Flow Automation: Triggering Workflows When a Product Category Is Deleted – SHOPLINE Help Center

When a staff member manually deletes a product category or removes it using a third-party plugin, the Product category is deleted and triggers a Flow Automation workflow. This article explains how to set up the workflow and provides a real-world use case to help you get started.

Note: Deleted product category cannot be restored or recovered through workflows. Please proceed with caution.

Supported Actions

You can use the following actions with workflows triggered by the "Product category is deleted" event. Click on each action name to view its setup details:

[General] Send Email Notification
[General] Update Counter
[General] Loop Operation

Testing the Workflow

To verify that the workflow is triggered correctly, follow the steps below to create a test item:

From your SHOPLINE admin panel, go to Products > Collections and click Add collection to create a test collection. (We recommend including a distinctive title to easily identify the test item later.)
From the collection list, locate and select the test item. Click the Delete button, then confirm by clicking Delete again in the pop-up window.

Notes:

Deleted collections cannot be restored. Please create a collection specifically for testing and avoid deleting an actual collection.
In the SHOPLINE admin panel, product categories are labeled as Collections. However, in Flow Automation, the corresponding trigger refers to them as Category. Both terms refer to the same function.

Example Use Case

Here’s a real-world example of using the "Product category is deleted" trigger — When a product category is deleted, the system sends an email notification to inform the relevant staff. This helps maintain internal communication and ensures the team is aware of catalog changes:

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Trigger: Product category is deleted
Action: Send email notification to staff