Category activity, visibility, and translations

A category has two independent switches that are easy to confuse. Both are in the category editor (Catalog → Categories, click a category in the tree) on the Advanced tab. Active is also in the editor header.

Active means whether the category is in use. An inactive category disappears from the Active tree view, along with its entire branch, and from bulk category assignment on the product list. It can still be selected in the category window for an individual product.

Visible in menu controls whether the category appears in a menu (for example, in a store). On the category screen, a hidden category remains in the tree—marked with a crossed-out eye, with “Hidden in menu” in the summary. Nothing disappears, so it is easy to find and make visible again.

Step by step: switches

1. Go to Catalog → Categories, choose a catalog, and click a category in the tree.
2. On Advanced, click Active/Inactive or Visible/Hidden.
3. Click Save. Saved confirms success; on failure, a red message appears above the tabs.

Disabling a parent and its subcategories

Disabling a category does not disable its subcategories. They remain active and assigned to products. However, in the tree’s default Active view, the entire branch under an inactive parent is hidden because there is no active path to it.

To see it, switch the tree to Inactive (only inactive categories, with their parents shown for context) or All. Select a category and turn it back on. The parent’s product count still includes products throughout the entire branch, including hidden subcategories.

Step by step: translations

1. Open a category and go to Translations. The tab count (for example, 4/6) shows how many languages have their own name. An empty name or one identical to the default counts as untranslated; the default name will appear in the store instead.
2. Each active catalog language has a row with Name and Description. The first row is the default language; its name is the same one you edit in the header. An empty row for another language shows the default name as gray helper text.
3. Want AI to do this for you? Click Translate missing. AI translates the name and description from the default language only for languages without translations. Select the suggestions and click Apply; they are inserted into the rows but are not saved automatically.
4. Click Save. One button saves both the category and its translations.

The AI button works for a saved category in a catalog with at least two languages. If the company has no AI integration configured, the editor displays “AI is not configured…”

When the catalog has one language, the tab says so and links to Catalog settings, where you can add another (Catalog languages).

Slugs and SEO fields (meta title, meta description) are not on this screen. Saving here does not change them; their existing values (for example, from an import) remain.

Which translations are created automatically

Creating a category creates a translation only in the catalog’s default language. Other languages remain empty until you fill them manually or click Translate missing. Adding a language to a catalog does not create any translation rows; categories show the default name in that language. Older categories may have copies of the default name in other languages; the count and AI treat these copies as missing translations.

The category name follows the default translation

The name in the editor header and the translation in the catalog’s default language are one and the same. Change the displayed name in one place, not two.

The default-language translation cannot be deleted; it provides the category name. When a translation is missing, the system falls back in this order: selected language → catalog default language → category’s own name.

Slugs are not enforced

A translation’s slug is not required to be unique; two categories can have the same slug. If you use slugs in URLs, manage their uniqueness yourself.