WooCommerce – How to Bulk Edit Composite Products

This is a complete guide to bulk edit WooCommerce composite products in a spreadsheet.

Composite Products is a WordPress plugin for WooCommerce that allows you to create product kits. For example, you can sell computer components, car parts, photography and video kits, or any other type of products that users can customize before buying.

With Composite Products, you can easily sell products made up of multiple inventory-managed parts. Users are able to customize their products in the cart, selecting their preferences just before completing the order. You can use this plugin if you have a store that needs advanced inventory management requirements.

According to their site, Composite Products is perfect to:

• Create configurable products
• Create step-by-step kit builders
• Sell products in bulk

Some problems you may face when editing hundreds of WooCommerce composite products

Composite Products allows you to do lots of things when it comes to products that have several components and need to be edited in the cart. However, some problems arise when you have to edit hundreds of product kits. You cannot bulk manage your product kits to apply massive changes in a short time.

These are some problems you may face when editing hundreds of WooCommerce composite products:

1. You need to open and edit products one by one.
2. Editing products one by one can be tedious and time-consuming.
3. If you want to bulk edit product packages, you can get server errors.
4. After loading hundreds of products, loading time can take longer.

View and manage WooCommerce product kits using a spreadsheet

Considering all the problems you may face when managing lots of package products, we’ve come up with a definite solution and guide to bulk manage composite products using a spreadsheet.

The WP Sheet Editor plugin allows you to view and edit large numbers of kit products. These are some of the benefits you can get from using this plugin to bulk manage your composite products:

1. Forget about having to open and edit your kit products one by one with the normal WooCommerce editor.
2. View and manage all your kit products using an intuitive spreadsheet inside WordPress.
3. Avoid server errors by batch updating hundreds of products.
4. View all your products’ info and values in a row in the spreadsheet.
5. Search for product kits using any field added by Composite Products as a search parameter.
6. Bulk edit any field added by Composite Products with a few clicks.

Besides the WP Sheet Editor plugin, you need to install and activate the followin extension:

The sections below focus on how to:

1. View and manage composite products in a spreadsheet
2. Search for kit products using any field as a search parameter
3. Bulk edit any field for hundreds of product kits
4. Export WooCommerce kit products to a CSV file
5. Import WooCommerce composite products from a CSV file

You can click the accordion subsections to see their content.

1- How to view and manage composite products in a spreadsheet

WP Sheet Editor allows you to view and edit all WooCommerce products using an intuitive spreadsheet inside WordPress. You can generate the products spreadsheet following these steps:

1. Go to WP Sheet Editor > Setup Spreadsheet
2. Select the Products post type and hit Save.
3. Click Save to include all the columns.

After these three simple steps, you’ll see all your products displayed in the spreadsheet. Every row is a product and every column is a field.

Important: If you don’t see the Composite Products fields, hover over Settings, and click Scan DB to find fields.

This will scan your database and add all the missing fields. If even doing it you don’t see the fields, go edit a product in the normal editor and rescan the database. Now the Composite Product fields must appear in the spreadsheet.

Normal vs spreadsheet kit product editor

The normal composite product fields are displayed in the Product data section on the WooCommerce editor.

There, you can select the Layout, Catalog price, Edit in cart fields.

Also, you’re shown the Basic Settings and Advanced Settings fields for each component.

Also, you can select the Scenarios tab to create and manage scenarios for your product kits.

All this space on your screen is occupied by the normal product kits editor. However, with the WP Sheet Editor plugin you can see each product in a single row of the spreadsheet.

This is how the Composite Products fields will look in the spreadsheet. As you see, you can view and edit several products in small screen space.

Here, we’ve listed the columns and what each column stands for in the spreadsheet. If you want more information about the fields and their values, you can visit the Composite Product’s REST API Reference page:

• Bto Base Regular Price: Regular Price in Product Data
• Bto Base Sale Price: Sale Price in Product Data
• Bto Style: Layout. You can use the following values:
  • Stacked: single
  • Progressive: progressive
  • Stepped: paged
  • Componentized: paged-componentized
• Bto Shop Price Calc: Catalog Price
  • Use defaults: defaults
  • Calculate from/to: min_max
  • Hide: hidden
• Bto Edit in Cart: Edit in cart
• Bto Sold Individually
  • product
  • configuration
• Bto Base Price: Regular Price
• Bto Data: 1 : Query Type: Component Options
  • product_ids
  • category_ids
• Bto Data: 1 : Assigned Ids : 0
• Bto Data : 1 : Selection Mode: Options Style
  • defaults
  • thumbnails
  • radios
• Bto Data : 1 : Default Id: Component options selector. Here you enter the IDs of the component products or categories.
• Bto Data : 1 : Title: Component Name
• Bto Data : 1 : Description: Component Description
• Bto Data : 1 : Thumbnail Id: Component Image
• Bto Data : 1 : Quantity Min: Quantity Min
• Bto Data : 1 : Quantity Max: Quantity Max
• Bto Data : 1 : Discount: Discount %
• Bto Data : 1 : Priced Individually: Priced Individually
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Shipped Individually: Shipped Individually
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Optional: Optional Checkbox
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Display Prices: Option Prices
  • absolute
  • relative
  • hidden

