---
title: Display Related Categories with the Widget
description: Show the WooCommerce related categories list in a sidebar or any widget area with the widget.
url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/woocommerce-related-categories-widget/"
updated: "2026-09-27"
category: How to
---

# Display Related Categories with the Widget

To display related categories in a widget area with Related Categories for WooCommerce, go to WPFactory > Related Categories, tick Widget under Position Options on the Single or Archives sub-tab, and save. Then add the Related Categories: Single Product Page or Related Categories: Archives widget in Appearance > Widgets. Both widgets are free.

### Before you start

- The section you want must be enabled: **Single** for the product-page widget, **Archives** for the archives widget.
- The **Widget** option must be turned on for that section.

### Enable the widget

1. Go to **WPFactory > Related Categories** (also reachable at **WooCommerce > Settings > Related Categories**).
2. On the **Single** or **Archives** sub-tab, under **Position Options**, tick **Widget** (`widget`) and save.
3. Go to **Appearance > Widgets** and add the widget. The single-page widget is named **Related Categories: Single Product Page** and the archives widget is named **Related Categories: Archives**.

![Appearance / Widgets showing the Related Categories widget added to a sidebar](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce-related-categories-widget-1.png)

### Widget options

Each widget has its own fields, so a widget can show a different list from the one hooked into the page:

- **Title**: an optional heading above the list.
- **Limit** and **Columns**: how many categories, and the column count.
- **Hide empty**, **Order by** and **Order**: the same display and sorting choices as the main settings.
- **Visibility** (archives widget only): show for all categories, categories with children only, or categories with no children only.
- **Template Options**: **Header**, **Footer**, **Template** and **Glue**. The widget renders with a custom template, so the default markup is an unordered list (`<ul>` / `<li>`). Use the same placeholders as any Custom template, for example `%category_name%` and `%category_link%`.

### Widget-level relate options

By default, a widget uses the Relate Options saved in the plugin settings. To give a widget its own relate rules, turn on **Override "Relate Options" in widget settings** (`widget_override_relate_options`) under Position Options for that section. The widget form then shows its own Relate Options (Siblings, Parents, Children, Current and, where enabled, the Pro per-category, per-tag, per-taxonomy and per-product options).

### Get more control

The widget is free. [Related Categories for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/related-categories-for-woocommerce/) Pro adds hand-picked related categories per product, category, tag and custom taxonomy. [See what Pro unlocks](https://wpfactory.com/item/related-categories-for-woocommerce/).

Related articles

- [Relate Options: How Related Categories Are Chosen](https://wpfactory.com/docs/woocommerce-related-categories-relate-options/)
- [Translate Related Categories with WPML and Polylang](https://wpfactory.com/docs/related-categories-multilingual-wpml-polylang/)
- [Archives Options: Related Categories on Shop and Category Pages](https://wpfactory.com/docs/improving-shop-archives/)
- [Single Product Page Options for Related Categories](https://wpfactory.com/docs/single-product-settings/)
- [Related Categories Shortcodes](https://wpfactory.com/docs/woocommerce-related-categories-shortcodes/)