How it works
A tree is made of groups. Each group narrows the listings by one condition, and a group shows the listings that match every condition along its path from the top.
A tree can go six levels deep. A group with no matching listings is left out of the storefront, so an empty branch never shows.
How a path narrows
Take a store that resells designer clothing. The path Women → Coats → Wool holds three groups. Women is an attribute value, Coats is a category, and Wool is a tag. The Wool group shows only the listings that are for women, in the coats category and tagged wool. Each step down removes listings, never adds them.Levels build groups for you
Adding every group by hand is slow for a large catalog. Add a level instead and TWICE creates the groups from a source:
Each level repeats under every group of the level above. An attribute level for audience followed by a categories level produces every audience and category path, such as Kids → Skis and Adults → Skis.
Hide the generated groups you do not want, and add your own groups next to them.
Usage
One collection can sit in several trees
A collection is a building block, not a place in the hierarchy. Use the same collection as a group in a tree for gift ideas and again in a tree organised by season. Changing the collection changes every group that uses it.A listing can appear in several places
Because groups match by condition, a listing appears under every path it matches. A venue hire listing tagged “weddings” and “outdoor” shows up under both groups. When a listing sits in more than one tree, the first tree in your list wins ties. The order of your trees sets the breadcrumb on the listing page and the canonical URL of its shop pages. Drag a tree to reorder the list.Trees are off until you switch them on
A new store shows collections only. Switch on Category tree navigation in the theme editor to replace the flat shop with your trees. Switch it off and the store goes back to collections, with every tree kept.Deleting a tree is safe for your catalog
Deleting a tree removes the tree and its groups. Your listings, collections, attributes and tags are not affected.A category tree is not the Category Taxonomy. The taxonomy is a fixed classification that says what a listing is, shared by every account. A tree is your own arrangement of listings for shoppers, and it can use taxonomy categories as one kind of condition.
Visibility and permissions
Category trees follow the collection permissions. Create and edit collections lets a user build and edit trees, Delete collections lets them delete trees, and View collections shows the trees read-only. For the full role matrix, see Users & Roles.Related articles
Build a category tree
Build a tree and show it in your storefront navigation.
Categories & Taxonomies
The settings view where you list, order and edit trees.
Collections
The flat groups a tree can use as building blocks.
Category Taxonomy
The fixed classification of what a listing is.