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How to set up filters

Learn how to add filters in the Filter Menu

Brad Rees avatar
Written by Brad Rees
Updated over 7 months ago

In order to get the filters showing on your website we need to follow these steps, there is also a video guide at the bottom of this page.

Firstly, make sure you have installed the app on your theme.

Before setting up new filters, please check the 'Technical Overview' on this page, and understand the requirements for the app to function correctly. The app can add/remove/change tags, and create collections automatically.

We recommend exporting a backup of your product list before setting up new filters in the app, just in case any changes need to be reverted. Here is a guide from Shopify on how to export your product list.

Step 1: Create a new filter group

The Filter Menu is separated by groups. Each group should contain filters for specific product data such as color, price, product type, vendor/brand, or size.

You can create a new filter group by clicking the 'Create New Group' button near the top of the page.

There are also helpers in the tabs along the top for creating groups based on price, type, brand/vendor, variant options (size, color, material, etc.) and tag prefix. These are very helpful so we recommend trying them out to start with, as they skip all of the following steps and automate most of the process of setting up a group.

Step 2: Choose the type of filters you want to create

Select the type of filters - this is the parameter the app will 'look up' in your product data. For example, if you select 'Vendor' here the app will look up vendors you have for products.

A quick explanation for each type of filter:

Tags - use this if you want to set up your filters based on the product tags you have applied to your items.

Collections - use this if you already have existing collections set up in your store that you want to use for filtering, this should be the first choice if you already have collections set up, as it will avoid any chance of duplications occurring.

Type - automatically create filters based on all Product Types in your store.

Vendor - automatically create filters based on all Vendors in your store.

Price - use this to set up filters for price ranges, you'll need to set up the ranges, and the app will add the required tags and collections for you.

Variant - use this option to set up filters based on your product variant options, such as "Size" or "Color", this option uses the Variant Tagger app to tag your products according to their in-stock variants. Learn more about this option here.

Metafields - use this option to set up filters based on your metafield definitions. Note that this only works with metafield definitions that can be added to condition options in automated collections. You can find more details on how to enable automated collections for metafields here: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/custom-data/metafields/automated-collections#activating-automated-collections

Tag Prefix - use this option if you have grouped or prefixed tags, such as "category_tags", you can provide the prefix for the app to "look for" and it will automatically generate filters for each tag that has the given prefix.

Note that you may not see your filters show up instantly in the app admin, especially if the app needs to add tags or look for product types, vendors or variants. This might take some time to complete, but you can check on the job queue by clicking on "Jobs" in the app sidebar. Running the same job again will not speed up the process, and may result in duplicate filters being created.

Step 3: Fix collections and tags

You may receive a warning about some collections if they require updating to work with the filtering. Note that filters that display any of these warnings will not be shown on the store until they have been fixed.

There are a few types of warnings:

  • 'Sync tags'

  • 'No Matching Collection'

  • 'Collection rule must be updated'

"Sync Tags" warning

If you have a collection that is defined by a field that is not a tag (such as "vendor" or "product type"), Power Tools will ask you for your permission to edit the tags, this must be done before you can show that filter on your store.

Since the tags and the collection handle need to be in sync, any products in the collection will be tagged with a tag matching the collection handle, while any products not in the collection will have that tag removed.

For example, if we had a Smart Collection called "Under $50" and a handle of "under-50" with a rule for the product price being below $50, every product in that collection will be tagged with "under-50". Likewise, any product that is tagged with "under-50" but is not in that collection will have that tag removed. Once set up, this process will run automatically, keeping your store in sync.

"No Matching Collection" warning

If you see a warning for "No Matching Collection" it means that the app could not find a collection with that handle in your store, if you know that collection does exist, you can remove the filter and add it again, using the "Collection" type - to ensure the correct collection is added. Otherwise, you can click to allow the app to create a new collection for you.

"Collection rule must be updated" warning

The Filter Menu requires that all tags used are in the handle format (lowercase-with-dashes), any tags used in filtering will be converted to this format automatically. This may result in some collection rules requiring an update to match the new tag format, if you see this warning you can click to allow the app to update the required collection conditions.

Step 4: Save & Update

Once all of your filter menu items have been set up and are looking good, click on the "Save and Update" button in the top right.

This will start a job to update the filter menu on your site. Note that it may take some time to update all of your product tags on the first run, you can check on the job queue by clicking on "Jobs" in the app sidebar. Not that your filters may not show up on the storefront until all updates are completed.

TLDR; Here is a video guide on how to set up your filters:

If you're having any issues with the Filters not showing on the storefront, you can check the following guide for troubleshooting tips:


If you have any additional questions, please contact support through the live chat in the app, or at support@powertoolsapp.com

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