevent stale cache read. #50215
Fix – Conditionally set new order email sent meta field #50858
Fix – Default saved payment method is now respected by block checkout. #50481
Fix – Deprecate single product block save #51153 #51153
Fix – Fix a styling bug where the guest order confirmation email input was too wide. #51277
Fix – Fix badge number fails to match the number of unfinished tasks #51063
Fix – Fix bottom margin of last patterns #50991
Fix – Fix duplicate spec evaluation in evaluate_specs() #51166
Fix – Fix error when adding the Product Gallery (Beta) block into a pattern #51189
Fix – Fix My Account block icon being too small when inserted via block hooks #51047
Fix – Fix Settings Save button when WP List Tables are present #51102
Fix – Fix site visibility badge style #50976
Fix – Fix the loading state for the In-App Marketplace search #51413
Fix – Fix the order-items view for coupons, so we show the actually-used coupon info, if it exists. #48262
Fix – Fix variation selector display issues on the front end #51023 #51023
Fix – Fix wc_admin_unsnooze_admin_notes events are being needlessly created #51254
Fix – Hide payment recommendations when no extensions are available #50949
Fix – Improve checkout page accessibility after removing heading level 1. #50925
Fix – Improve icon aligment in Essential Header and Minimal Header patterns #50952
Fix – Improve performance of tax report export generation and fix tax_code for removed rates. #51395
Fix – Make Admin\API\Reports\Customers\DataStore::anonymize_customer accept an order instance as a parameter to ensure compatibility with the woocommerce_privacy_remove_order_personal_data hook. #38201
Fix – Make Checkout block coupons filter consistent by always running. #50876
Fix – Only log PTK error if no action has been scheduled #51143
Fix – Prevent an error in the WC_Checkout class when WooCommerce has not been properly initialized yet #50692
Fix – Prevent search request in the Extensions > My Subscriptions page #51164
Fix – Product bulk edit: allow to restore original price and avoid fatal errors. #50836
Fix – Product bulk edit: fix increasing & decreasing sale price when there was no previous sale. #50842
Fix – Put site visibility badge behind the launch your store feature flag #51159
Fix – Removed the leftover user meta from the help panel spotlight #51249
Fix – Remove extra bottom padding in filters in the editor. #51012
Fix – Remove title attribute from images in product slider. #50886
Fix – Replace retired theme Nokul with Gizmo in the CYS experience #51113
Fix – Set customer email in reports if customer data is available #51367
Fix – Trap focus inside the product gallery modal. #50730
Fix – Update the logic that conditionally activates the compatibility layer in WooCommerce block templates so it detects blocks inside patterns #50595
Fix – Use the correct language in Cart/Checkout when the user language is different from the store. #51244
Fix – Use get_filtered_ids consistently in reports/taxes and reports/taxes/stats datastores #51219
Fix – wc_get_cart_url should only return current URL if on the cart page. This excludes the usage of WOOCOMMERCE_CART. #51384
Fix – Wrap parse_str under a check to resolve deprecation notice #51474
Fix – Removes several side effects in the code base that caused translations to be loaded too early #52055

See all features and additions

Add – BFCM promo card support (data to be served by WCCOM API) #51739
Add – Add core feature for site visibility badge #51664
Add – Added a Load More button to product lists on the Extensions page, to request additional search results from WooCommerce.com. #51413
Add – Add endpoint title to the document title. #50900
Add – Add global_unique_id parameter to products REST API #51264
Add – Add inspector controls to Product Search block #51247 #51247
Add – Add new feature for a product data views page. #50981
Add – Add react-powered main payments settings screen #50825
Add – Adds a filter for third party tax plugins to indicate that they have completed the tax task #51362
Add – Add search result counts to the in-app marketplace header tabs (Extensions area) #51413
Add – Adds unified styles for the express checkout block #50791
Add – Add use-wp-horizon feature flag to set calpyso_env to horizon #51421
Add – Add locale param when redirecting to the Jetpack auth page. #51392
Add – Available express payment methods are visible in the editor when selecting the express payment block #50791
Add – Improve the express checkout experience with several design tweak, uniform button styles and editor improvements #50791
Add – Introduced Product Brands. #50165
Add – Product Collection – Implement Inspector control to change selected product #50164
Add – Product Collection – Show product picker in Editor when collection requires a product but not available <details> A collection can define if it requires a product context. This can be done using usesReference argument i.e. tsx __experimentalRegisterProductCollection({ ..., usesReference: ['product'], ) When product context doesn’t exist in current template/page/post etc. then we show product picker in Editor. This way, merchant can manually provide a product context to the collection. #50164
Add – Product Collection: Added Editor UI for missing product reference #51114
Add – Product Elements send a JS event when user attempts to view a product #51156
Add – Provide screen readers with product sorting status message. #50573
Add – Synchronise the express payment controls between the Cart & Checkout blocks #50791
Add – Track data for font and color pairings including ‘Create your own’ option in CYS #51206

