CategoryCopier - User Guide
Everything you need to know about using CategoryCopier
Table of Contents
- Getting Started
- Quick Start Guide
- Features Overview
- Step-by-Step Tutorials
- Settings & Options
- Background Processing
- Troubleshooting
- FAQ
Getting Started
What is CategoryCopier?
CategoryCopier is a powerful BigCommerce app that allows you to duplicate categories with all their products, subcategories, and Page Builder content in just a few clicks. Save hours of manual work when reorganizing your store, setting up new stores (MSF), or creating seasonal campaigns.
Installation
- Visit the BigCommerce App Marketplace
- Search for "CategoryCopier"
- Click "Install"
- Authorize the app to access your store
- You're ready to start copying!
First-Time Setup
No setup required! CategoryCopier works immediately after installation. You get unlimited category copies during the beta testing period.
Quick Start Guide
Copy Your First Category (4 Steps)
Step 1: Select Channel- Open CategoryCopier from your BigCommerce Apps menu
- Choose the channel/storefront from the dropdown at the top
- The category tree will update to show only categories assigned to that channel
- Default channel is pre-selected automatically
- Browse your channel-specific category list
- Click the checkbox next to the category(ies) you want to copy
- You can select multiple categories for batch copying
- You'll see the number of products and subcategories for each
- Copy Products: Toggle ON to include all products (recommended)
- Copy Subcategories: Toggle ON to include child categories
- Copy Page Builder Content: Toggle ON to duplicate widgets and designs
- Single Category: Wizard mode enables with full customization options
- Multiple Categories: Each category gets its own configuration block
- Enter custom names, URLs, descriptions, and SEO settings for each category
- Click "Copy Selected Categories" (shows "Copy X Categories" for multiple)
- Done! ✅
Features Overview
🎯 What Gets Copied?
✅ Always Copied
- Category name
- Category description
- Visibility settings
- Sort order
- Default product sort
- Layout file
- SEO Metadata - Page titles, meta descriptions, keywords
✅ Copied When Enabled
- Products - All product assignments from source category
- Subcategories - Complete category tree structure
- Page Builder Widgets - All widgets, layouts, and designs
✅ Optional Overrides
- Custom category name
- Custom URL/slug
- Custom SEO Metadata
- Visibility (show/hide)
- Sort order
- Parent category
🚀 Key Features
Multi-Channel Support
Work seamlessly with BigCommerce channels and multi-storefront (MSF):
- Channel Selector at the top of the category tree
- Automatically shows only categories assigned to the selected channel
- Default channel is pre-selected on load
- Each channel maintains its own category tree structure
- Categories are displayed in the exact order shown in BigCommerce admin
- Perfect for managing multiple storefronts or sales channels
- Multiple storefronts (MSF)
- Channel-specific category trees
- Custom channel configurations
Cross-Channel Copy
Copy categories from one channel/storefront to another with zero hassle:
- Enable Cross-Channel Copy checkbox appears when you select categories
- Choose your Target Channel from the dropdown
- Categories are automatically created in the target channel's catalog tree
- No name/URL changes required - the app handles everything automatically
- Original names and URLs are preserved (perfect for multi-region stores)
- All products, subcategories, and Page Builder content copy seamlessly
- Launching new storefronts with existing catalog structure
- Syncing categories between regional stores (US → UK, AU → CA, etc.)
- Creating channel-specific category trees without manual setup
- Testing new channel configurations with real data
- Select categories from your source channel
- Check "Enable Cross-Channel Copy"
- Select the target channel from the dropdown
- Click "Copy Selected Categories"
- Done! Categories appear in target channel with correct tree structure
- ✅ Automatic tree detection and assignment
- ✅ No duplicate name conflicts (different channels = different trees)
- ✅ Preserves original names and URLs
- ✅ Handles deep category hierarchies automatically
- ✅ Copies all products and Page Builder content
- ✅ Works with unlimited categories and subcategories
You have a US storefront (Channel 1) with 300 categories and want to launch a UK storefront (Channel 2). Instead of manually recreating 300 categories:
- Select all root categories in US channel
- Enable cross-channel copy
- Select UK channel as target
- Click copy
- All 300 categories appear in UK channel with correct structure in minutes!
