How do I place products in categories?

About this article

In this article we explain how you can quickly and easily place products in product categories on your webshop.

Introduction Category Management in NextChapter CMS

A good navigation structure is crucial for a successful online store because it helps customers find the desired products quickly and easily. In the NextChapter CMS, this navigation structure is determined by categories. 

Complete the following steps and functionalities in category management:

1. Adding a new category

Creating a new category is done via "Assortment" > "Categories" > "Overview". For this you need to follow the following steps:

• Link the category to the desired site.
• Select the category type as "Category".
• Give the category a name. There are additional optional fields:

    - Category of: Select a main category here if you want to create a subcategory.

    - Default site: Assign the main site for search engines to avoid duplication of content. (in case you run multiple web shops on the NextChapter platform)

    - Short description: Enter a short description here that will be displayed at the top of the category page.

    - Title description: Place the title that appears above the description.

    - Description: Write an extended description that appears at the bottom of the category page.

2. Adding products to a category

After creating the category you can add products to it. There are 3 ways to do that:

• Go to the "Properties" tab. Select the desired properties and values here. Example: article group (property) trousers (value) + color (property) red (value).
  In this case the category will be filled with only red pants.Properties in categories work dynamically. If a new range is added to your webshop, products of which also have these properties, the products will be immediately added to this category. So you don't have to link this yourself with every new collection, but it happens automatically.
• "Unlinked products". Here you can manually link products to a category. This works statically. If you want to show more here you will have to add it manually.
• At Assortment > Products > Overview you can select the correct category(ies) for the product itself via the "Categories" tab.

Note: It is recommended that you create no more than ten main categories to keep navigation clear. Each product can appear in multiple categories. This increases the flexibility of your range and helps customers find products.

3. Category order

Via Assortment > Categories > Structure you can easily drag + save the order of your created categories.

4. SEO-optimization

Under the "SEO" tab you can enter relevant SEO data (page title and meta description) for the relevant category. This allows you to improve the visibility of your categories in search engines.

In short, managing categories in the NextChapter CMS provides an intuitive way to set up your online store's navigation structure and organize products, with the end result being a better shopping experience for your customers.

If you are still unsure after reading this article, you can contact us at support@nextchapter-ecommerce.com.