{"id":6345,"date":"2021-01-28T06:07:56","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T06:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colibriwp.com\/blog\/?p=6345"},"modified":"2022-01-28T12:29:45","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T12:29:45","slug":"wordpress-categories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colibriwp.com\/blog\/wordpress-categories\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Deal with WordPress Categories Like a Ninja"},"content":{"rendered":"

What are WordPress categories?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, imagine going to a bookstore to buy a book for a friend\u2019s birthday. Thousands of books are there. You\u2019ve got \u201cHistory\u201d, \u201cBiology\u201d, \u201cLiterature\u201d, \u201cPsychology\u201d, and many more. You\u2019re deciding to go for literature. What kind of literature? Is it \u201cadventure\u201d, \u201cthriller\u201d, \u201cthe classics\u201d, \u201cscience fiction\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go with \u201cadventure\u201d. Ok, we narrowed it down a bit. Next, there are more choices: fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, etc. It seems we\u2019re getting somewhere\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Using classifications helps a lot, they bring order to chaos, don\u2019t you think? What would have happened if there were no specific book sections in the bookstore? Probably a really bad user experience, and a bookseller in a state of burnout.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is how blogs should also be organized so that the reader doesn\u2019t get lost scrolling for a particular topic.<\/span><\/p>\n

The main section (eg: \u201cHistory\u201d, \u201cBiology\u201d) are called categories. They can have sub-categories (\u201cthriller\u201d, \u201cscience fiction\u201d), or tags (\u201cfantasy\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll go into the details below, so follow me!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

WordPress categories vs WordPress tags<\/span><\/h2>\n

Categories<\/a> are meant to classify in a broader way a series of blog posts. Categories can have their own sub-categories. If you feel that inside the main category, there are some important subsections, you can definitely define sub-categories.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Categories<\/p>\n

Tags have the same classifying role, only that they get a bit more specific. Consider them as micro-categories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On our blog, you can see the categories in the right sidebar.<\/span><\/p>\n

This article has the tags: \u201cbuild WordPress website\u201d, \u201cWordPress web design\u201d. \u201cWordPress 2021\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"WordPress<\/p>\n

If you assign a category to a blog article, WordPress will assign the default category \u201cUncategorized\u201d. Our advice is to rename it as \u201cOther\u201d, or \u201cMiscellaneous\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to create WordPress categories<\/span><\/h2>\n

Before actually creating the categories, you should figure out the structure and their hierarchy. Maybe this is the hardest thing to do, prioritizing what should go as a category, as a sub-category, or as a tag.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The technical aspect of it is easy peasy.\u00a0<\/span>You can define categories in 2 ways:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Create a WordPress category at the blog post level<\/span><\/h3>\n

Go to Posts->Add New. Select \u201cAdd new category\u201d from the panel on the right.\"Add<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to create a sub-category, you\u2019ll have to assign a \u201cparent category\u201d, and choose an already existing category.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can create more categories, and assign only the one relevant for the current blog article.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right beneath the categories, you\u2019ll see the option for tag creation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s it! Mission accomplished.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Create a WordPress category in the WordPress dashboard<\/span><\/h3>\n

Head over to Posts->Categories.\"Create<\/span><\/p>\n

When you will define a category, you\u2019ll provide the following information:<\/span><\/p>\n

Name<\/b>: the name of the category. It will show up on your site.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Slug<\/b>: the URL-friendly version of the category. This is generated automatically based on the name of the category, but you can change it if you want.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say your category is \u201chealthy eating\u201d, your slug can be healthy-eating. You do not need to include the whole website link, WordPress knows how to build it, like below:\"Category<\/span><\/p>\n

Parent category:<\/b> if you want to create a sub-category.<\/span><\/p>\n

Description<\/b> (optional): a description of what the reader will find in that particular blog category.<\/span><\/p>\n

The moment you hit \u201cAdd new category\u201d, you\u2019ll see the category to the right.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to manage WordPress categories<\/span><\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve just mentioned that there\u2019s a panel to the right, under Posts->Categories.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"edit<\/p>\n

In here you can:<\/span><\/p>\n