Category Mapping

Each sales channel has its own taxonomy — a list of categories and subcategories used to place products. Most likely, your store's structure differs from this taxonomy.

Category Mapping lets Mulwi automatically replace your Shopify collections and product types in the feed with the corresponding categories of your sales channel.

You just map your store's structure to the channel's taxonomy once, and then add the new mapping to your feeds.

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Set up a category mapping

Some of the mapping's configurations, such as mapping order and AI category mapping, are only available after you save a new mapping for the first time. Therefore, we recommend you start by creating an empty category mapping, and only then configure the mapping.

NOTE

If your store has only one collection or product type, you don't necessarily have to create a category mapping. You can manually enter the sales channel's corresponding category directly in the template when you use category mapping in the feed.

Create an empty category mapping

To create an empty category mapping, follow these steps:

Steps for creating an empty category mapping in Mulwi

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Mulwi Feeds > Feeds.
2. In the Features block, click Category Mappings.
3. Click Add Category Mapping.
4. Fill in the mapping's general information:
   • Name. Give your mapping a descriptive name. You will use this name to find this particular mapping among other mappings.
   • Internal Code. Enter a unique string of letters, numbers, and symbols without spaces. You will use this code to access this mapping in the feed's template.
   • Active. Tick the checkbox to make the mapping available for use in your feeds.
5. In the Taxonomy / Marketplace section, choose from the dropdown menu the taxonomy you want to map your structure to. If you want to use a custom taxonomy, choose the dash character -.
6. Click Save at the top of the page to finish and create an empty category mapping.

NOTE

You won't be able to change the Taxonomy after you save the mapping.

Once you've created an empty category mapping, you should next configure this mapping.

Configure a category mapping

Mapping configuration includes selecting the order of mapping and the category mapping itself. You can either map categories manually or use AI category mapping.

Once you finish configuring the mapping, you can then start using it to map categories in feeds.

Select the order of mapping

On the mapping's configuration page, you can choose the Mapping order in which the mappings are applied to your products. Mulwi can map categories in two ways:

Mapping order 1: First Collection, then Product Type.

1. Mulwi will first check if any of the product's collections have an explicitly mapped category. If there are such mappings, Mulwi will use the the category of the first explicitly mapped collection.

2. If none of the product's collections have an explicitly mapped category, Mulwi will then check for a default category for collections. If there is one, Mulwi will use it.

3. If the default category for collections isn't provided either, Mulwi will use the category mapped to the product's type.

"First Collection, then Product Type" mapping order

Mapping order 2: First Product Type, then Collection.

1. Mulwi will first check if the product's type has an explicitly mapped category. If it does, Mulwi will use this category.

2. If the product's type doesn't have an explicitly mapped category, Mulwi will then check for a default category for product types. If there is one, Mulwi will use it.

3. If the default category for product types isn't provided either, Mulwi will use the category of the first explicitly mapped collection.

"First Product Type, then Collection" mapping order

NOTE

We recommend using the First Product Type, then Collection mapping order for the exact classification, as products can belong to many different collections but have only one type.

Map categories manually

You map collections and product types on separate tabs. Each tab has blocks that feature all your collections / product types in small groups, as well as a Default Category input field. A Default Category is assigned to all uncategorized products and products without a defined mapping.

How to manually map categories by collections

1. Under the block with the taxonomy and mapping order settings, click the Collection Mapping toggle. An indicator next to this toggle shows how many collections you've already mapped.
2. Find the necessary collection name among the input blocks.
3. In the input field under the collection name, enter the appropriate taxonomy category.
   If you've selected a preinstalled channel taxonomy, you can use autocomplete to find the necessary category faster. For that, start typing the category name or ID and choose the category from the dropdown menu.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 for all input fields, including the Default Category.
5. Click Save at the top of the page to apply new settings.

How to manually map categories by product types

1. Under the block with the taxonomy and mapping order settings, click the Product Type Mapping toggle. An indicator next to this toggle shows how many product types you've already mapped.
2. Find the necessary product type name among the input blocks.
3. In the input field under the type name, enter the appropriate taxonomy category.
   If you've selected a preinstalled channel taxonomy, you can use autocomplete to find the necessary category faster. For that, start typing the category name or ID and choose the category from the dropdown menu.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 for all input fields, including the Default Category.
5. Click Save at the top of the page to apply new settings.

You can also preview how your products will be mapped in the feed by clicking the Validate & Preview button.

Map categories using AI

You can map your categories using Mulwi's AI by simply clicking the Map Automatically button on the mapping's configuration page.

