# Non-ASCII in category name: doesn't prettify slug

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475
**Category:** Bug
**Created:** [August 20, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475 "2025-08-20T14:30:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![stephtara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/stephtara/32/517827_2.png) [@stephtara](https://meta.discourse.org/u/stephtara)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475/1 "2025-08-20T14:30:57Z")

</div>

![Screenshot 2025-08-20 at 16.28.01](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/9/4/d/94d1498bb8ee547a8f8dcbaf60cbdf03525b6ece.png)

I’m using Discourse in French. Trial Business. Accented characters are common in French, surprised to see that the category name is not “prettified” (ie, strip the accents) for the slug and generates an error? Assuming this is a bug and not a feature…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![nat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/nat/32/235063_2.png) [@nat](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nat)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475/2 "2025-08-20T16:20:30Z")

</div>

Hey there 👋🏻

You should be able to set your category name with accented characters.

 ![Screenshot 2025-08-21 at 12.19.45 AM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/a/9/b/a9b1510423c96d9b3414d8d6ed95b355d4f943de.png)

The category slug is something specific to the URL, so for example [http://meta.discourse.org/c/bac-a-sable](http://meta.discourse.org/c/bac-a-sable). I would recommend to just leave out the slug as it’s optional and will be generated based on the name. 👌🏻

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![stephtara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/stephtara/32/517827_2.png) [@stephtara](https://meta.discourse.org/u/stephtara)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475/3 "2025-08-20T20:49:49Z")

</div>

That was my assumption and exactly what I did — and got the error :-/

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![gerhard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/gerhard/32/119479_2.png) [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2025, 10:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475/4 "2025-08-20T22:05:48Z")

</div>

Your screenshot shows that you entered non-ASCII characters as a slug.

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/7/4/2/742c74a4c98647bd58f9338737a2d37795b0ee0a.png)

If you leave that empty, everything should work as expected.

Is “Identifiant de la catégorie” a confusing translation for “slug”? If so, we should change that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![stephtara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/stephtara/32/517827_2.png) [@stephtara](https://meta.discourse.org/u/stephtara)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475/5 "2025-08-20T22:27:52Z")

</div>

Heavens 🫣

My poor brain 🧠 🤕 clearly encountered a bug… very sorry for the bother!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![gerhard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/gerhard/32/119479_2.png) [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2025, 10:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475/6 "2025-08-20T22:31:33Z")

</div>

No worries. Happens to all of us. 😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![gerhard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/gerhard/32/119479_2.png) [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2025, 10:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/non-ascii-in-category-name-doesnt-prettify-slug/379475/7 "2025-08-20T22:31:48Z")

</div>