---
title: "Archives Options: Related Categories on Shop and Category Pages"
description: Show related categories on WooCommerce shop and category pages, related automatically or by hand (Pro).
url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/improving-shop-archives/"
updated: "2026-09-27"
category: How to
tags:
  - Related Categories for WooCommerce
---

# Archives Options: Related Categories on Shop and Category Pages

Archives options add the "Related categories" section to your shop and category (archive) pages, guiding shoppers to nearby categories as they browse. [Related Categories for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/related-categories-for-woocommerce/) keeps these on the **Archives** sub-tab, at **WPFactory > Related Categories** (also reachable at **WooCommerce > Settings > Related Categories**).

Unlike the Single section, the Archives section is **off by default**, so you enable it here first.

![Archives Options for Related Categories for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/Archives-Options.png)

### Display and sorting

- **Display on Archives**: turns the section on for archive pages. Off by default.
- **Limit** and **Columns**: the number of categories and the number of columns.
- **Hide empty**: hides categories with no products.
- **Order by** and **Order**: the same sorting choices as on single product pages (Name, ID, Slug, Menu order, None, Random, Count; Ascending or Descending).

### Relate Options (automatic)

This works just like the single product page: choose **Siblings**, **Parents**, **Children** and **Current**, each with the same include sub-options. On archives, **Current** has one extra sub-option, **Always show first**, which places the current category in first position (it works with the Custom template type only). All of these are free.

### Relate Manually (Pro)

The Pro version adds hand-picked related categories on archive pages:

- **Per category**: set related categories on each category edit page (**Products > Categories > Edit category**).
- **Per tag**: set them on each tag edit page (**Products > Tags > Edit tag**).
- **Per custom taxonomy**: set them for terms of any custom taxonomy. Enter the taxonomy slugs as a comma-separated list, for example `product_brand,product_color`.

Note that "Per product" is a single-product-page feature and does not appear on the Archives sub-tab.

### Position Options

- **Position**: where the section appears on archive pages. The options are **Before main content**, **Before shop loop**, **After shop loop** (the default), **After main content**, and **Disable**.
- **Position order (i.e. priority)**: the hook priority. The default is 9. A higher number places the section later on the page.
- **Widget**: registers the "Related Categories: Archives" widget under **Appearance > Widgets**.

You can also output the section with the `[alg_wc_related_categories_loop]` shortcode; set **Position** to "Disable" if the shortcode or widget will place it instead.

### Template and Image Options

These are free and match the single product page options: **Header**, **Footer**, **Template type** (Default or Custom), **Template type: Custom**, **Template type: Custom: Glue**, plus **Image size**, **Placeholder image** and **Remove image**.

### Advanced Options: Visibility

The Archives sub-tab adds one advanced option, **Visibility**, which decides which category archives show the section:

- **Show for all categories** (default).
- **Show for categories with children only**.
- **Show for categories with no children only**.

### Reset section settings

The **Reset section settings** checkbox at the bottom of the sub-tab resets every Archives option back to its default, not just one group.

### Get more control

Showing related categories on archives is free. [Related Categories for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/related-categories-for-woocommerce/) Pro lets you hand-pick related categories per category, tag and custom taxonomy. [See what Pro unlocks](https://wpfactory.com/item/related-categories-for-woocommerce/).

Related articles

- [Single Product Page Options for Related Categories](https://wpfactory.com/docs/single-product-settings/)
- [Display Related Categories with the Widget](https://wpfactory.com/docs/woocommerce-related-categories-widget/)
- [Relate Options: How Related Categories Are Chosen](https://wpfactory.com/docs/woocommerce-related-categories-relate-options/)
- [Translate Related Categories with WPML and Polylang](https://wpfactory.com/docs/related-categories-multilingual-wpml-polylang/)
- [Related Categories Shortcodes](https://wpfactory.com/docs/woocommerce-related-categories-shortcodes/)

 

[![Related Categories for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/Related-Categories-for-WooCommerce.webp)](https://wpfactory.com/item/related-categories-for-woocommerce/)