---
title: Samples
summary: Let shoppers order samples of an option's values, such as fabrics, paint colors, floor finishes or foundation shades, several at once, from a link under the values on a product page.
url: https://lanternwp.com/docs/samples
updated: 2026-11-05
---

# Samples

With LanternWP Companion, shoppers can order samples of the values of a product option before they buy: the fabrics of a sofa, the colors of a paint, the finishes of a floor, the shades of a foundation. A link under the option's values on the product page, such as "Order free samples" (in the panel of the value chosen up close, when the values have pictures: [Product page layouts](product-page.md#the-chosen-material-up-close)), opens the samples in a sheet: from the side of the screen on a computer, from the bottom on a phone. Shoppers check the ones they want, up to the most one order holds, and add them all to the cart with one button. The cart then opens in the sheet's place.

![The samples sheet on a Transom product page on a computer: Fabric swatches, Free, Up to 5 per order and the shipping time under the title, the fabrics under their families, three checked, 3 of 5 chosen and Add 3 swatches to cart](images/samples-store-1280.jpg)

![The same sheet on a phone, rising from the bottom of the screen](images/samples-store-375.jpg)

The samples are an ordinary WooCommerce product of your own, so their price, stock and shipping stay WooCommerce's. The sheet's title is that product's name. Under it are the price of one sample ("Free" when every sample costs nothing), the most per order and, with [shipping times](shipping-times.md) on, the shipping time of the product's shipping class. The values show under their [families](value-families.md), such as Bouclé and Velvet, or in one grid without families. The value the shopper chose on the page is already checked when the sheet opens, and says **Chosen on the page**. A sentence in the sheet's foot says that colors on a screen are never exact.

## Make the samples product

1. Go to **Products → Add new product** and choose **Variable product**.
2. Give it the name shoppers see on the sheet, such as "Fabric swatches" or "Paint samples".
3. In **Product data → Attributes**, add the option the samples are of, such as **Fabric**, with all its values, and check **Used for variations**.
4. In **Product data → Variations**, generate a variation for each value. Give each the price of one sample (0 for free samples) and keep it in stock.
5. In **Product data → Shipping**, choose the samples' own shipping class, such as "Samples". What that class costs is set in each shipping method, in **WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping**: give it a cost of 0 there to ship samples free.
6. To keep the product out of your shop pages and search, set **Catalog visibility** to **Hidden**, in the **Publish** box. To sell one of each sample, check **Sold individually** in **Product data → Inventory**.
7. Select **Publish**.

A value shows on the sheet once its variation can be bought and the value has a picture: the samples are chosen by their pictures. The pictures are the attribute's own, its terms' images, as product swatches use them (the attribute's **Type** is **Color / image**, see [product swatches](product-swatches.md)).

## Choose it on the attribute

1. Go to **Products → Attributes** and select **Edit** under the attribute, such as **Fabric**.
2. In **Samples product**, choose the product. The list holds the variable products that vary by this attribute.
3. Select **Update**.

The list of attributes then says **Samples:** and the product's name under the attribute. If some values have no sample to show, the attribute's screen says which, as does the samples product's own screen, for example "2 terms of Fabric have no sample to show (a variation of the samples product, and a picture): Rust Velvet, Cognac Leather.". Until an attribute has a samples product, the **Samples** row in **Appearance → LanternWP → Features** says so, with a link to **Products → Attributes**.

![The Samples details in Appearance → LanternWP → Features: its description, the state On and Samples per order](images/samples-details.jpg)

## Set the most per order

1. Go to **Appearance → LanternWP → Features** and open **Samples**.
2. In **Samples per order**, enter the most samples one order holds, from 1 to 50. It is 5 until you change it.
3. Select **Save**.

The sheet counts the samples already in the cart: with 3 of 5 there, it says "Your cart has 3 of 5 already." and lets the shopper choose 2 more. With the cart full, it says "That is the most per order. Remove one from your cart to choose another." and its button stays off. When a shopper has chosen all that fits, the other samples cannot be checked, and the sheet says "That is the most per order. Remove one to choose another." The cart keeps the same limit, also for samples added another way: an **Add to cart** that would pass it is refused with a sentence such as "An order holds up to 5 samples, and your cart has 5.", and a cart over it cannot be checked out until some are removed.

## Change the words

The link and the sheet speak of samples until you change them, for example to "swatches":

1. Go to **Appearance → Editor → Patterns**, choose **Add to Cart + Options** and open **Variable Product Add to Cart + Options**, the options and Add to cart of a product with variations. Select the **Samples** block under an option's values. There it shows as its link under every option; in the store it shows only under an attribute with a samples product.
2. In the block's settings, under **Samples**, edit **Link under the values** (such as "Order free swatches"), the button for each number (such as "Add {count} swatch to cart" and "Add {count} swatches to cart", where {count} is the number chosen) and **Note on colors**. An empty field keeps the general words its placeholder shows.
3. Select **Save**.

When every sample costs the same and more than nothing, the button adds the total, such as "Add 3 samples to cart · $4.50".

## A samples page, or a button anywhere

Shoppers can also choose samples on a page of your own, such as "Free fabric swatches", which a link in your menu, footer or [announcement bar](announcement-bar.md) leads to, or from a button in any section, such as one about your fabrics:

1. Open the page in **Pages**, or add one.
2. Insert the **Samples** block. On a page it is the sheet itself, in the page, with nothing chosen yet.
3. In the block's settings, choose the attribute in **Samples of**, or leave **The first attribute with samples**. In **Show as**, keep **Sheet in the page**, or choose **Button that opens the sheet** and write its words in **Button text**, such as "Order free swatches". Change the sheet's words as above.
4. Select **Save** or **Publish**.

In a section inserted from a pattern, such as the home page's Materials, select **Edit pattern** first to reach the block's settings.

## Turn it off

Samples are on until you turn them off.

1. Go to **Appearance → LanternWP → Features**.
2. In the **Samples** row, turn the switch off and select **Save**. The row then says **Off**, and no link or sheet shows; the samples product stays a product of your store.