Catalogue: products & categories

The Catalogue is where you build what your shop sells — products grouped into categories. This page covers adding and editing products, every field on the product form, and managing categories.

Adding a product

1. Go to Ecommerce → Catalogue (the Products list).
2. Click Add Product (top right).
3. Fill in the form (every field is explained below).
4. Click Save. You're returned to the product list and the new product appears.

The product's URL (its slug) is generated automatically from the name — e.g. "Fast VPN" becomes /products/fast-vpn. You don't set it by hand.

The product fields

• Name — the product title shown in the shop and used to build its URL. Required.
• Description — the full product description shown on its page. This is also used as the product's search-engine meta description unless you override it in Shop SEO, so write something real.
• Type — Physical (shipped goods), Digital (downloads/licences), or Service (work you provide). Affects how the product is treated at checkout.
• SKU — your own stock-keeping reference code. Optional.
• Category — which category the product belongs to (set these up first — see below). Optional but recommended; categories become shop filters.
• Images — drag images onto the drop zone (or click to choose). The first image is the main product image.
• Price (£) — the selling price in pounds, VAT-inclusive. This is what the customer pays.
• Compare Price (£) — an optional "was" price shown struck-through next to the price, to signal a discount. Leave blank if not on offer.
• Cost Price (£) — what the product costs you. Internal only — never shown to customers; used for your margin reporting.
• Status — Active (live in the shop), Draft (hidden while you work on it), or Archived (retired, hidden but kept).
• Track stock — tick this to manage inventory for the product.
• Stock Qty — the quantity on hand (only relevant when Track stock is ticked).

Editing a product

1. On the Products list, click Edit on the product's row.
2. Change any field and click Save.

The list shows each product's Type, Price, Stock, Category and Status at a glance. To remove a product, click Delete on its row (you'll be asked to confirm).

Managing categories

Categories group products and appear as filters in the storefront. Set them up before (or while) adding products.

1. From the Products list, click Categories.
2. Enter a Name for the category.
3. Optionally set a Sort order (a number — lower numbers appear first; default 0).
4. Click Add. The category's URL slug is generated from its name automatically.
5. To remove one, click Delete on its row.

A category with no active products is hidden from shoppers automatically. Assign a product to a category using the Category field on the product form.

Tips

• Set a product to Draft while you're still writing it, then switch to Active to go live.
• Use Compare Price to show a sale price — set Price to the offer price and Compare Price to the original.
• After adding products, run the Shop SEO scan to auto-fill each product's search title and meta description from its content.