If Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color & Image Swatches shows no swatches, confirm Enable Plugin is ticked at WooCommerce > Settings > Variation swatches, set the attribute Type to Color, Image, or Label under Products > Attributes, and make sure the product is a Variable product with the attribute marked Used for variations.
Swatches do not appear at all #
- Confirm the plugin is on: go to WooCommerce > Settings > Variation swatches and check that Enable Plugin (
alg_wc_civs_enable) is ticked. - Check the attribute type: the attribute must be set to Color, Image, or Label under Products > Attributes. An attribute left as Select stays a dropdown.
- Confirm the product is a Variable product and the attribute is marked Used for variations. Swatches replace the variation dropdown, which only exists on variable products.
- Make sure each term has a value: a color in the color picker, an image, or label text. Empty terms render an empty swatch.
Swatches show on the product page but not on shop or category pages #
By default, Scripts Only on Product Page (alg_wc_civs_scripts_on_product_page) is on, so the swatch JavaScript and CSS load on single product pages only. Turn it off in the settings if you need swatches to work on archive pages.
Color squares appear but have no color #
The term has no color assigned. Go to Products > Attributes, click Configure terms, edit the term, and pick a color. The value is stored in the term meta key alg_wc_civs_term_color_color.
Image swatches are blank or throw a notice #
An Image-type term with no image set has nothing to display. Edit the term and upload an image. If you see a PHP notice on the product page, it usually means an image term was left empty: set an image on every term of that attribute.
General checks #
- Plugin conflicts: temporarily deactivate other plugins to see if the swatches return, then reactivate one at a time to find the culprit.
- Theme markup: Variation Swatches attaches to WooCommerce’s standard variation dropdown. Themes that heavily rewrite the variations form can prevent the swatches from binding. Test with a default theme such as Storefront to confirm.
- Caching: clear your page cache and browser cache after changing settings or attribute types.
Still stuck? #
Our team answers every ticket on the Variation Swatches support forum.