When you create categories and assign content (articles, links, contacts) to categories, you should ideally have a pre-planned structure in mind.
Think how you might set up folders in a filing cabinet; first you create empty folders and label them in a practical way and then over time you create items and put them in the most appropriate folder. This way, you can organise your items in a more sensible way so you can access them more efficiently.
Article categories
A common approach that we take is to pull together articles which belong to the same menu drop-down area. For example, a website might have an "About Us" menu item, and underneath it may be a series of dropdown choices for different web pages.When these web pages are created, we can assign them to a category called "About Us".We can then tell the web page to display a list of those pages in the sidebar, so that when you're viewing any of the About Us pages, you have quick access to any of the other About Us pages—without having to go back to the top of the website and click on the About Us menu option to see the drop downs.
This is exactly how the page you're looking at right now works. The choices in the sidebar are articles assigned to the same category. In this case, the category is called "Section 4 Categories". In the sidebar we have configured the website to display articles that are assigned to that category and show them in alphabetically ascending order.
How to Create New Article Categories
Creating new categories in Joomla 5 is a simple way to organize your website's articles. Remember, think of categories as organizing folders for your content!
1. Access Your Administrator Control Panel
2. Locate the Category Management Area
From the Control Panel, you need to navigate to the correct section:
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Find the main menu on the left side of the screen.
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Select Content.
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From the submenu that appears, select Categories.
This page lists all the categories currently set up on your site.
3. Create a New Category
To begin creating a new category:
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Look near the top of the category manager screen for the option New (a button). Select this option to open the Articles: New Category form.
4. Define Your Category Details
The form will help set up your new category. Pay close attention to these key fields:
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Title: This is the primary and only mandatory name that visitors will see (e.g., "About Us," "News Items," or "year 6 Blog"). Choose a name that clearly describes the content.
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Alias: This is used to create the category's web address (URL). It's best to leave this field empty; Joomla will automatically generate a clean, search-engine-friendly alias based on the title you provide.
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Parent: Use this setting to establish your category's hierarchy.
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If you want a main category (a top-level folder), select the "No Parent" option.
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If you want a subcategory (a folder inside another folder, like "Year 6" within "Blogs"), select the existing main category you want it to belong to.
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5. Finalise and Save
Once your title is set and the parent category is chosen:
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Look for the options at the top of the page.
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Select the Save & Close option.
Your new category is now active and ready to be used! You can now start writing articles and assigning them to this new, organized section.