Multiple Category Selection
Copy multiple categories at once with individual configuration:
- Select 2, 3, 5, or more categories simultaneously
- Each category gets its own configuration block
- Customize names, URLs, descriptions, and SEO for each category independently
- Perfect for creating themed collections or seasonal campaigns
- All categories processed together with shared settings
Smart Background Processing
Large operations automatically run in the background so you can keep working:
- Operations with 10,000+ products total
- Operations with 15,000+ products use automatic job chaining
- Copy cross channel with 5+ categories
Page Builder Support
Perfect copies of all your designs:
- Hero banners
- Button widgets
- Image galleries
- Product carousels
- Text blocks
- Custom layouts
- And more!
Step-by-Step Tutorials
Tutorial 1: Copy a Single Category
Scenario: You want to create a "Summer Sale" version of your "Clothing" category.- Select the Source Category
- Find "Clothing" in the category list
- Click the checkbox ☑️
- Verify it shows the correct number of products
- Choose Your Settings
✅ Copy Products
✅ Copy Subcategories
✅ Copy Page Builder Pages
- Set Overrides
- Name: Clothing - Summer Sale
- URL: clothing-summer-sale
- Visibility: ✅ Visible
- Sort Order: 10
- Copy
- Click "Copy Selected Categories"
- Wait 5-10 seconds
- Success! Your new category is ready
- Verify
- Go to your BigCommerce admin → Products → Categories
- Find "Clothing - Summer Sale"
- Check that all products and subcategories copied
- View the category on your storefront to see Page Builder widgets
Time Saved: ~30-45 minutes of manual work!Tutorial 2: Duplicate Multiple Categories with Individual Configuration
Scenario: You're creating a "Black Friday" mega menu with multiple category variations, each with custom names and settings.- Select Multiple Categories
- Check "Electronics" ☑️
- Check "Home & Garden" ☑️
- Check "Sports & Outdoors" ☑️
- Total: 3 categories selected
- Notice: Wizard mode is disabled for multiple categories
- Configure Each Category Individually
- Each category gets its own configuration block
- Category 1: Electronics
- Name: "Electronics - Black Friday"
- URL: "electronics-black-friday"
- Description: "Amazing Black Friday deals on electronics!"
- Page Title: "Electronics Black Friday Sale"
- Meta Description: "Save up to 50% on electronics this Black Friday"
- Category 2: Home & Garden
- Name: "Home & Garden - Black Friday"
- URL: "home-garden-black-friday"
- Description: "Transform your home with Black Friday deals!"
- Category 3: Sports & Outdoors
- Name: "Sports & Outdoors - Black Friday"
- URL: "sports-outdoors-black-friday"
- Description: "Gear up for adventure with Black Friday savings!"
- Settings (Applied to All Categories)
✅ Copy Products
❌ Copy Subcategories (we only want top-level)
✅ Copy Page Builder Pages
- Background Processing
- Based on the amount of categories / products it will decide to use background processing or not
- A progress bar appears at the top of the screen
- You can continue working while it processes
- Monitor Progress
- You'll get a notification when complete
- Result
- Categories are created with your custom names and settings
- No need to rename after copying - they're already perfect!
- Each category has its own custom URL and SEO settings
Time Saved: ~2-3 hours of manual work!Tutorial 3: Copy Category Tree (with Subcategories)
Scenario: You want to duplicate your entire "Electronics" category tree for a different store channel.- Select Parent Category
- Find "Electronics" (it shows "Has children: Yes")
- Click the checkbox ☑️
- Enable Subcategories
✅ Copy Products
✅ Copy Subcategories ← IMPORTANT!
✅ Copy Page Builder Pages
- Understand the Structure
Electronics (parent)
├── Computers
│ ├── Laptops (50 products)
│ └── Desktops (30 products)
├── Phones (100 products)
└── Accessories (200 products)
- Copy
- Click "Copy Selected Categories"
- This will automatically use background processing (has subcategories)
- Progress shows: "Step 4: Copying subcategory 1/4..."
