Documentation:WordPress/Categories

Categories are a great way to group posts together by relevance. Not only are they helpful to your site's visitors, but they also provide filters that you can use for your own website links and display settings.

One example where categories can act as a "filter" is the UBC CLF theme (currently available for the UBC CMS) and its Spotlight Rotation (the transitioning slideshow interface which can be found at UBC.ca). The Spotlight Rotation draws its content directly from a post category and new posts in that category are directly pushed into the slideshow as they replace old ones.

Categories can also have a hierarchy that can go down as many levels as you choose. This makes it even easier to organize all of your content.

To access all of your current categories or create new ones go to the Categories page under Dashboard > Posts > Categories.

Categories Page

The Categories page consists of two sections: an Add New Category section and a categories list. The page also features a search bar at the top right for quickly finding the desired category.

The categories list displays all of your existing categories. It shows the category's name, description, slug, and the number of posts that the category is used in. If you scroll over a category name in the list, the following links appear: Edit, Quick Edit, and Delete.

Add Categories

Categories can be added in two different locations on the WordPress Dashboard: the Categories page, and the Add New Post and Edit Post pages.

Through the Categories Page

The Categories page (located at Dashboard > Posts > Categories) contains an Add New Category section. To add a new category from here, simply:

1. Enter the category name
2. Optional: Select the category parent from your list of existing categories in the dropdown (leave at None if category isn't a sub-category)
3. Optional: Add a description of your category
4. Click on the Add New Category button - you can now use your category for all of your posts

Through the Add New Post or Edit Post Page

The Add New Post and Edit Post pages (found by going to Dashboard > Posts > Posts and clicking on the Add New button or on an existing post, respectively) contain a Categories section that allows users to add new categories on the fly. The Categories section contains an Add New Category link. The link opens up a menu where you can write the category title and select a parent category (if you wish) from a dropdown (note that you cannot add a description for the category from this menu). Once you are done, click on the Add New Category button and you'll be ready to use that category for your post. If you wish to add a description for the category that you've created using this method, you can do so by editing the category.

NOTE: The Categories section may be disabled for your Add New Post and Edit Post pages. To enable the Categories section in this case, simply go into Screen Options (found on the top-right of the page) and ensure that the Categories checkbox is checked off.

Edit Categories

Categories can be edited by visiting the Categories (Dashboard > Posts > Categories) page. If a category is edited, the change will be manifested in all posts and other areas where the category is being used.

Quick Edit

You can quickly edit a category by simply scrolling over its name in the category list on the Category page and clicking on the Quick Edit link; however, this option only allows you to edit the category's name.

Full Editing

To fully edit a category, click on that category's name (or the category's Edit link) in the category list on the Category page to open the Edit Category page. On the Edit Category page, you can edit the category's name and description, and select a new parent category from the dropdown menu. Once you're finished with your changes, simply click on the Update button and you're done!

Delete Categories

To delete categories:

1. Go to Dashboard > Posts > Categories
2. Find the desired category in the category list OR search for it using the search bar at the top right of the page
3. Hover over the category and click on the Delete link that appears OR check off the category's checkbox, select Delete in the Bulk Actions dropdown, and click on the Apply button.

Assign Categories to Posts

To assign a category to a post:

1. Go to the post's Edit page (go Dashboard > Posts > Posts and then click on the post's name).
   • NOTE: Assigning a category to a new post in the new post page (Dashboard > Posts > Posts - click on Add New button) is exactly the same.
2. Find the Category section on this page.
   • NOTE: The Categories section may be disabled for your Add New Post and Edit Post pages. To enable the Categories section in this case, simply go into Screen Options (found on the top-right of the page) and ensure that the Categories checkbox is checked off.
3. Select the category(ies) that you wish your post to be categorized under (a post can have multiple categories).
4. Click on the Update link in the Publish section of the page to finalize changes.