How to Create and Use Categories
Table of Contents
Organizing the inventory in categories is essential for every e-commerce store. It makes tracking quantities and organizing items based on different criteria easier.
If you have existing categories that you no longer need, read this guide on how to delete categories in SiteGround Ecommerce.
How to Create Categories
You can create and manage categories in your store’s dashboard by following these steps:
- Open the section Site Admin > Store Manager > Categories.
- Press the New Category button.
- Enter the name of the new category in the Name field.
- Assign an image thumbnail for the category by pressing the Choose File button inside the Category image field.
- A new screen will pop up. You can upload a new image or select one of your media gallery images from the My Images tab. Alternatively, you can choose a free image from the Unsplash Gallery. Press Insert to confirm the changes.
- Enter a brief, concise, and relevant description of the category in the Description field.
- Optionally, you can choose one of the existing categories to be the parent of the new category from the Parent Category (Optional) menu. If you prefer to create a standalone category, leave the selection to None.
- Open the SEO tab, and fill in the Category URL, SEO Title, and SEO Description.
- Open the Social tab, and add a Social Share Image, Social Share Title, and Social Share Description that will appear on social media posts.
- To confirm creating the category, press Save.
How to Create a Category in a Product Editor
You can also create a category on the fly while creating or editing a product by following these steps.
- Open the Store Manager > Products section.
- Click on an existing product to edit it. Alternatively, press New Product to create a new product.
- Inside the product editor, select Categorization.
- Click on the button Add New Category to create a new category.
- In the pop-up window, type the name of the new category in the Name field.
- If you wish to assign a parent category, choose an existing one from the Parent Directory (Optional) menu.
- Confirm the category with the Save button.
How to Assign Products to a Category
The whole purpose of categories is to group products that share mutual characteristics. For detailed steps, read this guide on how to assign products to a category.
