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collections5 min read

Organize Your Workflow: Using Collections Effectively

Learn how to use GrootMade's Collections feature to organize themes and plugins, share curated lists with your team, and discover collections from the community.

Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson

Organize Your Workflow with Collections

Managing dozens or hundreds of WP themes and plugins can be overwhelming. Which ones do you use for e-commerce sites? Which are best for portfolios? Which plugins work well together?

GrootMade's Collections feature solves this problem by letting you organize products into curated lists. Here's how to use it effectively.

What Are Collections?

Collections are curated groups of themes and plugins. Think of them as playlists for WP products:

  • Personal collections — Organize products you use frequently
  • Project collections — Group products for specific project types
  • Shared collections — Share curated lists with your team
  • Community collections — Discover collections from other users

Creating Your First Collection

Step 1: Start a Collection

  1. Navigate to any product page
  2. Click Add to Collection
  3. Choose Create New Collection
  4. Name your collection (e.g., "E-commerce Essentials")
  5. Add a description
  6. Choose privacy setting (private or public)

Step 2: Add Products

Add products to your collection:

  • From product pages — Click "Add to Collection" button
  • From search results — Bulk add multiple products
  • From dashboard — Drag and drop products
  • Import from list — Paste product names or URLs

Step 3: Organize

Organize your collection:

  • Reorder products — Drag to change order
  • Add notes — Notes about why you included each product
  • Categorize — Group related products together
  • Tag products — Add tags for easy filtering

Use Cases

Personal Organization

"My Go-To Tools" — Products you use on every project:

  • Favorite page builder
  • Essential SEO plugin
  • Trusted form builder
  • Reliable backup solution

"Testing" — Products you want to try:

  • New themes to evaluate
  • Plugins to test
  • Experimental tools

Project-Specific Collections

"E-commerce Sites" — Everything for online stores:

  • WooCommerce-compatible themes
  • Payment gateway plugins
  • Shipping calculators
  • Product review plugins

"Portfolio Sites" — Tools for showcasing work:

  • Portfolio themes
  • Gallery plugins
  • Lightbox solutions
  • Contact form builders

"Blog Sites" — Essentials for content sites:

  • Blog-focused themes
  • SEO plugins
  • Social sharing tools
  • Newsletter integrations

Team Collaboration

"Agency Standard Stack" — Products your team uses:

  • Approved themes
  • Required plugins
  • Team favorites
  • Client-ready tools

"Client Onboarding" — Products for new clients:

  • Starter themes
  • Essential plugins
  • Training resources
  • Documentation links

Sharing Collections

Public Collections

Make your collection public to:

  • Help the community — Share your expertise
  • Build reputation — Showcase your knowledge
  • Get feedback — Others can suggest additions
  • Discover collaborators — Connect with like-minded users

Private Collections

Keep collections private for:

  • Client work — Proprietary project lists
  • Internal use — Team-only resources
  • Personal organization — Your private workflow
  • Testing — Experimental groupings

Team Sharing

Share with your team:

  • Organization members — All team members can access
  • Specific members — Share with selected people
  • Read-only access — Others can view but not edit
  • Collaborative editing — Multiple people can manage

Discovering Collections

Browse Community Collections

Discover collections from other users:

  • Featured collections — Curated by GrootMade team
  • Popular collections — Most-used community lists
  • Recent collections — Latest shared collections
  • Search collections — Find by keyword or tag

Follow Collections

Follow collections to:

  • Stay updated — Get notified when products are added
  • Learn from experts — See what professionals use
  • Discover new tools — Find products you didn't know about
  • Build your library — Add products to your own collections

Best Practices

Organization Tips

  1. Be specific — "E-commerce Tools" is better than "Stuff I Like"
  2. Add descriptions — Explain why products are grouped
  3. Keep updated — Remove outdated products
  4. Use tags — Make collections searchable
  5. Regular review — Clean up unused collections

Naming Conventions

Good collection names:

  • "WooCommerce Essential Plugins"
  • "Portfolio Site Theme Options"
  • "Client Onboarding Starter Pack"
  • "Agency Approved Tools"

Avoid vague names:

  • "My Stuff"
  • "Collection 1"
  • "Things"
  • "Test"

Maintenance

Keep collections useful:

  • Review monthly — Remove outdated products
  • Update notes — Keep descriptions current
  • Check compatibility — Ensure products still work together
  • Verify availability — Remove discontinued products

Advanced Features

Collection Templates

Create templates for:

  • Project types — Standard toolset for each project type
  • Client tiers — Different tools for different client levels
  • Service packages — Tools included in service offerings
  • Onboarding — Starter collections for new clients

Bulk Operations

Manage multiple collections:

  • Duplicate collections — Copy and modify
  • Merge collections — Combine related lists
  • Export collections — Share as JSON or CSV
  • Import collections — Add from external lists

Analytics

Track collection usage:

  • View counts — See how many people view your collections
  • Follow counts — Track followers
  • Product usage — See which products are most added
  • Popular collections — Identify trending lists

Real-World Examples

Freelancer Workflow

Collections:

  • "Client Proposals" — Tools to show clients
  • "Active Projects" — Products for current work
  • "Wishlist" — Tools to try later

Result: Faster project setup, better client presentations

Agency Standardization

Collections:

  • "Agency Stack" — Approved tools for all projects
  • "Premium Clients" — Advanced tools for high-tier clients
  • "Quick Sites" — Fast-deployment tools

Result: Consistent quality, faster onboarding

Developer Learning

Collections:

  • "To Study" — Code to learn from
  • "Best Practices" — Examples of good code
  • "Reference" — Tools for specific tasks

Result: Continuous learning, skill development

Getting Started

Ready to organize your workflow?

  1. Create your first collection — Start with "My Favorites"
  2. Add products — Include tools you use regularly
  3. Share with team — If working with others
  4. Discover collections — Browse community lists
  5. Build your system — Create collections that work for you

Collections transform a chaotic library into an organized, efficient workflow.

Need help? Check our Collections documentation or contact support.