We work tirelessly to make our AI category mapping as accurate as possible, but sometimes it may map your products into not the most suitable categories. Thus, always check the our AI's output and, if necessary, fix imperfect AI mapping manually.

You can also preview how your products will be mapped in the feed by clicking the Validate & Preview button.

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Use mapping in the feed

Adding category mapping is slightly different for prebuilt templates, customized CSV/TXT/XLSX templates, and customized XML templates.

Use mapping in a prebuilt template

To add category mapping to a prebuilt feed template, follow these steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Mulwi Feeds > Feeds.
2. Click Edit next to the feed you need.
3. Find the Template section.
4. Check if the Template section has a Categorization input block.
5. Select the situation you're facing from the options below and follow the instructions inside.

My feed template doesn't have a Categorization input block

Category mapping may be optional or unnecessary for some sales channels. In this case, the prebuilt template for that channel won't have a Categorization input block.

If your sales channel supports the category attribute and you want to provide category information, then here's what you should do next:

1. Customize your template.
2. Add the category attribute according to your chosen channel's requirements.
3. Apply category mapping to your CSV/TXT/XLSX template or XML template.

There is a Categorization input block, I want to add a single mapped category manually

In this case, here's what you should do next:

1. Click the Static Category toggle.
2. In the input field under the toggle, start typing the category name or ID and choose the appropriate category from the dropdown menu.
3. Click Save at the top of the page to apply new settings.

Static mapping to a single category in a prebuilt feed template

There is a Categorization input block, I want to use the category mapping I've created

In this case, here's what you should do next:

1. Click the Dynamic Mapping toggle.
2. In the input field under the toggle, choose the appropriate category mapping from the dropdown menu.
3. Click Save at the top of the page to apply new settings.

Dynamic category mapping in a prebuilt feed template

Use mapping in a custom CSV/TXT/XLSX template

To add category mapping to a custom CSV/TXT/XLSX feed template, follow these steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Mulwi Feeds > Feeds.
2. Click Edit next to the feed you need.
3. Find the Template section.
4. Click Edit template.
5. In the Columns section of the template editor, find the sales channel's category attribute.
6. Select the situation you're facing from the options below and follow the instructions inside.

I want to add a single mapped category manually

In this case, here's what you should do next:

1. Set Expression as the category attribute's data Type.
2. Enter the appropriate category name or ID as a single line in the Value field.
3. Click Save at the top of the page to apply new settings.

Static mapping to a single category in a CSV/TXT/XLSX feed template

I want to use a category mapping I've created before

In this case, here's what you should do next:

1. Set Attribute as the category attribute's data Type.
2. Choose the category mapping from the dropdown menu in the Value field.
3. Click Save at the top of the page to apply new settings.

Dynamic category mapping in a CSV/TXT/XLSX feed template

Use mapping in a custom XML template

To add category mapping to a custom XML feed template, follow these steps:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Mulwi Feeds > Feeds.
2. Click Edit next to the feed you need.
3. Find the Template section.
4. Click Edit template.
5. In the Template editor, find the sales channel's category attribute.
6. Select the situation you're facing from the options below and follow the instructions inside.

I want to add a single mapped category manually

In this case, simply add the appropriate category name or ID to the attribute's value.

Example

Here's how you would add a static category name to a Google Shopping feed template:

<g:google_product_category><![CDATA[{{ "Apparel & Accessories > Clothing > Shirts & Tops > T-Shirts" }}]]></g:google_product_category>

Once you've finished adding the mapping, click Save at the top of the page to apply new settings to your feed.

I want to use a category mapping I've created before

In this case, add the category mapping to the attribute's value using Liquid Objects. You can view how to use the Liquid Objects of a specific mapping by clicking Variables & Filters at the top of the feed template's editor.

Each category mapping has two Liquid Objects:

• XXX.attr_YYY. Returns the mapped category's name.
• XXX.attr_YYY_id. Returns the mapped category's ID.

Here XXX is the feed's context (product or variant) and YYY is the mapping's internal code.

Example

Assume that you have:

• A category mapping with the gs_mapping internal code;
• A custom Google Shopping XML feed in product variant context.

In this case, you would add the mapped category names to the feed in such way:

<g:google_product_category><![CDATA[{{ variant.attr_gs_mapping }}]]></g:google_product_category>

If you wanted to add mapped category IDs instead, here's how you would do that:

<g:google_product_category><![CDATA[{{ variant.attr_gs_mapping_id }}]]></g:google_product_category>

Once you've finished adding the mapping, click Save at the top of the page to apply new settings to your feed.