CopyCat Category Duplicator – Single Storefront
🔧 Quick Info: CopyCat Category Duplicator lets you copy or synchronize a BigCommerce category within your store. Copies can include products, product sort order, category details, images, meta information, banners, and complete subcategory structures.
What It Does
CopyCat creates a copy of an existing BigCommerce category. You select the source category, choose where the new category should be placed, and CopyCat builds the duplicate in the background.
The copied category can be placed under an existing parent category or at the root level of your store.
Single-Storefront Guide: This guide is for stores using a single BigCommerce storefront. If your store uses BigCommerce Multi-Storefront, see the Multi-Storefront CopyCat guide.
When CopyCat duplicates a category, it can bring across:
- Category details, including the name, URL, description, page title, meta description, and meta keywords.
- Products assigned to the original category, so the copied category is not empty.
- Product sort order when the copied category is kept synchronized.
- The category image, when you choose to copy it.
- The category page banner, when one exists and banner copying is enabled.
Single Category or Complete Category Branch
CopyCat provides two ways to duplicate categories:
- Copy a single category – Duplicates only the category you select and gives you control over the copied category’s name, URL, description, and meta details.
- Bulk copy a category and all of its subcategories – Duplicates an entire category branch, including one or more selected parent categories and everything beneath them. CopyCat preserves the parent and child category structure.
Sync or One-Time Copy
You can also choose how the copied category behaves after it is created:
- Yes, sync with original category – Creates a mirrored category. CopyCat checks it daily and updates it when the original category changes. Synced categories also preserve the source category’s product sort order.
- No, just copy the category – Creates a one-time duplicate. CopyCat does not update the category again after it is created.
CopyCat performs the work in the background. After submitting the form, you’ll see a confirmation that the category is being created. The copied category appears in your store shortly afterward.
Use the View Categories button to review everything CopyCat has created and view the history for each copied category.
When Should You Use This?
- You want to reuse an existing category and its products elsewhere in your store without rebuilding it manually.
- You want one category to remain synchronized with another category automatically.
- You need to duplicate an entire category branch, including all of its subcategories.
- You want to create a seasonal or promotional version of an existing category, such as creating a Summer Sale category from Clearance.
- You want to duplicate a category without manually assigning every product again.
Before You Get Started
- Make sure your CopyCat subscription is active. CopyCat is a paid add-on. If the launch button reads Subscribe To CopyCat, subscribe before continuing.
- Know which category you want to duplicate.
- Decide whether you want to copy only the selected category or include its complete subcategory structure.
- Choose the parent category where the copy should be placed, or leave the parent blank to place it at the store root.
- Decide whether the copied category should remain synchronized with the original or be created as a one-time copy.
- Decide whether to copy the original category image, upload a different image, or leave the copied category without an image.
- Decide whether to copy the category page banner.
Banner Permission: Copying category page banners requires your BigCommerce store connection to have the Marketing permission.
How to Use It
1 Open CopyCat
Open the CopyCat Category Duplicator tool from your Your Store Wizards dashboard and select Launch CopyCat.
2 Choose What You Want to Copy
Under What would you like to do?, choose one of the following:
- Copy a single category
- Bulk copy a category and all of its subcategories
3 Select the Category
Use the searchable category tree to select the category you want to copy or synchronize. You can expand and collapse sections of the category tree to locate the correct category.
In bulk mode, the field changes to Select the parent categories to bulk copy (with all subcategories). You can select more than one parent category, and every subcategory beneath each selected parent is included.
A preview displays the exact categories that will be copied before you continue.
4 Choose Sync or Copy
Under Do you want to keep this category in sync with the original category or just copy it?, choose one of the following:
- Yes, sync with original category – The copied category is checked and updated daily.
- No, just copy the category – The category is copied once and is not updated again.
5 Choose a Parent Category
Under CopyCat Category Settings, select an existing parent category for the copy. Leave the field blank to place the copied category at the root of your store.
6 Review the Category Details
When copying a single category, review the category’s Name, URL, and Description.
CopyCat fills in the name and URL from the original category and appends a number, such as Shoes 2 and /shoes-2/, to prevent a conflict with the original. You can edit either field before submitting.
CopyCat can add the number to URLs ending in .html, .htm, or a trailing slash.
The Description uses an HTML editor by default. You can switch to a plain text editor in Sync Settings.
7 Set Additional Category Details
When copying a single category, review the options under Set Additional Category Details:
- Meta Title and Meta Description, which are filled in from the original category.
- Meta Keywords, which are available for one-time copies only.
- Would you like to copy the category image? Choose Yes to copy the existing image or No to reveal the Upload Category Image field.
- Would you like to copy the category page banner? Enable this option if the original category has a banner you want to copy.
