This post was designed specifically for Teacher Sellers who have a store on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT). It consists of a step-by-step tutorial published both in video and blog post format, where we are going to see how to use emojis to organize categories on TPT, so that we can display them in a customer-friendly way.
By the end of the tutorial, you will be able to use a huge variety of emojis to enhance the category list in your store. Here are two simple samples.
Category list on TPT created with simple emojis and no code
Category list on TPT created with emojis that require some code
With or without emojis, adding categories to organize your products should be part of your early TPT plan. If you postpone it, it might become too time-consuming to arrange all your products later on, since you will have to add each product one by one. Creating your categories previously will help you save your products into the corresponding category as soon as you add them to your store.
Pros
Using emojis is not just a way of making your store categories look more appealing. Emojis will help you avoid displaying all categories in alphabetical order. They will allow you to display your categories according to a specific type of product, making it easier for customers to navigate your store.
Cons
Unfortunately, copy pasting is not enough for most emojis. Some require code but if you need help with that, just watch the video tutorial and check the lists below to find the code you need.
How to add categories
Step-by-step video tutorial
You can start by watching this short video I created to show you all the steps you have to take on your TPT store. If you prefer, you can read all the steps below.
How to add categories
Step-by-step tutorial with pictures
If you don’t have categories yet, just follow these steps. I have added some red circles to show you where you have to click.
Step #1
Choose “My product listings” from the dropdown list.
Step #2
Scroll down and click on “Manage your categories” on the left side pane.
Step #3
Copy and paste the emoji or the emoji code you have chosen into each category field and name each category. Watch the free video tutorial to see how this process works. You can find all the emojis from the video tutorial in the emoji lists at the bottom of this post.
Step #4
Click on the button save changes and add products to your new category.
Step #5
Go back the the dropdown list and click on the link “My Store” to go to your store and check the final result. Please note that the new categories will not show immediately. In addition to adding products to them, you also have to wait some time (usually 5 to 20 minutes) for them to be visible in your store.
Step #6
Here’s a sample of what my clients see on up2dateSKILLS TPT store.
Emoji Lists
Create customer-friendly categories
The emojis I have selected are grouped into topics so that we can find them easily when we need to update our categories.
Emojis to copy and paste
The emojis included in this first set are quite easy to use. You can just copy them from the list below and paste them into your category field because they don’t require any special code.
™️ | ✋ | ⚫️ | ⏱ | ☂️ | ⛹️♂️ | ⛔️ | ✈️ | ➕ |
©️ | ✊ | ⚪️ | ⌚️ | ☔ | ⛹️♀️ | ⚠️ | ⛵️ | ➖ |
®️ | ✌️ | ⬛️ | ⏲ | ⛱ | ⛳ | ☢️ | ⚓️ | ➗ |
✂️ | ☝️ | ⬜️ | ⏰ | ❄️ | ⚽ | ☣️ | ⛽️ | ✖️ |
⛏ | ☹️ | ◼️ | ⌛️ | ☃️ | ⚾ | ⚡ | ❗️ | ❌ |
⚒ | ⚙️ | ◻️ | ⏳ | ⛄ | ☕ | ⛓ | ❕ | ⭕️ |
✒️ | ⚜️ | ◾️ | ☘️ | ☀️ | ☄️ | ☠️ | ❓ | ⛲️ |
✏️ | ⚖️ | ◽️ | ♻️ | ⛅ | ✨ | ⚰️ | ❔ | ❤️ |
✍️ | ➰ | ☎️ | ⛪️ | ☁️ | ⭐ | ⚔️ | ✔️ | ❣️ |
Emojis that require code
To use most emojis below, you need to copy paste the code into the category field. If you copy the emoji it will not appear in your shop page.
This list isn’t complete. If you need an emoji and can’t find it on the list, just let me know. I will try to find it for you and add it to a list.
School
Don’t copy the emoji! Just copy the code below each emoji instead.
✏️ ✏️ | 🎓 🎓 | 🍎 🍎 | 🍏 🍏 |
📏 📏 | 📐 📐 | 🎨 🎨 | 📑 📑 |
📝 📝 | 📂 📂 | 📁 📁 | 📖 📖 |
📚 📚 | 📒 📒 | 📓 📓 | 📔 📔 |
📕 📕 | 📗 📗 | 📘 📘 | 📙 📙 |
💻 💻 | 📌 📌 | 💯 💯 | ✂️ ✂️ |
Faces
Don’t copy the emoji! Just copy the code below each emoji instead.
😀 😀 | 😊 😊 | 😜 😜 | 😲 😲 |
🤓 🤓 | 🧐 🧐 | 😎 😎 | 😂 😂 |
🤩 🤩 | 😍 😍 | 🥳 🥳 | 😷 😷 |
Other
Don’t copy the emoji! Just copy the code below each emoji instead.
