Creating Filter Categories Manually

You can use the Filter Categories and Attributes as a useful method for a customer to refine the selection of products when viewing a traditional product category on your website.

A Filter Category appears in the sidebar and is the identifier for narrowing the current products on the screen. For example, a Length filter indicates the user can use the attribute selections to narrow the production selection by length.

An Attribute is an invisible category that is created only to be used in combination with a Filter Category. For instance, an attribute category of "12 in" would contain products that have the attribute of "12 in". Therefore, when selecting that attribute under the Filter Category, the product selection on the page will filter to show only the products that have the "12 in" attribute.

You can view Filter Categories and Attributes on the website in the image below.

How to Create Filter Categories Manually

Creating a Filter Category is the first step to setting up Attributes on your website. Once these are set up, you can then create your Attributes. You can create any Filter Category that is needed at any time.

• Navigate to "Filter Categories" under the PIM section in the Portal
• Click the "Show / Hide Columns" icon

• Select the columns you want to see in the data grid. If you reference the same columns every time, it may be helpful to save your filter selection for future use.

Looking at the last row on the screen, you will notice that all displayed fields are blank. This is where you will create your new Filter Category.

Adding the filter category information is simple – just click into a field and edit. If you have the option for a dropdown, you will select the correct option for your use.

To create the new Filter Category, all that is required is a unique "Code" and a "Name". The other fields below are not required but can be helpful when controlling data relating to Filter Categories and Attributes.

• Code - this should be unique. Also, keeping the same code format will help streamline this process (i.e. fg_brand, fg_length, fg_type, etc.). Special characters may not be used when creating codes.
  • Note: while there are some exceptions, it is recommended to begin your filter category code with the prefix of "fg_".
• Name - this is what the customer will see on the commerce site (i.e. Brand, Width, Length, etc.).
• Position - you can control the order of your Filter Categories in the sidebar by entering a numerical value in this field. If you would like a specific Filter Category to appear at the top, the value would be the lowest number. If you have a Filter Category that you would like to see at the bottom, you will use the highest number.
• Values Order By - you can further control the order of your Attributes within your Filter Categories by the methods below:
  • Count - orders Attributes by the number of products in each category from highest to lowest.
  • Index - Attributes are based on the order used in a dictionary and apply to numbers and dates.
  • Name as Number Ascending - orders Attributes alphabetically
  • Name as Number Descending - orders Attributes in reverse alphabetical order
  • Category Order - enables you to set the order of Attributes numerically, similar to the setting the position of a Filter Category
• Active - select "Yes" if the Filter Category should be active on the commerce site. Select "No" if the Filter Category should not be active. If No is selected, this will hide the Filter Category and any Attributes tied to that Filter Category.
• Hide When Empty - select "Yes" if the Filter Category should be hidden when empty. Select "No" if the Filter Category should still be shown if empty.

Once the fields in your Filter Category grid have been completed, hit "Enter" to add the new Filter Category.

Now that you know how to create Filter Categories, you are ready to add your Attributes to your Filter Categories!