Configuration

Versus is configured on one screen: the Versus menu in wp-admin (capability manage_woocommerce). Everything is stored as one array under the versus_settings option. Each option below carries a “?” help tooltip on the settings page, wired to its description via aria-describedby.

General

Enable comparison

The master switch (enabled, on by default). When off, no compare buttons, account tab or table render anywhere on the storefront, and the front-end CSS/JS are not enqueued, but your other settings here are kept for when you turn it back on.

Maximum products

max_items, the cap on how many products fit in one comparison, clamped to 2-6 on save (default 4). When a shopper adds one more than this, the oldest item drops off automatically so the table never grows unreadably wide.

Placement & access

• Shop & archive loops (show_on_loop), a Compare button beneath every product in the shop, category, tag and search loops.
• Single product page (show_on_single), a Compare button on each individual product page.
• Allow guests (allow_guests), when on, logged-out visitors can build a comparison, stored in a versus_compare_session cookie for six months. When off, clicking Compare sends them to log in first.
• Account menu (show_in_account), adds a Compare tab to My Account so signed-in customers can return to their saved comparison. This tab registers the versus-compare endpoint; after you change this setting, save Settings > Permalinks once so the rewrite rule flushes (see Getting started).

Comparison table

Choose which standard fields appear as rows. These are stored under fields[...]:

• Price (fields[price]), each product’s current price, including any sale price.
• SKU (fields[sku]), useful where customers reference part or model numbers.
• Short description (fields[description]), each product’s short description, for an at-a-glance summary.
• Availability (fields[availability]), the stock-status row (In stock, Out of stock, On backorder).

Then the table-wide toggles:

• Product attributes (show_attributes), adds one row per product attribute (colour, size, material). Only attributes that at least one compared product defines are shown.
• Highlight differences (highlight_differences), tints any row where the products’ values are not identical.
• Default to differences only (show_only_differences), pre-ticks the “show only differences” toggle on the comparison page, hiding identical rows. Shoppers can untick it to see everything. Off by default.

Column header controls

Each product is a column; these toggle what its header shows:

• Product image (show_product_image), the product thumbnail, with space reserved so the table never jumps as images load.
• Add to cart (show_add_to_cart), an add-to-cart button under each product, shown only when the product is purchasable and in stock.
• Remove button (show_remove_button), lets shoppers drop a single product without clearing the whole list.

Labels & text

The Labels & text section overrides the front-end strings without editing translation files. Leave any field blank to use its translated default:

• button_add_text, the “Compare” button (default Compare).
• button_remove_text, the “Remove” button (default Remove).
• compare_link_text, the link that opens the table (default View comparison).
• differences_toggle_text, the differences toggle (default Show only differences).
• clear_text, the clear-all button (default Clear all).
• empty_text, the message shown before any products are added (default No products added to compare yet.).

For full localisation, translate the versus text domain instead, a versus.pot template ships in /languages, and WordPress loads translations automatically.

What is fixed by design

• The product name is always the column header and is not a toggleable row.
• The product attribute rows show only attributes a compared product actually defines.
• There is no shortcode in the free edition and no theme template override, the button and table markup are rendered from the plugin’s bundled templates/ and are not looked up in your theme.

Storage and cleanup

Comparison items live in a single {prefix}versus_compare_items table, keyed by product id plus exactly one owner (a user id or a guest session id). Settings live in versus_settings; the schema marker in versus_db_version. Deleting the plugin runs the uninstall routine, which removes both options and drops the table. Everything stays in your own database, Versus contacts no external service.

Ecosystem integrations

No setting. With Shortlist active, a Compare these button appears under the wishlist when it holds two or more products and the visitor may compare (Enable comparison on; guests only with Allow guests on). It follows Maximum products: when the wishlist holds more, only the first ones in wishlist order are compared, and a note under the button says so. The button text cannot be changed.