# Categories & Collections **For:** merchandising staff organizing the catalog in the admin dashboard **What you'll learn:** the difference between categories and collections, how to create each, how to nest categories into a hierarchy, how to add products to both, and how each one surfaces on the storefront. > This is a **how-to guide for the dashboard**, not the API. If you're building an > automated integration or bulk-organizing your catalog instead, see the > [Products API](/admin/brands-products) reference or the [Usage Guide](/usage-guide). --- ## Before you start You'll need an admin login and the **Products** section visible in the left navigation. Categories and collections both live under **Products** — if you don't see it, ask your administrator to grant product management access. Throughout this guide, screenshots use a **demo store** — the names, products, and prices shown are fake. Prices are shown as decimals (for example `49.99`). --- ## Categories vs. collections — which one do I use? Both group products together, but they serve different jobs. Use this table to decide. | | **Categories** | **Collections** | |---|---|---| | **Purpose** | The permanent, hierarchical structure of your catalog | A curated, themed grouping (e.g. "Summer Sale", "New Arrivals") | | **Structure** | Can be nested — parent and child categories | Flat — no nesting | | **A product can belong to** | Many categories at once | A single collection | | **Best for** | Browsing and navigation ("Apparel → Shirts") | Marketing and merchandising campaigns | | **Lifespan** | Long-lived, rarely changes | Often temporary, changes with promotions | A simple rule of thumb: **categories** answer *"where does this product live in the catalog?"* and **collections** answer *"which promotion or theme is this product part of right now?"* --- # Part 1 — Categories ## 1. Open the Categories page Log in to the admin dashboard and click **Products** in the left navigation, then open the **Categories** page. ![The Categories page under Products](images/categories-collections/categories-page.png) You'll see the list of existing categories. Selecting any category opens its details page. --- ## 2. Create a category Click the **Create** button. The form has two steps. **Step 1 — Details:** | Field | What to enter | |-------|---------------| | **Title** *(required)* | The category name, e.g. "Shirts" | | **Handle** | The URL slug. Leave blank to auto-generate from the title. Must be unique, lowercase, and use only numbers and hyphens | | **Description** *(optional)* | A short description of the category | | **Status** | **Active** to show on the storefront, **Inactive** to hide it | | **Visibility** | **Public** for shoppers, **Private** for internal use only | Click **Continue** to move on. **Step 2 — Ranking:** This step controls the order categories appear in and lets you nest them (see the next step). Use the drag icon to reorder, then click **Save**. ![The category create form](images/categories-collections/category-create.png) > **Tip:** Set a category to **Inactive** or **Private** while you're still building it > out, then switch it to **Active** and **Public** once it's ready for shoppers. --- ## 3. Nest categories into a hierarchy Categories can contain other categories — for example **Apparel** as a parent with **Shirts** and **Pants** nested underneath. This is what shoppers use to drill down while browsing. To nest categories, open the Categories page and click **Edit ranking**. Then: - **Drag a category up or down** to change its order. - **Drag a category sideways, underneath another**, to make it a child of that category. ![Dragging categories to nest them](images/categories-collections/category-ranking.png) Changes to ranking save automatically. You can also set the ordering during **Step 2** of creating a category. > **Tip:** Keep your hierarchy shallow — two or three levels is usually enough. Deeply > nested trees are harder for shoppers to navigate. --- ## 4. Add products to a category Open a category from the list, find the **Products** section on its details page, then: 1. Click the three-dots icon in the Products section and choose **Add**. 2. Check the products you want to include. 3. Click **Save**. A product can belong to **several categories at once**, so adding it here does not remove it from any other category. To remove products, check them in the Products section, then click **Remove** (bottom center) and confirm in the popup. ![Adding products to a category](images/categories-collections/category-add-products.png) > **Caution:** Removing a product from a category takes it out of that part of the > storefront navigation. The product itself is **not** deleted, but shoppers browsing that > category will no longer find it there. Double-check before removing. --- ## 5. Edit or delete a category To edit, open the category, click the three-dots icon in the first section, choose **Edit**, adjust the title, handle, description, status, or visibility, and click **Save**. To delete, go to the Categories page, click the three-dots icon in the category's row, and choose **Delete**. > **Caution:** Deleting a category **cannot be undone.