How to check if WooCommerce is active

When developing for WooCommerce, ensuring that WooCommerce is installed and active before your code runs is crucial. This prevents errors related to missing WooCommerce functions or classes.

There are a few methods to achieve this. The first is to execute your code on the woocommerce_loaded action. This approach guarantees that WooCommerce and its functionalities are fully loaded and available for use. This is fired around the same time as the core plugins_loaded action.

		add_action( 'woocommerce_loaded', 'prefix_woocommerce_loaded' );

function prefix_woocommerce_loaded() {
	// Custom code here. WooCommerce is active and all plugins have been loaded...
}

	

Note: At this stage, WordPress has not yet initialized the current user data.

Another method is to execute your code on the woocommerce_init action. This is executed right after WooCommerce is active and initialized. This action (and the before_woocommerce_init action) fires in the context of the WordPress init action so at this point current user data has been initialized.

		add_action( 'woocommerce_init', 'prefix_woocommerce_init' );

function prefix_woocommerce_init() {
	// Custom code here. WooCommerce is active and initialized...
}

	

Note: The before_woocommerce_init hook is also an option, running just before WooCommerce’s initialization

Using the above hooks grants access to WooCommerce functions, enabling further condition checks. For instance, you might want to verify WooCommerce’s version to ensure compatibility with your code:

		add_action( 'woocommerce_init', 'prefix_woocommerce_init' );

function prefix_woocommerce_init() {
	// Only continue if we have access to version 8.7.0 or higher.
	if ( version_compare( wc()->version, '8.7.0', '<' ) ) {
		return;
	}

	// Custom code here. WooCommerce is active and initialized...
}

	

Choosing the right hook based on your development needs ensures your WooCommerce extensions or customizations work seamlessly and efficiently.