What additional Category settings can I configure?

After creating your category, you will have several fine tuning options available to you.

  1. Go to Products ->Categories
  2. Select the category you’d like to edit and click its name
    (or look to the far right and click its “Action Wheel” to select “Details”)

On the category “Details” page you will see the main Category Details settings on the left hand side and Additional Settings on the right.

In this article, we’ll discuss the options available in the “Additional Settings” section.

Additional Settings
Back to Top

On the right hand 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
Back to Top

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.

Additional Information
If using an HTML-5 theme, The above settings for Listing and Details will work best when the items are shown in one column display.

  • 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 a 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™
Back to Top

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
Back to Top

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 thecategory 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
Back to Top

These settings will allow you to contorl 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 qunatities 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 qunatities of each item to their order.
  • Category Wide Product Options
    This section allows you to add options to products when they are viewed from the specific category.