Multiple categories PROBLEM and Duplicating main categories

Question

I'm quite new to this website stuff, still learning, but I am really confused on these problems.

Firstly, my website is a shop. When I try and place a product into multiple sub-categories, the product shows up three times in different categories.

For example, Forestry machinery > chainsaws > 12" Chainsaw bars.

The product shows up in all 3 categories even though I have selected the 12" chainsaw bar category ONLY.

For reference: https://dack-forestry.com/?product_cat=forestrymachinery

SECONDLY. My main slug categories duplicate on the HOME page.

for reference: https://dack-forestry.com/

where it says DACK SAWMILLS on the bottom left, it's meant to be forestry machinery. When I update the item it states: item not updated.

Additionally, I cannot update the main categories e.g customise page or customise button, I get a HTTP ERROR 500.

Please help because obviously I'm inadequate of this :)

Answer 1

This is due to a misunderstanding of how categories and parent terms work.

To demonstrate the point, consider:

Forestry machinery > chainsaws > 12" Chainsaw bars.

If I add a product to 12" chainsaw bars, is it:

• a 12" chainsaw bar
• a chainsaw
• forestry machinery

The answer to all 3 is yes. Parent terms aren't just a way to organise terms. Child terms are contained by them.

So rather than thinking of them as connected boxes, think of them as nested boxes. A term includes all of its children, so by putting a product in the 12" chainsaw bar category, you're indicating it is also a member of the more general chainsaw category, which is also a member of the more general forestry machinery category.

SECONDLY. My main slug categories duplicate on the HOME page.

We have a 1 question per question policy, your second question should be asked as a second question. Include the code that generates that section or it will be impossible to answer. Also HTTP 500 errors, are just the servers way of saying "Something went wrong in PHP, don't know what it was, check the error log for the actual problem", you will need that error message