Before creating and adding categories and tags, it’s important to know:

• Why you should use them.
• When you should use them.
• Which one you should use.
• Where you should use them.
• How you should use them.

Comparison

Categories and tags are both used to group similar post content, but there are several differences between the two.

Table 1: Categories vs tags.

Categories and tags have different uses, so before creating any, decide how and why you want to use them.

Usage

Use categories

You can use categories to:

• Group the site’s main topics.
• Create a hierarchy of topics.
• Improve navigation.
• Improve SEO.

Use tags

You can use tags to:

• Group posts with the same specific topics.
• Have posts appear in several sections of a site.
• Improve navigation.

Example category and tag usage

Here are two examples of how we use categories and tags on our site:

For Feature preview posts, select the following:

• Category: Features
• Tag: Feature preview

For Release notes posts, select the following:

• Category: Releases (formerly Release note)
• Tag: Release note

Categories

Categories are hierarchical and used for grouping the site’s main topics.

Name categories

Example:

• Category name: Lines
• Slug: lines

Categorize posts

In WordPress, you can add categories in two places:

• WordPress posts
• Categories screen

Add categories to a post in WordPress

To add categories to a post in WordPress:

1. On the WordPress dashboard, in the left sidebar, select Categories.
2. On the Categories screen, navigate to and hover over the title of the post you want to add a tag to, and then select Edit.
   

   Note: You can add categories in both the Block Editor and Classic Editor.

3. In the right sidebar, in the Categories box, select Add New Tag box, and then complete one of the following steps:
   1. To add an existing tag, in the All Categories list, navigate to and select the category you want to add.
   2. To create and add a new tag, type the name of the tag you want to add, and then select Add New Category.
      

      Note: If the category you want to add is going to be a sub-category, in the Parent Category dropdown list, select the parent category.

4. Select either Save as Authoring, Save as Pending Review, Publish, or Update.

Add categories on the Categories screen

To categories tags on the Categories screen:

1. On the WordPress dashboard, in the left sidebar, hover over Posts, and then select Categories.
2. On the Categories screen, complete the following steps:
   1. In the Name box, type the name of the category.
      

      Note: The slug is the URL-friendly version of the category name. It’s usually all lowercase and contains only letters, numbers, and hyphens.

   2. In the Slug box, type the name of the slug.
      

      Note: If the category you want to add is going to be a sub-category, in the Parent Category dropdown list, select the parent category.

   3. Skip the Description box.
      

      Note: At this time, we do not have a reason to add descriptions to categories.

   4. Select Add New Category.

Edit categories

Once you create a category, you can always go back and edit it.

To edit categories:

1. On the WordPress dashboard, in the left sidebar, hover over Posts, and then select Categories.
2. On the Categories screen, in the tags list, navigate to and hover over the name of the category you want to edit, and then select Edit.
3. On the Edit Categories screen, complete one or both of the following steps:
   1. In the Name box, edit or retype the name of the category.
   2. In the Slug box, edit or retype the name of the slug.
4. At the bottom of the screen, select Update.

Tags

Tags are standalone entities used for grouping specific post content.

Name tags

In WordPress, tags group related content together.

When creating tags, use the following naming convention:

[Module name – Heading name]

Example: Lines – Configuration

For modules with additional layers of complexity, you have a couple of options:

• Add an extra name in the tag
• Use the identifier instead of the module name (as long as it’s unique to that module/product)

Example:

If you’re creating tags for content in this location:

• BriteApps > Policyholder portal > [Heading name]

Use one of the following naming formats:

• BriteApps – Policyholder portal – [Heading name]
• Policyholder portal – [Heading name]

The heading name is based on the headings for each section of documentation on either a Gen 2 or Gen 3 screen for a particular module (see example below).

Tag posts

Once you’ve created tags, you need to tag each post with the tag you created based on the section where the link is published on the site (see example below).

 

Based on our workflow, there are three places to add tags to your content:

• Google docs
• WordPress posts
• Tags screen

Note: You can create tags in all three locations but only tag content while using the WordPress.com for Google Docs add-on or editing a post in WordPress.

Add tags in Google Docs

In Google docs, you can use the WordPress.com for Google Docs add-on to add tags to post before importing it into WordPress.

To add tags in Google Docs:

1. In Google Docs, open the document you want to add a tag to before you upload it to WordPress.
2. Open the WordPress.com for Google Docs add-on.

 

3. In the WordPress.com for Google Docs add-on, in the Tags box, type the name of the tag you want to add.
   

   Note: Be sure you enter the exact name of the tag you created or want to create. If the tag names don’t match, the tag won’t work.
   

4. To upload your content to WordPress with the tag, select Save.

Add tags to a post in WordPress

To add tags to a post in WordPress:

1. On the WordPress dashboard, in the left sidebar, select Posts.
2. On the Posts screen, navigate to and hover over the title of the post you want to add a tag to, and then select Edit.
   

   Note: You can add tags in both the Block Editor and Classic Editor.

3. In the right sidebar, in the Add New Tag box, complete one of the following steps:
   1. To add an existing tag, start typing the name of the tag you want to add, and then select it from the dropdown list that appears.
   2. To create and add a new tag, type the name of the tag you want to add, and then, when you’re ready, select either Save as Draft, Publish, or Update.

 

Add tags on the Tags screen

To add tags on the Tags screen:

1. On the WordPress dashboard, in the left sidebar, hover over Posts, and then select Tags.
2. On the Tags screen, complete the following steps:
   1. In the Name box, type the name of the tag.
      

      Note: The slug is the URL-friendly version of the tag name. It’s usually all lowercase and contains only letters, numbers, and hyphens.

   2. In the Slug box, type the name of the slug.
      

      Example: Tag name: Lines – Line items. Slug: lines-line-items.

   3. Skip the Description box.
      

      Note: At this time, we do not have a reason to add descriptions to tags.

   4. Select Add New Tag.

Edit tags

Once you create a tag, you can always go back and edit it.

To edit tags:

1. On the WordPress dashboard, in the left sidebar, hover over Posts, and then select Tags.
2. On the Tags screen, in the tags list, navigate to and hover over the name of the tag you want to edit, and then select Edit.
3. On the Edit Tag screen, complete one or both of the following steps:
   1. In the Name box, edit or retype the name of the tag.
   2. In the Slug box, edit or retype the name of the slug.
4. At the bottom of the screen, select Update.