What This Screen Does
This is where you create a new product category to organize your product catalog. Think of it like creating a labeled folder for a filing cabinet — you give the folder a name and a short description so everyone knows what goes inside. Categories help your customers browse products more easily by grouping similar items together (for example, “Supplements”, “Apparel”, or “Equipment”).
How to Get There
Open the dashboard.
In the left-hand menu, click Product categories.
Click the + New Category button.
You are now on the Create a New Category screen.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Fill In Category Details
This section contains the core information about your new category.
Field | Required | What to Enter |
Category Name | Yes | A clear, descriptive name for the category. For example: “Supplements”, “Apparel”, or “Equipment”. Keep it short so it is easy to scan in a list. |
Description | Yes | A short explanation of what types of products belong in this category. This helps customers understand what they will find. Use the multi-line text box to write a few sentences. |
Publicly available | No | A toggle switch that controls whether customers can see this category. It is turned on by default. Turn it off if you want to hide the category from the public while you are still setting it up. |
2. Review Your Entries
Look over the Category Name and Description fields to make sure there are no typos.
Decide whether the category should be visible to customers right away. If you are not ready to show it, turn off the Publicly available toggle.
3. Save
Click the Create button at the bottom-right of the form.
The system will:
Check that all required fields are filled in correctly.
Create the new product category in the system.
Redirect you back to the product categories list.
You will see a green “Create success!” notification at the bottom of the screen.
What Happens Behind the Scenes
You click "Create"
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Form validates all fields (name and description must not be empty)
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API call: ProductCategoriesService.create({ body: { name, description, isPublic } })
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Server creates the category and returns a confirmation
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Success notification "Create success!" appears
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You are redirected to /product-categories (the category list)
Troubleshooting
“I clicked Create but nothing happened”
Make sure both the Category Name and Description fields are filled in. Both are required.
Look for small red error messages below the fields — they tell you exactly what is missing.
If the button says “Loading” and spins, the request is still in progress. Wait a moment and avoid clicking it again.
“I see a red error message under the Category Name field”
The field cannot be empty. Type at least one character.
If you pasted text and still see the error, try clearing the field and typing the name manually.
“I see a red error message under the Description field”
Just like the category name, the description is required and cannot be left blank.
Write at least a short sentence describing what products belong in this category.
“I got an error after clicking Create”
A red error notification will appear. Read it carefully — it usually explains what went wrong.
Common causes include a network timeout or a server issue.
Try again after a few seconds. If the problem continues, check your internet connection or contact your administrator.
“I created the category but I cannot see it on the website”
Check whether the Publicly available toggle was turned on when you created the category.
Go back to the product categories list, open the category you just created, and make sure the toggle is enabled.
Changes may take a moment to appear on public-facing pages depending on your system’s caching.
“I want to edit the category I just created”
Navigate back to the Product categories list from the left-hand menu.
Find the category you created and click on it to open the edit screen.
Make your changes and click Save Changes.
“The page looks different on my phone”
On smaller screens the form layout adjusts automatically. The sidebar description (“Create categories to organize your product catalog…”) is hidden on mobile devices to save space.
All the same fields are still available — just scroll down to find them.
“I accidentally created a duplicate category”
Go to the product categories list and delete the duplicate entry.
Double-check the list before creating a new category to avoid duplicates in the future.