Why tags work well for cross-category rules

Tags let you group products by shipping need regardless of which category they're in. For example, you might tag oversized items with bulky and restrict them to freight-only shipping — even if those items span Furniture, Garden, and Appliances categories.

Tag-based rules are a Premium feature.

---

Steps

1. Go to Products → Tags in your WordPress admin.
2. Click the tag you want to configure (or create a new one if needed).
3. On the tag edit screen, find the Shipping Methods section added by the plugin.
4. Select the shipping methods you want to allow for products carrying this tag.
5. Click Update.
6. Make sure the relevant products have this tag assigned in the Tags field of their product editor.

---

Rule priority: product → category → tag

The plugin resolves rules in this order:

1. Product-level rule (highest priority)
2. Category rule
3. Tag rule (lowest priority among the three)

If a product has both a category rule and a tag rule, and no product-level rule, the category rule wins. Tag rules are the broadest, most general fallback.

---

Practical example

You sell refrigerated food items across the "Dairy" and "Meat" categories. Both categories should only offer same-day courier shipping. Instead of editing each category separately, you create a tag called refrigerated, assign it the courier-only rule, and apply the tag to all relevant products. Any new refrigerated product you add in the future just needs the tag — no further shipping configuration required.

---

Once your tags and categories are configured, see Handling Mixed Carts to understand how the plugin behaves when a customer buys products with different rules in the same order.