Category Listing Rules: setup and help

Requirements and access

Requires PrestaShop 1.6.1 or later and PHP 7.1 or later.

Upload the release ZIP from the Back Office module upload screen and install it. Open Category Listing Rules > Rules. Configure from Module Manager opens Category Listing Rules > Settings > Configuration.

Select the intended shop context before configuring defaults. Give staff the appropriate view and edit permissions for the module’s pages and associated shops.

The module stores listing rules and product order in its own tables. It does not change product prices, stock or native category assignments. On PrestaShop 1.6, listing integration uses native controller subclasses through actionDispatcher. On PrestaShop 1.7 and later, it uses the product search-provider hooks. Test your theme and any replacement search provider before publishing rules.

Open Category Listing Rules > Settings > Configuration.

Click Save. Defaults are saved for the shops selected in the back-office context. A cap also limits requests made through the theme's controls, so a shopper cannot bypass it by requesting a larger page.

Choose the listing and audience

Open Rules and add a rule. Complete the Rule tab.

For Search, New products, Best sellers and Price drops, the listing context identifies the target page rather than a category picker. Check group and shop associations even for these rules.

Choose page size and sort

• Products per page accepts a positive number. Leave it empty to use the shop default, then the native default.
• Show all products on one page starts off. Turn it on to use the eligible product total instead of the rule's page size. The maximum cap still applies.
• Default sort order starts with Use the shop default. The supplied choices include position, name, price, creation date, update date, stock, reference and manufacturer in both directions, plus Manual order.
• Secondary sort for manual order starts as Position ascending. It orders eligible products without a saved manual position.

Click Save before arranging products.

The first eligible rule in the Rules list wins. Use the list's position control to move specific rules above broader rules. Ties in stored position use the lower rule ID.

The module checks the listing context, active state, shop association, customer groups and target membership. Include child categories makes a parent rule eligible on descendants. An exact category match does not automatically beat an earlier inherited or all-entities rule. A closer parent does not automatically beat an earlier distant parent.

For example, place a child's rule above its inheriting parent when you want that child to use its own settings. There is no numeric Priority field in the current rule form.

If no rule matches, the module uses the shop defaults and then the native listing defaults. Page-size and sort fallbacks are resolved separately.

Check a saved rule

Open Product preview after saving the rule. Set Preview shop, Preview language and Simulated groups to match the visitor you want to test. Use Preview entity ID to choose the category, manufacturer or supplier; leaving it empty uses the first selected target where available.

Use Search listing terms for a search preview. Filter preview by product name and Filter preview by manufacturer narrow inspection without changing the saved rule.

Refresh the preview and check its rule name, product total, page size, order and page number. Category previews also offer View in shop. Repeat for a visitor group that should be excluded.

Manual product order

Arrange products by dragging rows or using Move up and Move down in a saved rule's preview. A successful move saves the order for the selected shop and switches the rule to Manual order. Products without a manual position follow Secondary sort for manual order.

Reload the rule if another employee changed it. Revision checks prevent an older form from silently replacing newer changes.

Home ranges

Choose Home range, give the rule a name, associate its shops and select its category targets. Active eligible ranges render through displayHome. Their layout depends on the supplied product presentation and your theme's home hook. Check the home page after saving.

1. Open the intended listing in a fresh browser session.
2. Confirm its initial page size and sort.
3. Test a descendant category when inheritance is enabled.
4. Choose a different sort and page size through your theme's controls.
5. Confirm valid shopper choices take precedence, while the maximum cap still holds.
6. Test the relevant shops, logged-in groups, guest visitors and any faceted-search filtering.

The module sets defaults. A valid requested sort overrides the rule's sort. A valid requested page size overrides the rule's size and show-all mode, subject to the cap. Standard theme controls must actually supply those requests for the choice to reach the module.

• The wrong rule applies. Check list position first, then active state, shops, groups and targets. Exact matches and nearer parents do not have automatic precedence.
• No customer matches a group rule. Check Customer group mode. Selected groups with no selected groups matches no shoppers.
• The page shows fewer products than requested. Check Maximum products per page, product eligibility and active storefront filters.
• The default sort seems ignored. Remove a previous shopper sort from the URL and test again. Valid shopper choices take precedence.
• Products cannot be arranged. Save the rule first, refresh its preview and check edit permissions. Reload after a revision conflict.
• A custom listing behaves differently. Check its controller/provider and theme integration. PrestaShop 1.6 uses native listing controller subclasses; PrestaShop 1.7 and later use product search-provider hooks. Custom listings must use the corresponding integration path.
• Tables or hooks are missing. Open Category Listing Rules > Settings > Integrity.

Requires PrestaShop 1.6.1 or later and PHP 7.1 or later.

Uninstall through Module Manager when you want native listing behavior again. The declared rule and manual-product-order tables are preserved. The three global default/cap configuration keys are deleted, so record those values before uninstalling.

Keep a database backup if you need to restore the full rule setup, including shop, target and group selections. Reinstalling is not a substitute for backing up every associated record and setting.