Create & Edit Categories

Categories are the foundation of your Bamboo website and apps. They organize your content, control how it's displayed, and define the structure of your navigation menu. This guide covers every option in the category editor. For help planning your structure, see Building Your Category Tree or Category Tree – Advanced Guide.

In this article:

Manage your categories: search, filter, sort, and export
Category row menu: edit, add a subcategory, copy links, duplicate, or delete
Create or edit a category: the editor and quick shortcuts
- Share card: copy or open the category's pages
Category details: name, label, description, and talent
Access: parent category, privacy, subscriptions, and contributors
Display settings: view type and sort order
Images: thumbnail, poster, and cover banner
Tips: getting the most out of categories

Manage your categories

Go to Content → Categories to see all your categories. From here you can:

Create a new category with Add Category.
Search, filter by Privacy and View Type, and sort your categories.
See how many videos and sub-categories each one has.
Edit, duplicate, or delete a category, or copy its links, from its ⋯ menu. See Category row menu.
Switch to the Category Tree to see and arrange your whole structure.
Click Export CSV to download your categories.

Click the ⋯ menu on a category's row in Content → Categories to:

Edit: open the category editor.
Add Subcategory: open the New Category page with this category already set as the parent.
Copy Standalone Link: copy a page with only this category and no site menu. Good for emails, social posts, and QR codes. Needs the Pro plan or higher.
Copy Site Page Link: copy the category's page on your site, with your site's menu.
Duplicate Category: copy the category's settings and details. Its videos and sub-categories aren't copied.
Delete: delete the category.

Learn more: Sharing Your Content

Create or edit a category

New category: click Add Category, fill in the editor, and click Create Category. Creating several? Click Save & Add Another.
Edit a category: click its name, or choose Edit from its ⋯ menu. Click Save Changes when you're done.

Shortcuts: you can also create a category from the Category Tree (a root category or a sub-category, with just a name), with Add Subcategory in a category's ⋯ menu, or with + New Category while you edit a video. You can fill in the rest later in the editor.

The Edit Category page has a Share card with four buttons: Site Link, Standalone Link, View Site, and View Standalone. Hover the ⓘ next to Share to see what each page is.

If the category is private, the card notes that both pages show "This page isn't available" to viewers until you make it public.

Category details

Category Name: the name used in the Bamboo admin. Required.
Label: optional. Changes the name viewers see, while keeping the category name in the admin.
Description: optional. Shown to viewers on categories that use the Series or Course view type.
Talent: the speakers, cast, or artists in this category, mainly for series and courses. They appear on the series page, and the series appears on each person's talent page. Learn more: Talent

Access

Parent Category: where the category sits in your structure. Choose None (root level) for a top-level category, or pick a parent.
Privacy: Public categories show on your website and apps. Private ones are hidden there, but stay in your admin.
Subscriptions: limit the category to one or more subscriptions. Viewers need one of them to watch.
Contributor Permission: contributors can usually only manage categories they created. Choose a contributor here to let them manage this one too.

Important: privacy applies to the category only, not to its videos. A video in a private category can still appear in other public categories or in search.

Display settings

View Type

Controls how the category looks as a row, and what opens when viewers click it. The default, Gallery, shows a row of landscape thumbnails and opens as a grid page. It fits most categories.

Custom row look: Hero Slider, Top 10, Poster Row, Portrait Cards, or Landscape Cards.
Custom page: Dynamic Rows (Netflix Look), 2 Columns, Series (episodes grouped by season), or Course (lessons organized by module).

Learn more: Advanced View Types Tutorial

Sort By

The order of the videos in the category: newest or oldest first, name A–Z or Z–A, duration, start date, end date, or Manual Order. Manual Order uses each video's Sort Order value. Learn more: Edit a Video

Images

Main Thumbnail (Landscape): 1920 × 1080, the main image for the category across your website and apps.
Poster Thumbnail (Portrait): 720 × 1080, used by layouts that show portrait artwork.
Cover Banner: 1920 × 330, a wide banner at the top of the category page, on the website with supported layouts like 2 Columns. It isn't used in the mobile or TV apps.

Categories with the series view also get a Trailer Video field when it's turned on in Content Settings. Learn more: Content Settings

Tips

Only want to change what viewers see? Use Label instead of renaming the category.
Start with the default Gallery view type unless you have a specific layout in mind.
Plan your category structure before you customize view types and images.
Preview your website and apps after making changes.

Learn more: Setting Up Your Home Screen · Building Your Category Tree · Navigation · View Types