Create a category in Discourse

[osioke (Osioke Itseuwa)]

In this short how-to guide, you will learn how to create a category in Discourse. Categories are meant to hold a collection of topics that have similar subject matter. They include an abundance of configuration options you won’t find with the lighter-weight tagging feature.

By default, category creation is limited to admin users. Moderators can be given the ability to create categories by enabling the moderators manage categories and groups site setting.

There are 2 ways to start the category creation process:

1. Select the Categories navigation link above your home page/Latest topic list:

   

2. Navigate to /categories aka your-site.com/categories directly

On the Categories page, select the button near the upper-right of the page then select the New Category option to start:

This should open the category creation page where you can create and configure your new category:

Only the Category Name is mandatory for creating a category. All other category settings are optional. After entering the category name, click the New Category button to create the category.

Upon creating the category, you will find a new option that enables you to create the category description.

Click Edit Description and modify the default title and text:

The following two guides are particularly relevant when getting started with categories:

1. How to create private categories using category security settings - control which user groups have the ability to see, create, and reply to topics in the category.

2. How to reorder / adjust category listings and set fixed category positions - understand how to arrange your categories on the main Categories page (especially useful when the Categories page is set as your home page)

Creating a subcategory:

Creating a subcategory is similar to creating a category, just with an extra step. These steps will start from the Categories page using any of the methods listed above.

1. On the Categories page, select the icon and choose New Category.
2. Enter the name for your subcategory.
3. Under Parent Category select the category you’d like your subcategory to be nested under.
4. Edit the category settings like the badge color, which groups can see/reply/or create posts, logo, etc.
5. Save the changes

Any group that is allowed to access a subcategory must also be allowed to access the parent category

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Last Reviewed by @Dax on 2023-08-08T22:00:00Z