Sonic Pixel Product Spin for WooCommerce

Product Spin attaches an ordered set of photos from the media library to a WooCommerce product and shows them as a 360° spin. The frames are ordinary media-library attachments served by your own site, and the WooCommerce product gallery is never replaced.

Setup

You need WordPress 6.0 or higher, WooCommerce 7.0 or higher and PHP 7.4 or higher.

• Install. In your dashboard go to Plugins → Add New, search for "Sonic Pixel Product Spin for WooCommerce", then Install Now and Activate. To install by hand, upload the sonicpixel-product-spin folder to /wp-content/plugins/ and activate it from the Plugins menu.
• Add frames. Edit a WooCommerce product. In the 360° Spin box, click Add / Edit frames and select 24–72 photos shot in order around the product. Frame 1 is the resting view.
• Order them. Drag the thumbnails to reorder if needed.
• Choose a placement. None, Extra tab, Below product summary, or First gallery slide. You can also turn on autoplay.
• Update the product. To place the spin yourself, paste the shortcode [sppfw_product_spin] into any page or product description. The shortcode works whenever the product has frames, even with the placement set to None.
• Catalog badge. Shop and category pages show a small 360° badge on products that have frames. To turn it off, go to WooCommerce → Settings → Products.

Shooting the frames

• Keep the framing consistent by mounting the camera, or the product, so it does not move between shots.
• Rotate the product in even steps. 24 frames (15°) is the practical minimum, 36 frames (10°) is the usual sweet spot, and 72 frames (5°) is very smooth but heavier.
• Keep the lighting and background constant. Export JPEGs; WordPress creates the intermediate sizes.

Common errors

The spin does not appear on the product page

Check that the product has frames and that its placement is not set to None. With None, only the shortcode shows the spin. If you chose First gallery slide and your theme does not use the standard WooCommerce gallery container, the spin appears below the product summary instead of nowhere. See the theme notes below.

The shortcode shows as plain text

Since version 1.2.5 the shortcode is [sppfw_product_spin]. The unprefixed [product_spin] is no longer registered, so replace it in any page or product description that still uses it.

The shop page shows no spin

That is by design. Shop and category pages show only the small 360° badge, and the viewer's CSS and JavaScript are not loaded on archives. They load only on pages that actually render a spin.

The frames are missing from the media library

Spin frames are hidden from the general media library and from the media modal by default, except inside this plugin's own frame picker. Use the Spin frames filter on the Media Library to list them. The psfw_hide_frames_from_library filter turns the hiding off.

The spin looks steppy

Use more frames. Any count of two or more spins fully, but 24 is the practical minimum for smooth motion and 36 is the usual sweet spot.

Known conflicts

Themes and the First gallery slide placement

This placement targets .woocommerce-product-gallery.

• Storefront and Astra keep the classic FlexSlider wrapper, so the spin is a real first slide with a 360° thumbnail badge.
• Blocksy keeps the gallery container but rebuilds its slides in its own Flexy slider from attachment IDs. The spin is shown above that slider in the gallery column rather than as a Flexy slide.
• A bespoke product template that does not output the container, or does not run woocommerce_single_product_image_thumbnail_html, gets the below-summary fallback.

Themes that strip shortcodes or tab filters

The Extra tab, Below product summary and shortcode placements work as long as the theme does not strip shortcodes or the WooCommerce tab filters.

The old Product Spin for WooCommerce

The plugin was renamed in 1.2.5 at the plugin review team's request, and the old and new versions cannot be active together. If you are moving from the old plugin, follow the steps under Uninstall below.

Uninstall

Deleting the plugin from the Plugins screen runs its uninstall script. It removes the plugin's product meta (the frame assignments, placement and autoplay setting), the flag that marks an image as a spin frame, and the catalog badge setting. The image files themselves stay in your media library.

If the other-named copy of the plugin (the old product-spin-for-woocommerce folder, or the renamed sonicpixel-product-spin one) is still installed, the uninstall script removes nothing, because that copy reads the same data.

Moving from the old Product Spin for WooCommerce

• Deactivate the old plugin, then activate the renamed one.
• Remove the old product-spin-for-woocommerce folder with FTP or a file manager.
• Do not use Plugins → Delete on the old plugin. Its uninstall deletes the spin data the renamed plugin uses. Frame data and settings otherwise carry over.
• Replace any [product_spin] shortcodes with [sppfw_product_spin].

FAQ

Does this replace my product gallery?

No. The gallery is never swapped out for a custom viewer. First gallery slide inserts the spin as an extra first slide and leaves the theme's thumbnails, lightbox, zoom and variation-image swapping in place.

Where are the frames stored?

In your site's media library, as normal attachments. New frames uploaded from the product box go to uploads/product-spins/product-{id}/. The plugin stores attachment IDs in product meta and resolves the URLs when the page renders. Nothing is hosted by a third party.

How many frames do I need for a full 360°?

Any count of two or more spins fully, because one drag across the viewer maps to the whole set. 24 frames is the practical minimum, 36 is the usual sweet spot and 72 is very smooth but doubles the payload.

How can people use the spin?

Drag with a mouse, swipe by touch (with inertia after a flick), or use the arrow keys. Autoplay is optional. The remaining frames load on first interaction or when the viewer scrolls into view.

Will this work with my custom theme?

The Extra tab, Below product summary and shortcode placements work as long as the theme does not strip shortcodes or the WooCommerce tab filters. For First gallery slide, see the theme notes above.

Are the viewer assets loaded on every product?

No. They load only when a spin is actually rendered: a product with a placement, or a page that contains the shortcode. Catalog pages load only a tiny badge stylesheet, and only when the badge is enabled.

Does it work with variable products?

Version 1 attaches one spin per product, not per variation.

Is it compatible with High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS)?

Yes. The plugin declares HPOS compatibility, and it does not read or write orders.

Does it collect any data?

No. The plugin does not collect, store or transmit personal data. It stores product meta (frame attachment IDs, placement, autoplay) on your site.