• Bto Data : 1 : Hide Product Title: Advanced Settings > Selection Details Visibility > Title
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Hide Product Description: Advanced Settings > Selection Details Visibility > Description
  • Yes
  • No

• Bto Data : 1 : Hide Product Thumbnail: Advanced Settings > Selection Details Visibility > Thumbnail
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Hide Product Price: Advanced Settings > Selection Details Visibility > Price
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Hide Subtotal Product: Advanced Settings > Subtotal Visibility > Subtotal
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Hide Subtotal Cart: Advanced Settings > Subtotal Visibility > Cart/checkout
  • Yes
  • No

• Bto Data : 1 : Hide Subtotal Orders: Advanced Settings > Subtotal Visibility > Order Details
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Show Orderby: Advanced Settings > Options Sorting
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Show Filters: Advanced Settings > Options Filtering
  • Yes
  • No
• Bto Data : 1 : Position
• Bto Data : 1 : Component Id: Component ID
• Bto Data : 1 : Composite Id
• Bto Data : 1 : Pagination Style
  • classic
  • load-more

Important: Composite Products allows you to add several Components to each product kit. The spreadsheet will distinguish between each component’s fields by adding a number after Bto Data in each column. We’ve shown you the columns for the first component; that’s why the spreadsheet shows Bto Data : 1. But if you add another component to your products you’ll see more columns with Bto Data : 2, Bto Data 3, and so on.

2- How to edit composite products using the spreadsheet

If you want to edit the Composite Product fields using the spreadsheet, you just need to edit the values in the cells of each product package. Then, after making all the changes you want, click Save. The products will be batch updated, so your server will be able to process hundreds and thousands of changes.

3- How to know which products are kit products and which aren’t

You can see which products are composite by going to the Product Type column. You can even convert products from simple into composite. Just select the values you want and click Save.

You can forget about having to open and edit each product at a time. Now you can bring all the benefits of spreadsheets into WordPress. You can edit hundreds of cells and save the changes once only.

4- How to search for WooCommerce product kits using any field as a search parameter

This section focuses on how to search for composite products using any field as a search parameter. Sometimes, you may want to do an advanced search, but WooCommerce doesn’t allow you to use more than a really limited number of search filters. Most of these limited search filters allow you to do general searches.

However, WP Sheet Editor is a product bulk manager that integrates a powerful, advanced search tool. The possibilities are way wider because you can use any field as a search parameter. In this section, we will focus on showing you how to use the composite product fields as search filters to find your products in seconds.

Here are some examples to search for your composite products:

a) How to search for composite products by product type

Once you install the Composite Products plugin, a new product type will be added to your WooCommerce store. If you want to see and manage package products in the spreadsheet, you can easily apply a product type search filter.

You need to follow these steps:

Open the Search tool.

Select these values to search for product kits:

• Enter Product type: composite (Product Type)
• Hit Run Search.

All the kit products will be displayed in the spreadsheet. You won’t see simple, variable, or any other product type in the spreadsheet. This is an advanced search that otherwise could not be done in WooCommerce.

b) How to search for composite products that can be edited in cart

If you want to know which product kits can or can’t be edited in the cart, you may have a hard time if you’re not using WP Sheet Editor. However, with this plugin, you can easily apply an advanced search filter that states these two conditions:

• Must be a composite product
• Must be editable in the cart

Start by opening the Search tool.

Now select these values to search for composite products that can be edited in the cart:

• Enter product types: composite (Product Type)
• Tick the Enable advanced filters checkbox.
• Field: Bto Edit in Cart
• Operator: =
• Value: You can tick for yes or untick for no.
• Hit Run Search.

Now, all your kit products that can/can’t be edited in the cart will be displayed in the spreadsheet.

c) How to search for composite products that are sold individually

Here we show you how to easily search for all your composite products that are sold individually. You just need to follow these simple steps:

Open the Search tool.

Now, select these values in the Search tool to search for all kit product that are sold individually:

• Enter product types: composite (Product Type)
• Tick the Enable advanced filters checkbox.
• Field: Bto Sold Individually
• Operator: =
• Value: Enter “yes” or “no”
• Click Run Search.

d) How to search for composite products by layout style

Composite Products allows you to select among four different layouts to show the components on the frontend:

• Stacked – Components are stacked.
• Progressive – Components are stacked, wrapped in toggle-boxes and configured in sequence.
• Stepped – Components are viewed and configured step-by-step. The configuration is summarized in a final Review step.
• Componentized – A variation of the Stepped layout that starts with a configuration Summary. Components can be configured in any sequence.