See all updates and tweaks

Update – Fix CYS error with latest Gutenberg nightly builds #52623
Update – Added experimental delayed order creation block. #50934
Update – Added Stripe tax in onboarding tax task #50989
Update – Change the way search results are displayed in the in-app marketplace #51413
Update – Clean up ‘Profile Wizard’ code #51190
Update – Clean up Purchase task #51274
Update – Comment: Fix comment typos across various files. #50047
Update – Consolidate Store API and Core account creation functions. #50913
Update – Deprecate unsupported Inbox note banner layout #51275
Update – Dynamically set plugin_name when redirecting to Jetpack Auth from core profiler #51278
Update – E2E tests – skipping 11 tests for the Pressable website #51123
Update – Ensure that active plugins shown in the System Status API endpoint actually exist #50974
Update – Expand the e2e suite we’re running on WPCOM. #51303
Update – Expand the e2e suite we’re running on WPCOM part #2. #51414
Update – Expand the e2e suite we’re running on WPCOM part #3. #51422
Update – Include API tests into test suites for Pressable and WPCOM. #51284
Update – Make In-App Marketplace header sticky to improve discoverability. #51187
Update – Move Pressable and WPCOM e2e runss to release-checks instead of daily-checks #51148
Update – Product cards in the in-app marketplace show currency and billing period data dynamically, based on data received from WooCommerce.com #51170
Update – Product Collection: Disable client-side nav if filter blocks are detected inside #51358
Update – Product Rating: hide reviews in the front end when disabled at store or product level. #50979
Update – Refactor WooCommercePayments task to use woo payment gateway from WC()->payment_gateways->payment_gateways() #50953
Update – Replace marketplace search component with SearchControl from @wordpress/components #51413
Update – Show payments recommendation when main settings element is found #50947
Update – Update /customize-store tests, so they are passing against Pressable env. #51004
Update – Update /merchant tests (first five files), so they are passing against Pressable env. #51014
Update – Update /merchant tests (second five files), so they are passing against Pressable env. #51016
Update – Update /merchant tests so they are passing against Pressable env. #51158
Update – Update /shopper tests (first part), so they are passing against Pressable env. #51068
Update – Update /shopper tests (second part), so they are passing against Pressable env. #51100
Update – Update admin-* folders, so e2e tests are passing against Pressable env. #50994
Update – Updated wording on the Cart/Checkout shipping sidebars #51072
Update – Update In-App Marketplace category selector #51413
Update – Update storybook file format in support with Storybook 7 story indexer. #51168
Update – Update the Action Scheduler package to version 3.8.2 #51353
Update – Update the rest of /merchant tests so they are passing against Pressable env. #51181
Update – Update webpack config to bundle in @wordpress/dataviews package. #51008
Update – Update activate-and-setup e2e tests, so they are passing against Pressable env. #50927
Update – Update add-variable-product e2e tests, so they are passing against Pressable env. #50942
Update – Update products/block-editor e2e tests, so they are passing against Pressable env. #50960
Tweak – Limit the amount of Feature Controller logic that will run before init, to improve compatibility with translation-related changes in WP 6.7. #52557
Tweak – Add default Facebook for WooCommerce plugin recommendation. #52405
Tweak – Fix PHPCS warnings in OrdersTableQuery.php and ProductQuery.php #51281
Tweak – Fix typo in inline doc in woocommerce client, includes, and lib folders. #50739
Tweak – Fix typos in plugins/woocommerce-blocks/docs #48562
Tweak – Fix version number in a template #51020
Tweak – Include group and product id properties in the marketplace_product_card_clicked Tracks event #51180
Tweak – Log deprecation warnings for Query class usage. #50969
Tweak – Minor fixes to product descriptions on the Extensions screen. #51228
Tweak – Move collections e2e tests from product collection file to its own file #50853
Tweak – Move register product collection tester e2e tests from product collection file to its own file #50852
Tweak – Move the inspector controls e2e tests from product collection file to its own file #50849
Tweak – On mobile, style order confirmation page details side by side #50722
Tweak – Reenable remote logging feature by default #51320
Tweak – Remove the usage of ReportSummarys isRequesting property as it has no effect. #50751
Tweak – Remove titles on Extensions and Themes tabs in the marketplace #51195
Tweak – Small visual tweaks to the express checkout area #50644
Tweak – Update coming soon extensibility documentation #51160
Tweak – Update footer design, add one more element to footer content and remove woo-marketplace copy at footer bottom. #51315
Tweak – Update PHP unit tests to remove specific team names for generic names. #51017
Tweak – Update product card content padding to 24px and add 0 margin bottom to product cards #51288
Tweak – Update reset password e2e to use or locator to check reset status #50823
Tweak – UX improvements to the express payment block in the editor #50791
Tweak – Validate and prepare GTIN in structured data #50926

