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Collections

Collections are the virtual aisles of your online store. Instead of forcing customers to browse through your entire inventory, Collections allow you to group related products together—like "Summer Sale," "Men's Footwear," or "New Arrivals." This organization is critical for user experience, navigation menus, and search engine optimization (SEO).

This guide will show you how to create, curate, and manage product collections in Soppiya.

Location: Products → Collections

What Are Collections?​

A Collection is a specific group of products that you define. You can link to these collections from your store's main menu, use them in marketing emails, or feature them on your homepage.

Common uses:

  • Seasonal Campaigns - "Summer Essentials" or "Holiday Gift Guide"
  • Product Categories - "T-Shirts," "Pants," "Accessories"
  • Sales & Promotions - "Items under $50" or "Clearance"
  • Curated Looks - "Staff Picks" or "Trending Now"
For Store Owners

Don't just create collections for "Types" of products (like Shirts). Create collections based on how your customers shop (like "Work from Home Outfits" or "Gifts for Him").

Collections Overview​

The Collections dashboard provides a high-level view of how your inventory is organized.

What You'll See​

When you navigate to Products → Collections, the grid displays:

  • Title & Thumbnail - The internal name and a preview of the featured image (or placeholder icon).
  • Product Count - The specific number of active products in that group.
  • Status - While not explicitly a column, the count helps identify empty collections.

What You Can Do​

From this page you can:

  • Search: Type keywords to locate specific collections instantly.
  • Filter: Click to isolate collections by Template.
  • Sort: Click the icon to reorder by Title, Created Date, or Product Count.
  • Save Views: Create custom tabs for frequently accessed groups (e.g., "Seasonal Collections").
  • Create New: Add a new group to your store.

Quick Start Guide​

If you're creating a collection for the first time:

  1. Click Create - Click the button.
  2. Add Basics - Enter a Title and optional Description.
  3. Add Image - Upload a Featured Image for the collection cover.
  4. Select Products - Click Add Product to manually choose items for this group.
  5. Save - Click to publish.

For detailed configuration steps, continue reading below.

How to Create a Collection​

To build a new product group:

  1. Navigate to Products → Collections.
  2. Click in the top-right corner.
  3. Complete the configuration sections below.
  4. Click .

Collection Configuration​

Essential fields:

  • Title: The name displayed to customers (Mandatory).
  • Description: Rich text area for SEO content and customer engagement.
  • Featured Image: The visual "cover" for the collection.
View All Collection Field Details

Core Information​

Title:

  • What it is: The H1 header of the collection page.
  • Best practice: Keep it clear and descriptive (e.g., "Running Shoes" vs. "Shoes").

Description:

  • What it is: Text that appears (usually) at the top of the collection page.
  • Best practice: Write 2-3 sentences using keywords to help this page rank on Google.

What it is: The image used on "Shop All" pages or when sharing the link on social media.

Best practices:

  • Resolution: Minimum width of 512 pixels.
  • Consistency: Use the same aspect ratio (e.g., square or landscape) for all collection images to keep your site looking professional.
  • Action: Click the upload box to add, or / to manage.

Advanced Settings (Sidebar & Footer)​

Theme Template:

  • What it is: Controls the layout design.
  • Standard: Usually set to Collection.
  • Advanced: Developers can create custom templates for specific landing pages.

Meta Fields (Theme Color):

  • What it is: A custom field to set an accent color for this specific collection.
  • How to use: Enter a color name (e.g., "Red") or Hex code (e.g., #FF0000).
  • Where it appears: Depends on your active theme (often used for banners or buttons).

Managing Collection Products​

Soppiya allows you to manually curate exactly which products appear in a collection. This gives you total control over the merchandising.

Adding Products to a Collection​

  1. Scroll down to the Products section in the editor.
  2. Click the Add Product link on the right side.
  3. Search & Select:
    • Type product names to find them.
    • Check the box ☑ next to the items you want (e.g., "Product A", "Product B").
  4. Click the button.

Managing the List​

Once added, products appear in a list view:

  • Check Status: Look for the Active or Draft badge to ensure the products are visible.
  • Remove: Click the icon on the right side of a row to remove the item from this collection.
important

Removing a product from a collection does not delete the product from your store. It simply untags it from this specific group.

Search Engine Listing (SEO)​

Optimize how this collection appears in Google search results.

  1. Scroll to the Search engine listing card at the bottom.
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Page Title: Custom title for search results (Blue link text).
  4. Meta Description: Summary under the link (max 320 chars).
  5. URL Handle: The web address (e.g., /collections/summer-sale).
URL Changes

Changing the URL handle on a live collection will break existing links shared on social media or in emails. Only change this if absolutely necessary.

