How Do I Use Categories in My Store?

Categories have many features, such as how you would like your products listed, creating subcategories, sorting displays, and product options templates. This guide will cover all aspects of category management for your online store.

Adding Categories

To add a new main category to your online store:

1. Go to Products > Categories.

2. Look to the top right and click the +Add New button.

3. Type in the new category name in the Category field.

4. Select New in the "Where to place it" section.

5. Click the Save button towards the lower right of the section.

Your category is now created and can be populated with products.

Adding Sub-Categories

To add a new sub-category:

1. Go to Products > Categories.

2. Look to the top right and click the +Add New button.

3. Type in the new category name in the Category field.

4. Select the parent category for this sub in the "Where to place it" section.

5. Click the Save button towards the lower right of the section.

Your sub-category is now created and can be populated with products.

Rename Categories

To rename/edit the name of an existing category:

1. Go to Products > Categories.

2. Click on the name of the category you would like to edit.

3. On the next page, make any necessary changes to the name of the category.

4. Click Save to commit your changes

Your category will be renamed.

Change the Sorting Display of Categories

To change the sorting display of your categories:

1. Go to Products > Categories.

2. Use the crosshair icon to the left of each category to click, drag and drop it into your preferred sorting order.

3. Click Save to commit your changes.

Your categories are now sorted in this order on both the Online Store Manager and your store front.

Hide Categories or Subcategories

To hide the categories or subcategories from the sidebar on your Home Page, you have two options.

Hide all

One option is to hide all Categories and/or Sub-Categories in the store.

1. Go to Settings > General > Store Settings.

2. Click on the Product Display tab.

3. Check the checkbox next to the Hide Categories or Hide Subcategories fields.

4. Click Save Changes.

Hide select

The second option is to hide only selected Categories and/or Sub-Categories in the store.

1. Go to Products > Categories.

Look to the far right of the category or sub-category you'd like to hide. There, you will see an Action Wheel drop-down icon.

2. Click on the category's Action Wheel.

3. Select Hide.

4. Click Save to commit your changes.

Navigation to the hidden categories will not be possible, but the category itself will still be visible by going directly to the category's URL.

Manage Content

There are two ways to manage the written content of your category pages. You can edit the content of all category pages as a whole, or you can edit content for each category page individually.

Manage Content in General

To edit content for all category pages in general:

1. Go to Content > Titles & Content.

2. Scroll down to the "Main Pages" section and click Category Page (or look to the far right and click on the Action Wheel/edit option).

The Title & Content page will have the following options available to you:

• Page Title
  This will be the title shown at the top of the page (browser tab) when viewing the store's categories.

• Hide Left Bar/Right Bar/Top Menu
  These checkboxes will allow you to hide the top, left, or right bars of the site (when viewing the categories).

• Meta Tags
  This field will be used for SEO Meta Tags specifically for the category pages. To the right, you will have a link labeled "Tag Wizard" that will help you add properly formatted meta-tags.

• Header
  Content entered into the Header will appear at the top of category pages. You can use either your own HTML content or use WYSIWYG to add content.

• Footer
  Content entered into the Footer will appear at the bottom of category pages. You can use either your own HTML content or use WYSIWYG to add content.

Once you have completed tailoring your content, click Save at the top right to commit your changes.

Product Column Display

To choose how many product columns display on all category pages in general:

1. Go to Settings > General > Store Settings.

2. Click on the Product Display tab at the top

3. Look to the "Categories" section.

4. Use the "Product Columns / Category Page" drop-down to select the number of columns.

5. Click Save at the top right to commit your changes.

Your categories will now display products in the selected number of columns.

Subcategory Column Display

To choose how many columns are used to display the sub-categories on all category pages in general:

1. Go to Settings > General > Store Settings.

2. Click on the Product Display tab at the top.

3. Look to the "Categories" section.

4. Use the "Subcategory Columns / Category Page" drop-down to select the number of columns.

5. Click Save at the top right to commit your changes.

Your sub-category lists will now display in the selected number of columns when viewing their parent category.

Manage Content for Specific Category Pages

The Managing Content settings described in this article are changes that will be applied to all categories globally in the store. These settings are treated as a default for the store as a whole.

These next settings will be for changes to individual categories and will override your default information.

To edit content for a specific category page:

1. Go to Products > Categories.

2. Click on the name of the Category you'd like to edit.

The page will be displayed in two sections. On the left side, you will have the main content section with the following settings:

• Category Name
  Allows you to rename the category as already discussed at the start of this article.

• Link
  Allows you to redirect someone to a different URL/address when they click on this category
  In this regard, the category won't contain products or content but rather be used only as a link.

• Subcategory of
  This section will let you see at a glance if the category is a main category or a sub-category belonging to a parent.
  You can use the "Change" link to change its sub-category status.

• Info
  The info section will give you an at a glance look at the category's structure. You will also have the following links:

  • Browse Subcategories
    View any subcategories belonging to the category

  • Browse Products
    View products assigned to the category

  • Product Sorting
    View and edit the sorting of products as they are seen when viewing the category

• Page Content
  Here, you will see the individual content areas for the category (similar to Titles & Content), including:

  • Category Header
    Content entered into the Category Header will appear at the top of the category page. You can use either your own HTML content or use WYSIWYG to add content.

  • Category Footer
    Content entered into the Category Footer will appear at the bottom of the category page. You can use either your own HTML content or use WYSIWYG to add content.

