Categories

Category Hierarchy

-- Category tree with path
SELECT entity_id, parent_id, path, level, name, children_count
FROM catalog_category_entity
ORDER BY path;
+-----------+-----------+-------------+-------+---------------+---------------+
| entity_id | parent_id | path        | level | name          | children_count|
+-----------+-----------+-------------+-------+---------------+---------------+
|         1 |         0 | 1           |     0 | Root          |              1 |
|         2 |         1 | 1/2         |     1 | Default       |              3 |
|         3 |         2 | 1/2/3       |     2 | Electronics   |              2 |
|         4 |         2 | 1/2/4       |     2 | Clothing      |              2 |
|         5 |         3 | 1/2/3/5     |     3 | Phones        |              0 |
|         6 |         3 | 1/2/3/6     |     3 | Laptops       |              0 |
|         7 |         4 | 1/2/4/7     |     3 | Men           |              0 |
|         8 |         4 | 1/2/4/8     |     3 | Women         |              0 |
+-----------+-----------+-------------+-------+---------------+---------------+

Path Explanation

Path: 1/2/3/5
  1 = Root category (invisible)
  2 = Default category
  3 = Electronics
  5 = Phones

Level 0 = Root
Level 1 = Top level (Default)
Level 2 = Sub level (Electronics, Clothing)
Level 3 = Sub-sub level (Phones, Laptops)

URL Key Configuration

// Category URL key
$category->setUrlKey('electronics');
// URL: https://example.com/electronics.html

// Category with parent path
// URL: https://example.com/electronics/phones.html

// URL suffix configuration
// Stores > Configuration > Catalog > Catalog > Category URL Suffix
// Default: .html

URL Rewrite for Categories

-- Auto-generated URL rewrites
SELECT request_path, target_path, redirect_type
FROM url_rewrite
WHERE entity_type = 'category' AND entity_id = 5 AND store_id = 1;
+---------------------------+----------------------------+---------------+
| request_path              | target_path                | redirect_type |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+---------------+
| electronics/phones.html   | catalog/category/view/id/5 |             0 |
+---------------------------+----------------------------+---------------+

Category URL Generation

// Get category URL
$category = $categoryRepository->get(5, $storeId);
$url = $category->getUrl();
// Returns: https://example.com/electronics/phones.html

// Get category URL key
$urlKey = $category->getUrlKey();
// Returns: 'phones'

// Set custom URL key
$category->setUrlKey('smartphones');
$category->save();
// URL becomes: https://example.com/electronics/smartphones.html

URL Key Rules

- Lowercase only
- Hyphens for spaces
- No special characters
- Must be unique within parent
- Auto-generated from name if not set

Examples:
  Electronics → electronics
  T-Shirts → t-shirts
  Kids Clothing → kids-clothing

Display Modes

// Category display mode
$category->setDisplayMode('PRODUCTS');           // Products only
$category->setDisplayMode('PAGE');               // CMS page
$category->setDisplayMode('PRODUCTS_AND_PAGE');  // Products + CMS

// Set CMS page for category
	category->setCmsPageId(5);
// or
$category->setLandingPage('about-us');

Anchor Categories

// Is anchor (use for layered navigation)
$category->setIsAnchor(1); // Yes - shows layered navigation
$category->setIsAnchor(0); // No - no layered navigation

// Anchor = includes products from subcategories
// Electronics (anchor=1)
//   ├── Phones (has products)
//   └── Laptops (has products)
// Electronics page shows products from Phones AND Laptops

Anchor vs Non-Anchor

Display Mode Configuration

// Products per page
$category->setPageSize(20);

// Product listing order
$category->setDefaultSortBy('position');
// Options: position, name, price, sku

// Product listing direction
$category->setDefaultSortOrder('asc');
// Options: asc, desc

// Show product count
$category->setIsShowProductCount(true);

// Show in navigation
	category->setIncludeInMenu(1);

// Active status
$category->setIsActive(1);

Category Attributes

-- Category attributes
SELECT a.attribute_code, a.frontend_input, a.is_required
FROM eav_attribute a
WHERE a.entity_type_id = 3
LIMIT 15;
+---------------------+-----------------+-------------+
| attribute_code      | frontend_input  | is_required |
+---------------------+-----------------+-------------+
| name                | text            |           1 |
| image               | media_image     |           0 |
| page_layout         | select          |           0 |
| url_key             | text            |           0 |
| url_path            | text            |           0 |
| is_active           | boolean         |           1 |
| is_anchor           | boolean         |           0 |
| position            | text            |           0 |
| children_count      | text            |           0 |
| description         | textarea        |           0 |
| display_mode        | select          |           0 |
| cms_page            | select          |           0 |
| default_sort_by     | select          |           0 |
| page_size           | text            |           0 |
| default_sort_order  | select          |           0 |
+---------------------+-----------------+-------------+

Programmatic Category Management

// Create category
$objectManager = \Magento\Framework\App\ObjectManager::getInstance();
$objectManager->get(
    \Magento\Catalog\Model\CategoryFactory::class
)->create();

$category->setName('New Category')
    ->setUrlKey('new-category')
    ->setParentId(3) // Parent category ID
    ->setIsActive(1)
    ->setIsAnchor(1)
    ->setDisplayMode('PRODUCTS')
    ->setDefaultSortBy('position')
    ->setPageSize(20)
    ->save();

// Update category
$category = $categoryRepository->get(5);
$category->setName('Updated Name');
$category->save();

// Delete category
$category->delete();

// Get category tree
$tree = $category->getTreeModel();
$tree->load();
$tree->loadInBackground();

// Get child categories
$children = $category->getChildrenCategories();
foreach ($children as $child) {
    echo $child->getName();
}

Category Collection

// Get all active categories
$collection = $objectManager->get(
    \Magento\Catalog\Model\ResourceModel\Category\Collection::class
);
$collection->addFieldToFilter('is_active', 1)
    ->addFieldToFilter('level', ['gteq' => 1])
    ->addFieldToFilter('level', ['lteq' => 3]);

// Get root categories
$rootCategories = $collection->addFieldToFilter('parent_id', 1);

// Get category with product count
$collection->addCountToSelect();

foreach ($collection as $category) {
    echo $category->getName() . ' (' . $category->getProductCount() . ')';
}