# Product Categorisation

The sheer number of options available can seem quite daunting, so we've written this guide to take you through all the different possible configurations and setups step by step.

### Product Categories <a href="#product-categories" id="product-categories"></a>

Key to understanding product organisation in a Pakk store is the concept of a *product category*. In Pakk, the *product category* is the basis of all organisational groupings, which are:

* top-level navigation category
* child navigation category
* related-items group
* accessory-items group
* variant group

Depending on how you set up a *product category* it will fulfil one of the above functions. The *default* role for a new *product category* would be to act as a *top-level navigation category*.

One thing to keep in mind is that *product categories* are an example of a typical *web-attachable entity* in Pakk, which means they can be enabled or disabled for web display and then attached to none, one or more Pakk webstores. You can use any *product categories* you create across any number of the webstores in your account and can quickly duplicate them or move them between sites as your merchandising needs change.

#### Navigation Categories <a href="#navigation-categories" id="navigation-categories"></a>

These are the basic *product category* type and probably what you think of when you think of the concept of a "product category". Each *product category* in your store forms part of the navigational hierarchy.

Unless you mark a category as some other type of grouping (*related group*, *accessory group*, *variant group*) it will act as a *navigation category*.

*Navigation categories* can either be *top-level* or *children*.  *Top-level* categories form the main navigation sections, or "departments" of your store and will be displayed prominently in the auto-generated main store navigation menu that is seen on every page of your store.

> Tip: Think carefully about the main navigational division of your store and try to limit your top-level navigational categories to 5-7. There's research to show this is the most appealing to shoppers and creates most impact when they hit your store for the first time.

If you select a *parent* on a category, it will automatically become a *child* of that category in the hierarchy (i.e. not a *top-level category*).

The navigational hierarchy shows up in the following places:

* in the main store menu, where top-level categories are shown prominently in a horizontal list, and child categories appear in the drop down mega menu when clicking on any top-level item.
* in the *type* filter in the category filter bar which appears on the left-hand side of category list views and allows shoppers to **filter** (not navigate) list results by category.
* in the header of category list views, just under the category title and subtitle, allowing shoppers to quickly navigate into subcategories of that category.
* in *breadcrumbs* on product drilldown pages, showing the shopper where they have come from and where in the navigational hierarchy they are.

Since *navigation categories* are pages within the webstore, all the usual customisations and attributes are available to set:

* `URL slug`
* `description`
* `main image`
* `menu image`
* `page title` and `meta description` for SEO
* `translations` of most of the above, so the category can be displayed in any language