8 Submit the Copy
Submit the form. You’ll see a confirmation stating, Created Category Mirror. In process of creating category in the store.
The category is created as a background job. Bulk copies show how many categories were queued and create parent categories before their subcategories so the hierarchy remains intact.
9 Review the Created Category
Open View Categories to see everything CopyCat has created. From there, you can review an item’s history or open the copied category directly in BigCommerce.
Field Reference
| Field | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| What Would You Like to Do? | Yes | Choose Copy a single category or Bulk copy a category and all of its subcategories. |
| Select the Category to Be Copied or Synced | Yes | A searchable category tree. In bulk mode, select one or more parent categories and all subcategories are included. |
| Sync With Original or Just Copy? | Yes | Choose sync for daily updates and product sort order synchronization. Choose copy for a one-time duplicate. |
| Choose a Parent Category | No | Choose a parent category or leave the field blank to create the copy at the store root. |
| Name | Yes, Single Mode | Filled in from the source category with a number appended to keep the name unique. |
| URL | Yes, Single Mode | Filled in from the source category with a number added to the URL path. Supports .html, .htm, and trailing-slash URLs. |
| Description | No, Single Mode | Uses the HTML editor by default. A plain text editor can be selected in Sync Settings. |
| Meta Title and Meta Description | No, Single Mode | Filled in from the original category. |
| Meta Keywords | No, Single Copy Mode | Editable for one-time copies only. Synced categories manage this automatically. |
| Copy the Category Image? | No | Choose Yes to copy the original image. Choose No to upload a different category image. |
| Copy the Category Page Banner? | No | Copies the source category banner when one exists. Requires the BigCommerce Marketing permission. |
Keeping Copies in Sync
Categories created with Yes, sync with original category are checked on a daily schedule and updated to match the original category.
Synchronization can update:
- Category details
- Product assignments
- Product sort order
Sync Settings
Use the Sync Settings button to configure:
- Sync Daily At – Sets the time of day when the daily synchronization runs.
- Select Category Description Editor – Choose the HTML Editor or Text Editor for category descriptions in the CopyCat form.
SEO Protection: A synchronized category receives a canonical meta keyword pointing to the original category’s URL. This helps prevent search engines from treating the original and copied categories as duplicate content.
The Meta Keywords field is only editable for one-time copies because CopyCat automatically manages the canonical information for synchronized categories.
Categories created using No, just copy the category are not changed again after they are created.
The View Categories List
View Categories opens a table showing everything CopyCat has created.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Name | The name of the copied category. |
| Original Category ID | The BigCommerce ID of the original category. |
| Copied/Synced Category ID | The BigCommerce ID of the category CopyCat created. |
| Type | Displays Copy for a one-time duplicate or Sync for a category mirrored daily. |
| Last Synced At | The most recent time CopyCat created or synchronized the category. |
The action menu for each category includes:
- Edit – Reopens the category in the CopyCat form.
- History – Displays the background-job history for the copied category.
- Links to edit the original or copied category in BigCommerce.
- A link to view the copied category on your storefront.
- Delete – Removes the entry from CopyCat and stops future synchronization.
Deleting a CopyCat Entry: Deleting an entry from CopyCat does not delete the category from BigCommerce. It only removes the CopyCat record and stops future synchronization.
Troubleshooting and FAQ
I see “Subscribe To CopyCat” instead of “Launch CopyCat”
CopyCat is a paid add-on and your subscription is not active. Subscribe to CopyCat, then return to the tool and launch it.
The new category didn’t appear right away
CopyCat creates categories in the background, so there may be a short delay. Bulk copies can take longer because categories are created one at a time, with parent categories created before their subcategories. Open View Categories and check the item’s History.
The name or URL of my copy is slightly different
The original name and URL already exist in your store, so CopyCat appends a number to keep the copied category unique. If another conflict exists, CopyCat continues increasing the number until it finds an available name and URL.
My bulk copy stopped partway through
Bulk category copies run as a chain, with parent categories created first. If one category fails, such as when a source category is deleted while the process is running, CopyCat stops the chain to avoid creating orphaned subcategories. Check the failed item’s History, correct the issue, and run the bulk copy again.
My copy isn’t updating after I changed the original
Only categories created with the sync option update automatically. Synchronization runs once per day at the time configured in Sync Settings. Categories created as one-time copies never update automatically.
If a synchronized category appears inactive, the original or copied category may have been deleted from BigCommerce.
The category image or banner didn’t copy
The image only copies when the image-copy option is enabled. You can also choose to upload a different image. A banner only copies when the original category has a banner, the banner-copy option is enabled, and the BigCommerce store connection has the required Marketing permission.