What are Joomla! categories?

Categories are the hierarchy used to organize articles in Joomla! A category can contain articles as well as sub-categories. For example, a category called Transport may include general articles about transport as well as individual sub-categories for Trains, Buses and Planes.

Each of those sub-categories could contain articles relating to that topic, alongside a lower level of categorization (for example, military planes and commercial aircraft).

It’s helpful to organize posts into categories to support list and blog layouts and to aid navigation around the site. A user may click on a category in a list and be shown all the articles relating to that category. Joomla! does the hard work to collate, organize and display those articles when the category link is clicked.

In the Joomla! back-end, select Content > Categories to view the list of categories created on your site. By default, articles are placed into a generic Uncategorized category.

Category list

Managing categories

You can manage your categories using the toolbar near the top of the page.

Toolbar

  • + New – create a new category.
  • Edit – change category settings.
  • Publish – display a category on the front-end.
  • Unpublish – hide a category from front-end display.
  • Archive – remove a category, but retain the category data.
  • Check In/Out – lock or unlock a category for editing.
  • Batch – make changes to multiple categories.
  • Rebuild – refresh the category structure.
  • Trash – delete a category.

Adding categories

Use the + New button to create a new category.

New category screen

Enter a Category Title (name) and use the editor to create a description, if required. The tabs above the editor allow you to configure various category options, publishing settings and permissions.

Parent menu

To the right, the Parent dropdown menu allows you to define how your category fits in your category structure – that is, as a category or a subcategory. You can change published status, access settings, language and more.

When you’re ready, click the Save button at the top of the screen to complete configuration.

Category menu

When you next create or edit an article, use the Category dropdown menu to check your new category is available.

For further questions, or if you need help, please open a support ticket from your HostPapa Dashboard. Follow this link to learn how.

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