Hidden products and categories
In Ecwid you can create a hidden product or category. This is a product or category which doesn't appear in the usual list, but can be opened/purchased using a special direct link.
You can use hidden categories for discounts and wholesale products - usual customers will not see these products, but the customers with a direct link or access to a password-protected page, will be able to purchase them. You can also use hidden categories to show different categories on different sites while managing them all from one place.
Creating a hidden product
To create a hidden product:
- From your Ecwid admin, go to Catalog → Categories.
- Create a new root category, call it "Special products", for example.
- Disable this category.
- Move your product to this disabled category. You can do it using the Catalog → Categories → Category Products tab or Categories section in the product details. Make sure that this product is enabled.
- From your Ecwid iOS app, go to Products.
- Tap Categories.
- Tap Edit and then tap Create category.
- Name the category, for example, "Special offer".
- Tap Add to save the category.
- Tap on the created category.
- Tap on the Availability toggle to disable the category.
- Tap Done to save the changes.
- Assign products that you want to be hidden to this category. To do that, tap the category → Edit → Assign products to the category.
- From your Ecwid Android app, go to Products.
- Tap Categories.
- Tap the plus icon in the right bottom corner to create a new category.
- Name the category, for example, "Special offer".
- Tap the tick icon to save the category.
- Change the Status to Disabled.
- Tap the arrow to save changes and go back to the categories list.
- Tap the created category.
- Tap the plus icon in the right bottom corner and choose Add existing products.
- Assign products that you want to be hidden to this category.
That's all. Products that you assign to the created disabled category will be hidden. You cannot see them while browsing the store, but you can still open a hidden product via a direct link (how to get such a link).
You can also preview a hidden product from your Ecwid admin by clicking the Open in Storefront link on the product details page:
Creating a hidden category
The same instruction will work for categories too. In this case you need to make your enabled category a child of a disabled category.
To create a hidden category:
- From your Ecwid admin, go to Catalog → Categories.
- Create a new root category, call it "Berries", for example.
- Disable this category.
- Create a new subcategory within this disabled category by clicking the +Add Subcategory button. Make sure the subcategory is enabled.
- From your Ecwid iOS app, go to Products.
- Tap Categories.
- Tap Edit and then tap Create category. Name it "Berries", for example.
- Tap Add.
- Tap the created category and switch the Availability toggle to disable the category.
- Tap Close to save the changes.
- Tap Create category. Now you will create a subcategory.
- Name the new category and tap Add.
- Tap the new category and tap Change Parent Category.
- Select the “Berries” category that you created before.
- Tap Done.
- Tap Close to save the changes and go back to the categories list.
- From your Ecwid Android app, go to Products.
- Tap Categories.
- Tap the plus icon in the right bottom corner to create a new category.
- Name the category, for example, "Berries".
- Change the Status to Disabled.
- Tap the tick icon to save the category.
- Tap the arrow to save changes and go back to the categories list.
- Tap the created category.
- Tap the plus icon in the right bottom corner and choose Add new subcategory.
- Name the new subcategory.
- Tap the tick icon to save the subcategory.
Now the subcategory is hidden. You cannot open it by browsing categories in your store, but you can still open it using a direct link (how to get such a link).
You can also preview the hidden category from your Ecwid admin by clicking the Preview category link on the category details page, screenshot:
Such hidden products will still appear in search results. You can hide the search options in your store or eliminate such products from search results in your store with the help of custom attributes or CSS codes.
If you make a hidden category, then the disabled parent category will still appear in breadcrumbs. By clicking it, your customer will be redirected to the home store page. If you don't want this behavior, you can hide breadcrumbs.
Adding different categories to different websites
You can show different Ecwid categories on different sites while managing them all from one place. For example, if you sell laptops, you can show the "Apple" category on the site about Apple, Dell laptops on your site about Dell and so on. To achieve it, you can hide categories on the site where you've added your Ecwid store and show each category on a separate site.
To add different categories to different sites:
- Create a disabled root category. So, the only root category in your store will be a disabled one.
- Create enabled categories in your disabled category. One enabled category per each site. Let's call them "site categories".
- Move your products to the corresponding site categories.
- Hide your breadcrumbs. You need to hide them, because the link to the disabled category in the breadcrumbs will point to the root store page, which will not have any enabled categories in your case.
- Then use this option to open a particular site category on each site: Default category for product browser.
This workaround for creating multiple storefronts with different products has some drawbacks you should keep in mind:
- The categories menu widget will display no category since the only root category is disabled.
- The search widget in Ecwid always searches all store products — you cannot restrict it to specific category. So, to prevent appearing one category products in another category's "storefront" you will have to disable Ecwid search box on your site.
