J3.x:Getting Started with Categories

Introduction

Every part of a Joomla! powered web site or any CMS type of web site needs a method to display and store its content logically. The usual method is by categories and subcategories. Joomla! allows for multiple ways to display and use content controlled by categorisation. Some of the content types which have categorisation are articles (Main content of web pages), banners, contacts and web links.

Working with Categories

The Category Manager is the entry point for the creation and administration of categories. It displays all categories in a table with sorting and filtering capabilities. Among other things, you can use it to create, edit, publish and batch process your categories. The category manager can be reached in the administrator back-end interface by clicking on the articles menu item, then the "Category Manager" menu item. Several core extensions (such as Contacts, Weblinks etc.) have their own category manager which can be accessed by clicking on the extension and then "Category Manager".

Category Manager

Category Structure

When creating and assigning categories, you should have a planned structure. As an example, this is one way of how you would categorise several Joomla articles on birds. Create two top article categories called "Animals" and "Plants". Under the "Animals" category, you might have subcategories called "Birds" and "Mammals". Under the "Birds" sub category, you might have 3 articles named "Hawks," "Parrots" and "Sparrows".

• Animals
  • Birds
    • Hawks
    • Parrots
    • Sparrows
  • Mammals

The example above could be expanded even more with specific articles on different species of Hawks, Parrots and Sparrows. Start with using an "Animal" top Category, placing the sub categories "Birds" and "Mammals" are under the "Animal" category, and then a "Hawks," "Parrots" and "Sparrows" sub category under the "Birds" Sub Category.

Now you can create multiple articles in the Hawk, Parrot and Sparrow sub categories using the different genus or common names of the specific types of these 3 birds.

Good To Know

• Joomla! comes with a category named "Uncategorised" as the default category for all content types. The "Uncategorised" category may be used for content types which do not fall under a specific category.
• A content item (e.g. an article, weblink etc.) can only belong to one category and each category can only have one parent category.

Displaying Categories on Your Website

Once your category structure is set up, there are several ways to display them in the frontend. Please note that Joomla will not create menu items for each category automatically. You can create menu items for your category display using the Menu Item Manager, which allows you to choose from different layouts and a variety of configuration options. You may further customize the look and feel of your category display by modifying the CSS file of the template you use.

Further Reading

• Understanding Categories and Articles
• How to add and edit categories
• How to display a list of categories in the frontend
• How to display a blog layout of articles in a specific category in the frontend