Additional Settings

On the right side of the Category Details Page, you will find additional options with a +Icon next to each. Clicking on the + icon will expand each selection.

Your options here are:

Page Settings

These settings will allow you to control the basic layout of the individual category page.

• Template/Category Page
  If you have additional templates created for your categories, you can use this to assign a different style to the category.
  Note: this will require creating your own category_x.html template and uploading it to your store's theme folder via FTP

• Default Product Sorting
  Here you will select the default "Order By" sorting that will be used for the category page.

• Subcategory Columns/Category Page
  Allows you to specify how many columns will be used in the display of sub-categories. 
  Note: "0" will use global settings (see Settings > General > Store Settings | Product Display tab).

• Product Columns / Category Specials
  Allows you to specify how many columns will be used on the category to display items marked as "Category Specials." 
  Note: "0" will use global settings (see Settings > General > Store Settings | Product Display tab).

• Product Columns / Category General Items
  Allows you to specify how many columns will be used on the category to display its regular items. 
  Note: "0" will use global settings (see Settings > General > Store Settings | Product Display tab).

• Items per page / Category Special Items
  Allows you to specify how many items marked as "Category Specials" will be shown on each page before pagination.
  Note: "0" will use global settings (see Settings > General > Store Settings | Product Display tab).

• Items per page / Category General Items
  Allows you to specify how many items will be shown on each page before pagination.
  Note: "0" will use global settings (see Settings > General > Store Settings | Product Display tab).

• Display Type / Category Special Items
  Allows you to control how the Category Special Items will be displayed on the category page.
  Your choices are:

  • Thumbnails
    Displays a thumbnail of the item with pricing and add-to-cart options below.

  • Listing
    Displays the name of the item (no image) with pricing and add-to-cart options laterally across.

  • Details
    Displays a thumbnail of the item with pricing and add-to-cart to the right of the image.

• Display Type / Category General Products
  Allows you to control how the Items will be displayed on the category page.
  Your choices are:

  • Thumbnails
    Displays a thumbnail of the item with pricing and add-to-cart options below.

  • Listing
    Displays the name of the item (no image) with pricing and add-to-cart options laterally across.

  • Details
    Displays a thumbnail of the item with pricing and add-to-cart to the right of the image.

• Allow Access
  This drop menu allows you to limit access to the category to either ALL of your customers (default) or customers belonging to a specific customer pricing group.

• On Fail Redirect to
  If using group-specific access mentioned above, and the user is not part of the specified group, you can redirect them to another page using this field.

• Hide Left Bar
  Mark this checkbox to hide the left column from the category 
  Note: This can also be done globally on the store using the Content > Titles & Content section.

• Hide Top Menu
  Mark this checkbox to hide the top navigation menu from the category 
  Note: This can also be done globally on the store using the Content > Titles & Content section.

• Hide Right Bar
  Mark this checkbox to hide the right column from the category 
  Note: This can also be done globally on the store using the Content > Titles & Content section.

SmartCategories™

If you would like to make the category a SmartCategory, your settings will be found here. For more information on using SmartCategories, please click here.

SEO Title & Meta tags

As in the case of product listings, your category names and titles are used for the default Search Engine Optimization (SEO) processes. However, you can also further define these parameters within the category options section.

Under SEO Title and Meta tags, you have access to the following parameters:

• Title
  Use this field to edit the category page's title at the top left of the browser window.

• Custom File Name
  Similar to custom file names for products, this field allows you to set a specific file name for the category page as well. (Must end in either .htm or .html)

• Meta Tags
  Create specific Meta Tags

Product Display

These settings will allow you to control how the product listing pages will display when accessed via the category.

• Template / Product Page
  If you have additional templates created for your products, you can use this to assign a different style to the category.
  Note: this will require creating your own listing_x.html template and uploading it to your store's theme folder via FTP

• Product Columns / Related Products
  Allows you to specify how many columns will be used on the product pages to display related items.  
  Note: "0" will use global settings (see Settings >General >Store Settings | Product Display tab)

• Product Columns / Up-sell Products
  Allows you to specify how many columns will be used on the product pages to display related items.  
  Note: "0" will use global settings (see Settings >General >Store Settings | Product Display tab)

• Display Type / Related Items
  Allows you to control how the Related Items will be displayed on the product page.
  Your choices are:

  • Link
    Default method of showing related items as linked product pages.

  • Checkbox
    Displays items with checkboxes allowing the shopper to add them to their order.

  • Qty Box 
    Displays items with Qty Boxes which can be used by the shopper to add quantities of each item to their order.

• Display Type / Up-sell Items
  Allows you to control how the Up Sell Items will be displayed on the product page.
  Your choices are:

  • Link
    Default method of showing related items as linked product pages.

  • Checkbox
    Displays items with checkboxes allowing the shopper to add them to their order.

  • Qty Box 
    Displays items with Qty Boxes which can be used by the shopper to add quantities of each item to their order.

• Category-Wide Product Options
  This section allows you to add options to products viewed from a specific category.

Again, each change made individually to a category (with these settings) will override the default settings made in the global settings.

3. Click Save at the top right to commit your changes.

Edit Language on Category Pages

To edit titles and the way certain fields are worded on your category pages:

1. Go to Settings > Design > Store Language.

2. Choose the Category section or search for the phrase "category."

3. Make any necessary changes to the fields you would like to edit.

4. Click Save to commit your changes.