See all developer updates

Dev – Add e2e tests to confirm that the store is in coming soon mode after completing the core profiler #50784
Dev – Added doc blocks to conditionally fired hooks to better explain nuanced behavior #51061
Dev – Add reporting of slow PHPUnit tests. #51253
Dev – Coding standatds: fix PSR-4 naming violation in tests (part 1). #51194
Dev – Coding standatds: fix PSR-4 naming violation in tests (part 2). #51198
Dev – Convert with-reviews to TS #50890 #50890
Dev – CYS – Move the “ai/products” endpoint to woocommerce admin API. #50396
Dev – CYS – Move the “private/patterns” endpoint to woocommerce admin API. #50400
Dev – E2E tests: fix flakiness in page publishing action #51196
Dev – Explicitly select the payment method on the customer payment page e2e test #51210
Dev – Fix eslint warnings #50869
Dev – Fix flaky remote logging PHP unit test #50950
Dev – Fix pnpm version to 9.1.3 to avoid dependency installation issues. #50828
Dev – Fix slow test for Reports #51279
Dev – fix small lint errors and fix lint rule to make doc contribution easier #50843
Dev – Made XState utils updateQueryParam generic so that it can be reused in other XState machines #51167
Dev – Make Block Reference a public doc #50906
Dev – Manage K6 version #51239
Dev – Mark several Customize Your Store PHP classes as internal #51069
Dev – On Sale Badge: Migrate to block.json #50908
Dev – Product Image: migrate to block.json #50903
Dev – Product Price: migrate to block.json #50905
Dev – Remove @wooocommerce Combobox component that is no longer used. #50975
Dev – Remove deprecated RemoteInboxNotification classes #51250
Dev – Track customize_your_store_assembler_hub_editor_loaded event to measure CYS loading time #51461
Dev – Update docs #51144
Dev – Updated webpack build script for wc admin so that the wp-admin-scripts are dynamically fetched from the fs instead of a hard list #51133
Dev – [Enhancement] Abstract rating block #50810 #50810

See all performance improvements and enhancements

Performance – Conditionally initialize block template compatibility classes #50785
Performance – Don’t update the script data transient for the same data #50962
Performance – Only load local pickup methods on cart/checkout pages #51174
Performance – Only run woocommerce_admin_shared_settings filter on admin requests #51161
Performance – Refactor Country Specs to use ‘in’ operator #51162
Performance – Remove relevancy ranking from FTS queries to improve performance. #51065
Enhancement – Add ‘Show tab title’ attribute to the Product Details block #50884
Enhancement – Add additional sizing units for product image block #50770
Enhancement – Add filter for response of wc_rest_should_load_namespace function to allow loading namespaces. #50902
Enhancement – Add filters for custom orderby query params for WC Analytics #49722
Enhancement – Add phone number to FTS index to improve order searchability. #51065
Enhancement – Enhance WooCommerce version checking for remote logging reliability #51009
Enhancement – Harden styles for interactive elements in Checkout block to prevent style leakage. #51375
Enhancement – Improve remote logging structure and content #51360
Enhancement – Improve the tabs focus style in the Product Details block with Minimal style variation #50880
Enhancement – Introduce error handling on the in-app my subscriptions page #51298
Enhancement – Move address card state management to data stores in Checkout block. #51386
Enhancement – Move focus into coupon input if there is an error #48738
Enhancement – Product Collection – Change cursor style of preview button to default #50612
Enhancement – Product Collection: Don’t render when empty unless the no results block is present. #50404
Enhancement – Product SKU block: add editable prefixes and suffixes. #51033
Enhancement – Reduce dependency of remote logging on WC_Tracks #51365
Enhancement – Reducing noise in remote logging #51357
Enhancement – Refine PHP Fatal Error Counting in MC Stat #51363

View the full changelog.

Get WooCommerce 9.4

👉 To upgrade: See our update guide or download the latest release from WordPress.org.

🐞 Found a Bug? Please submit a report it on GitHub.

