Woocommerce How To Merge Two Categories Into One

WooCommerce: How to Merge Two Categories into One (Easy Guide for Beginners)

So, you’re managing your WooCommerce store and you’ve realized you have two categories that are essentially the same, or overlap significantly. Maybe you started with “Red T-Shirts” and “Crimson Tees” and now you want to simplify things. Don’t worry! Merging categories in WooCommerce is a straightforward process. This guide will walk you through how to do it, step-by-step, so you can keep your online store organized and user-friendly.

Why Merge Categories?

Before we dive into the “how,” let’s quickly understand the “why.” Merging categories improves:

• Customer Experience: Fewer categories mean easier navigation for your customers. Imagine a customer looking for a blue sweater. If you have separate categories for “Navy Sweaters,” “Azure Jumpers,” and “Denim Pullovers,” they might miss something. Combining them all into “Blue Sweaters” makes their search simpler.
• SEO: A well-organized site structure helps search engines understand your content better. Consolidated categories with relevant keywords can improve your search engine rankings.
• Store Management: Less clutter in your backend means less time spent organizing and more time focusing on sales and marketing.
• Data Analysis: Consolidated categories offer clearer insights into product performance. You can easily analyze sales data for a combined category instead of comparing across multiple, similar ones.

Method 1: The Quickest and Easiest Method – WooCommerce Built-in Feature

The most straightforward way to merge categories in WooCommerce is using its built-in editing feature. This method is perfect for most scenarios.

Steps:

1. Identify the Target Category: Decide which category you want to *keep*. This will be the category where you’ll move all the products from the category you want to *eliminate*.

2. Edit the Products in the Category to be Eliminated:

• Go to Products > All Products in your WordPress dashboard.
• Use the filter option at the top of the page, “All Categories,” and select the category you’re going to eliminate (e.g., “Crimson Tees”). Click “Filter.”
• Select all the products in that category. On the bulk actions dropdown (above the product list), choose “Edit” and click “Apply.”

 *Example: This is a fake screenshot. You’ll see the product list here after you filter by category.*

• In the bulk edit section, find the “Categories” section.
• Add a checkmark next to the target category you identified in step 1 (e.g., “Red T-Shirts”).
• Remove the checkmark from the current category (e.g., “Crimson Tees”).
• Click “Update.”

3. Verify and Delete:

• Go to Products > All Products. Filter by the *target* category (e.g., “Red T-Shirts”). Ensure all the products from the old category are now listed.
• Go to Products > Categories. Find the category you just emptied (e.g., “Crimson Tees”).
• Hover over the category name and click “Delete.”

Example:

Let’s say you sell dog toys and you have these categories:

• “Dog Chews”
• “Puppy Teething Toys”

You realize “Puppy Teething Toys” is basically a subset of “Dog Chews”. So, “Dog Chews” will be your *target* category. You’ll move all products from “Puppy Teething Toys” into “Dog Chews” and then delete the “Puppy Teething Toys” category.

Important Considerations:

• Product Variations: This method works perfectly well with product variations. The variation settings will also be transferred.
• SEO: Deleting a category might impact SEO if you’ve built links to that category page. Consider setting up a 301 redirect (more on that below!) to the merged category.
• Large Number of Products: If you have *thousands* of products in a category, the bulk edit might time out. In that case, consider breaking it up into smaller batches.

Method 2: Using 301 Redirects (For SEO Benefits)

As mentioned above, deleting a category can hurt your SEO if that category page already has some “SEO juice” (i.e., backlinks, search engine rankings). A 301 redirect tells search engines that the page has permanently moved and to transfer the link equity to the new page.

Requirements:

• A WordPress SEO plugin that supports 301 redirects. Popular choices include:
• Yoast SEO (Premium version offers redirect manager)
• Rank Math
• Redirection (free plugin)

Steps:

1. Choose Your Plugin: Install and activate your preferred SEO plugin.

2. Merge the Categories: Follow the steps outlined in Method 1 to move the products.

3. Set up the Redirect:

• Using Yoast SEO Premium: Navigate to *Yoast SEO > Tools > Redirects*. Add a redirect:
• Old URL: The URL of the category you deleted (e.g., `/product-category/crimson-tees/`).
• Type: 301 (Permanent Redirect).
• New URL: The URL of the category you merged into (e.g., `/product-category/red-t-shirts/`).
• Using Rank Math: Go to *Rank Math > Redirections*. Add a new redirection:
• Source URL: The URL of the category you deleted (e.g., `/product-category/crimson-tees/`).
• Destination URL: The URL of the category you merged into (e.g., `/product-category/red-t-shirts/`).
• Redirection Type: 301 Permanent Move.
• Using the Redirection Plugin: Go to *Tools > Redirection*. Add a new redirection:
• Source URL: The URL of the category you deleted (e.g., `/product-category/crimson-tees/`).
• Target URL: The URL of the category you merged into (e.g., `/product-category/red-t-shirts/`).

