Space categories are the groups of spaces in your community's sidebar, such as "Start here", "Discussions", or "Members only". Some people call them sidebar sections, groups, or folders. Every space belongs to one category, and the category decides where the space is listed.
Who can do this: Community owners and admins. Moderators and space admins can't change categories. · Where: Web (the community sidebar and the admin console). Members see categories on the web and in the iOS and Android apps. · Plan: Available on every platform plan.
How space categories work
- The order of categories, and of spaces inside each category, is the same for everyone. When you reorder or move something, every member sees the change.
- A category with Display in sidebar turned off (Show in Sidebar in the admin console) is hidden from the sidebar, and so are its spaces.
- A category that has no spaces isn't shown in the sidebar.
- Members can't reorder categories, but they can collapse them and add spaces to their favorites.
Create a space category
From the sidebar:
- Hover over any category's name and click the ⋮ (Category actions) menu.
- Click Create space category.
- Enter a Name and choose whether to Display in sidebar.
- Click Create Category.
From the admin console: go to Admin → Community → Categories (the Space Categories page), click Create Category, enter a Category Name, set Show in Sidebar, and click Create Category.
Category names can be up to 50 characters. You can also create a category while creating a space or editing its details, with Add space category. A new category shows up in the sidebar once it has a space.
Rename a space category or hide it from the sidebar
- In the sidebar: open the category's ⋮ menu, click Edit space category, change the Name or Display in sidebar, and click Save Changes.
- In the admin console: in Admin → Community → Categories, click the category (or open its ⋯ menu and click Edit), make your changes, and click Save Changes.
On the Space Categories page, each category shows an In Sidebar or Hidden badge and its number of spaces. Click the space count to see those spaces in Admin → Community → Spaces.
Reorder categories and spaces
- In the sidebar: hover over a category or space and drag its grip handle (Drag to reorder) up or down. Spaces can only be reordered within their own category. If saving fails, you see "Couldn't save the new order" and the old order comes back.
- In the admin console: drag categories on the Space Categories page. Clear any search or filter first; dragging is turned off while filters are active.
- Spaces in the admin console: in Admin → Community → Spaces, switch to the Grouped view and drag spaces within a category. This works only with the default sort.
Move a space to another category
You can't drag a space from one category into another. Move it instead:
- In the sidebar, open the space's ⋯ menu and click Move to category….
- In Move space, choose the Category and click Move.
The space moves for everyone and appears at the bottom of its new category. If you pick a category that's hidden from the sidebar, a warning tells you the space will disappear from the sidebar.
Other ways to move spaces:
- One space: in the space's Manage panel, open Basics & branding, change Category, and click Save Changes.
- Several spaces: in Admin → Community → Spaces, select them, click More, then Move to category, pick a category, and click Move. Every space belongs to a category.
Delete a space category
- Go to Admin → Community → Categories.
- Open the category's ⋯ menu and click Delete.
- If the category still has spaces, choose the category they move to under Move spaces to.
- Click Delete.
Deleting a category this way doesn't delete its spaces or their content.
The Edit space category dialog in the sidebar also has a Delete button, but it doesn't let you choose where the spaces go, so it only deletes a category that has no spaces. If the category still has spaces, deleting it there is refused and nothing is lost. Move the spaces to another category first, or delete the category from the admin console.
What members see in the sidebar
- Categories appear in your order, each with the spaces the member can see. Secret spaces stay hidden from people who aren't members, so a category can look shorter to them.
- Members can collapse a category. The choice is remembered in their browser, and a collapsed category still shows the space they're in and spaces with unread activity.
- A Favorites section at the top lists spaces the member added to favorites, even if their category is hidden.
- Archived spaces don't appear. See Archive, restore, or delete a space.
- People who aren't signed in don't see the list of spaces.
- In the iOS and Android apps, the Spaces tab groups spaces into the same categories.
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