🐾 🐾 | 💡 💡 | 🎤 🎤 | 🎬 🎬 |
🎵 🎵 | 🔖 🔖 | 🏷️ 🏷️ | 🌐 🌐 |
Special celebrations
Don’t copy the emoji! Just copy the code below each emoji instead.
Halloween | Christmas | St. Valentine | St. Patrick |
🎃 🎃 | 🎄 🎄 | ❤️ ❤️ | ☘️ ☘️ |
👻 👻 | 🎅 🎅 | 💙 💙 | 🍀 🍀 |
🕸 🕸️ | 🎅🏽 🎅🏽 | 💚 💚 | 💚 💚 |
🕷 🕷 | 🎁 🎁 | 💛 💛 | 🍺 🍺 |
🦇 🦇 | 🤶 🤶 | 💜 💜 |
|
⚰️ ⚰️ | 🌟 🌟 | 🖤 🖤 |
|
👽 👽 | 🦌 🦌 | 🧡 🧡 |
|
☠️ ☠️ | 🕯️ 🕯️ | 🤍 🤍 |
|
🤡 🤡 | 🎀 🎀 | 🤎 🤎 |
|
Seasons
Don’t copy the emoji! Just copy the code below each emoji instead.
Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter |
🌼 🌼 | 🔆 🔆 | 🍂 🍂 | ☂️ ☂️ |
🌻 🌻 | ☀️ ☀️ | 🍁 🍁 | ☔ ☔ |
🌷 🌷 | ⛱️ ⛱️ | 🍃 🍃 | 🧣 🧣 |
🌸 🌸 | 👓 👓 | 🦃 🦃 | 🌨️ 🌨️ |
🌺 🌺 | 👒 👒 | 🥧 🥧 | ⛸️ ⛸️ |
🌈 🌈 | 🧢 🧢 | 🌂 🌂 | ⛷️ ⛷️ |
Non-emoji symbols
The following symbols are not emojis and don’t require any code. You can also create beautiful effects with them in your category list.
✢ ✣ ✤ ✥ ✦ ✧ ★ ☆ ✯ ✡︎ ✩ ✪ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✶✷ ✵ ✸ ✹ → ⇒ ⟹ ⇨ ⇾ ➾ ⇢ ☛ ☞ ➔ ➜➙ ➛ ➝ ➞ ♠︎ ♣︎ ♥︎ ♦︎ ♤ ♧ ♡ ♢ ♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞♟ ♔ ♕ ♖ ♗ ♘ ♙ ⚀ ⚁ ⚂ ⚃ ⚄ ⚅ ⚈ ⚉ ⚆⚇
Emoji sequences to create list toppers
By default, TPT product categories are displayed in alphabetical order. By using emojis whose code consists of a lower number starting with 10 or 100, for example, makes it easier to control your list toppers because numbers come before letters. Actually, each emoji, even the ones you can just copy paste, correspond to a numerical code so they will also appear in a specific order.
In my top category I like to use subtle pointing angle brackets one at the beginning and at the end. The symbol for the angle bracket I use at the beginning is ❭ (see the code below) and I use it at the beginning, not because I am particularly fond of it, but because its code starts with 100, so I’m sure it stays at the top of the category list.
Here are some bracket ideas that you can also use.
Pointing angle brackets | |
❬ ❬ | ❭ ❭ |
❮ ❮ | ❯ ❯ |
❰ ❰ | ❱ ❱ |
The following sequences can be used to prepare your shop for special events or seasonal sales. I have added a screen shot of some samples to give you a better idea of what you can do with each sequence. The code under each picture was used to create the category on the top of each list. The remaining categories require a different code, just as we have seen in the video tutorial.
❭ – – – ALL PRODUCTS – – – ❬
❭✏️ BACK-TO-SCHOOL ✏️❬
❭🏷️ ON SALE 🤩❬
❭☀️ SUMMER DEALS 👓❬
❭🎄 Christmas Specials 🎅❬
❭🎃 HALLOWEEN 👻❬
Your turn
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I would love to hear your feedback. Please share some words in the comment section below and stay tuned! We will keep adding new tutorials.
4 thoughts on “How to create custom categories with emojis on TPT – Step by step tutorial”
Thank you SO MUCH!!!!!! This is by far the best tutorial I’ve come across! You made it look very simple and easy.
Thank you, for taking the time to leave a comment. It felt great to hear such positive feedback!
Thank you for this post!! Is there a way to underline the text in the product category?
I wish I could help you but I tried to add some code to underline the text permanently but it didn’t work.