Categories are a highly customisable feature in Circlesoft, reflecting the varied ways that different stores identify and use categories.
To make your set-up easier, we have included some of the most common categories in this template, but it is entirely up to you how you use them.
Here is a general rule of thumb we have found useful for assigning your primary categories: Make your primary categories reflect the physical spaces in your store.
If your store keeps all Non Fiction titles together, simply use Non Fiction as your primary category.
If you have separate shelves/spaces for specific types of non-fiction (Science, Psychology, Biographies, History, Politics etc.) use these shelves as primary categories instead.
Similarly, if you separate your genre fiction (Horror, Sci-Fi and Fantasy) from your General Fiction, you can simply edit these categories using Category Manager. Use the pull-down menu and change the Parent Category from 'General Fiction' to blank: this will make it a Parent Category in its own right.
If you are using the label printing system, the primary category will be listed on the sticker, making it easier to shelve stock quickly, accurately and efficiently.
Please be aware that Subcategories (sometimes called 'child' categories) are not the same thing as Secondary Categories.
For example, a title such as Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov is a Science Fiction novel.
If you have Science Fiction as a subcategory of Fiction, visitors using your site will have to click on to Fiction (the parent category) before they can see what subcategories are available.
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Subcategories can still be used as Primary Categories for the purpose of identifying your books. If you find that one particular subcategory is receiving a lot of attention, you can easily use the Category Manager to change that genre from a 'child' to a 'parent' category, which means it will show up in the customer's navigation earlier.
You can also use the numbering in Category Manager [insert graphic] to move your most important categories to the top of the Category list, rather than using the default alphabetical ordering.
For more information on getting the most out of Secondary Categories, click here.
