# Organize with families, attributes and categories

**Category:** [Product Catalog](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/pim)
**Updated:** 2026-08-19

## Attributes

Attributes are the fields that describe your products. From **Attributes**, create one with a code, labels in English/French/Spanish and a **Type**. Available types include Text, Text Area, Rich Text, Number, Yes/No, Date, Single Select, Multi Select, Price, Metric/Unit, Image and File. Each attribute can be marked:

- **Localizable** — holds a different value per language.
- **Scopable** — holds a different value per channel.
- **Unique** — its value must not repeat across products.

A sort order controls how attributes appear.
## Families

A **family** is a template for a kind of product. It has a code, multilingual labels and an optional attribute that acts as the product label. Families define which attributes a product should have — and which are **required**. Required attributes drive completeness scoring: TotalCtrl checks, per channel and per locale, how many required attributes are filled and records the percentage and the list of missing attributes. Families also define the **variant axes** used by the [variant matrix](add-variants-and-the-variant-matrix).
## Categories

Categories form a tree. When you create one, you give it a code, multilingual labels and an optional parent category (or leave it top-level). Use categories to group products for browsing and for inclusion rules in feeds.
## Why this matters

Setting up families and attributes first means every product you create afterward inherits a consistent, complete data structure — which keeps your [feeds](build-product-feeds) and storefront syncs clean.

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## Related Articles

- [Managing Products](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/managing-products)
- [Build product feeds for shopping channels](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/build-product-feeds)
- [Import products in bulk](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/import-products-in-bulk)
- [Add variants and use the variant matrix](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/add-variants-and-the-variant-matrix)
- [Create and publish a product](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/create-and-publish-a-product)

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