---
title: Import and export Shopify's new collections
date: 2026-07-15
description: Shopify collections can now mix rules, hand-picked products, subcollections, and more.
tags: ["Smart Collections","Manual Collections","Exports"]
categories: ["Changelog"]
url: https://www.getaltera.com/changelog/2026-07-15-unified-collections-data-type/
---


Shopify just made collections a lot more powerful: a single collection can now combine automated rules with hand-picked products, exclude items, pull in other collections, and even target individual variants. We support all of it from day one, through the new **Collections** data type ([learn more](https://support.getaltera.com/en/articles/15945043-how-altera-is-handling-shopify-s-new-collections)).

---

### 🚀 What's New

- **Rules and hand-picks together** - automate most of a collection with rules, then curate a few featured products into the same collection.
- **Exclusions** - keep a broad rule like "tagged summer" and pull out the exceptions, no tag gymnastics needed.
- **Subcollections** - assemble a parent collection from the contents of others, like "Shoes" from "Sneakers" and "Boots".
- **Variant-level collections** - include just the variants that qualify, such as only the sizes on sale.
- **Bulk editing for everything above** - each part of a collection has its own rows in the sheet, and the new `Source Command` column updates or deletes one part without touching the rest.
- **Safe backups** - exports capture the complete definition of the new collections, including manual sort order, so a backup restores exactly what you had.

### ⚠️ Heads-up

- **Collections** appears as a separate data type on the export page for now. It will replace the **Smart collections** and **Manual collections** options in the future.
- Your existing Smart and Manual collection files keep working as they did before.