Filtering Products
📋 Overview
Filters help you select exactly which products should be affected by your bulk operation. You can combine multiple filters to create precise product selections.
All filters work together using AND logic - products must match ALL selected filters to be included.
🎯 Available Filters
1. Category Filter
Select one or multiple categories to filter products. The category selector uses a tree structure showing your full category hierarchy.
How to use:
- ✅ Check the boxes next to categories you want to include
- ✅ You can select multiple categories
- ✅ Products belonging to ANY of the selected categories will be included
Example:
Select "Summer Collection" and "New Arrivals"
→ All products in either category will be affected
Use the tree structure to quickly select parent categories and all their subcategories. Expand/collapse categories for easier navigation.
2. Manufacturer Filter
Filter products by their manufacturer/brand.
How to use:
- Select a manufacturer from the dropdown
- Only one manufacturer can be selected at a time
- Leave blank to include products from all manufacturers
Example:
Select "Nike"
→ Only Nike products will be affected
Unlike categories, you can only select ONE manufacturer at a time. To affect products from multiple manufacturers, run separate operations.
3. Active Status Filter
Filter products based on their active/inactive status in your store.
Options:
| Option | Description | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| All | Include both active and inactive products | General operations |
| Active Only | Only products currently visible in your store | Customer-facing updates |
| Inactive Only | Only products currently disabled | Cleanup operations |
Example:
Select "Active Only"
→ Changes will only apply to products currently visible to customers
Use "Inactive Only" to clean up videos from discontinued products without affecting your active catalog.
4. Has Videos Filter
Filter products based on whether they currently have videos or not.
Options:
| Option | Description | Perfect For |
|---|---|---|
| All | Include all products regardless of video presence | General operations |
| With Videos | Only products that already have one or more videos | Updates and removals |
| Without Videos | Only products that don't have any videos yet | Adding first videos |
Example:
Select "Without Videos" + Action "Add Video"
→ Add videos only to products that don't have any yet
- Without Videos → Perfect for bulk adding videos to products that need them
- With Videos → Perfect for bulk updates or removals
5. Language Selector
Available when your store has multiple languages
Choose which language context to work in. This affects how product names are displayed in the preview.
Language selection only affects the preview display. The operations themselves apply to all languages.
6. Shop Selector
Available in multi-shop environments
Select which shop context to apply changes to. Products and videos are managed per shop.
Always verify you're working in the correct shop before executing operations. Videos are shop-specific!
🔄 How Filters Work Together
Filters use AND logic - products must match ALL active filters to be selected.
Example Combinations
Example 1: New Product Launch
Scenario: Add videos to new products in a specific category
Category: "Spring 2024"
Manufacturer: (All)
Active: Active Only
Has Videos: Without Videos
→ Result: Active products in Spring 2024 category that don't have videos yet
Why this works:
- Targets only new active products
- Avoids adding duplicate videos
- Focuses on customer-visible items
Example 2: Update Existing Videos
Scenario: Update videos for a specific brand
Category: "Electronics"
Manufacturer: Sony
Active: All
Has Videos: With Videos
→ Result: All Sony electronics products that already have videos
Why this works:
- Targets specific brand
- Only affects products with existing videos
- Includes both active and inactive products
Example 3: Clean Up Inactive Products
Scenario: Remove videos from discontinued items
Category: (All)
Manufacturer: (All)
Active: Inactive Only
Has Videos: With Videos
→ Result: All inactive products that still have videos attached
Why this works:
- Targets only discontinued products
- Cleans up unnecessary video data
- Doesn't affect active products
⚠️ Filter Requirements
At least one filter must be set - You cannot execute operations without any filter criteria. This safety measure prevents accidental operations on your entire catalog.
Valid minimum selections:
- ✅ At least one category selected, OR
- ✅ A manufacturer selected, OR
- ✅ Active status set to Active/Inactive, OR
- ✅ Has Videos set to Yes/No
Invalid (will be rejected):
- ❌ All filters left at default "All" values
- ❌ No categories selected and manufacturer = "All"
💡 Tips for Effective Filtering
Start Broad, Then Narrow Down
Best practice workflow:
- Start with a broad filter (e.g., category)
- Preview the results
- Add more filters if needed
- Preview again
- Execute when satisfied
Use "Has Videos" Strategically
- "Without Videos" → Perfect for bulk adding videos to products that need them
- "With Videos" → Perfect for bulk updates or removals
- "All" → Use when video presence doesn't matter
Test Your Filters
Always use the Preview button to verify your filter selection before executing.
