Categories organise your catalogue into the browsable taxonomy customers use to find products. PrestaShop’s category system is flexible — unlimited nesting depth, per-category images and descriptions, SEO-friendly URLs, and category trees that can be customised per shop in a multistore setup. This guide covers tree design, creating and editing categories, the SEO and display settings that matter, and the patterns that work for UK retailers on SmartXHosting.
Category structure in PrestaShop • Creating a new category • Category images and content • SEO settings per category • Display order and the Home Category • Assigning products to categories • Designing a UK-friendly tree • FAQ
PrestaShop uses a hierarchical tree starting at the Root Category (invisible to customers). Below the root sits the Home Category — the entry point shown in the main menu. Everything below Home is what customers browse.
Unlike Magento, PrestaShop has no concept of “anchor” categories — every category page shows its own products plus products from descendant categories combined. The category depth you choose directly affects URL structure and SEO.
Catalog › Categories › Add new category.
Save. Category is now live if Displayed = Yes.
Customers landing on a category page from Google or a main-menu click judge your store in 3 seconds. Two elements do the heavy lifting:
Example description for a “Merino Jumpers” category:
Our merino wool jumpers combine traditional craft with contemporary cuts. Each piece is knitted in the UK from ethically-sourced Scottish merino, then hand-finished in our Edinburgh workshop. Whether you’re layering for the countryside or dressing up for the office, merino regulates temperature naturally and stays looking sharp wash after wash. Free UK delivery on orders over £50.
PrestaShop auto-generates category URLs like yourdomain.co.uk/42-merino-jumpers. The numeric ID prevents collisions but can hurt SEO. Under Shop Parameters › Traffic › SEO & URLs:
Result: yourdomain.co.uk/merino-jumpers. Much better for both users and Google.
Meta title and description per category:
In Catalog › Categories, drag categories within the tree to reorder. The order affects the main menu and category pickers.
The Home Category is special: its immediate children become the top-level navigation. For UK stores, keep it at 5–8 top-level categories (Womens, Mens, Accessories, Sale, etc.). More becomes cluttered; fewer limits discoverability.
Hide categories from the main menu without unpublishing: there’s no toggle for “hide from menu” in core PrestaShop 9, but modules like Advanced Top Menu from the marketplace add this capability.
Two ways:
A product can belong to multiple categories. One is the “Default Category” which determines the breadcrumb trail on product pages. Pick the most-specific category as default.
Bulk assignment: Catalog › Products › select products › bulk action “Change categories”.
A workable first-draft for UK fashion:
| Top-level | Sub-categories |
|---|---|
| Womens | Dresses, Jumpers, Trousers, Shoes, Accessories |
| Mens | Jumpers, Shirts, Trousers, Shoes, Accessories |
| Sale | Womens Sale, Mens Sale |
| New In | (no sub-categories) |
Two levels covers most retail; three-level trees feel heavy. Consistency across departments (same sub-categories under Womens and Mens) helps shoppers predict navigation.
PrestaShop hosting for growing UK catalogues
NVMe SSD, Redis caching and fast Symfony rendering on SmartXHosting PrestaShop plans keep category pages responsive even with deep trees.
See PrestaShop plansQ: Can a product be in multiple categories?
A: Yes — unlimited categories per product. Pick one as the Default Category for breadcrumb purposes.
Q: How do I hide a category from customers?
A: Set Displayed = No on the category edit screen. Products inside remain accessible via direct URL unless also unpublished.
Q: What’s the right category image size?
A: PrestaShop generates multiple cached sizes. Upload a 2,000px-wide master in WebP or JPEG; the system resizes to the theme-required variants. Hyva-equivalent themes for PrestaShop do the same.
Q: Can I have products that are not in any category?
A: Yes — they are not visible in category browsing but reachable via direct URL. Useful for unlisted products sent as custom-quote links.
Q: Why is my category page not appearing?
A: Check Displayed = Yes, Group Access includes the public guest group, and flush the cache. Smarty cache invalidation is typically the missed step.
Q: Can I schedule a category to go live at a specific time?
A: Not in core. Modules from the PrestaShop marketplace (e.g. Scheduled Publishing) add this capability for seasonal launches.
Q: How many categories can PrestaShop handle?
A: Technically unlimited. Practical limit is navigation usability — above 500 total categories, main menus become unwieldy. On SmartXHosting Magento/PrestaShop plans, performance stays fast to at least 2,000 categories with Redis caching.