Managing categories

What are categories?

Categories help organize your listings into logical groups, making it easier for visitors to browse and find relevant content. Unlike tags (which are flexible labels), categories provide a structured hierarchy for your directory.

• Hierarchical structure - Create parent categories with nested subcategories
• Rich customization - Add icons, descriptions, SEO metadata, and content blocks
• Access control - Restrict categories to specific user roles
• Bulk management - Import and export categories via CSV

Accessing category management

• Open the edit page of your directory
• Click Categories in the menu bar

The categories page displays all your categories in a tree structure, showing the hierarchy of parent and child categories.

Adding categories manually

• Click the Add Category button
• Enter a Name for the category
• The Slug is auto-generated from the name (you can edit it)
• Optionally select a Parent category to nest it
• Click Save to create the category

Category slugs are used in URLs and for importing listings. Keep them short, lowercase, and use hyphens instead of spaces.

Nesting categories

Create a hierarchy by setting parent categories. For example:

• Services (parent)
  • Dog Walking
  • Pet Sitting
  • Grooming
• Products (parent)
  • Food
  • Toys
  • Accessories

To nest a category, use the + button next to the category you wish to add children to. Alternatively, if you're using imports, populate the 'parent' column with the parent slug.

Category settings

Click the cog icon on any category to access its full settings. The settings drawer provides several configuration options:

Icons

Add a visual icon to help users identify categories at a glance. Icons appear in category navigation and listings.

Blocks

Add custom content to display above or below listings on the category page:

• Top blocks - Content displayed above the listings grid
• Bottom blocks - Content displayed below the listings grid

Use blocks to add introductory text, FAQs and other supplementary information specific to that category.

SEO settings

Optimize each category for search engines:

• Meta title - Custom page title for search results
• Meta description - Description shown in search result snippets

If left blank, defaults are generated from the category name and description.

Access control

Restrict who can view the category and its listings:

• Public - Anyone can view
• Registered users - Only logged-in users
• Specific roles - Only users with selected roles

Access restrictions apply to the category page specifically, rather than all listings within it. Access control for listings can be managed separately

Deleting categories

• Click the delete button on the category row
• Confirm the deletion when prompted

Warning: Deleting a category removes it from all listings that use it. Listings themselves are not deleted, but they will no longer be associated with that category. Subcategories are also deleted.

Importing and exporting categories

Manage categories in bulk using CSV files. This is useful for:

• Setting up many categories at once
• Backing up your category structure
• Copying categories between projects
• Getting category slugs for listing imports

Exporting categories

• Click the Export button on the categories page
• A CSV file downloads containing all categories
• The file includes: name, slug, description, and parent slug

Using export as an import template

The exported CSV serves as a perfect template for imports:

1. Export your current categories (even if empty)
2. Open the CSV in a spreadsheet application
3. Add, edit, or remove rows as needed
4. Save and import the modified file

Importing categories

• Click the Import button
• Select your CSV file
• Categories are created or updated based on slug matching

The import uses the slug column to match existing categories. If a slug exists, that category is updated. If not, a new category is created.

CSV format

Your import file should have these columns:

Getting category slugs for listing imports

When importing listings, you'll need to specify category slugs to assign listings to categories. Here's how to get them:

1. Go to the Categories page
2. Click Export to download your categories
3. Open the CSV - the slug column contains the values you need
4. Use these slugs in your listings import file

Updating your listings CSV

To add categories to your listings import file:

1. Add a categories column to your listings CSV
2. Enter category slugs, separated by commas for multiple categories
3. Use your spreadsheet's find/replace to quickly update multiple rows

Example: If you have listings that should be in "Dog Walking" (slug: dog-walking) and "Pet Sitting" (slug: pet-sitting), enter: dog-walking, pet-sitting

Assigning categories to listings

There are two ways to assign categories to your listings:

Manual assignment

Edit any listing and select categories from the category picker. You can assign multiple categories to a single listing.

Via import

Include a categories column in your listings import file. During the import configuration, map this column to categories. The import will match slugs to existing categories and ignore any invalid slugs.

Categories vs Tags

Both categories and tags help organize content, but they serve different purposes:

Tip: Use categories for your main navigation structure and tags for attributes that span multiple categories.