(Explanations taken from the Composite Products popups.)

With WP Sheet Editor, you can use this field as a search parameter to filter your products. Just follow these simple steps:

Open the Search tool.

Now select these values:

• Enter product types: composite (Product Type)
• Tick the Enable advanced filters checkbox.
• Field: Bto Style
• Operator: =
• Value: Here are the values you need to enter to search for stacked, progressive, stepped, or componentized:
  • Stacked: single
  • Progressive: progressive
  • Stepped: paged
  • Componentized: paged-componentized
• Click Run Search.

e) How to search for composite products by catalog price

The Catalog Price field states how products are calculated in the cart. These are the values the plugin allows you to use in this field:

• Use defaults – Displays the price of the default configuration. Requires Default Option to be set in all non-optional Components.
• Calculate from/to – Builds a price string based on the configuration with the lowest/highest price.
• Hide – Hides the catalog price.

If you want to search for all your product kits using the values in the Catalog Price field, you just need to follow these simple steps:

Open the Search tool.

Now select these values:

• Enter product types: composite (Product Type)
• Tick the Enable advanced filters checkbox.
• Field: Bto Shop Price Catalog
• Operator: =
• Value: Here are the values you can use in this field:
  • Use defaults: defaults
  • Calculate from/to: min_max
  • Hide: hidden
• Click Run Search.

Important:

• We’ve shown you just five examples, but you can use any kit products field as a search parameter.
• You can see what each column in the spreadsheet means and which values it accepts.
• Most composite fields will be in the Advanced Search section in the Search tool.

5- How to bulk edit composite products quickly/bulk update any field for hundreds of kit products

In this section, we show you how to bulk manage your composite products. Though you can manually apply changes to all your products in the spreadsheet and still save a lot of time without having to edit a product at a time, there are instances in which you may need to edit several products at once.

Here are some examples of situations in which you may need to bulk edit your compound products.

You may need to:

• Bulk edit the product kits visibility
• Bulk add the same component to all your composite products
• Bulk enable the optional feature to all components
• Bulk change the dropdown options style into thumbnails or radio buttons
• Bulk set the same default option to all the components
• Bulk change the type of discount for all products

We suggest a process like this:

1. Search for the products you’ll edit using the examples in the previous section or pick them using the checkbox picker in the first column of the spreadsheet. (Previous sections)
2. Open the Bulk Edit tool.
3. Apply the bulk updates in the sections below.

a) How to bulk edit product kit visibility

Composite Products allows you to edit the visibility of product components. You need to follow a process like this:

1. Open a product.
2. Go to Product Data.
3. Go to Components.
4. Go to Advanced Settings.
5. And edit the visibility of title, description, thumbnail, and price by ticking the corresponding checkbox.

On the other hand, with WP Sheet Editor, you can edit the visibility for all your filtered products with a few clicks. You don’t have to open and edit each product, but you can bulk update product component visibility with these simple steps:

Open the Bulk Edit tool once you’ve filtered the products.

Now select these values:

• Select the rows that you want to update: You can select any of these options:
  • Edit all the rows from my current search – This works perfectly to edit all your products or if you have previously searched products and they’re displayed in the spreadsheet.
  • I want to search rows to update and edit all the search results – This option will open the Search tool and allow you to search for the products you’ll edit.
  • Edit the rows that I selected manually in the spreadsheet – Use this if you’ve manually selected the products using the product picker. Just be careful to first select the composite product type using the Search tool.
• What field do you want to edit: Bto Data: [1, 2, 3…] : Hide Product Title
  • The number in brackets means which component you are editing. In the screenshot we show that we are editing component 3 of all the selected products.
• Select type of edit: Set value
• Replace existing value with this value: Here you need to enter “yes” if you want to show the title or “no” if you want to hide the title. Without quotation marks.
• Click Execute Now.

Important

• You need to repeat the same steps to edit these other fields:
  • Description
  • Thumbnail
  • Price
• If you don’t want to repeat the steps, you can select the four fields at once in What field do you want to edit, but you must select “yes” or “no” for all four fields.

b) How to bulk add the same component product to all composite products

Here we show you how to bulk add the same component to all your composite products.

This will work perfectly if you want to promote a new product by adding it as a component of all the selected products.

First, you need to search for all the product kits that have product IDs selected in Product Options.

Open the Search tool and select the following values:

• Enter product types: composite (Product Type)
• Tick the Enable advanced filters checkbox.
• Field: Bto Data: 1 : Query Type:
• Operator: =
• Value: product_ids
• Click Run Search.

