How to Add a Custom Field to WooCommerce Checkout Page
Editorial Team
November 9, 2023
Are you looking to add a custom field to the WooCommerce checkout page?
While the default WooCommerce checkout page is functional, it needs more flexibility to collect the extra data your business may require.
It does have an 'Order Notes' field to collect additional data, but it's not specific, and customers aren't required to fill it out.
If you require specific data from your customers that they must fill out, the default setup isn't sufficient enough.
Not being able to collect specific or additional information from your shoppers may hinder your goal of providing a personalized shopping experience to them. This way, you'll miss out on the option to provide an optimized shopping experience to your users.
Luckily, you can solve such issues by adding custom fields to your WooCommerce checkout form.
In this blog, we'll show you a step-by-step guide on how to add custom checkout fields to your WooCommerce checkout page. We will share two processes:
Contents
WooCommerce checkout fields are the form fields that customers fill out during the checkout process when making a purchase on a WooCommerce-powered e-commerce website.
These fields are essential for collecting the necessary information from customers to complete their orders and provide a smooth shopping experience.
Let’s take a good look at the default woocommerce checkout and form fields it offers.
Default WooCommerce checkout fields include:
As you can see, these are extremely basic fields. You may need extra fields on your checkout page for various reasons, like collecting special instructions or additional details about the order.
Adding extra fields to your WooCommerce checkout page can provide several benefits and enhance the overall shopping experience for both the store owner and your customers.
Here are some compelling reasons why you should consider adding custom fields:
Here, we will share how to add a custom field in the checkout page WooCommerce programmatically.
We will also validate the form field and update the data so store owners can view the information from the backend.
Note: You need to add custom code to your theme's function.php file.
First, navigate to Appearance ⇒ Theme File Editor and select the file functions.php.
You’ll need to add your custom code here.
To add a custom field, you need to add the code provided below to the functions.php file. You can change the label, placeholder, and other details as per your needs.
If you want to make the field required, make sure to add the line ‘required' => 'true' otherwise, skip it.
/**
* Add a custom field to the checkout page
*/
add_action('woocommerce_after_order_notes', 'custom_checkout_field');
function custom_checkout_field($checkout)
{
echo '<div id="custom_checkout_field"><h3>' . __('Please Provide The Custom Data') . '</h3>';
woocommerce_form_field('custom_field_name', array(
'type' => 'text',
'required' => 'true',
'class' => array(
'my-field-class form-row-wide'
) ,
'label' => __('Custom Field') ,
'placeholder' => __('Enter Custom Data') ,
) ,
$checkout->get_value('custom_field_name'));
echo '</div>';
}
Add the above code at the end of the file and click on the ‘Update File’ button.
Here, we have added one custom field that is required.
Making your custom WooCommerce checkout field required isn’t enough. To make the checkout process user-friendly, you need to show a message to users telling them the field is required.
To show an error message, add the following code to your function.php file.
/**
* Validate Checkout field
*/
add_action('woocommerce_checkout_process', 'customised_checkout_field_process');
function customised_checkout_field_process()
{
// Show an error message if the field is not set.
if (!$_POST['custom_field_name']) wc_add_notice(__('Custom Field is a Required Field!') , 'error');
}
Here is how the error message will be displayed:
Now it’s time to make sure the details entered into the custom field by the client are being saved.
You can do this by adding this code below:
/**
* Update the value given in custom field
*/
add_action('woocommerce_checkout_update_order_meta', 'custom_checkout_field_update_order_meta');
function custom_checkout_field_update_order_meta($order_id)
{
if (!empty($_POST['custom_field_name'])) {
update_post_meta($order_id, 'Custom Field',sanitize_text_field($_POST['custom_field_name']));
}
}
Now place a test order with some random value for the custom checkout field.
After placing the order successfully, check its details by navigating to WooCommerce ⇒ Orders. You will find the custom field with the entered value here.
This is how you can add a custom checkout field to the WooCommerce checkout page with coding.
Note: FunnelKit allows you to create a VAT number field on the checkout page. Learn more on our blog on how to add an EU VAT Number Field to WooCommerce Checkout
While adding a custom field using code isn’t the worst idea, it’s not the best option either.
Here are some of the reasons why you shouldn’t use raw coding to add a custom field to the checkout page:
That’s why we suggest you use a renowned WooCommerce plugin to add a custom field to your WooCommerce checkout page.
In the next section, we will show you how to add a custom field in the WooCommerce checkout page without a plugin.
