Why can't I see Categories and Products together?

[milauskas]

HI,

 

I'm bending backwards to try to make this work. I've got a store which sells school uniforms (http://crownuniformsonline.com/catalog/index.php). There are two types of pants: flat front and pleated. However, they come in different size types (Slim, Regular, Husky, Prep and Men's). Also Men's and Prep are the only ones that a user can specify a LENGTH for (so that's a separate attribute)

 

To keep all this straight I have made the following category > subcategory structure:

 

one example:

 

Boys > Pants > Flat Front > Husky > Product info page (w/ attribute "size")

 

Another would be:

 

Boys > Pants > Flat Front > Prep > Product info page (w/ attribute "size" and "length")

 

So you see I've got a number of subcategories in order to keep things tidy.

 

My problem is that there are other products, like a jacket, that don't need to be inside all these subcategories, instead I just want to put them inside the Boys subcategory. However, if I do this and then select a specific school (in this case St. Finbar) then the Boys category, it takes me right to the Jacket product page. It totally bypasses the Pants subcat.

 

I intend to get rid of the hierarchical navigation menu in the left column (per client request) so the subcategoies won't be visible there. However, how would a user be able to find the Pants subcat if it's on the same level as the Jacket if all that's ever shown is the Jacket product page?

 

Somebody help! I'm going nuts trying to accommodate my client.