Understanding YITH WooCommerce Wishlist and HPOS Compatibility

Many WooCommerce store owners are preparing for the upcoming High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) system, a major change designed to improve database performance. A common question that arises is whether the popular YITH WooCommerce Wishlist plugin is compatible with this new technology. Based on community discussions and official responses, here's what you need to know.

What is HPOS and Why Does Compatibility Matter?

HPOS (High-Performance Order Storage) is WooCommerce's new database structure for managing orders. It replaces the traditional WordPress post tables with custom tables, leading to significant speed improvements, especially for stores with a high volume of orders. For a smooth transition, all plugins that interact with orders must be explicitly declared as compatible.

The Current State of YITH Wishlist and HPOS

The compatibility status of YITH WooCommerce Wishlist with HPOS has evolved over time. Analysis of support threads shows a clear timeline:

• Initial Development (Early-Mid 2022): Initially, the YITH WooCommerce Wishlist team confirmed that HPOS compatibility was on their roadmap but did not have a specific release date. Users enabling HPOS in WooCommerce would see a notice flagging the wishlist plugin as incompatible.
• Declaration of Compatibility (Mid-Late 2022): The YITH team later announced that an update had been released which declared official compatibility with the HPOS system. This means the plugin has been coded to work correctly with the new order tables.

Why You Might Still See an "Incompatible" Notice

Even after the YITH team declares compatibility, some users might still see a warning from WooCommerce. This can happen for a few reasons:

1. Outdated Plugin Version: The most common cause is running an old version of the YITH WooCommerce Wishlist plugin. You must update to the latest version to gain HPOS compatibility.
2. Caching: A stubborn site or browser cache might be serving an old notice. Clear all your caches after updating the plugin.
3. Conflicting Reports: In rare cases, the automatic compatibility check might not immediately recognize the update. The YITH team has stated that from their testing, the plugin is compatible, and such notices may be a false positive.

How to Ensure a Smooth Transition to HPOS

Follow these steps to safely enable HPOS on your store with YITH Wishlist:

1. Backup Your Site: Always create a full backup of your website before making significant changes.
2. Update Everything: Ensure your YITH WooCommerce Wishlist plugin, WooCommerce, WordPress, and all other plugins are updated to their latest versions.
3. Test on a Staging Site: First, enable HPOS on a staging or development copy of your live site. This allows you to test wishlist functionality without risking your live store.
4. Enable on Live Site: Once you have confirmed everything works correctly on your staging site, you can safely enable HPOS on your live store through WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > Features.

By following this guide and ensuring your plugins are up-to-date, you can confidently prepare your store for the future with HPOS and continue using the YITH WooCommerce Wishlist plugin without interruption.