- Result
Electronics (Copy 1234567890)
├── Computers
│ ├── Laptops (50 products) ✅
│ └── Desktops (30 products) ✅
├── Phones (100 products) ✅
└── Accessories (200 products) ✅
Time Saved: ~4-6 hours of manual work!Tutorial 4: Cross-Channel Copy (Launch New Storefront)
Scenario: You're launching a UK storefront and want to copy your entire US catalog structure (300+ categories) to the new channel.- Select Source Channel
- At the top of the page, ensure your US Store (Channel 1) is selected
- This shows all categories from your US storefront
- Select Categories to Copy
- Check all root categories you want to copy
- Example: "Graphics & Stickers", "Apparel", "Accessories", etc.
- The app will automatically copy all subcategories (if enabled)
- Enable Cross-Channel Copy
- ✅ Check the "Enable Cross-Channel Copy" checkbox
- A new dropdown appears: "Target Channel"
- Select your UK Storefront (Channel 2) from the dropdown
- Configure Settings
✅ Copy Products
✅ Copy Subcategories
✅ Copy Page Builder Pages
✅ Enable Cross-Channel Copy
Target Channel: UK Storefront (Channel 2)
- Important: No Name/URL Changes Needed!
- Leave names and URLs as-is - they'll work perfectly in the new channel
- Cross-channel copies use different catalog trees, so no conflicts
- Original names like "Graphics & Stickers" → "Graphics & Stickers" (not "Graphics & Stickers (Copy)")
- Original URLs like /graphics-stickers/ → /graphics-stickers/ (perfectly preserved)
- Copy
- Click "Copy Selected Categories"
- Background processing starts automatically (large operation)
- Monitor Progress
- You can continue working - the process runs in the background
- Notification appears when complete: "Successfully copied 300 categories with 5,000 products"
- Verify in BigCommerce Admin
- Go to Products → Categories
- Switch to your UK Storefront channel
- All categories appear with correct hierarchy
- All products assigned correctly
- Page Builder content copied perfectly
Result:US Store (Channel 1) → UK Storefront (Channel 2)
├── Graphics & Stickers ├── Graphics & Stickers ✅
│ ├── Full Graphics Kits │ ├── Full Graphics Kits ✅
│ │ ├── Honda (50 products) │ │ ├── Honda (50 products) ✅
│ │ ├── Yamaha (75 products) │ │ ├── Yamaha (75 products) ✅
│ │ └── KTM (100 products) │ │ └── KTM (100 products) ✅
│ └── Number Plates │ └── Number Plates ✅
├── Apparel ├── Apparel ✅
└── Accessories └── Accessories ✅
Key Benefits:- ✅ Zero manual work - 300 categories copied in minutes
- ✅ Perfect structure - hierarchy maintained automatically
- ✅ Original names - no "(Copy)" suffixes needed
- ✅ All products - 5,000+ products assigned correctly
- ✅ Page Builder - all designs and widgets copied
- ✅ Ready to launch - UK store ready immediately
- Multi-region stores (US → UK, AU → CA, etc.)
- B2B vs B2C storefronts
- Wholesale vs Retail channels
- Testing new channel configurations
Tutorial 5: Copy Only Page Builder Design
Scenario: You want to reuse the same Page Builder design across different categories.- Select Source Category
- Find a category with great Page Builder widgets
- Click the checkbox ☑️
- Settings for Design-Only Copy
❌ Copy Products (we don't want products)
❌ Copy Subcategories
✅ Copy Page Builder Pages (only the design!)
- Override Name
- Name: New Landing Page
- URL: new-landing-page
- Copy & Add Products Later
- Click "Copy Selected Categories"
- You now have the design without products
- Go to BigCommerce admin and manually add different products
Use Case: Perfect for creating seasonal landing pages with the same design but different products!Settings & Options
Copy Settings Explained
Copy Products
Toggle: ON/OFF
Default: ON
When ON:- All products from the source category are assigned to the new category
- Products are NOT duplicated, just assigned to both categories
- Product data remains unchanged
- New category is created empty
- You can manually add products later
Copy Subcategories
Toggle: ON/OFF
Default: OFF
When ON:- Copies entire category tree recursively
- Maintains parent-child relationships
- Can handle unlimited depth
- Only copies the selected category
- No child categories are created
Copy Page Builder Pages
Toggle: ON/OFF
Default: ON
When ON:- Copies all widgets and layouts
- Preserves design and positioning
- Includes: buttons, images, carousels, hero banners, etc.
