WooCommerce: Banishing the ‘Uncategorized’ Category – A Beginner’s Guide
So, you’ve launched your shiny new WooCommerce store, filled it with amazing products, and are ready to take on the world. But then you notice it: the dreaded “Uncategorized” product category lurking in your navigation or on your product pages. Don’t panic! It’s a common WooCommerce default, and thankfully, removing or renaming it is super easy.
This guide will walk you through how to get rid of the “Uncategorized” category in WooCommerce, even if you’re a complete beginner. We’ll cover both removing it entirely (not recommended, but we’ll explain why) and renaming it to something more useful.
Why is ‘Uncategorized’ even there?
Think of the “Uncategorized” category like the “Miscellaneous” drawer in your house. It’s a catch-all for products you haven’t yet assigned to a specific category. WooCommerce needs a default category, so if you add a product without choosing one, it automatically goes here.
Think of it like this: Imagine you’re selling T-shirts. You have categories for “Men’s T-shirts”, “Women’s T-shirts”, and “Kids’ T-shirts”. If you create a new T-shirt product but forget to assign it to any of these categories, it ends up in “Uncategorized”.
Why is this a problem?
- Poor User Experience: No one searches for “Uncategorized” products. It’s confusing and doesn’t help customers find what they’re looking for.
- Bad SEO: Search engines don’t like vague categories. It makes it harder for them to understand what your store is about.
- Unprofessional Look: A store with a prominent “Uncategorized” category can look unfinished or poorly managed.
- If you sell clothing: “Essentials” or “Basics”
- If you sell electronics: “Accessories” or “Components”
- If you sell food: “Pantry Staples” or “Misc. Groceries”
- Plan your categories: Before adding products, think about how customers will browse your store. Create clear, logical categories that make sense for your product range. Consider using subcategories for further organization (e.g., “Men’s T-shirts > Graphic T-shirts”).
- Assign categories immediately: When adding a new product, always select the appropriate category (or categories!) before publishing.
- Regularly review: Periodically check your product categories to ensure everything is correctly assigned. Move products out of your default category as soon as possible.
Option 1: The NOT Recommended Approach – Deleting ‘Uncategorized’
While you *can* delete the “Uncategorized” category, it’s generally not a good idea. WooCommerce needs a default category. If you delete “Uncategorized”, WooCommerce will automatically create a *new* default category, often called “General” or something similar. This just replaces one generic category with another.
However, if you’re determined, here’s how to do it (but seriously, consider renaming it instead!):
1. Go to Products > Categories in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Hover over the “Uncategorized” category.
3. Click “Delete.”
Important Note: Before deleting, make sure all products assigned to “Uncategorized” are moved to other categories. Otherwise, those products will be unassigned to any category.
Option 2: The BEST Approach – Renaming ‘Uncategorized’
This is the recommended approach. Instead of deleting it, rename the “Uncategorized” category to something more descriptive and relevant to your store. This way, you still have a default category, but it’s less likely to confuse your customers.
Here’s how to rename it:
1. Go to Products > Categories in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Hover over the “Uncategorized” category and click “Edit.”
3. In the “Name” field, enter your new category name. For example, you could rename it to “Other” or “General.”
4. In the “Slug” field, enter a URL-friendly version of your new name (usually just lowercase with hyphens instead of spaces). For example, “other” or “general.”
5. Click “Update” at the bottom of the page.
Real-life examples of better names:
Setting Your New Default Category
After renaming “Uncategorized” (or if you’ve deleted it and WooCommerce created a new default), you need to make sure WooCommerce knows which category to use as the default.
1. Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Display.
2. In the “Default product category” dropdown, select your renamed category (e.g., “Other,” “General,” etc.).
3. Click “Save changes.”
This ensures that any new products you add without assigning them to a specific category will automatically be placed in your chosen default category.
Keeping Your Store Organized: The Long-Term Solution
Renaming or setting a default category is just the first step. The best way to avoid the “Uncategorized” problem is to be proactive about product categorization.
By following these tips, you can keep your WooCommerce store organized, improve the user experience, and boost your SEO – all while banishing the “Uncategorized” category to the digital abyss!
Bonus Tip: Code Snippet for Removing “Uncategorized” in Admin (Use with Caution!)
While removing “Uncategorized” entirely isn’t recommended, some users want to hide it from the admin interface to prevent accidental use. Here’s a code snippet you can add to your `functions.php` file (or use a code snippets plugin):
<?php /**
if ( ‘edit-tags.php’ === $pagenow && ‘product_cat’ === $typenow ) {
$uncategorized_term = get_term_by( ‘slug’, ‘uncategorized’, ‘product_cat’ );
if ( $uncategorized_term ) {
$query[‘exclude’] = array( $uncategorized_term->term_id );
}
}
return $query;
}
add_filter( ‘woocommerce_product_categories_args’, ‘remove_uncategorized_product_category’ );
Important: Be extremely careful when editing your `functions.php` file. A single typo can break your website. Consider using a code snippets plugin to safely add this code. This snippet only hides the category in the admin; it doesn’t delete it. If you’re not comfortable with code, stick to renaming!
