Got a call from a client last week. Panicked. Their custom product filters—the ones their customers absolutely rely on—just stopped working. The product grid would just sit there, mocking them. Turns out, they’d just run a standard WooCommerce update, and the old jQuery code someone else wrote years ago was now conflicting with the new block-based architecture. Total mess. This is a classic example of the pain points showing up with the new WooCommerce Interactivity API.
For years, we could solve almost any front-end problem in WooCommerce with a bit of jQuery or a clever PHP hook. Need to filter products? Hijack the form submission, run an AJAX call, and replace the product grid HTML. Simple. Done. But that approach is officially a liability now. The new block editor and the Interactivity API that powers it are a different beast entirely.
Why Your Old Code Breaks with the Interactivity API
My first thought was, okay, just a script conflict. I’ll find the JavaScript error, dequeue the old script, and write a cleaner, vanilla JS version to do the same thing. And yeah, I found the error… but the fix wasn’t that simple. My new script would fire, I could grab the filter values, but any attempt to manipulate the product grid in the DOM did nothing. The block just ignored it. That’s the kicker. I was trying to treat it like static HTML, but it’s a living component managed by a client-side state. Trust me on this, it’s a rookie mistake in this new paradigm. I was fighting the framework.
The Interactivity API, which the official WooCommerce Developer Blog has been discussing, creates a sort of “black box” around blocks like the Product Collection. It manages its own state—what products are showing, the current page, etc. You can’t just reach in from the outside with jQuery and change the HTML. You have to speak its language. You have to tell the block’s “store” that something has changed and let it handle the update.
<!-- This is a simplified conceptual example -->
<button
data-wp-interactive="my-custom-filters"
data-wp-on--click="actions.my_custom_filters.applyColorFilter"
data-wp-context='{ "color": "blue" }'
>
Filter by Blue
</button>
<!--
In your script, you'd define the store and the action.
This action would then communicate with the main WooCommerce
product collection store to trigger a re-render.
-->
<script>
import { store, actions } from '@wordpress/interactivity';
store('my-custom-filters', {
actions: {
applyColorFilter: (context) => {
// Instead of $('#products').html('...'), you do this:
const { ref } = context;
const color = ref.context.color;
// This is where you'd interact with the *actual*
// WooCommerce query store. For example, by dispatching
// an action that the Product Collection block understands.
// E.g., actions.woocommerce.updateQuery({ color: color });
}
}
});
</script>So, What’s the Point?
The point is this: the old way is dead. Stacking more jQuery on top of a modern, state-driven system is like trying to fix a Tesla with a wrench. It’s the wrong tool, and you’ll probably just make things worse. To extend these new interactive blocks, you have to work with the API, not against it. This means:
- Understanding the basics of client-side state management.
- Using the provided directives (like
data-wp-on--click) to trigger actions. - Interacting with the block’s “store” to change data, instead of directly manipulating HTML.
Look, this stuff gets complicated fast. If you’re tired of debugging someone else’s mess and just want your site to work, drop my team a line. We’ve probably seen it before.
It’s a paradigm shift, for sure. But once you get it, it’s a much more stable and powerful way to build modern shopping experiences. You just have to be willing to let go of the old habits.
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