Disable / hide categories without active products

137 downloads
Categories without active products are automatically deactivated or hidden - the check is done once a day. Categories with experience worlds or links remain active.
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€16.58 / month
€238.80* €199.00* / year

Technical Information

Category Menu + category, Storefront
Created At July 15, 2022
Last Updated July 19, 2026
Languages de_DE, en_GB
Keywords remove empty categories, deactivate empty categories
Technical name AcrisCategoryEmptyCheck

Highlights

  • Automatically hide or deactivate empty categories
  • Daily automatic check and update
  • Flexible management per sales channel
  • Define exceptions via rules and additional fields

Features

  • Hide categories completely or only from the navigation
  • Determine exceptions with rules and additional fields
  • Improve performance and functionality
  • Categories can be specifically deactivated or hidden for individual sales channels

If categories have no products assigned, empty categories are by default displayed in the storefront. Such occurrences are usually undesirable.

We have therefore developed a plugin that offers the following functions:

Automatic hiding or deactivation of empty categories
Categories without products are no longer displayed. This action can also be limited to the navigation only, so that the category remains accessible through other paths.

Daily automatic check and update
The number of products in categories is checked daily via Scheduled Tasks, ensuring that dynamic product groups are also taken into account.

Flexible management per sales channel
Empty categories are only hidden or deactivated in the sales channels where they actually contain no products. In other channels where products are available, they remain visible.

Define exceptions using rules
To refine the deactivation of categories, the display can additionally be controlled via rules.

Installation

  • Open Plugin Manager via Settings > System > Plugins
  • Upload, install and activate the plugin

Plugin Configuration:

6.7: Extensions > My Extensions > Category Check > Configure

Configuration options:
Empty categories change
This setting defines whether the category will be hidden only in the navigation bar or in the entire storefront.

Consider rules
The rules selected here are taken into account in the process. Example: If there are categories that contain only dealer products (for these products a rule "Available for dealers only" has been assigned), then this rule can be specified here and the respective category will no longer be deactivated for dealers.

Type of database query
Here you can choose between Sales Channel Repository and Direct Database Query. The Sales Channel Repository is used in the Shopware standard and is generally compatible with all plugins. To additionally improve performance, you can opt for direct database queries. However, this could cause issues with some plugins.

Category Configuration:

6.7: Catalogs > Categories > Create/Edit category > Custom fields > ACRIS Custom Check

Configuration options:
  • Excluded from the ACRIS category check
    This allows the product to be manually excluded from the category check.
  • Deactivated by ACRIS category check
    This toggle is controlled by the plugin. It determines whether the category is displayed in the shop or not. Depending on whether there is an active product in the category, the toggle will be enabled or disabled. It can also be controlled manually, but may later be switched on or off again by the plugin.
  • Deactivated by ACRIS Category Check
    When active, this category has been deactivated by the ACRIS category check. As a result, the category is no longer included in the sitemap and is no longer accessible in the shop. The category will be reactivated as soon as it contains active products again.
  • Deactivated only for sales channels by the ACRIS Category Check
    Categories are deactivated only in the specified channels.
  • Hidden by ACRIS Category Check
    When active, this category has been hidden in the navigation by the ACRIS category check. As a result, the category remains included in the sitemap and is still accessible in the shop. The category will be displayed again in the navigation as soon as it contains active products again.
  • Hidden only for sales channels by the ACRIS Category Check
    Categories are hidden in the navigation only in the specified channels.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, the plugin remembers which categories were disabled / deactivated via cronjob - only these will be reactivated when active products are assigned again. If categories are deactivated "manually" in the admin area, then they also remain deactivated.

The plugin installs a cronjob which is executed every 24 hours. The cronjob uses the current plugin configuration and works with these settings. The cronjob therefore uses either the "hide" or the "disable" mode. Therefore, when changing modes, make sure to check if the cronjob has already been run once with the "old" mode - in this case, the "old" settings will not be changed by the "new" mode. Example: If the "hide" mode is selected first and the cronjob "hides" categories without products and then the plugin mode is changed to "disable", then the next cronjob run will also "disable" the categories but the "hidden" status will not be changed.

