# Streamlining forum organization with third level sub-categories

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/streamlining-forum-organization-with-third-level-sub-categories/344326>\
**Category:** Community Building\
**Created:** [December 25, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/streamlining-forum-organization-with-third-level-sub-categories/344326 "2024-12-25T18:50:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![gassim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/gassim/32/220910_2.png) [@gassim](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gassim)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/streamlining-forum-organization-with-third-level-sub-categories/344326/1 "2024-12-25T18:50:09Z")

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Hi!

I’m pretty sure it’s not possible to create a sub-category for a sub-category (please correct me if I’m wrong), but I thought about creating this topic post to double check as well as get an idea if other people have needed this as well.

It might not seem like a good idea to have a third level sub-category because of the number of levels members will need to navigate to get there; however, at the same time, it might not be a good idea to have many sub-categories in one parent category especially if you’d like to keep the parent category “usable”.

For example, say we have the following:

- → Development
  - → App Development
  - → Android app development

But say we thought about adding third sub-level categories:  
For example, say we have the following:

| Category | Sub Category | Third Level Category | use |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Development | | | Contains main Dev. topics such as general software feature discussions as well as roadmaps…etc and announcements that include all subcategories |
| | App Development | | Contains topics are specifically to web app development |
| | | Using the API | Contains guides and topics specifically to the API |
| | | Community Apps | a category dedicated for members building apps (requires approval , one topic thread per app) |
| | | Core Apps | a category dedicated for the core web apps |
| | Android app development | | Contains topics that are specifically for android |
| | | Main Android app | Contains topics that are specifically for the main (official) android app |
| | | Android SDK | Contains topics specifically for the android SDK |

Well, a good argument would be to use tags within the sub-category, which is fine, but let’s try another use case which is needed specifically because categories offer features that tags don’t (more than just navigation):

- → Connect
  - → 2024-Event
  - → 2023-Event
  - → 2022-Event
  - → [Language] Community
  - → [Language] Community
  - → …[Language] Community\*3
  - → Marketplace
  - → Forum Feedback

Instead I could organize it as:

- → Connect
  - → Events
    - → 2024-Event
    - → 2023-Event
    - → 2022-Event

  - → Communities [Language, Language, Language…]
    - → [Language] Community
    - → …[Language] Community\*3

  - → Marketplace
  - → Forum Feedback

* * *

##### But why use categories instead of tags for a level-three category?

1. Access: For example, if I want to restrict access to the topics based on those who have RSVPed for the event (the 20xx-Events)
2. Visibility: categories do have more visibility such as adding description, image, and choosing layout
3. Settings: there are a bunch of settings that can be used with categories but not with tags
4. Less clutter: to have a level-three sub category will help keep main sub-categories visible.

These are some idea, but I’d love to hear from you. What do you think of level three sub-categories? Do you have other use-cases that this might be helpful? Or do you think that even if this was “technically” possible, it might not be a good idea for a forum (from a UX perspective)?

Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts and experience. 🙏

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/streamlining-forum-organization-with-third-level-sub-categories/344326)._