Category Hell

[Kubiegirl]

Hi all.  I just started my first store about a week ago, so I’m new to this.  I am having issues with categories and I have tried everything to fix it, but I need some advice.

when I first started creating products, everything was fine.  Then I started creating categories and everything is all messed up.  Basically, the categories don’t contain the products I listed them in.  Some seem completely empty, others the products seem to have vanished altogether.  

I have tried the following: moving all products to one category, then deleting the other categories.  Products disappear. Going back and checking every single setting, done that multiple times.  

I would be fine going through and deleting every category again, but that doesn’t seem to work.  Any advice for this newbie?

[idraw]

One suggestion/idea: try to to give the indexer however many days it feels like taking before you make so many changes. Indexing takes whatever time it takes, no way of predicting There are many posts about slow indexing.

So, possibly indexing may be contributing to the confusion you are experiencing. You may be making too many changes before the indexing takes place, then attempting to make even more changes. In essence , you may be confusing the poor under-equipped overwhelmed (slow server?) indexer.

[Kubiegirl]

Thanks for the suggestion.  I think you may be correct.  I am trying to delete categories that have no visible products, but receive a message that I can’t delete the category because there are products in it.  Then I keep trying other things, which is probably making it worse.  It’s strange because some changes are made almost instantaneously so I thought all changes worked in that timeframe.  Time to just keep creating and saving, and hopefully the index will catch up to all my shenanigans.

[idraw]

The indexer should have a standard reply.... "t's not you, it's me"....😐

[KC]

The slow indexing is probably a majority of the issue, sometimes it takes DAYS for the category changes to catch up with what you've done. 

So wait that out. And ALSO check that you don't have any sub-categories. If I remember correctly, that will also cause the same error message, even if the products have moved. So the sub-categories also have to be deleted before a higher-level category can be deleted. 

I've been keeping track of what I've done by changing the category names to have "DELETE WHEN EMPTY" at the end, so that I don't accidentally use it again or move something there. Or I just change the whole category name to XXXX - and when I see those later, it reminds me to check into what's happening with the products I've tried to move.

[Guerilla_Design]

This is really annoying. I'm experiencing the same problem with products not showing up in the assigned category. I was trying to set up internal templates to help publish different products with the same design as proposed somewhere (create hidden products with template images, create hidden categories and assign the hidden products to them).

I am new to Zazzle and trying to organize a smooth workflow, but this website is a complete mess. It takes ages to find functions, things need to be indexed for days before you can continue your workflow, missing information in certain views (for example no info on product category within the product), there is no simple way to assign a design to a bunch of products, a.s.o.

[NigelSutherland]

You can be patient and change categories some time in the future. Your own created categories aren't important when it comes to selling. When buyers look for products they see items suggested by the search terms they use in the query, so just make sure you have good titles, descriptions, and key words/phrases.

[vhCreativePhoto]

I'm experiencing the same issues! I guess it's a wait game!

[CreativeLeahG]

This may or may not help at all,

I have somewhere close to 120 stores and a bazillion messed-up categories. It hasn't hindered me. It hasn't helped me either! Focus on your products and getting them seen and spend a little time each week attempting tidy-up. And above all do NOT open 120 stores 🙂 

[Indigodaisy]

Thank you, this helps knowing I am not alone. I am new too and was getting frustrated with setting up new categories and moving products around and not seeing them. I guess it is a waiting game. I was trying to get the basic structure to work before adding new products.