--- title: Work with categories slug: commerce-connect-14/docs/work-with-categories docTags: createdAt: 2026-07-20T15:45:13.274Z --- By applying a category to a product, you can adjust a catalog's structure and range to optimize the selling potential of its products. You can also - Create new categories - Edit or delete existing categories - Change a product's primary and secondary categories :::hint{type="info"} **Note** When managing a catalog, consider the maintenance and performance of its structure. Do not create hierarchies of categories, products, or variants that are too deep. On the other hand, a flat catalog structure with too many entries in a category can negatively impact performance. ::: Categorization involves the following tasks. - **Move** – Lets you restructure a catalog by moving a catalog entry to another primary category; related products and variants are also moved. Links to other categories and catalog entries are kept intact.  - **Duplicate** – Creates a copy of a catalog entry in a new catalog location.  - **Link** – Another term for or assigning additional categories.  - **Detach** – Removes a link. ## Create a category A category is typically used to organize catalog entries. For example, women's shoes. Categories can also have their rich content, including assets and descriptions of *wine regions* for a subset of wine products. 1. From the **Commerce** > **Catalog** interface, go to the catalog or category node where you want to create the new category. 2. Choose **+** > **Category**. Or, from a catalog node, click to open the context menu and select **New** > **Category**. 3. Enter a **name** for the category. 4. Complete the category properties. See also: [Catalog entry properties](docId\:lzXmX2EFfR9WZuOqPgQiu). The system saves the category automatically, but it is not available on the website until published. ### View an item's categories To view an item's categories, select a catalog entry, click **Properties** then the **Categories** tab. ### View items assigned to a category To view all items assigned to a category, select it from the catalog tree. Its items appear in the center of the screen. ## Edit a category 1. In the **Catalog** tree, select the desired category. 2. From the context menu, click **Edit**. 3. Update the category information you want to change, such as the name, SEO information, or description. See [Catalog entry properties](docId\:lzXmX2EFfR9WZuOqPgQiu) for information about editable properties. 4. Publish the changes, or schedule for later publishing using the [save and publish flow for content](docId\:JQsLacEMr2LwPYnw5qZBw). ## Delete a category If you delete a category, the following happens, depending on how the category is linked to catalog entries or other categories. - If a category is linked to other categories, links to that category are removed, while other category links are left intact. - Categories, product, and variant that are linked *only* to the category being deleted (and no other categories) are also deleted. :::hint{type="danger"} **Warning** After deleting a catalog entry, you cannot recover it. If you delete a category with many subitems, the deletion may take a while. ::: To delete a category, select it in the catalog tree, click **Delete** from the context menu, and click **Delete**. Alternatively, you can click **Delete** from the context menu in the catalog item list, or from the upper menu. ![delete](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/fj7RWu4UqsBXYJWV-RiJV-20260720-150051.png) ## Primary and additional categories You can assign to a catalog entry one primary category and any number of additional categories. They appear on the product's **Categories** and **Belongs to** views. ![item](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/ppYo2yxEKhkFCG-yN98Gt-20260720-150051.png) The primary category is the product's *home* location, which means that the product is located in this category. If a product's URL is based on the **Name in URL** property, the URL uses the primary category path (see example above). If you move a product, its primary category changes, and its URL changes accordingly. Any product can also be linked to *additional categories*. For example, consider "Men's Black Puma Sneakers." Its primary category is "Men's Shoes". Assume you are running a summer sale and want to include Black Puma Sneakers. To do that, create a "Summer Sale" category and assign "Men's Shoes" to it as an **Additional Category**. If you create a Summer Sale page and place all items in that category on that page, the Black Puma Sneakers will appear. ### Assign a primary category When you [create a catalog entry](docId\:rNvEauqGgMdDHfzIhn5TO), you typically first select its category. That becomes the entry's primary category. ### Change a catalog entry's primary category Follow these steps to change a catalog entry's primary category. 1. Pin the catalog tree so it does not move. 2. Select the catalog entry whose primary category you want to change. 3. Drag it to the new primary category. 4. The **Select Action** dialog box appears. Click **Move**. As an alternative, you can 1. Select the catalog entry. 2. Select **Cut**. 3. Move to the new category. 4. Select **Paste**. ### How changing an item's primary category affects its variants If you move a catalog entry, its variants keep their previous primary category. If you expand the moved catalog entry in its new category, you see its variants, which implies that the variants were also moved to the new primary category. However, the primary category of the variants was not changed. If you want to move a catalog entry *and* its variants, expand the entry, then select it and all variants before moving. ### Assign additional categories Any product can be linked to *additional categories*. For background information, see [Primary and additional categories](docId\:GAXylE4__B_iqWyDHvuJe). 1. Go to the category structure until the item to be linked appears in the catalog item list. 2. Click **Select view** then **Categories**. 3. Click **+ Add Category**. 4. Go to the category you want to add and click **Add**. As an alternative, you can 1. Select the catalog entry. 2. Select **Copy**. 3. Move to the new category. 4. Select **Paste**. 5. In the **Select Action** dialog box, choose **Link**. ### Edit additional categories To edit a category entry's additional categories, follow these steps. 1. Go to the category entry whose additional categories you want to edit. 2. Click **Select view** then **Categories**. 3. To *add* an additional category, click **+ Add Category**. To *remove* an additional category, click the corresponding Remove button. ### Assign a category to another category You can assign a category to another category. If you do, all catalog entries linked to the original category are also linked to the new category. See also: [Primary and additional categories](docId\:GAXylE4__B_iqWyDHvuJe). To assign a category to another category, follow these steps. 1. Go to the category to which you want to assign an additional category. 2. Click **Select view** then **Categories**. 3. Click **+ Add Category**. 4. Go to the category you want to add and click **Add**.