Set up categories

Before you start

Category names must be unique under the same parent. Choose names your sales team recognizes, and keep enough room for future subcategories.

A category can hold rules without changing the product's available options. Review those rules before assigning several templates to a new category.

Create categories and subcategories

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   Step 1: Open Categories

   Go to Settings›Products›Categories. The category tree opens, showing the existing groups and their positions.

   

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   Step 2: Enter the category name

   Click Add Category. In Create New Category, enter Name. For a top-level category such as Living room, leave Parent Category empty.

   To create Sofas beneath Living room, choose that parent. Add a Description if your team needs more context. The dialog shows the proposed name and parent.

   

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   Step 3: Choose the category's rules

   Click Add terms beside Additional terms & conditions if products in this category need their own wording. These print once after standard terms and before product-specific terms.

   Under Before an order with these products is placed, set Customer signature required or Deposit of at least when needed. Empty or 0 means no deposit.

   Choose Color. The dialog now contains the category's grouping details and any requirements you set.

   For the consequences of these choices, read Terms on documents and Signature and deposit requirements.

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   Step 4: Create the category

   Click Create Category. Category created successfully shows and the category appears in the tree.

   To add a child later, open its parent's row menu and choose Add child. Complete the same dialog and click Create Category.

   Add child is available on levels 1 and 2. A level-3 category cannot have another child.

Rename or move a category

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   Step 1: Edit the category

   Open the category's row menu and choose Edit. In Edit Category, change the name, description, rules or color, then click Update Category.

   The tree reflects the saved change. Renaming a parent also re-syncs the Shopify product type for templates in its subcategories.

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   Step 2: Choose a commission code

   When editing an existing category, choose its Commission code if required. This saves as you choose it.

   The code applies to category lines and subcategories without their own code, unless a line or template overrides it. See Set up commission.

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   Step 3: Move the category

   Drag the row by the dotted handle at its left and drop it under the intended parent. Category updated successfully shows with the new position.

   Where you drop it decides the level, and a drop just below a child can nest it one level too deep. To be sure, open the row menu, choose Edit and change Parent Category instead.

   Check the entire branch's depth before moving it. You cannot move a category beneath its own descendant or exceed 3 levels.

   

   Restore an earlier category version

   The edit dialog's Activity card lists earlier versions with restore controls. See History and restore. Restoring closes the dialog so a later save cannot overwrite the restored version.

Delete a category

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   Step 1: Check what uses the category

   Review its templates and direct subcategories before deleting. Decide whether those templates need another category and whether its children should become top-level groups.

   Deletion does not check whether templates use the category. This review gives you a clear picture of what will lose its grouping.

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   Step 2: Confirm deletion

   Open the row menu, choose Delete, and review Delete Category. Confirm only when you intend to remove that category.

   The app confirms Category deleted successfully. Its direct subcategories move to the top level, and its templates lose that category.

   

   Warning

   Deletion cannot be undone. Templates lose the category, and their Shopify product type is re-synced or cleared.

What happens next

Choose the category under Organization > Category when you create a product template. Its Shopify product type follows that category.

Renaming or moving a category re-syncs templates in and below it. See Templates and Shopify products before reorganizing a large branch.

Category warranty rules are managed through warranty coverage. Additional terms and placement requirements remain available in the category dialog.

Tax category on a template is separate from OrderPilot's category. Read Template special cases when setting Shopify's product category.

If something goes wrong