Once the products are displayed in the spreadsheet, you need to open the Bulk Edit tool and select the following values:

• Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search
• What field do you want to edit: Bto Data : [1, 2, 3…] : Assigned Ids : 0
  • The number in brackets means which component you are editing. In the screenshot, we show that we are editing component 3 of all the selected products.
• Select type of edit: Set value
• Replace existing value with this value: Enter the product ID here.
• Click Execute Now.

With these simple steps, you’ll be able to bulk add the same component product to all the selected composite products. It’s a great way to bulk manage product components because you don’t have to open and edit your package products one by one.

c) How to bulk enable the ‘Optional’ feature to all components

Let’s learn how to bulk enable the “Optional” feature to all the components. With this bulk change, you’ll be able to make the components optional or a must.

First, you need to search for all the products you want to edit. You can see the previous sections on how to search product packages using any field as a search parameter.

Once you search for all the products you’ll edit, you need to open the Bulk Edit tool and select these values:

• Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search
• What field do you want to edit: Bto Data : [1, 2, 3…] : Optional
  • The number in brackets means which component you are editing. In the screenshot, we show that we are editing component 3 of all the selected products.
• Select type of edit: Set value
• Replace existing value with this value: yes
• Click Execute Now.

Important

• With these values, you can bulk manage the “Optional” feature for the components.
• You need to repeat the same steps for each component number. In the screenshot, we show you how to edit component 3 only.
• If you don’t want to repeat the steps, you can select the four fields at once in What field do you want to edit, but you must select “yes” or “no” for all four fields.

d) How to bulk change the dropdown options style into thumbnails or radio buttons

This section focuses on showing you how to edit the Options Style field for hundreds of composite products at a time. You can bulk change the options style from dropdowns style into thumbnails or radio buttons, radio buttons into dropdowns, etc.

After searching for the products you’ll edit, select the following values in the Bulk Edit tool:

• Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search
• What field do you want to edit: Bto Data : [1, 2, 3…] : Selection Mode
  • The number in brackets means which component you are editing. In the screenshot, we show that we are editing component 3 of all the selected products.
• Select type of edit: Set value
• Replace existing value with this value: You can enter “radios”, “dropdowns” or “thumbnails”
• Click Execute Now.

Important: If you want to replace a specific value with another, you need to select Replace in Select type of edit and enter the old and new values. See this screenshot as an example:

e) How to bulk set the same default option to all the components

Composite Products allows you to select a component product as the default option. If you have a certain product that is a component for several product kits, you can set this component as the default option for all of the kit products it’s part of. You need to know the product ID.

Just select these values in the Bulk Edit tool.

• Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search
• What field do you want to edit: Bto Data : [1, 2, 3…] : Default Id
  • The number in brackets means which component you are editing. In the screenshot, we show that we are editing component 3 of all the selected products.
• Select type of edit: Set value
• Replace existing value with this value: Enter the ID of the product you want to make default option.
• Click Execute Now.

f) How to bulk change the type of discount for all products

In this section, we’ll show you how to change the type of discount for all the components of selected composite products.

Composite Products allows you to select three types of discount for the components: absolute, relative, hidden.

With WP Sheet Editor, you can set the same type of discount to a whole group of selected components. You can also replace a specific value; for example, you can change from absolute discount to relative discount. You can change from absolute discount to hidden. And so on…

You just need to select the following values in the Bulk Edit tool:

• Select the rows that you want to update: Edit all the rows from my current search
• What field do you want to edit: Bto Data : [1, 2, 3…] : Display Prices
  • The number in brackets means which component you are editing. In the screenshot, we show that we are editing component 3 of all the selected products.
• Select type of edit: Set value
• Replace existing value with this value: absolute, for example.
• Click Execute Now.

Important: If instead of settings the same value you want to replace a specific value with another one, you can follow this example and enter your own values:

• Select type of edit: Replace
• Replace this: absolute
• With this: relative

Bulk managing/updating composite products is really simple with WP Sheet Editor! 🙂

We’ve shown you some examples of how you can:

1. View and manage your WooCommerce composite products in a spreadsheet – This is really useful and brings all the benefits from spreadsheets into your kit products management.
2. Search for WooCommerce composite products using any field and value as a search parameter – You can do advanced and combined searches. This makes your life easier because you don’t have any limits when it comes to filtering your product kits.
3. Bulk edit/bulk update composite products with a few clicks – You can edit all composite products, pick some products from the spreadsheet to edit them all, or edit all the search results. You can edit any field for all your selected composite products. Forget about having to open and edit one product kit at a time.

Important

• If you don’t understand what each column means in the spreadsheet and which values you need to use in order to filter or edit your composite products, you can see what each column in the spreadsheet means and which values it accepts.
• If even that is not enough, you can check the plugin’s REST API Reference.
• If even that is not enough, you can ask one of our experts by using the live chat on our website.

We really hope this ultimate guide to bulk edit WooCommerce composite products is helpful for you! Have a good one!

😉