Limit number of categories per product

The add-on works with CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor starting from version 4.3.1 and supports the CS-Cart, CS-Cart Ultimate, Multi-Vendor, Multi-Vendor Plus and Multi-Vendor Ultimate editions.

The add-on displays nothing on the storefront, so the storefront theme does not affect its operation. The limit applies in the administration panel, whose appearance the add-on does not change.

If the add-on conflicts with your theme or another solution, please contact our support center.

After success payment, your order will be automatically marked as Paid within a few minutes. Once order changed to Paid status - add-on License activation passed success and you will received an e-mail with confirmation the receipt of payment and a second e-mail with a  download add-on link. You can also download the add-on in our License Management section of our website. To install the add-on on your website, please follow these steps:

1. Download the latest version of the add-on on our website in the "License Management" section or via the link sent by e-mail.
2. Go to Add-ons → Manage Add-ons and in the gear button, select Manual Installation.
3. Select the downloaded file and complete the installation of the add-on.

Add-on installation is completed. To go to the add-on settings page, select the installed add-on in the top menu Add-ons → CS-Commerce add-on

The add-on settings page is located at Add-ons → CS-Commerce Addons → Category limit. You can also get there through Add-ons → Manage add-ons: when you open the add-on settings from the general list, the system redirects you to this page automatically.

The page consists of a single General settings tab. On the right there are blocks with information about the installed add-on version and the upgrade subscription period, a link to the documentation and an add-on rating form.

Access rights

The add-on adds its own privilege group — Manage Category limit. It contains two privileges: viewing the settings page and changing it. By default they are not granted to any user group, so an administrator with restricted permissions will not see the settings page until the privileges are granted to their group.

Privileges affect access to the settings page only. The category limit itself applies to everyone who edits products, regardless of their permissions.

Max number of categories per product

The number of categories that can be selected for a single product at the same time. The default value is 5.

The value 0 disables the check completely: the number of categories per product is not limited. This is handy when you need to lift the limit temporarily without disabling the whole add-on.

After changing the value, click Save. The new limit takes effect the next time a product details page is opened.

The setting is shared across the whole store. The add-on does not support separate values for different storefronts or vendors, including in the Multi-Vendor and Ultimate editions.

The check runs in the administration panel, on the product details page, in the category selection field.

When the check runs

• when a product details page is opened;
• every time the set of selected categories changes.

If more categories are selected than the limit allows, the extra ones are deselected — the ones that come first in the category list are kept — and the notification Maximum number of categories per product: N appears, where N is the current setting value.

The check also deselects extra categories when an already saved product is opened. If a product has more categories assigned than the current limit allows, the extra ones are deselected as soon as the product details page opens, and clicking "Save" loses those assignments. Before lowering the limit, make sure there are no products with more categories in the catalog.

Where the limit does not apply

The check works only in the product details form in the administration panel. It does not affect:

• product import from CSV and other bulk upload operations;
• category assignment through the store API;
• category changes made through mass editing and third-party add-ons;
• products already saved with more categories — they stay as they are until someone opens them for editing.

The limit is meant as a hint for whoever fills in the catalog, not as a strict server-side validation. A product with more categories than the limit can technically be created bypassing the product details form.

In order to have access to add-on upgrades, you must have an active upgrade subscription. If the subscription period has expired, you will only have access to upgrades released before the expiration date of your subscription. You can renew your upgrades subscription in the "License Management" section on our website.

The add-on supports instant upgrades via the CS-Cart Upgrade Center. The built-in CS-Cart Notification Center (bell) will notify you about new versions release of the add-on. Upgrades via Upgrades Center will allow you to switch to a newer version without losing add-on data and settings.

Before start an upgrade process, it is highly recommended to make a full backup of the site (database and files) of your store using the server or hosting methods. 

 Upgrade through the Upgrade Center

1. In the top menu, go to Administration → Upgrade Center;
2. In the gear menu, click "Refresh available upgrades"
3. Find and add-on on list of available upgrades and click the Download button and than Install button;
4. Follow all the instructions that will be shown during the upgrade process;
5. It is recommended to clear the CS-Cart templates cache after the upgrades are installed by deleting the var/cache folder on your server or adding the ctpl parameter to the address bar (example: https://domain.com/admin.php?ctpl).

Addon Reinstallation by uninstall old and install new:

Reinstalling an add-on means deleting the add-on's settings and data. Reinstallation will allow you to get a clean installation of the latest addon version. To reinstall the add-on with saving the add-on settings and data, please contact us via our Support Center to provide this service.

To completely reinstall an add-on without saving data, follow these steps:

1. Go to Add-ons → Manage add-ons and find the old installed add-on.
2. Click the delete button in the gear menu of the add-on.
3. Download the latest version of the add-on on our website in the "License Management" section.
4. Go to Add-ons → Manage add-ons and in the gear menu select Manual Installation. Select the previously downloaded file and complete the installation of the add-on.

The technical support of the add-on is already included in its price. Before contacting the support center, please make sure you are using the latest released version of the add-on. Old versions of the add-on are not supported by technical support.

To use our technical support, follow these steps:

1. On our support center site https://helpdesk.cs-commerce.com/, log in with your account;
2. Click on the "Create ticket" button;
3. Fill in all the required fields and create ticket (you will receive a confirmation email);
4. Expect a response from a specialist (a notification will be sent to your e-mail about the response) in accordance with the regulations of the technical support service.

If you have not received an answer within the time frame specified in the regulations, write us a message to the e-mail [email protected] with the subject of the ticket and we will try to resolve your issue as soon as possible.

Technical support via chat on the site, direct phone calls or e-mail letters is not provided. All help discuss goes through the support center. Carefully study the documentation for the add-on and the terms of technical support before creating a ticket. 

We recommend that you familiarize with the general restrictions:

1. Fragments of code or some files of an add-on may have a private (encoded) part. The coded part does not create problems on add-on customizations;
2. The add-on will work only on those domains that are specified in the user's license. If you try to use the solution the domains of which are not included in the license, the add-on will be automatically disabled;
3. Installing on local machines is not allowed by the licensing system. For the add-on to work on an additional domain (alias), specify this alias on the license management page. Up to three aliases are allowed per domain for testing and development purposes. You can change the main license domain yourself on the license management page.

To have possibility to add or change license domains and aliases, the upgrade subscription must be active. To change the license domain of an expired upgrades subscription, you must first renew your subscription.  

Version 1.0 of January 6, 2026

• The first release of the add-on.