How can I split my collections into sub collections?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A Shopify store owner using the Supply theme wants to organize products into main collections (“Original Photorealistic Art” and “Contemporary Art”) with sub-collections (“Birds” and “Animals” under each).

Proposed Solution:
One responder provided a technical approach involving:

  • Creating individual collections for each sub-category
  • Editing the collection.liquid template file with custom code
  • Setting up nested navigation menus in Shopify admin
  • Linking the menu structure to collection pages

User Concern:
The original poster expressed discomfort with coding and fear of breaking their site, requesting paid assistance instead.

Alternative Offered:
Another participant suggested the “FDL Breadcrumbs & Collections” app as a no-code, drag-and-drop solution for creating sub-collections and breadcrumbs visually.

Status:
The discussion remains open. One responder offered to help via private message, but no final resolution or implementation has been confirmed in the thread.

Summarized with AI on October 28. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Theme - Supply

Store - kathiemiller

I want to split a collection into sub collections

Main collection - Original Photorealistic ARt

Sub Collection - Birds

Sub Collection - Animals

Main collection - Contemporary Art

Sub collection - Birds

Sub collection - Animals

I have no idea how to do this.

2

Hi @aart2000

To split your collections into sub-collections using the Supply theme on your Shopify store kathiemiller.com, you can follow these steps:

  1. Create the sub-collections:
  • In your Shopify admin, go to Products > Collections.
  • Click “Create collection” and create a collection for each sub-collection you want, such as “Birds” and “Animals”.
  • Add the relevant products to each sub-collection.
  1. Edit the collection template:
  • Go to Online Store > Themes and click “Actions” > “Edit code” on your Supply theme.
  • Under “Templates”, look for a file called collection.liquid and open it.
  • Find the section that displays the collection title, usually {{ collection.title }}.
  • Below that, add the following code to display the sub-collections:
{% for link in linklists[collection.handle].links %}
{% if link.type == 'collection_link' %}
{{ link.title }}
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}

This code loops through the menu items linked to the current collection and displays them as clickable links if they are sub-collections.

  1. Create a nested menu:
  • Go to Online Store > Navigation.
  • Click “Add menu” and name it something like “Collection Menu”.
  • Add a link to the main collection, e.g., “Original Photorealistic Art”.
  • Hover over that menu item, click “Add”, and choose “Collection” to add the sub-collections “Birds” and “Animals” nested under it.
  • Repeat for the “Contemporary Art” collection and its sub-collections.
  • Save the menu.
  1. Assign the menu to the collection page:
  • Go back to the collection.liquid template in your theme code editor.
  • Look for a line that includes the menu, e.g., {% assign main_menu_linklist = linklists[section.settings.main_linklist] %}.
  • Change the menu handle to your newly created “Collection Menu”, e.g.:
    {% assign collection_menu = linklists['collection-menu'] %}
  • Save the template file.

Now when you view your main collections “Original Photorealistic Art” and “Contemporary Art”, you should see the sub-collections “Birds” and “Animals” displayed as clickable links, allowing customers to filter the products.

This method utilizes Shopify’s nested navigation and collection handles to create a hierarchy of collections and sub-collections without requiring complex customizations to your theme.

Let me know if you have any other questions or if you need help.

1 Like
3

Oh my goodness. I’m not very computer savy. This has my head spinning. I would need some help with this. My biggest fear is messing things up and ending up with a total disaster and not being able to get back out. Especially when it comes to the codes. I won’t go near them :scream: . What would you charge to do it for me?

1 Like
4

Hi @aart2000

I send a private message

5

Hi @aart2000

If you’re still looking for a breadcrumb solution — especially one that works well with nested or custom collections — you might want to try our app FDL Breadcrumbs & Collections.

It lets you create breadcrumbs and sub-collections visually with drag-and-drop, no code needed. Works well for large catalogs too.

Hope this helps!