Preview helps you:
- ✅ Verify the correct products are selected
- ✅ Check the total count of affected products
- ✅ Identify any unexpected products in the selection
- ✅ Catch mistakes before they happen
Combine for Precision
Use multiple filters to target exactly the products you need:
Good combination:
Category: "Shoes" + Manufacturer: "Nike" + Active: Active + Has Videos: Without
Result: Active Nike shoes without videos
→ Very precise, exactly what you want
📊 Common Filter Patterns
Here are proven filter combinations for common scenarios:
| Goal | Recommended Filters | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Add videos to new collection | Category + "Without Videos" | Avoids duplicates |
| Update all manufacturer videos | Manufacturer + "With Videos" | Only existing videos |
| Clean up discontinued items | Active: Inactive + "With Videos" | Safe cleanup |
| Add exclusive content | Category + Active Only | Customer-facing only |
| Brand-wide video update | Manufacturer + "With Videos" + Active | Active products only |
| Fill missing videos | Category + "Without Videos" + Active | Complete active catalog |
🔍 Filter Validation
The system validates your filters before allowing operations:
What happens:
- System checks if at least one filter is active
- If yes, queries database with filter criteria
- If products found, displays preview
- If no products found, shows warning message
❓ Troubleshooting Filters
No products match my filters
Common reasons:
- Filter combination too restrictive
- Selected category is empty
- Manufacturer has no products in selected category
- All products already have videos (when filtering for "Without Videos")
Solutions:
- Remove some filters and try again
- Preview with just one filter first
- Change "Has Videos" to "All"
- Verify selected category has products
Preview shows unexpected products
Remember: Filters use AND logic - products must match ALL filters.
Check:
- Are multiple categories selected? (products in ANY selected category are included)
- Is manufacturer set correctly?
- Is "Active Status" set as intended?
- Is "Has Videos" filter correct?
Tip: Clear all filters and add them one by one while previewing to understand which filter is causing unexpected results.
Can't select multiple manufacturers
This is by design. You can only select ONE manufacturer at a time.
Workaround: Run separate operations for each manufacturer:
- Operation 1: Manufacturer A + your filters
- Operation 2: Manufacturer B + your filters
Each operation is independent and safe to run sequentially.
🎯 Advanced Filtering Techniques
Multi-Category Targeting
When multiple categories are selected, products in ANY of those categories are included (OR logic for categories):
Selected: "Electronics" + "Accessories"
→ Products in Electronics OR Accessories (or both)
Use multi-category selection to affect related product groups in a single operation.
Filtering by Video Presence
The "Has Videos" filter is powerful for maintaining your catalog:
Strategic uses:
| Filter Value | Operation | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Without Videos | Add | Fill in missing content |
| With Videos | Update | Change existing videos |
| With Videos | Remove | Clean up old videos |
| All | Add | Add to all products (duplicates possible) |
📚 Filter Combinations Library
Save time with these proven combinations:
🎬 Add Promotional Video to Collection
Category: [Your Collection]
Manufacturer: (All)
Active: Active Only
Has Videos: All or Without Videos
Action: Add Video
Result: All active products in collection get the promotional video
🏷️ Brand-Specific Video Update
Category: (All)
Manufacturer: [Brand Name]
Active: Active Only
Has Videos: With Videos
Action: Update
Result: All active brand products with existing videos are updated
🧹 Cleanup Discontinued Products
Category: (All)
Manufacturer: (All)
Active: Inactive Only
Has Videos: With Videos
Action: Remove
Result: Videos removed from all inactive products
📦 Fill Missing Videos in Active Catalog
Category: [Main Category]
Manufacturer: (All)
Active: Active Only
Has Videos: Without Videos
Action: Add
Result: Active products without videos get new video
🎓 Next Steps
Now that you understand filtering, learn about the actions you can perform:
⚙️ Bulk Actions Explained
Learn about Add, Update, and Remove operations and how to configure them
You now know how to select exactly the right products for your bulk operations. Next, learn about the different actions you can perform on these products.
Last updated: 2025-12-13