Structure of Categories

Tags: Category

Author: JOhn ><>
Created: 14. June 2008

We will be spending our time here describing the Categories portion of this program. When you open SOBI 2 you will be presented with a menu on the left and a list of all of your categories on the right side of the screen. In this case, my site is built around a church locator so you will see many references to churches.

Menu | Categories
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Awaiting approval (0)
All Entries (124)
Add Entry
Add Category
Add Multiple Categories
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and a tree view of the categories
Categories
|_ All Churches
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CATEGORIES

Before you start with SOBI sit down with a pencil and paper or computer and org chart program or some means to determine what your category structure will look like.

Scenario #1:
Start with an "ALL" category that every listing will be a part of, then break down into sub categories as your situation requires to ease the navigation of your site. In this case we are publishing a list of Churches (of one faith) around the world. Sample Categories might be broken down by continental region:
All Churches
|_ African Churches
|_ Asian Churches
|_ American Churches
|_ Australian Churches
|_ European Churches
|_ South American Churches

You could break it down further, but the powerful search capabilities in SOBI really make this unnecessary.

Scenario #2:
For Business listings you might find a list of business types.
All Businesses
|_ Agriculture
|_ Science
|_ Service
|_ Technology
|_ more and more, you get it.

and even get more detailed with your categories, but the best bet is to keep it simple, you can create a dozen layers deep, that may confuse you viewers.

Scenario #3:
All Businesses
|_ Agriculture
|_ Implement Dealers
|_ Tractors
|_ John Deere
|_ 10 - 30 HP
|_ 31 - 60 HP
|_ Harvester
|_ Ford
|_ Combines
|_ Hay Wagons
|_ Implement Manufacturers
|_ Service
|_ more and more, you get it.

Scenario #4: Using the Top Level as the Primary Category
Catholic Churches
|_ African Churches
|_ Asian Churches
|_ American Churches
|_ Australian Churches
|_ European Churches
|_ South American Churches
Lutheran Churches
|_ African Churches
|_ Asian Churches
|_ American Churches
|_ Australian Churches
|_ European Churches
|_ South American Churches

I hope this is not getting too confusing, but the more complex you make your category structure the more confused your viewer might get. If you have a HUGE listing like Yahoo, you might need a complex structure, but until the need arises (use the KISS system) Keep It Simple Stupid.

Add Categories
Click the Add Categories menu item and you will see the Category entry screen
1.Type in a Category Name
2.Enter a short Description of the Category, it will be added to the meta description (what the search engines see) for the category.
3.In the editor portion of the screen enter all of the descriptive text, add pictures and information just like creating a content item in Joomla/Mambo

On the Right Hand side of the screen
1.Click Publish to show this category to your viewers
2.Optional – Select an image from your Joomla/Mambo images folder. To add an image to this folder see your Joomla/Mambo documentation. Position the image on the Left or Right hand side of the screen.
3.Then if required select an icon image.

To set up your category structure, click on the Parent Category level that you want this category to be in or under and see the category number appear in the box.

Click Save and repeat for additional categories.

Add Multiple Categories
To create your entire category structure at once. Follow the on-screen directions


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