Discussions categories

**Categories** are a tool that can be used to identify topics and structure conversations for your community's Discussions users.

## How to set up categories

If you are a local administrator, you can set up categories and edit them. The list of categories can be found on the left of the Discussions screen. They can be renamed, added or deleted by clicking the "edit" button. The maximum number of categories is 10.

In case a Discussions category needs to be deleted, all of the posts in that category will have to be transferred to another category, as there cannot be any uncategorized posts and deleting a category doesn't mean that posts are deleted as well. It can be chosen where those posts will go.

Adding a category in Discussions
## How to use categories effectively

Categories should be as clear as possible. Their names should have an obvious meaning and there should be no need to explain them anywhere on the wiki. If there is a lot of confusion over which category is for what, consider changing their names. Avoid using a large number of categories. A category should cover a broad topic. Names like "wiki issues", "fanart", "TES VI" are short and clear:

* "Wiki issues" can be about wiki news, asking for help with editing, bugs, asking the community about something,
* "Fanart" is not that broad, but lets users filter the posts with fanart easily if needed,
* "TES VI" provides space for discussing a new, upcoming game. You know there's going to be a ton of posts about it, so it might need a separate category until the launch. It still covers a broad topic, too.

Good categories:

* allow your users to clearly see which category covers the topic they are looking for,
* don't require much thinking on which category should a post be added to.

## Potential mistakes with categories

### "Other" category

Do not create an "other" category. That would create an unnecessary, "trash" category that would be scarcely used. It is not sure what should be posted there and not in "general". Use the "general" category instead or make an "off-topic" one. "General" covers all topics that would not fit in other categories, while "off-topic" is usually for things completely not related to the wiki's topic or Fandom.

### Too many detailed categories

It's easy to create a number of small, detailed categories that cover each game of the series or every season of a TV show. Unless these would be really used and necessary in your community, avoid this approach. A number of detailed categories does look like a tool for having well-organized Discussions, but in practice it's harder to use and usually not necessary.

### Not enough categories

If there are a lot of posts on a single, popular topic that is attractive to users and doesn't really need to be in existing categories or floods existing categories with semi-related posts, consider creating a new category for these posts. For example, if the community already has categories for each game of the series, but users are crafty and post a lot of fanart, so the fanart ends up in all categories or in the "general" category, it might be a good idea to create a "fanart" category so that everyone can find all the fanart in one place.