How to organise products with categories

Categories group your products, like “Panjabi”, “Saree” or “Shoes”. They help shoppers find things in your store menu, and every product needs at least one. You can also put categories inside other categories, like “Phones” under “Electronics”.

Before you start

Your role needs permission to edit products.
If your WooCommerce store is connected, you can bring its categories in instead of typing them.

Steps

In the sidebar, go to Products → Categories.
Click Add category.
Click Add category (1) on the Categories page.
Type the Name, for example Panjabi. The Slug (the web address part) fills in by itself.
To put it inside another category, choose it in Parent Category. Leave it as None (top-level) for a main category.
Optional: add a Description and a Category Image. The image shows in category lists and menus.
Optional: under Settings, set the Menu Order. Lower numbers show first.
Keep Active on so shoppers can see it. Inactive categories are hidden from your site.
Click Add category at the bottom to save.
Type the Name (1); the Slug fills in by itself. Choose a Parent Category (2) if needed, then click Add category (3).

Create a category while adding a product

You don’t have to leave the product form. In the Category box, type a new name and pick the create option. The category is made right away.

Bring in categories from WooCommerce

Go to Products → Categories.
Click Sync with WooCommerce.

When you create a category in EcomUp, you can also turn on Sync with WooCommerce in its settings to create it in your WooCommerce store too.

Edit or delete a category

On the Categories page, open the row’s menu.
Choose Edit category to change it, then click Save changes.
Or choose Delete category and confirm. This can’t be undone.

Tips

Keep names short and clear. Shoppers see them in your store menu.
The Products column shows how many products are in each category.
To show categories in your store’s top menu, see Store menu and pages.

Troubleshooting

“A category with this slug already exists. Please choose a different slug.”

Another category already uses that web address. Change the Slug, for example add “-men” at the end.

“Cannot delete category with products. Please remove products from this category first.”

Move those products to another category first. Open each product, change its category, and save. Then delete.

“Cannot delete category with subcategories. Please delete or move subcategories first.”

Other categories sit inside this one. Edit them and choose a different Parent Category, or delete them first.

“A category cannot be its own parent”

Pick a different category in Parent Category, or choose None (top-level).