To add an extra custom checkout field to the WooCommerce checkout page, we will use FunnelKit Funnel Builder. This is a highly popular plugin that powers over 20,000 WooCommerce websites around the globe.
We chose this plugin because it allows you to add a custom field to your WooCommerce checkout form by simply dragging and dropping the fields without any coding. Along with adding, you can also control the order of your checkout form fields.
FunnelKit Funnel Builder is not just a WooCommerce checkout field editor; it helps you to create a multi-step checkout page and optimize your checkout page for a frictionless checkout process.
To follow along with the process, you need to install and activate both:
After activating the plugins, follow these steps:
Firstly, we need to create a store checkout that will replace the default WooCommerce checkout page. For that, navigate to FunnelKit ⇒ Store Checkout and click on the ‘Create Store Checkout’ button.
FunnelKit offers many pre-built templates for sales funnels and checkout pages. Choose your favorite page builder. After that, hover over the template you want for your Global checkout and click on Preview. We are going with Shoppe here.
Now, choose whether you want a single-page checkout or a multi-page checkout. After that, click on “Import This Funnel,” provide a name, and click on Add to import this funnel as your default store checkout.
We are choosing a two-step checkout here.
This will import a store checkout with two steps: Checkout, Upsell, and Thank you page.
Now, to edit the WooCommerce checkout page and add a field, click on the “Edit” option.
On the design tab, you can customize the design and content of the checkout page.
After customizing, move to the Fields tab to create an extra field. You will find the default form fields are already added to the checkout form.
To add a custom field, click on “Add New Field” under the Advanced section.
Note: Along with the default fields, FunnelKit also allows you to add a Date of Birth field to your checkout field so you can use their birthdate to send automated birthday emails to customers.
Here, you can create an extra custom checkout field. You can create different types of WooCommerce custom fields such as Checkbox, Radio, HTML, Dropdown, Multi-select, and many more.
Here, we will share how you can create a custom Radio field “Do You Want To Gift Wrap Your Item(S) For Free?” for your checkout page.
For that, select the Radio as Field Type and provide the following options:
Finally, click on “Add Field” to create the field.
Now, in the Advanced section, you should see an extra checkout field that you just added.
To add the custom field you just added to the checkout form, drag and drop the field there and place it in any section on the checkout form.
We are going to add it to the “Shipping Address” section here.
If you want, you can change the order of the extra checkout field as well, just by dragging and dropping. Just hold the field and simply drag and drop in the order you want.
After adding the custom field to your WooCommerce checkout page, click on Save Changes.
Note: You can add any WooCommerce custom fields following the above-mentioned process.
FunnelKit Funnel Builder provides many optimization options so your customers can enjoy a frictionless checkout experience.
To ensure a seamless checkout experience, it's crucial to incorporate inline validation for your checkout fields. This allows users to view error messages as they fill out the form.
To allow inline validation, move to the Optimizations ⇒ Inline Field Validation and enable it. Make sure to click on Save Changes to update the settings.
Align with inline validation; you can also make the following optimizations:
You will find all these options under the “Optimizations” tab.
Note: You can add an order bump on the checkout page and also customize the upsell, and the thank you page with FunnelKit’s Funnel Builder.
After optimizing the checkout forms, you need to activate the store checkout. For that, enable the “Enable Store Checkout” option.
Here is what the WooCommerce checkout page with a custom extra field looks like
That’s how easily you can add an extra custom field to the WooCommerce checkout page using FunnelKit Funnel Builder.
By adding a custom WooCommerce checkout field, you can collect specific information and give your customers a more personalized and smooth buying journey.
As shown above, you can add an additional field to the WooCommerce checkout page in two ways: programmatically with code or with drag-and-drop using the FunnelKit Funnel Builder plugin.
As per our expert opinion, FunnelKit Funnel Builder is the superior option as a checkout field editor for WooCommerce, offering a more efficient method for incorporating a custom field into your checkout page.
You can easily include any type of checkout field without worrying about validation, as FunnelKit takes care of that in the background.
Furthermore, there's no need to be concerned about compatibility with WooCommerce. The dedicated plugin team consistently maintains and releases new versions, ensuring seamless compatibility with WooCommerce and essential plugins.
Moreover, with this tool, you can do more than just add an extra field. You can create beautiful checkout pages using pre-designed templates and optimize the checkout process for a seamless shopping experience.
What's more? You can even offer order bumps, and one-click upsells to increase the average order value in your WooCommerce store.
So, start collecting custom data with an extra WooCommerce checkout field and enhance customers' shopping experience with a personalized touch today!