How to Add And Manage Categories In WordPress?

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In WordPress, adding and managing categories is a fundamental aspect of organizing and categorizing your website's content. Categories help in structuring your content in a logical manner, making it easier for users to navigate and find relevant information. To add and manage categories in WordPress, you can follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
  2. Go to the "Posts" section in the left-hand sidebar.
  3. Click on "Categories" within the "Posts" section.
  4. A new page will open, displaying existing categories (if any) and the option to add a new category.
  5. To add a new category, enter the desired name for the category in the "Name" field.
  6. Optionally, you can add a "Slug" that defines the URL-friendly version of the category name.
  7. If you want the new category to be a subcategory of an existing one, select the appropriate parent category from the "Parent" drop-down menu.
  8. Write a description for the category in the "Description" field (optional).
  9. Click the "Add New Category" button to save your changes.


To manage existing categories:

  1. On the "Categories" page, you will see a list of all existing categories.
  2. Hover over a specific category, and several options will appear below it.
  3. "Edit" allows you to modify the name, slug, parent category, and description of a category.
  4. "Quick Edit" allows you to quickly modify the name and slug of a category without entering the detailed editing screen.
  5. "Delete" removes the category, but you have the option to reassign its posts to another category if desired.
  6. You can also arrange categories by dragging and dropping them into the desired order.
  7. Additionally, you can search for categories using the search box located above the categories list.
  8. After making any changes, remember to click the "Update" button to save your modifications.


By effectively utilizing categories, you can create a well-organized and user-friendly WordPress website that allows visitors to easily navigate and explore your content.

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How to display categories on your WordPress website?

To display categories on your WordPress website, you can follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
  3. Find the "Categories" widget and drag it to the desired widget area (such as a sidebar or footer) on the right-hand side.
  4. Customize the widget settings by clicking on the widget title or the dropdown arrow.
  5. Set the title that you want to display for the categories widget.
  6. Choose the number of categories you want to display.
  7. Select the order in which you want the categories to be displayed (alphabetical, by ID, or by the number of posts).
  8. Choose whether to display category counts (the number of posts in each category).
  9. Save the widget settings.
  10. Visit your website to see the categories displayed in the chosen widget area.


Alternatively, if you want to display categories in a specific location within your website's content, you can use WordPress category shortcodes or PHP code. These methods require some coding knowledge and are more advanced.


How to assign a post to multiple categories in WordPress?

To assign a post to multiple categories in WordPress, you can follow these steps:

  1. Start by creating the categories you want to assign to your post. Go to the WordPress dashboard and navigate to Posts > Categories. Add all the desired categories you want to assign to your post.
  2. Once you have created the categories, go to Posts > Add New to create a new post or edit an existing post.
  3. In the right-hand column of the post editor, you will find the "Categories" box. Click on the category you want to assign to the post. Hold down the Ctrl (Command on Mac) key and click on each additional category you want to assign.
  4. The selected categories will now be highlighted in blue. You can click on the category names again to remove them from the selection.
  5. If you cannot find the "Categories" box on the post editor screen, you might need to enable it. Look at the top-right corner of the post editor and click on the "Screen Options" tab. In the dropdown, make sure the "Categories" checkbox is checked.
  6. Once you have selected the categories, you can click on the "Publish" or "Update" button to save your changes and assign the post to the selected categories.


By following these steps, you can assign a post to multiple categories in WordPress.


What is the purpose of category image thumbnails in WordPress?

The purpose of category image thumbnails in WordPress is to visually represent and provide a visual identity or preview for each category on a website. These thumbnails often serve as the representative image that appears alongside the category title or name. They help users quickly identify and differentiate between different categories, making it easier to navigate and browse through content on a WordPress website. Additionally, category image thumbnails can enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of a website and create a more engaging user experience.

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What is the purpose of category slugs in WordPress?

Category slugs in WordPress are text strings that are used to create user-friendly and search engine optimized URLs for category archive pages. They are a part of Permalinks (permanent links) structure and appear in the URL after the domain name.


The purpose of category slugs is to improve the readability and understandability of the category URLs for both website visitors and search engines. By including relevant keywords in the slugs, it helps in SEO by giving a clear indication of the content of the category archive page.


For example, for a category named "Technology News," the default category slug might be "technology-news." So, instead of a generic URL like "example.com/category/123," using category slugs would result in a more descriptive, user-friendly URL such as "example.com/category/technology-news."


Overall, category slugs play an important role in improving the usability and search engine optimization of WordPress websites by creating meaningful and easy-to-understand category URLs.


What happens to posts if you delete a category in WordPress?

If you delete a category in WordPress, the posts associated with that category will not be automatically deleted. WordPress will simply remove the category from those posts and assign them to the default category or the category that you choose as a replacement.


How to nest categories within each other in WordPress?

To nest categories within each other in WordPress, you can follow these steps:

  1. Login to your WordPress admin panel.
  2. Go to the "Posts" or "Products" section (depending on whether you want to create nested categories for blog posts or products).
  3. Click on "Categories" to open the category management page.
  4. On the category management page, find the category you want to nest under another category.
  5. Drag and drop the category you want to nest onto the category under which you want to nest it. The nested category will appear with an indent.
  6. Click on the "Update" button to save the changes.


By nesting categories in WordPress, you can create a hierarchical structure to organize your content into multiple levels. This can be helpful for better organization and navigation on your website.


How to enable and use category RSS feeds in WordPress?

To enable and use category RSS feeds in WordPress, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your WordPress admin panel.
  2. Go to "Settings" and click on "Writing."
  3. Scroll down to the "Syndication feeds" section.
  4. Check the box that says "For each article in a feed, show" and choose "Summary" or "Full Text" depending on your preference.
  5. Click on "Save Changes" to save the settings.


Now, to use category RSS feeds, follow these steps:

  1. Go to your website and navigate to the desired category page.
  2. Look at the URL of the category page. It will have a structure like: "https://example.com/category/category-name/"
  3. Replace the last part of the URL with "feed" so that it becomes: "https://example.com/category/category-name/feed/"
  4. This new URL is the RSS feed for that specific category.
  5. You can use this feed URL to subscribe to the category in your RSS reader or share it with others.


Repeat these steps for each category you want to enable RSS feeds for. Now, whenever you publish a new post in a specific category, it will automatically appear in the RSS feed for that category.

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