Custom Views (Smart Tabs)​

If you manage a large catalog, you can save specific search filters as "Tabs" on your dashboard for quick access.

How to Create a View​

  1. Apply Filters: Use the filter menu (e.g., Filter by Template).
  2. Add View: Click the + (plus) icon next to the "All" tab.
  3. Name It: Enter a descriptive name (max 40 chars).
  4. Create: Click .

Result: A new tab appears. Clicking it instantly applies those filters and your preferred sorting order.

Real World Examples​

Example 1: The "New Arrivals" Collection

Goal: A curated list of the newest items to feature on the homepage.

Configuration:

FieldSetting
TitleNew Arrivals
Featured ImageLifestyle shot of newest product
ProductsManually selected top 10 new items
Sort OrderManual (drag to reorder if available)

Why this works: Regular customers want to see what's new immediately. Manually curating this allows you to hide "boring" new items (like socks) and highlight "exciting" ones (like jackets).

Example 2: Seasonal Campaign (SEO Focused)

Goal: Capture traffic for "Winter Skincare".

Configuration:

FieldSetting
TitleWinter Skincare Essentials
Description"Protect your skin from dry cold weather with our organic moisturizers..." (Keyword rich)
URL Handle/collections/winter-skincare
Meta TitleBest Organic Winter Skincare Routine 2024

Why this works: The description and meta fields are optimized for people searching for solutions to dry skin in winter, driving organic traffic to your store.

Managing Collections​

Editing Collections​

  1. Go to Products → Collections.
  2. Click the Title of the collection.
  3. Add/Remove products or update text.
  4. Click .

Deleting Collections​

  1. Open the collection editor.
  2. Scroll to the bottom right.
  3. Click .
Permanent Action

Deleting a collection removes the group and breaks any navigation links pointing to it. However, the products inside are safe and remain in your inventory.

Troubleshooting​

Collection page shows "No products found"

Possible causes:

  • No products have been added to the collection.
  • Added products are set to Draft status.
  • The collection itself is not linked in your Navigation menu.

Solution: Check the Product Count column in the dashboard. If it's > 0, check the status of the individual products inside to ensure they are Active.

The Featured Image looks pixelated or blurry

Possible causes:

  • Image resolution is too low.

Solution: Upload an image with a width of at least 1024 pixels (even though 512px is minimum) for crisp display on Retina/High-DPI screens.

I can't find the "Theme Color" option

Possible causes:

  • This is a "Meta field" feature that depends on your specific theme.

Solution: Look at the very bottom of the editor. If Meta fields is not visible, your current store configuration might not utilize this feature.

Sorting by "Created Date" isn't working

Possible causes:

  • You are sorting the Collection list in the admin, not the products on the storefront.

Solution: The icon in the admin panel only organizes your dashboard view. To change how products sort for customers, check your Theme Settings.

Need More Help?

If you're still experiencing issues, contact Soppiya support with the Collection Title and a screenshot of your Products section.

Best Practices​

Collection Management Best Practices

Organization

  • Navigation: Create collections specifically for your main menu (e.g., Men, Women, Kids) to make browsing easy.
  • Consistency: Use similar image styles for all collection "Featured Images" so your grid looks uniform.

SEO & Marketing

  • Descriptions: Always write at least 50 words of description for every collection. Empty descriptions hurt your SEO ranking.
  • URL Handles: Keep them short and readable. Use /collections/summer-sale instead of /collections/col-992-summer.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • ❌ Empty Collections: Creating a collection but forgetting to add products results in a bad user experience.
  • ❌ Over-segmentation: Creating too many tiny collections (e.g., "Blue Cotton V-Neck Shirts") makes navigation confusing. Stick to broader categories.
  • ❌ Changing URLs: modifying the "URL Handle" on live collections breaks links in your emails and social posts.

Summary​

Collections are the primary way customers find products in your store. By organizing inventory into logical groups like categories, sales, or themes, you improve navigation and boost SEO.

Key takeaways:

  • Manual Control: You have full control to check/uncheck exactly which products appear.
  • Featured Images: These are critical for visual navigation on your homepage.
  • SEO: Customize the Title and URL to rank for specific search terms.
  • Dashboard: Use Filters and Custom Views to manage large lists of collections efficiently.

Start by creating your main category collections (e.g., "Tops," "Bottoms") and linking them to your store's main menu.