Custom Product Categories in Qxel

Introduction

Every creator sells something different.

Some sell study materials.

Others sell business ideas, resume templates, AI prompts, digital planners, software, or products that don't fit into traditional marketplace categories.

Most marketplaces solve this by giving you a fixed list of product categories. If your product doesn't fit, you're forced to choose the closest option.

Qxel takes a different approach.

Instead of locking creators into predefined categories, we're introducing Custom Product Categories—allowing the community to expand the marketplace together.

Why Custom Categories?

Qxel follows a taxonomy-based structure.

Rather than placing every product into a handful of broad categories, products can have structured information that helps buyers find exactly what they're looking for.

This benefits both creators and buyers.

Creators can describe their products more accurately.

Buyers can filter products using detailed information instead of scrolling through hundreds of unrelated listings.

It also helps search engines better understand your products, improving discoverability.

Product Taxonomies Already Available

Many categories already support specialized information.

For example, if you're selling Study Materials, you can specify details such as:

You can also create your own taxonomy items where appropriate.

These structured fields help products appear in more relevant searches both inside Qxel and on search engines.

Want to Sell Something New?

Suppose you're selling:

Instead of requesting Qxel to manually support every product type, you can contribute your own category.

Because the taxonomy is open, the community can help shape it over time.

How to Add a New Product Category

The taxonomy is maintained in the Qxel GitHub repository.

Step 1: Fork the Repository

Open the Qxel repository on GitHub and create your own fork.

Step 2: Add the Category

Navigate to:

taxonomy/categories.json

Add your category name.

Use:

Example:

"study-materials",
"business-ideas",
"resume-templates",
"audio-packs"

Follow the existing naming convention.

Step 3: Define the Product Structure

Navigate to:

taxonomy/structure/

Create a new JSON file using your category name.

For example:

business-ideas.json

or

audios.json

Example structure:

{
  "taxonomy_1": {
    "item": "genre",
    "title": "Genre / Category"
  },
  "taxonomy_2": {
    "item": "author",
    "title": "Author / Narrator"
  }
}

Replace the item and title values with fields that make sense for your category.

You can define up to 8 taxonomy fields for each product category.

Step 4 (Optional): Add Suggested Values

If you'd like other creators to reuse common values, you can provide suggestions.

Navigate to:

taxonomy/items/

Create folders using your category name.

Example:

business-ideas/

Inside that folder, create one YAML file for each taxonomy.

Example:

industry.yml

or

genre.yml

Example content:

- item: "technology"
  title: "Technology"

- item: "education"
  title: "Education"

- item: "healthcare"
  title: "Healthcare"

Suggested values are completely optional, but they help maintain consistency across products and make filtering more useful.

Step 5: Submit a Pull Request

Once you've finished your changes:

After review, your new category can become available for everyone using Qxel.

Don't Know Git?

That's perfectly fine.

Creating a custom category requires only basic GitHub knowledge, but you don't have to do it yourself.

You can request a new category by:

We'll review community requests and add categories where appropriate.

Why This Matters

Most marketplaces decide what creators are allowed to sell.

Qxel lets creators help define the marketplace itself.

As new industries, digital products, and creator niches emerge, the taxonomy can grow alongside them.

That means your products aren't forced into categories that don't fit—they can have a structure built specifically for what you're selling.

Whether you're creating study materials today or inventing an entirely new product category tomorrow, Qxel is designed to evolve with its community.

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