Categories

There are two basic ways you can choose to organize blog posts.  These are (1) by using categories and/or (2) using tags.  Some people use one, some the other, and some use both.  For now I will discuss categories and later I’ll discuss tags.  I’ll discuss some of the differences between the two and provide some examples of how each is used.  When you get to the stage where you are posting this will make a lot more sense.  At some point down the line I will be offering some training classes for those of you who want to post.  We still need to work out who will be allowed to post and who even wants to.  Regardless, I think this topic should still prove helpful.    

Our blog’s layout is designed using categories which determine how our “post content” is presented.  That is, the two basic types of content we have on the blog are “post content” (blog posts) and “page content”.  Page content is all the static information that doesn’t change much (ie., genealogy page, literacy page, outreach, etc…).   When you create a post you’ll need to assign it to a category.  At the same time, you will also have the opportunity to assign your post a tag, or you can give it several tags.  In fact, you can go crazy with tagging since you are allowed to give each post up to 75 tags!  

So what are categories and tags?  A lot of people confuse the two.  Let’s delve into this topic by discussing categories.

What are categories?

At some point in school do you remember learning about the animal kingdom?  This is a taxomnomy created by zoologists to group together ”like life forms”.  The taxonomy organizes all life so that organisms conveniently fall into different categories.  The fact that this is a “predefined system” helps since anytime you encounter a four legged creature with hoofs and a mane you could fit the animal into the proper classification:  – “Animals -> Vertebrates -> Mammals -> Horses”.    Each of the terms is a category and they fall into a strict structure.

In order to provide a structure for our post content, and make it easier for our visitors to “discover content” (navigate) our site we can categorize our posts.  Categories house all of our sites information (post content).  They give you information about the post, and they group together similar posts about a topic.  Just like the zoologist’s taxonomy does.  They are also “predefined”.  You write a post and it falls into a category, just like the horse falls into it’s taxonomy.   Categories determine how information is presented on the blog.    

But what do you mean by how information is presented?

Right now our blog has 19 categories.  There are 7 major ones we use.  When you visit the main page you are presented with: adult programs, children’s programs, genealogy, literacy, reader’s corner.  The other 2 major categories are: headline and featured.

If you look at the post Authors of Mystery and Horror you will notice it is located at the top of the page under the category Headline.

Why?  That is because the post was assigned to this category (by me).  The post National Day of the Cowboy is located in the Featured section of the page because is was assigned to the category featured.

You are allowed to assign multiple categories to a post.  So, for example both posts were also assigned the category children’s programs.  If you click the childrens programs link in the “Browse Categories bar” you’ll see these two posts will be listed together along with all the other posts assigned to this category.  Did you follow that?   On the main page they are located in two separate places (1) headline and (2) featured.   But, in another part of the site “children’s programs” they are grouped together.

This is an important concept.  Posts can “live” in multiple places on the site.  Assigning them a category of headline will cause the post to appear on the front page in the Headline section where it will live until a newer article is published.   After that, it will only be located with the other childrens programs articles. 

What you just learned

• Pages are not assigned categories.
• Pages are static.
• Posts are assigned categories.
• Categories determine the presentation of content on the blog.
• Categories are predefined.
• Posts can have multiple categories.
• Some areas of the webpage are assigned to certain categories
• Where the post shows up on the page depends upon the category you assign the post

Next I’ll talk about tags, the difference between the two and put all of this together.  Thanks for reading!