Do I add simple products (associated with configurables) to categories?

Question

Might be a silly question but I was wondering if there is a need for adding simples (that are not visible individually) to a category in which their respective configurable is added already.

So, the question is two-fold:
1. Is it needed for simples to be added to categories (where they are not shown individually?
2. If not, what is the best practise and why?

Cheers

Answer 1

1. Nope, no need to add the products to categories if you don't want them seen on the front end (they should be set to 'not visible individually' anyway)

2. When a simple product is linked to a configurable product it is effectively only used for stock control, so while all the settings need to be correct (for example you often need to ensure the shipping options are correct for the simple product otherwise you can't add it to the basket), you don't need to set things which you would see on the front end, such as category or description (although as you need to have a description in order to save the product something like 'blah' often does the job ;) )