Contributors

WooCommerce Core

ActionScheduler

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18 responses to “WooCommerce 9.4: Supercharging the Product Collection block & more”

danielspain

November 11, 2024

An intelligent move to keep wc 9.4 for testing but no stable stag in wordpress…meanwhile a fix is search for.
Another BIG problem is that the notice will occur with current stable wc 9.3.3 AND wp 6.7…so the problem is coming one way of another…the filter fix in my case doesn’t work…and for all people with non-english sites that will not upgrade wc 9.3.3 until a proper fix is done -but will upgrade wordpress to 6.7 tomorrow (a lot!)- the problem will appear…i hope a fix is coming fast as 9.4.1 release…thanks!

Reply
danielspain

November 12, 2024

the fix via a code snippet plugin works in my case,not simply pasting it in functions.php
another issue is that if you upgrade to wp 6.7 and still use wc 9.3.3 your wc translations will not work anymore besides the php notice problem!!

Reply
Pieter

November 12, 2024

Props for picking up the issues and not marking stable before 9.4.1 is ready. That’s a good sign that processing are at least working, but I’d hope it was picked up sooner that at the last minute like this.

Reply
Jurgen

November 12, 2024

Also no Brands included? https://developer.woocommerce.com/2024/10/01/introducing-brands/

Reply
1. Brent MacKinnon
  
  November 12, 2024
  
  It’s in there! It’s in the changelog, you’ll find the line item linking to this PR that merged Brands functionality into core.
  
  For now, Brands is disabled by default, and you can enable it by following the instructions in the post you shared.
  
  As we said in the post, the feature will be enabled for all users starting with WooCommerce 9.6.
  
  Reply
  1. Jurgen
    
    November 15, 2024
    
    Top! Works great!
    
    Reply
danielspain

November 12, 2024

Apparently does’nt it fix the Translation loading changes in WordPress 6.7…just tried 9.4.1

please take a look at:

https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/issues/52646

Reply
Waq

November 12, 2024

Hi,

What is the Payments (1) tab? Can’t see information regarding it?

Reply
1. Brent MacKinnon
  
  November 12, 2024
  
  Hey Waq — please see my comment below. I’ll see if the team can follow up with any further details.
  
  Reply
Robert Staddon

November 12, 2024

After upgrading to 9.4.1, sites now have an admin “Payments” tab even if they’re not using WooPayments and there does not seem to be a way to get rid of it.

Reply
1. Brent MacKinnon
  
  November 12, 2024
  
  Thanks Robert,
  
  I believe what you’re seeing is related to this PR: Show payments recommendation on settings payment main page #50947
  
  It appears that Ilyas noticed that it still shows when there’s no extensions, which he says the team will address in another follow-up.
  
  I’ll flag your comment with the team internally and they may have more information.
  
  Reply
  1. Bob
    
    November 13, 2024
    
    So this is a known issue and yet it was still pushed? It’s incredibly annoying and happening on all sites on 9.4.1. Clients will be wondering WTH it’s for and why is there a notification bubble. Who thought this was okay?
    
    Reply
Emil

November 13, 2024

Hello, when will it be possible to get a product variation by global_unique_id through the rest api? Currently this is only possible for the parent product.

Reply
1. Darren Ethier
  
  November 13, 2024
  
  Hi Emil! It looks like global_unique_id is a defined property for the product variations controller. Will you expand on what’s not working as expected for you here?
  
  Reply
  1. Emil
    
    November 14, 2024
    
    Hi when using parent global_unique_id no problem with getting product, but when argument is child global_unique_id, I have no luck.
    I getting with this method:
    //parent product global_unique_id
    $data=[‘global_unique_id’=>1667280022];
    //get product data on remote website
    $product_on_remote=$raf_client->get(‘products’,$data);
    print_r($product_on_remote);
    Am I wrong somewhere?
    
    Reply
Emil

November 14, 2024

It understands when I make the call like this:
//child product global_unique_id
$data=[‘global_unique_id’=>16672811103];
//get product data on remote website
$product_on_remote=$raf_client->get(‘products/231/variations’,$data);
print_r($product_on_remote);

The problem is that the barcode scanner does not know the parent id, and I want to avoid repeated unnecessary calls by first calling the parent and subsequently the variation. Do you think of a direct, working method that would help a lot for the real work when woocommerce combines the functions of an online and offline store. Thanks.

Reply
1. Lourens Schep
  
  November 14, 2024
  
  Hi Emil,
  Thank you for the clarification. It does look like this was missed when implementing it for the ‘products’ endpoint. I created a Github issue ( https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/issues/52816 ) to also add the unique id query support for the “products//variations” endpoint.
  
  Edit
  As I was working on the above I realized that the ‘/products’ endpoint also returns variations if querying by ‘SKU’, so I will also add that support for ‘global_unique_id’.
  
  Reply
  1. Emil
    
    November 15, 2024
    
    Good job, thanks. I tested it on the site by adding your code and now it works like a charm.
    
    Reply