4. Test the Redirect: Visit the old category URL in your browser. You should be automatically redirected to the new category.

Example:

Imagine you deleted the category “Summer Dresses” and merged it into “Dresses”. If someone types `www.yourstore.com/product-category/summer-dresses/` into their browser, they should be automatically taken to `www.yourstore.com/product-category/dresses/`.

Method 3: Using Custom Code (For Advanced Users)

This method is only recommended if you are comfortable with PHP and WordPress development. It’s more complex but can be useful for programmatic category management.

Important: Always back up your database before making code changes.

 /** 
Merge products from one category to another.
 
* @param int $from_category_id ID of the category to merge *from*.
 
@param int $to_category_id ID of the category to merge *into*.
 */ function merge_woocommerce_categories( $from_category_id, $to_category_id ) { $args = array( 'post_type' => 'product', 'posts_per_page' => -1, // Get all products 'tax_query' => array( array( 'taxonomy' => 'product_cat', 'field' => 'term_id', 'terms' => $from_category_id, ), ), ); 

$products = get_posts( $args );

foreach ( $products as $product ) {

// Get the existing categories of the product.

$existing_categories = wp_get_post_terms( $product->ID, ‘product_cat’, array( ‘fields’ => ‘ids’ ) );

// Remove the ‘from’ category ID and add the ‘to’ category ID.

$new_categories = array_diff( $existing_categories, array( $from_category_id ) );

$new_categories[] = $to_category_id;

// Update the product’s categories.

wp_set_post_terms( $product->ID, $new_categories, ‘product_cat’ );

}

// Optionally delete the empty category (use with caution!).

wp_delete_term( $from_category_id, ‘product_cat’ );

}

// Example usage (replace with your actual category IDs).

// Call this function ONCE. Do Explore this article on How To Add Price To Variable Product Woocommerce NOT put it in a continuously running loop!

// merge_woocommerce_categories( 35, 12 ); // Merge category ID 35 into category ID 12. MAKE SURE TO CHANGE THESE IDs!

Explanation:

• This code first retrieves all products in the `from_category_id`.
• Then, it iterates through each product and updates its categories. It removes the `from_category_id` and adds the `to_category_id`.
• Finally, it deletes the `from_category_id`.

How to Use:

1. Get Category IDs: Go to *Products > Categories* and hover over the categories. The category ID will be visible in the URL of the “Edit” link. Alternatively, edit the category and look for `tag_ID=XX` in the URL.

2. Add the Code: Place this code in your theme’s `functions.php` file or in a custom plugin. Be extremely careful when editing `functions.php`.

3. Modify the Example Usage: Replace `35` and `12` in the example usage with the actual IDs of Check out this post: Woocommerce How To Attach Copupon Code To The Url the categories you want to merge.

4. Run the Code (ONCE!): Uncomment the line `// merge_woocommerce_categories( 35, 12 );` to activate the function call. IMPORTANT: Only run this function ONCE. Do not leave it uncommented! After it’s run once, either comment it back out or remove the code entirely from your `functions.php` file to prevent accidental re-execution.

5. Verify: Check your products and category list to confirm the merge was successful.

Why is This Method Advanced?

• PHP Knowledge Required: You need to understand PHP to implement this code.
• Potential for Errors: Incorrectly implemented code can break your website.
• Backup Essential: Always backup your database before making any code changes.
• One-Time Execution: You need to ensure the code runs only once to avoid unintended consequences.

Which Method Should You Choose?

• Method 1 (WooCommerce Built-in Feature): This is the best option for most users. It’s simple, quick, and doesn’t require any coding knowledge.
• Method 2 (301 Redirects): Use this *in addition to* Method 1 if you want to preserve SEO value from the deleted category.
• Method 3 (Custom Code): Only use this if you are a developer comfortable with PHP and WordPress development, and you have a specific need that the other methods don’t address.

By following these steps, you can easily and efficiently merge categories in your WooCommerce store, creating a cleaner, more user-friendly experience for your customers and streamlining your store management! Remember to always back up your site before making any changes, and happy selling!