If you want to remove categories and subcategories from product breadcrumbs on the product page you can use the woocommerce_get_breadcrumb
hook.
// change the breadcrumb on the product page
add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_breadcrumb', 'custom_breadcrumb', 20, 2 );
function custom_breadcrumb( $crumbs, $breadcrumb ) {
// only on the single product page
if ( ! is_product() ) {
return $crumbs;
}
// gets the first element of the array "$crumbs"
$new_crumbs[] = reset( $crumbs );
// gets the last element of the array "$crumbs"
$new_crumbs[] = end( $crumbs );
return $new_crumbs;
}
The code has been tested and works. Add it to your active theme's functions.php.
A good alternative is to set the primary product category for each product. You can do this by installing the Yoast SEO plugin.
You can use the _yoast_wpseo_primary_product_cat
product meta to set the id of the primary product category.
After setting the primary category id by editing the product in the
backend or importing a .csv file you will only need to change the
permalink and breadcrumbs based on the primary product category.
To update the product permalink:
// update the product permalink based on the primary product category
add_filter( 'wc_product_post_type_link_product_cat', 'change_product_permalink_by_cat', 10, 3 );
function change_product_permalink_by_cat( $term, $terms, $post ) {
// get the primary term as saved by Yoast
$primary_cat_id = get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_yoast_wpseo_primary_product_cat', true );
// if there is a primary and it's not currently chosen as primary
if ( $primary_cat_id && $term->term_id != $primary_cat_id ) {
// find the primary term in the term list
foreach ( $terms as $term_key => $term_object ) {
if ( $term_object->term_id == $primary_cat_id ) {
// return this as the primary term
$term = $terms[ $term_key ];
break;
}
}
}
return $term;
}
To update the product breadcrumbs on the product page:
// change the breadcrumb on the product page
add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_breadcrumb', 'custom_breadcrumb', 20, 2 );
function custom_breadcrumb( $crumbs, $breadcrumb ) {
// only on the single product page
if ( ! is_product() ) {
return $crumbs;
}
global $product;
$new_crumbs = array();
if ( $product->get_meta( '_yoast_wpseo_primary_product_cat', true ) ) {
// gets the first element of the array "$crumbs"
$new_crumbs[] = reset( $crumbs );
// gets the id of the primary product category
$primary_cat_id = $product->get_meta( '_yoast_wpseo_primary_product_cat', true );
// create an array with all parent categories (based on the id of the primary product category)
$parent_categories = get_ancestors( $primary_cat_id, 'product_cat' );
$parent_categories = array_reverse($parent_categories);
$parent_categories[] = $primary_cat_id;
// for each product category it gets the name and the permalink
foreach ( $parent_categories as $cat_id ) {
$term = get_term_by( 'id', $cat_id, 'product_cat' );
$new_crumbs[] = array(
0 => $term->name,
1 => esc_url( get_term_link( $term, 'product_cat' ) )
);
}
// gets the last element of the array "$crumbs"
$new_crumbs[] = end( $crumbs );
} else {
// gets the first element of the array "$crumbs"
$new_crumbs[] = reset( $crumbs );
// gets the last element of the array "$crumbs"
$new_crumbs[] = end( $crumbs );
}
return $new_crumbs;
}
The code has been tested and works. Add it to your active theme's functions.php.