Filtering Products

Allow visitors of your online store to filter the products in a category by specific product characteristics (Fig.: Filtering products in the category view, item 1).

You can use standard attributes (such as colour, size, or material) or create your own custom attributes.

Procedure

Optional: Create custom filter attributes.

Example: You sell handbags and want to filter them by the attribute Lining Material.
1. Choose Administer Products ‣ Attributes.
2. Select Create new attribute.
3. Save your changes.
Assign the attribute to a category.
1. Choose Administer Products ‣ Attributes.
2. Select the desired attribute from the attribute list.
3. In the Categories tab, click on Assign Categories.
4. To assign a category that should use the attribute, drag and drop it into the right-hand list of the assignment window (Fig.: Assigning filter attributes to categories).
5. Optional: Repeat this step for additional categories.
6. Close the assignment window.
Fig.: Assigning filter attributes to categories
To display the attribute filter in the category view, assign the attribute to the products of that category.

If a category has several attributes assigned, its products can be filtered by multiple characteristics.

Attributes only apply to the categories they are assigned to — not automatically to their subcategories.
1. Choose Administer Products ‣ Products.
2. Select the category, e.g. “Handbags”.
3. Choose the first product from the list.
4. In the Selection tab, click on Assign Attributes.
5. Move the attribute to the right-hand list of the assignment window.
6. Choose the attribute in the right-hand list.
7. Enter a value for the attribute for this product (Fig.: Assigning filter attributes to products, item 1), then click Save.
8. Optional: Repeat these steps for other attributes.
9. Close the assignment window.
10. Repeat the process for the remaining products in the category.
Fig.: Assigning filter attributes to products

Result

The values assigned to products for this attribute are shown as filter options in the category view (Fig.: Filtering products in the category view, item 1).

Products without this attribute are always shown, regardless of the selected filter.

If attributes and their values have been assigned, the Specification tab is displayed on the product details page. It lists the product’s attributes and their assigned values (Fig.: Showing product attributes in the Specification tab, item 1).

Fig.: Showing product attributes in the Specification tab