> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.abtasty.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.abtasty.com/commerce/rules/creating-rules-boost-and-bury.md).
# Creating rules: boost and bury
**Boost & Bury** is a global, catalog-wide rules area in Commerce. It lives under **Rules → Boost & Bury** in the left navigation. A Boost & Bury rule promotes or demotes a set of products *everywhere*, across every strategy that uses your catalog, rather than inside a single strategy. Use it to give business priorities (a seasonal push, a brand deal, a product you want out of the way) a consistent, catalog-level nudge.
{% hint style="info" %}
**What changed:** in earlier tooling, promoting and demoting products was done implicitly with in-strategy actions (Pin to force a product to the top, Sort/Exclude to push it down). Commerce keeps those in-strategy actions *and* adds a dedicated **Boost & Bury** Rules section with explicit **Major / Moderate / Minor** strength levels. See Pins vs. Boost & Bury below.
{% endhint %}
### The Boost & Bury rules list
Across the top of the list you have:
| Control | What it does |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **New Boost & Bury rule +** | Opens the **Create Boost & Bury rule** modal. |
| **Group By** | Groups the list (for example by type). |
| **Filters** | Narrows the list by rule attributes. |
| Search | Finds a rule by name. |
The table itself has these columns:
| Column | Meaning |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| **Rule Name** | The name you gave the rule. |
| **Type** | Whether it is a boost or a bury rule. |
| **Start Date** | When the rule begins to apply. |
| **End Date** | When the rule stops applying. |
### Create a Boost & Bury rule
Click **New Boost & Bury rule +** to open the **Create Boost & Bury rule** modal.
The modal has three parts:
1. **Rule name**: a free-text input. Give the rule a name that explains its intent (for example "Summer collection boost").
2. **Rule**: a dropdown that sets the *direction* and *strength* of the effect (see below).
3. **Apply rule on**: a condition builder that selects *which* products the rule affects. Pick a property from the **Select…** dropdown, keep the operator **Is**, then add one or multiple values in the value field.
When you are done, click **Save and apply**. (Use **Cancel** to discard.)
{% hint style="warning" %}
💡 **Boost changes will only be applied at the next catalog update.** Boost & Bury rescores products as part of catalog synchronization, so a new or edited rule does not change rankings instantly, it takes effect when the catalog next refreshes. You can follow synchronization in the Health monitor.
{% endhint %}
#### The Rule dropdown
The **Rule** dropdown combines two ideas:
* **Direction**: **Boost** promotes the matching products *toward the top* of rankings; **Bury** demotes them *toward the bottom*.
* **Strength**: **Major**, **Moderate**, or **Minor** controls how strong the nudge is. Major has the largest effect on position; Minor is a gentle adjustment.
| Option | Effect |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Major Boost** | Strongly promote matching products toward the top. |
| **Moderate Boost** | Moderately promote matching products. |
| **Minor Boost** | Lightly promote matching products. |
| **Major Bury** | Strongly demote matching products toward the bottom. |
| **Moderate Bury** | Moderately demote matching products. |
| **Minor Bury** | Lightly demote matching products. |
A boost or bury is a *re-ranking* signal, not a filter: it changes where products appear in the order, it does not add or remove them from the catalog.
### In-strategy customizations vs. Boost & Bury
Boost & Bury is **global**, it changes scores across the whole catalog, so every strategy that reads the catalog sees the effect. Inside a single strategy you have separate, **local** controls that only affect *that* strategy:
| In-strategy control | Scope | Effect |
| ------------------------------- | ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pin** (Pins → Pin product(s)) | One strategy | Force specific products to fixed top positions in that strategy only. |
| **Filter** / **Exclude** | One strategy | Restrict or remove products from that strategy's results. |
| **Sort by…** | One strategy | Reorder that strategy's results by a catalog field. |
| **Boost & Bury rule** | Whole catalog | Promote or demote products everywhere, by strength. |
{% hint style="info" %}
Rule of thumb: use a **Pin** when you want a product at the top of *one* placement; use a **Boost & Bury** rule when you want a product promoted or demoted *consistently across all* strategies. The two compose, a global boost can still be overridden by a strategy-level pin.
{% endhint %}
For the in-strategy controls, see Creating strategies and, for recommendations specifically, the Strategy Builder.
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