- New category has no Page Builder content
- You'll need to rebuild the design manually
Category Overrides
Name Override
Field: Text input
Optional: Yes
Example: "Summer Collection 2025"
- Replaces the auto-generated name
- If left empty, uses: "Original Name (Copy 1234567890)"
- Must be unique in your store
Custom URL
Field: Text input
Optional: Yes
Example: "summer-collection-2025"
- Sets a custom URL slug
- If left empty, auto-generates from name
- Must be unique and URL-safe (lowercase, hyphens, no spaces)
Background Processing & Job Chaining
How It Works
CategoryCopier automatically detects when an operation should run in the background and uses intelligent job chaining for large operations:
Processing Modes
🟢 Foreground (Immediate) Processing- For: Small operations (<10,000 products total)
- Categories: Single category with <10k products, no subcategories
- Time: 5-15 seconds
- Experience: You wait on the page, success message appears immediately
- For: Medium operations (10,000-14,999 products total)
- Categories: Multiple categories or large single categories
- Time: 30 seconds to 5 minutes
- Experience: Progress bar at top, you can navigate away, notification when complete
- For: Large operations (15,000+ products total)
- Categories: Very large categories or multiple large categories
- Time: 5-15 minutes (broken into manageable chunks)
- Experience: Automatic chunking, sequential processing, single notification when all chunks complete
Job Chaining Explained
For operations with 15,000+ products, CategoryCopier automatically:
- Splits the work into smaller chunks (≤15,000 products per chunk)
- Processes sequentially to avoid timeouts
- Maintains parent-child relationships between categories and subcategories
- Sends one notification when the entire operation completes
- Handles failures gracefully - if one chunk fails, others continue
- Chunk 1: Category A (8,422 products) - 1:45
- Chunk 2: Category B (8,422 products) - 1:40
- Chunk 3: Category C (8,422 products) - 1:48
- Chunk 4: Category D (8,422 products) - 1:45
- Total Time: ~6:59 with one completion notification
Notification System
How Notifications Work
CategoryCopier sends notifications to keep you informed about job progress:
Notification Types
✅ Job Completed- When: Copy operation finishes successfully
- Shows: Category name, product count, subcategory count, completion time
- Example: "Successfully copied 1 parent category and 1 subcategory with 16,844 products"
- When: Copy operation encounters an error
- Shows: Error details and troubleshooting steps
- Example: "Copy job failed: Rate limit exceeded"
Where to Find Notifications
Method 1: Notification Badge- Yellow badge with number appears on "Notifications" tab
- Shows count of unread notifications
- Updates automatically when new notifications arrive
- Click the "Notifications" tab to see all notifications
- Shows detailed information about each job
- Timestamps show actual completion time (not "Just now")
- Notifications are automatically marked as read when you visit the page
- Badge count updates immediately
- No need to manually mark as read
Notification Details
Each notification includes:
- Job Type: Completed or Failed
- Category Name: The actual category that was copied
- Product Count: Exact number of products copied
- Subcategory Count: Number of subcategories created
- Timestamp: Real completion time (e.g., "10/8/2025, 3:30:13 PM")
- Status: Success or failure indicator
Managing Notifications
Clear All Notifications- Click "Clear All" button on notifications page
- Removes all notifications for your store
- Badge count resets to 0
- Click "Refresh" button to check for new notifications
- Useful if you think you missed a notification
- Notifications are stored for 7 days
- Automatically cleaned up after expiration
- No manual cleanup required
Troubleshooting
Common Issues & Solutions
Issue: Page Builder widgets not showing on frontend
Symptom:- Copy completes successfully
- New category exists in BigCommerce admin
- Products are assigned correctly
- But widgets don't appear on storefront
- Solution: Open category in incognito/private window
- Clear browser cache
- Hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R)
- Solution: Check if your theme supports Page Builder widgets on category pages
- Some older themes don't render widgets
- Contact theme developer
- Solution: Verify widgets in BigCommerce Page Builder
- Edit the category in admin
- Go to Storefront → Page Builder
- Check if widgets appear in the editor
- Re-publish the page
- Solution: If you copied with "Copy Page Builder Pages" disabled, widgets won't copy
- Re-copy the category with this setting enabled
Issue: "No access token found"
Symptom:❌ Error: No access token found
Solution:- Your session expired
- Reinstall the app:
- Go to Apps → My Apps
- Find CategoryCopier
- Click "Uninstall"
- Reinstall from App Marketplace
- If issue persists, contact support
Issue: Products not copying
Symptom:- Category is created
- But contains 0 products
- Source category has products
- Check Setting: Ensure "Copy Products" was toggled ON
- Verify Manually: Go to source category → Products tab
- If products exist there, they should copy
- If 0 products, source category is also empty
Issue: Category name has "(Copy 1234567890)"
Symptom:- New category named: "Electronics (Copy 1695123456789)"
- Want a cleaner name
This is expected behavior when no name override is provided.
