HIDDEN category

i used a HIDDEN category and then a series of sub-categories as the master categories for manufacturers products in version 1.2 to make creating coupons and sales easier but now in v 1.3.0.2 i can't seem to get it to work the way it used to.

when i change the HIDDEN category status to off it also disables the products and i can't see an option to disable/hide just the category but not the products?

what do i need to do or is there another way of doing this now.

How many Products are in the Category?

each manufacturer has at least 70+ products.

BTT any ideas?

BTT again - please, please, please someone i need help with this :)

If you have a Top Level Category:
Hidden

Then subcats:
Manufactuer 1
Manufactuer 2
Manufactuer 3

Then turn off the Hidden Category ... that marks all as status 0

Now, go to the subcategories and turn them back on ...

So the Top Level is hidden ... but the subcategories are not ...

Since the Top Level does not show, it will not show in the listings ...

However, then you still need to adjust things for searches ...

Another method is to edit the products table ...

If the master_categories_id for the products matches the categories_id that is turned OFF or status 0 ... then you could run the command:

UPDATE products SET products_status = 1 where master_categories_id = XX;

Where XX is the matching master_categories_id

Or, you could do the opposite ... just turn off the Categories Status manually ...

UPDATE categories SET categories_status = 0 where categories_id = XX;

Ajeh, could you explain how to adjust things for searches? This is where I got stuck as well. The products are hidden but they're coming up in the searches. Kinda odd when a customer stumbles across one of these hidden products! :)

You would need to have the select statements ignore these categories/products ...

It can be quite a bit of work to make the selects manage this ... but it can be done ...

Hi everyone,.. I've done the HIDDEN category but my products are all priced by attribute.. I only see the discount on Product Info page but not in the dropdowns. Please help a newbie out! thanks!