Configure Your Categories
Preface
Categories by BTP uses Smart Collections to define your category hierarchy. Categories you configure via this app will be stored in the theme selected at the top and will not automatically transfer over if you change your theme. We provide you with a tool to copy the configured categories and all of the various assets that the app relies on from one theme to another, which can be found under the Settings tab. Make sure you select the appropriate theme before you begin configuring your categories:
Due to the strict API limits that Shopify imposes on app developers, we have implemented server-sided caching to reduce the number of times we have to reach out to Shopify for collection information. This could potentially lead to stale data being displayed in the app. To remedy this, we provide you with a button at the bottom of the Categories tab labeled Sync now. If you have made any adjustments to your collections outside of the app, you will want to click that button to ensure we have the latest data.
In order to make sure you don't lose changes you make to your categories prior to deploying them, we save any pending changes you make to your browser's local storage. This will allow for your pending changes to persist through refreshes. Clicking the Cancel Changes on top will discard this local storage and reset your category structure to their last saved state. It is important to note that your changes will appear as pending only on your machine and you will not be able to have multiple people safely working on the same set of categories.
Adding Your First Category
When you first visit launch Categories by BTP and access the Categories tab, you will need to access the Add Category dropdown on the top and choose between Existing Collection or New Collection.
Existing Collection
Allows you to add any of your existing Smart Collections into the app as a category.
Depending on how you have your settings configured, your existing collection might be renamed or have its conditions altered. More on that here.
New Collection
Allows you to create a new Smart Collection within Shopify and import it into the app as a category. At the time of creation, you will be able to choose a title, select a template, and decide whether this collection will be published on your online store or not.
Adding a Subcategory
You can add a subcategory to any of the configured categories within the app by clicking on the add subcategory button to the right of the parent category:
This will present you with the same two choices you were presented with when adding your first category (Existing Collection or New Collection).
Organizing Your Categories
Categories by BTP allows you to organize your categories through a drag and drop interface. Simply click and drag any of the categories up or down the tree to change its position. You use this drag and drop feature to change the way your categories are nested as well by moving subcategories out of a parent or into a new parent.
Deleting a Category
You can delete any of your categories by clicking the red X on the right side of that category:
Upon clicking this button, your category and all of its children will be marked for deletion. The actual deletion will not take place until you click Deploy Categories on the top.
Please note that deleting your categories will not delete the actual collection that it is based on. It will simply remove it from being used in your tree by this app. If you wish to delete the collection as well, you will have to do that via Shopify's collection page.
Other Category Actions
Besides adding a subcategory or deleting a category, there are several other action buttons available on each category.
View on Online Store: This button will be visible to you if your collection is published and will allow for you to open its page in a new tab.
Edit Collection: This button will open up the collection's edit page in Shopify in a new tab.
Categories Color Legend
Our app uses different colors to distinguish the state of your categories within the app. The details for what each color represents can be found by clicking the Legend link on the top of the categories tab.
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