Version Date Compatibility Changelog
4.3.1 15 April 2026 >=6.7.0.0 <6.8.0.0
  • - Fixed a bug that caused categories to be deactivated even though the "Exclude from ACRIS category check" option was enabled.
  • - Fixed an issue where categories were deactivated if active products were assigned and the plugin configuration was set to "Direct database query".
4.3.0 27 March 2026 >=6.7.0.0 <6.8.0.0
  • - It is now possible to select which sales channel types are used for the category check via the plugin configuration.
4.2.4 30 January 2026 >=6.7.0.0 <6.8.0.0
  • - Improved plugin compatibility with other plugins.
4.2.3 16 January 2026 >=6.7.0.0 <6.8.0.0
  • - Fixed an issue where the scheduled task set categories to invisible even when “Excepted from the ACRIS category check” was enabled.
4.2.2 1 October 2025 >=6.7.0.0 <6.8.0.0
  • - Fixed issue with translated category custom fields for Sales Channels.
4.2.1 23 September 2025 >=6.7.0.0 <6.8.0.0
  • - Removed unnecessary .temp folder.
4.2.0 23 September 2025 >=6.7.0.0 <6.8.0.0
  • - Deactivate or hide categories for specific sales channels using category custom fields.
4.1.0 15 July 2025 >=6.7.0.0 <6.8.0.0
  • - Adds the possibility to exclude specific categories from the category check via the new category custom field "Except from the ACRIS category check".
4.0.0 12 May 2025 >=6.7.0.0 < 6.8.0.0
  • - Compatibility with Shopware 6.7.
  • - Support for the following languages: de-DE, en-GB, nl-NL, fr-FR, es-ES, fi-FI, nn-NO, sv-SE, cs-CZ, pt-PT, tr-TR, da-DK, it-IT, pl-PL, bs-BA
3.4.1 22 April 2026 >=6.6.0.0 <6.7.0.0
  • - Fixed a bug that caused categories to be deactivated even though the "Exclude from ACRIS category check" option was enabled.
  • - Fixed an issue where categories were deactivated if active products were assigned and the plugin configuration was set to "Direct database query".
3.4.0 1 April 2026 >=6.6.0.0 <6.7.0.0
  • - It is now possible to select which sales channel types are used for the category check via the plugin configuration.
3.3.2 16 January 2026 >=6.6.0.0 <6.7.0.0
  • - Fixed an issue where the scheduled task set categories to invisible even when “Excepted from the ACRIS category check” was enabled.
3.3.1 1 October 2025 >=6.6.0.0 <6.7.0.0
  • - Fixed issue with translated category custom fields for Sales Channels.
3.3.0 23 September 2025 >=6.6.0.0 <6.7.0.0
  • - Deactivate or hide categories for specific sales channels using category custom fields.
3.2.0 15 July 2025 >=6.6.0.0 <6.7.0.0
  • - Adds the possibility to exclude specific categories from the category check via the new category custom field "Except from the ACRIS category check".
3.1.3 20 March 2025 >=6.6.0.0 < 6.7.0.0
  • - Fixing plugin installation issue.
3.1.2 17 March 2025 >=6.6.0.0 < 6.7.0.0
  • - Performance optimizations.
3.1.1 4 July 2024 >=6.6.0.0 < 6.7.0.0
  • - Optimizes executing of the scheduled tasks.
3.1.0 14 June 2024 >=6.6.0.0 < 6.7.0.0
  • - Adds new plugin configuration for assigning rules which can be used in checking assigned products for the category.
3.0.0 21 March 2024 >=6.6.0.0 < 6.7.0.0
  • - Compatibility with Shopware 6.6.
2.2.0 14 June 2024 >=6.5.0.0
  • - Adds new plugin configuration for assigning rules which can be used in checking assigned products for the category.
2.1.1 20 July 2023 >=6.5.0.0
  • - Adds validation on the hiding/deactivating of the categories.
2.1.0 10 July 2023 >=6.5.0.0
  • - Optimizes of the hiding/deactivating of the categories.
2.0.2 20 July 2023 >=6.4.0.0 < 6.5.0.0
  • - Adds validation on the hiding/deactivating of the categories.
2.0.1 10 July 2023 >=6.4.0.0 < 6.5.0.0
  • - Optimizes of the hiding/deactivating of the categories.
2.0.0 27 March 2023 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Compatibility with Shopware 6.5.
1.3.5 10 July 2023 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Optimizes of the hiding/deactivating of the categories.
1.3.4 21 February 2023 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Optimized Sales Channel Type criteria.
1.3.3 15 February 2023 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Change of the plugin name and the manufacturer links.
1.3.2 26 November 2022 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Performance optimizations.
1.3.1 26 November 2022 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Checks all sales channels of deactivated categories before deactivation functionality.
  • - Prevented overwritten deactivations when a product is activated after deactivation.
1.3.0 26 November 2022 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Increases compatibility with shopware version 6.4.14.0
1.2.3 26 November 2022 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Removed unused snippets.
1.2.2 26 November 2022 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Optimisation if categories are no longer active / visible after a change in the plugin settings.
1.2.1 26 November 2022 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Optimisation of the search for empty categories according to the shopping experience layout. This must be of the category page type.
1.2.0 26 November 2022 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Bug fixes and performance optimisations.
  • - Categories deactivated by the plugin are also reactivated when they contain visible products again.
1.0.2 26 November 2022 >=6.4.0.0
  • - Optimized the Technical Name for better compatibility.
Reviews

Average rating of 5 out of 5 stars

1 review

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Tolle Erweiterung!

Review with rating of 5 out of 5 stars

· 2 November 2023

Die Erweiterung macht genau das, was sie verspricht. Alle notwendigen Einstellungsmöglichkeiten für Ausnahmen usw. stehen zur Verfügung. Wir nutzen für unsere Kunden einige Erweiterungen von ACRIS und sind immer sehr zufrieden!