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Category Tree (Basic Guide)
Your category tree is the foundation of your content structure in Bamboo Cloud.
It determines how videos are organized, how your viewers navigate your website and apps, and what displays on your homepage.
This guide will help you create a clean and simple category tree that works smoothly with your Bamboo site and mobile apps.
- What Is a Category Tree and Why It’s Important
- Creating and Organizing Your Categories
- Adding Subcategories (Optional)
- Assigning Videos to Categories
- Need Something More Advanced?
- Tutorial Videos
What Is a Category Tree and Why It's Important
Your category tree is the list of sections that make up your content. Each category represents a group — for example:
- Movies
- Tutorials
- Kids
- Workouts
- Classes
- Sermons
Categories help your viewers find the content they want quickly and easily.
Bamboo displays your content based on the categories you create.
The order you place them in and the way you structure them affects:
- Your homepage layout
- Your navigation menu
- What users see in your apps
- How your series, courses, or topics are grouped
A simple, clear setup always works best.
Video Visibility: Important Rule
A video must belong to at least one category to appear anywhere on your site or apps.
- If a video has no category:
- Public → appears only in search results
- It won’t appear on the homepage, inside any category, or in your mobile apps
Bamboo Pro Tip:
Assigning a category is how you place your video into your content structure. Without it, your content may not be discoverable.
Creating and Organizing Your Categories
Creating a category
Follow these simple steps:
Step 1- Go to the Media page
Step 2 - Press the small green arrow at the top left side
Step 3 - To add a new category, press the + button, or if it's your first category, press the "+Add your first category" button.
Step 4- Name your category and hit "V" to say.
Your new category is now a part of your category tree.
Organizing Your Categories
You can easily reorder categories by dragging and dropping them.
You can drag and drop categories up and down and inside and outside other categories.
The order you set here becomes the order shown:
- On your homepage (if you choose “All Categories”)
- In your website navigation
- In your apps
Bamboo Pro Tip: Place your most important content categories at the top of the list.
To move a category to inside/outside another category, you can also use the "Move category" button.
The small 4-arrow icon is found on the category when hovering above it.
Editing Your Categories
- Click the edit (pencil) icon to modify a category.
- Name is required — every category must have a unique name.
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For other changes, you can adjust Label, Thumbnail, Poster Image, Cover Image, Privacy, Package, View Type, and Order By (all optional).
Bamboo Pro Tips:
If you want to learn more about the additional settings in a category, see our Edit Category Tutorial
Plan your category tree ahead of time for easier homepage setup.
Deleting Categories
-
To delete a category, click the “Trash” button.
Deleting a category deletes only the category itself and it's sub-categories (if it has any),
it doesn’t delete the content associated with it.
Adding Subcategories (Optional)
Subcategories let you group content into smaller sections.
Use them when it genuinely helps your users navigate.
Examples:
- Movies → Comedy, Action, Kids
- Workouts → Yoga, Strength, HIIT
- Courses → Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
To create a subcategory, simply press the + icon that appears when hovering over the relevant category that you want to create sub-categories for.
When Not to Use Subcategories
If your content is small or simple, subcategories may add more complexity than benefit.
Stick to a single layer unless you have a clear reason.
Assigning Videos to Categories
Single Video Assignment
- Open a video in your library.
- Select the category (or multiple categories) it belongs to.
Bulk Assignment
- Use the Actions menu in your video library to assign multiple videos to a category at once.
Bamboo Pro Tip:
Always check that videos are assigned to the correct category level. Videos assigned to a parent category with subcategories may not display where you expect.
After building your category tree, go ahead and categorize your videos to the right category.
Content can be assigned to multiple categories.
To filter videos by category, press the category’s checkbox.
Need Something More Advanced?
If you have:
- Series with multiple seasons
- Multi-level content
- A library with hundreds of videos
- Genres inside Movies
- A homepage made of several sections
- A root category controlling everything (“App” → …)
→ You’ll want the Advanced Category Structure Guide, which explains:
- How multi-level trees work
- How display logic behaves at each level
- How to build series → seasons → episodes
- How to create complex homepages
- How to avoid unexpected results
👉 Read the Advanced Category Structure Guide