StratiSilo Documentation

Installation

StratiSilo can be installed directly from WordPress.org or by uploading the zip file manually.

Method 1 — Install from WordPress.org (Recommended)

1. 1
   Go to Plugins → Add New

   In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins → Add New Plugin.

2. 2
   Search for StratiSilo

   Type “StratiSilo” in the search box and press Enter.

3. 3
   Install and Activate

   Click Install Now, then Activate. StratiSilo is now running on your site.

Method 2 — Manual Upload

1. 1
   Download the zip

   Download stratisilo.zip from WordPress.org or from your Pro purchase.

2. 2
   Upload to WordPress

   Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. Select the zip file and click Install Now.

3. 3
   Activate

   Click Activate Plugin after installation completes.

Requirements

Quick Start

After activating the plugin, follow these steps to set up your first silo category page.

1. 1
   Configure settings

   Go to WooCommerce → StratiSilo Settings to set your products per page, subcategory columns, and breadcrumb preference.

2. 2
   Edit a product category

   Go to Products → Categories and click Edit on any category.

3. 3
   Add your first description

   Fill in the Description field (appears above subcategories and products) with your category intro content.

4. 4
   Add a products heading

   Enter a Products Section Heading — for example “Shop Soccer Shoes”. This H2 heading appears above your product grid.

5. 5
   Add a second description

   Scroll down to Second Description and add keyword-rich content that will appear below the product grid.

6. 6
   Save and view

   Click Update and visit your category page. You should see the full silo layout.

Descriptions

First Description

The first description appears above subcategory cards and the product grid. It is the most important content on the page — write 100–200 words targeting your primary category keyword. Use the TinyMCE editor to add headings, bullet points, and links.

Second Description

The second description appears below the product grid. Ideal for keyword-rich supplementary content, FAQs, buying guides, or additional information that supports the page’s topical authority without cluttering the above-the-fold experience.

Subcategory Cards

On parent category pages, StratiSilo automatically displays child categories as visual cards between the first description and the product grid. This creates a hub-and-spoke internal linking structure that helps search engines understand your site’s topical hierarchy.

Configuring columns

Go to WooCommerce → StratiSilo Settings → Subcategory Columns and set the number of columns (1–6). The layout is fully responsive — columns reduce automatically on tablet and mobile.

Category images

Subcategory card images come from the thumbnail set on each product category. Go to Products → Categories → Edit any subcategory and upload a thumbnail image. If no image is set, a grey placeholder is shown.

Products Section Heading

Each category can have a custom H2 heading and intro paragraph that appears directly above the product grid. This is separate from the page title (H1) and helps with heading hierarchy for SEO.

Example: if your category is “Soccer Shoes”, set the heading to “Shop All Soccer Shoes” and the intro text to a short 1–2 sentence keyword-rich description.

Load More Button

StratiSilo replaces the default WooCommerce pagination with a Load More button. Clicking it appends the next set of products inline without a page refresh.

Default pagination (page numbers 1, 2, 3…) is automatically hidden on all category pages when StratiSilo is active.

Products per page

Go to WooCommerce → StratiSilo Settings → Products per page to set how many products are shown initially. When there are more products than this number, the Load More button appears automatically.

Breadcrumb Settings

Go to WooCommerce → StratiSilo Settings → Breadcrumb Settings and check Remove “Shop” from breadcrumbs to change:

From: Home / Shop / Category / Product

To: Home / Category / Product

This applies to both category archive pages and single product pages.

Shortcodes

StratiSilo provides three shortcodes for manual placement in theme templates or page builders.

Customising Link Styles

StratiSilo is designed as a blank canvas for styling. The plugin does not impose its own link colors or font styles — everything inherits from your active theme. However, subcategory title links are inside <h2> tags which most themes style with heading colors rather than link colors. To set a specific link color, add this to Customize → Additional CSS:

/* Subcategory title link color */
h2.wc-silo-subcategory-name a {
    color: #YOUR_COLOR !important;
}

h2.wc-silo-subcategory-name a:hover {
    color: #YOUR_HOVER_COLOR !important;
}

Using Kadence palette variables

If you use Kadence, you can connect the link color directly to your Global Palette so it updates automatically when you change theme colors:

h2.wc-silo-subcategory-name a {
    color: var(--global-palette1) !important;
}

h2.wc-silo-subcategory-name a:hover {
    color: var(--global-palette2) !important;
}

Typography

StratiSilo’s subcategory card titles use <h2> tags. The following styles inherit automatically from your theme — no custom CSS needed:

CSS Class Reference

All StratiSilo frontend elements use the following CSS classes. Target any of them in Customize → Additional CSS to customise appearance.

Pro Features

StratiSilo Pro adds powerful SEO URL management and featured product controls on top of all free features.

Clean URL Structures PRO

By default WooCommerce adds /product-category/ to category URLs and /product/ to product URLs. StratiSilo Pro lets you remove these prefixes for cleaner, keyword-focused URLs.

Available URL structures

URL Conflict Scanner

Before applying URL changes, StratiSilo Pro automatically scans your site for slug conflicts — category slugs that match existing pages, posts, or other content. A conflict table shows all issues with resolution instructions before you save.

Featured Products PRO

Pin specific products to the top of any category page. Featured products display in a dedicated grid section above the main product loop — ideal for promotions, new arrivals, or high-margin items.

Setting up featured products

1. 1
   Mark products as Featured

   In the product list, click the star icon next to any product to mark it as Featured in WooCommerce.

2. 2
   Set a featured heading (optional)

   Edit the product category and fill in the Featured Products Heading field. Default heading is “Featured Products”.

3. 3
   View the category page

   Featured products appear automatically above the main product grid on that category’s page.

Theme Compatibility

StratiSilo is tested and works with the default versions of these themes:

Frequently Asked Questions

The first description box is empty after saving — what’s wrong?

Make sure you are using the full category edit page (Products → Categories → Edit), not the quick-add sidebar form. The sidebar form’s TinyMCE editor has limitations with some server configurations. Enter content on the full edit page and it will save correctly.

The Load More button doesn’t load any products

This is usually a caching issue. Clear your caching plugin cache (LiteSpeed, WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache) and your browser cache. Then test in an incognito window.

Subcategory cards aren’t showing on my parent category

Subcategory cards only appear when child categories exist. Make sure you have assigned product categories with a parent category set. Also check that your subcategory column setting is greater than 0 in StratiSilo Settings.

The plugin works on default Kadence but not my child theme

Child themes with modified WooCommerce templates may output category pages differently. Use the shortcodes [stratisilo_first_desc], [stratisilo_subcategories], and [stratisilo_second_desc] in your theme template for manual placement.

Does this plugin affect the main Shop page?

No. StratiSilo only modifies product category archive pages (is_product_category()). The main shop page, single product pages, and all other pages are completely unaffected.

Is it compatible with Yoast SEO and Rank Math?

Yes. StratiSilo does not conflict with SEO plugins. StratiSilo handles content structure; your SEO plugin handles meta titles, descriptions, schema markup, and sitemaps.

Will this plugin change my URL structure?

The free version does not modify any URL structures. Your existing WooCommerce permalink settings are completely preserved. Clean URL structures are a Pro feature.

Support

Need help with something not covered in this documentation?

Free version support

Post on the WordPress.org support forum. Questions are answered within 3–5 business days.

Pro version support

Email support@stratisilo.com for priority support. Pro license holders receive responses within 1–2 business days.

Before contacting support

• Note your WordPress version, WooCommerce version, and active theme name
• Temporarily deactivate other plugins to check for conflicts
• Clear all caches and test in an incognito browser window
• Check the FAQ section above for common issues