** It removes the category from your > storefront navigation and unlinks every product from it (the products themselves are not > deleted). If you only want to hide a category temporarily, set it to **Inactive** > instead of deleting it. --- # Part 2 — Collections ## 6. Open the Collections page Under **Products** in the left navigation, open the **Collections** page. Select any collection in the list to open its details page. ![The Collections page under Products](images/categories-collections/collections-page.png) --- ## 7. Create a collection Click the **Create** button and fill in the form: | Field | What to enter | |-------|---------------| | **Title** | The collection name, e.g. "Summer Sale" | | **Handle** | The URL slug. Leave blank to auto-generate from the title. Must be unique, lowercase, and use only numbers and hyphens | Click **Create** to save. ![The collection create form](images/categories-collections/collection-create.png) > **Tip:** Name collections around the theme shoppers will recognize — "New Arrivals", > "Holiday Gifts", "Clearance" — since the name often appears on the storefront. --- ## 8. Add and remove products in a collection Open a collection, find the **Products** section, then: 1. Click the three-dots icon and choose **Add**. 2. Check the products you want in the collection. 3. Click **Save**. ![Adding products to a collection](images/categories-collections/collection-add-products.png) Remember: **a product can only be in one collection at a time.** Adding a product to a new collection moves it out of any collection it was in before. To remove a product, find it in the Products section, click its three-dots icon, choose **Remove**, and confirm in the popup. > **Caution:** Removing a product from a collection takes it out of that promotion or > themed grouping on the storefront. The product is **not** deleted — it just no longer > appears as part of that collection. --- ## 9. Edit or delete a collection To edit, open the collection, click the three-dots icon in the header, choose **Edit**, change the title and/or handle in the side panel, and click **Save**. To delete, open the collection, click the three-dots icon, choose **Delete**, and confirm. > **Caution:** Deleting a collection **cannot be undone.** It removes the themed grouping > from your storefront and unlinks its products (the products themselves are kept). Make > sure any active promotion tied to the collection is finished first. --- ## How they surface on the storefront - Only categories set to **Active** and **Public** appear in storefront navigation. Inactive or Private categories are hidden from shoppers. - The **handle** you set becomes part of the web address for that category or collection, so keep it clean and stable — changing a handle later changes the link. - Categories drive **browsing and navigation** (the menus shoppers click through), while collections power **themed and promotional pages** (a "Summer Sale" page, for example). - A product only shows on the storefront if the product itself is active and assigned to the storefront's sales channel — putting it in a category or collection does not override that. If a product is missing from the storefront, check its status first. See [Products & Inventory](/guides/products-inventory) for troubleshooting visibility. --- ## Quick reference | Task | Where to find it | |------|------------------| | **View all categories** | Products → Categories | | **Create a category** | Categories → Create → Details → Continue → Ranking → Save | | **Nest / reorder categories** | Categories → Edit ranking → drag (sideways to nest) | | **Add products to a category** | Category → Products section → three-dots → Add → Save | | **Edit a category** | Category → three-dots → Edit → Save | | **Delete a category** | Categories → row three-dots → Delete → confirm | | **View all collections** | Products → Collections | | **Create a collection** | Collections → Create → fill Title/Handle → Create | | **Add products to a collection** | Collection → Products section → three-dots → Add → Save | | **Edit a collection** | Collection → three-dots → Edit → Save | | **Delete a collection** | Collection → three-dots → Delete → confirm | | **Category status** | Active/Public shows on storefront; Inactive/Private hides it | Need to work with the products themselves? See [Products & Inventory](/guides/products-inventory).