Product filters

Acendy Filters: A Comprehensive Guide

It's a smart move to use filters in your online store. They make it super easy for customers to find what they're looking for, which means a better shopping experience for them and more sales for you! This guide will walk you through how to set up and use filters in Acendy.

What Are Filters?

Filters help customers sort through products based on specific characteristics. Think of them as a way to narrow down a large selection to just the items a customer is interested in.

Here are some common examples of what customers can filter by:

Color: Red, Blue, Black
Size: S, M, L, XL
Price: $0–$500, $500–$1000
Brand: Nike, Adidas, Puma
Material: Cotton, Wool, Polyester

You'll find filters on category pages in your online store. They're designed to help your customers quickly pinpoint products that match their exact needs.

When filters are set up in your store, you'll automatically have 4 standard filters ready to go:

Stock status
Price
Category
Manufacturers

These are pretty self-explanatory and are named just as they appear in your online store.

Filters vs. Variants: What's the Difference?

It's common to confuse filters and variants, but they serve different purposes in your e-commerce setup.

Variants

Variants are different versions of a single product. For example, a T-shirt might come in different sizes or colors, but it's still the same T-shirt.

Where they're created: Under Products > Variants in your control panel.
How customers use them: Customers select a variant directly from the product page.
Examples:
- A piece of clothing in sizes S, M, L, XL.
- A pair of shoes available in black, white, and blue.
- A chair that comes in wood, metal, or plastic.

If you're planning to use both variants and filters, we recommend getting familiar with variants first. You can learn more about them in our dedicated help article on variants.

Filters

Filters help customers narrow down search results across an entire category of products. They let customers sort products based on specific characteristics.

Where they're created: Under Products > Filter in your control panel.
How customers use them: Filters are used on category pages to sort products by criteria like color, price, brand, material, or customer reviews.
Examples:
- A customer can filter shoes by color (black, white, red) or size (40, 41, 42, 43).
- In an electronics store, filters might include brand (Samsung, Apple, Sony) or storage capacity (64GB, 128GB, 256GB).

Quick Summary

Filters are for searching and sorting products within a category.
Variants are for selecting different versions of the same product (like size or color) once you're on the product page.

Example: Imagine an online store selling sneakers. A customer could filter by "Nike" and "size 42" to see all available Nike sneakers in that size. Once they find a shoe they like, they can then choose between variants like "black" or "white" on the product page.

How to Create Filters

You'll find the filter settings in your control panel under Products > Filter. Here, you'll see the 4 standard filters that you can easily activate by toggling them on. Once activated, they'll move to the "Active filters" section.

Adding Custom Filters

To create your own custom filters:

Click on "Add filter group".
The name you give this filter group will be what your customers see on the category page (e.g., "Color").
Once created, a new column will appear in the middle of your screen with the filter group's name as the heading. Here, you can edit the name, add individual filters, and sort their order.

For example, if you create a "Color" filter group, you'd then add individual filters like "Red," "Blue," "Yellow," "Green," and so on. Initially, each new filter will have a "0" in a circle next to it, indicating that no values are linked yet.

Linking Values to Filters

After you've created your filter group and added your filters, a third column will appear. This is where you link specific product values to each filter.

Let's continue with the "Color" example:

You've created the "Color" filter group and added "Red" as a filter.
In the third column, you'll need to select all the product values that should appear when a customer chooses "Color: Red." For instance, if you sell dresses in various shades, you might tick "Red," "Brown-red," "Magenta," "Burgundy," etc., to ensure all relevant dresses appear.

Once you've linked values to a filter, the number in the circle next to the filter will update. For example, if you link 5 products to the "Red" filter, you'll see a "5" in the circle.

Variant Filters

After you've created your variants (under Products > Variants) and linked them to your products, you can also create filters based on these variants. Common examples include filters for size and color.

Product Properties - Advanced Filters

This is where you can get really specific with your filtering! Product properties allow you to assign values to your products that aren't visible to your customers but can be linked to filters within your system.

Keep in mind: If you have a lot of products, setting this up can be time-consuming because you'll need to assign properties to each individual product. However, the effort is often worth it for the improved filtering experience!

Deleting Filter Selections

If you need to delete a filter selection:

Navigate to the filter you want to remove until it appears in the third column.
Click on "Edit" > "Delete".
You'll see a warning: "Are you sure you want to delete this filter? The filter and all values will be removed. This cannot be undone!" You must confirm this to proceed with the deletion.

Important: Before deleting a filter value, make sure you disconnect any variants and properties that are linked to it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

I have an overwhelming number of values linked to a filter selection. Do I really have to scroll through all of them?

No, you don't! If you have a lot of values linked to a filter selection, you can easily choose to view only the active values in the overview.