To avoid:- Use "Name Override" field when copying
- Enter your desired name before clicking "Start Copy"
- Go to BigCommerce admin
- Products → Categories
- Find the category
- Click "Edit"
- Change the name
- Save
FAQ
General Questions
Q: How many categories can I copy at once?A: Unlimited! You can select as many categories as you want. Each category gets its own configuration block where you can customize names, URLs, descriptions, and SEO settings independently. For best performance, we recommend copying 5-10 at a time.
Q: Does copying duplicate products?A: No. Products are ASSIGNED to the new category, not duplicated. The same products appear in both categories.
Q: Can I copy categories between different stores?A: No. CategoryCopier only works within a single BigCommerce store.
Q: Does it copy category images?A: Yes! Category images are automatically copied along with all other category metadata.
Q: Does it work with BigCommerce channels?A: Yes! The app fully supports BigCommerce multi-channel and multi-storefront setups. Select your channel from the dropdown at the top, and the category tree will show only categories assigned to that channel. Categories maintain their exact display order from the BigCommerce admin.
Q: Can I copy categories between different channels?A: Categories are copied within the same channel by default. To move a category to a different channel, you would need to copy it first, then manually reassign it in BigCommerce admin under Catalog Trees.
Q: How deep can category trees go?A: Theoretically unlimited, but we have a safety limit of 10 levels to prevent infinite loops.
Technical Questions
Q: Does it work with custom fields?A: Category custom fields are not copied (BigCommerce limitation). Product custom fields remain intact.
Q: What about category redirects?A: Old category redirects are not copied. New category gets a fresh URL.
Q: Does it preserve product sort order?A: Product assignment order may differ. Re-sort in BigCommerce admin if needed.
Q: Is my data safe?A: Yes! We only READ from your store and CREATE new categories. We never DELETE or MODIFY existing data.
Beta Testing Questions
Q: How does the beta testing work?A: During the beta testing period, you get unlimited category copies at no cost. No credit card required.
Q: What happens after the beta period?A: After the beta period, you'll need to upgrade to the Pro plan ($9.99/month) for continued access.
Q: Can I cancel anytime?A: Yes! Cancel your subscription anytime from the BigCommerce Apps page.
Q: Do beta copies have limitations?A: No, beta testing includes unlimited products per category with no restrictions.
Performance Questions
Q: How long does copying take?A:
- Small category (<10k products): 1-3 minutes (foreground processing)
- Medium category (10k-15k products): 2 minutes - 5 minutes (background processing)
- Large category (15k+ products): 5-10 minutes (job chaining)
- Multiple large categories (50k+ products): 6-15 minutes (sequential chunking)
- 4 categories with 33,688 products: 6 minutes 59 seconds
- 1 root + 2 subcategories with 37,038 products: ~5 minutes
A: Not really - we're limited by BigCommerce API rate limits (3,749 requests/hour).
Q: Why does it use background processing?A: To prevent browser timeouts and allow you to keep working during large operations.
Need More Help?
Contact Support
📧 Email: support@theecommercespecialist.com
🌐 Website: https://theecommercespecialist.com
⭐ Leave a Review: Help us improve by leaving feedback in the BigCommerce App Marketplace!
Useful Links
- What's New - See the latest updates and features
- Privacy Policy - How we handle your data
- Terms of Service - Legal stuff
- Refund Policy - Money-back guarantee
Last Updated: November 5, 2025 Version: Beta v1.1.0
Made with ❤️ by The Ecommerce Specialist*
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