# Collections: group catalog products

> For the administrator: create collections to group catalog products, add products from the product page or through the import, and sort them by position.

Source: https://vendria.com/en/ajuda/colecoes

## Where to find it

In your account menu, under **Collections**.

The screen belongs to **one store** (the store you are in) and has no selector: in an
organization with several stores, the collections you see and create are that
store's.

## What collections are for

A collection groups catalog products under a name: a product line, a
family, a campaign ("Kraft Boxes", "Summer Line"). Each product belongs to
**one** collection, or to none.

Where the collection shows up:

- **For the team**, on the products screen: the **Collection** filter narrows the
  catalog by it, showing next to each name how many products it has.
- **On the product page**: the **Collection** field, which the administrator changes right
  there.
- **For the buyer**: the collection name shows up as the product's caption, along
  with the attributes. The collection is **no** navigation menu for the buyer.

## What the collections table shows

One row per collection, with **Name**, **Slug**, the count of **Products** (only
active products), the **Position**, the **Status** (active or inactive) and the
**Actions** to edit and delete. An inactive collection shows up faded.

The slug is not typed: it is derived from the name and **changes along with it whenever you
rename the collection**. It is unique within the store: two names that result in the same
slug (for example, "Linha Verão" and "linha verao") are refused with **A collection with
a similar name already exists**.

The **Search collection...** search filters the table by name.

## How to create a collection

1. Click **New Collection**.
2. Fill in **Name** (required), **Description** (optional) and **Position**.
3. Click **Create**.

To edit, use the row's pencil: the same form opens as **Edit
Collection**, and the button becomes **Save**.

## How to put products in a collection

A collection is born empty. There are two ways to associate products:

- **One by one, on the product page**: open the product from the products screen and, in the
  attributes card, choose the collection in the **Collection** field. **No collection**
  takes the product out of the collection.
- **In bulk, through the catalog import**: map a spreadsheet column as
  **Collection**. The import associates each product with the collection of that name and
  **creates** the collections that do not exist yet.

⚠️ That is why a collection nobody created on the screen sometimes shows up: it
came from an import.

## The position orders the collections

The **Position** orders this table and the catalog's collection selectors: a lower
number comes first, and a tie is broken by name.

The up and down arrows, in the **Position** column, swap a
collection's position with its neighbor's. On an **inactive** collection the arrows are turned off;
reactivate it before positioning.

⚠️ Every new collection is born with **Position** 0. If several collections have the
same number, the arrows swap 0 for 0 and nothing changes on screen. In that case, edit the
collections and give each one a different number (1, 2, 3…); from then on the arrows
work.

## Deactivating and deleting do the SAME thing

🚨 Turning off the **Status** and clicking the trash can (**Delete**), confirming with
**Remove**,
have the same effect, and neither of them erases the collection from the records: it becomes
**inactive**, and the **Status** switch reactivates it. **Delete is not
permanent**: the only difference between the two is the confirmation.

What both do, and this is what matters: **the products are taken out of the collection**.
The confirmation window tells you how many. Reactivating brings the collection back
**empty**; the associations do not come back on their own. The products stay on sale the
whole time: it is the collection that is lost, not them.

## Common questions

- **The collection disappeared from the products screen filter**: it is inactive. Only
  active collections show up in the filters and in the product page's **Collection** field.
- **I reactivated it and the collection has 0 products**: deactivating takes the products out of the
  collection. Associate them again through the product page or the import.
- **I imported a catalog with the name of an inactive collection**: the import
  associates the products with it, but does **no** reactivation. Turn on the **Status** for it to
  come back to the filters.
- **"A collection with a similar name already exists"**: there is already a collection (active or
  inactive) with an equivalent name. Reactivate and rename the existing one, or choose another
  name.
- **I created the collection in one store and it does not show up in the other**: collections are per
  store.