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Create & Edit Categories
Categories are the foundation of your Bamboo website and apps. They organize your content, control how videos are displayed, and define the structure used by your navigation menu.
This guide explains every option available in the Category Editor. If you're looking for help planning your category hierarchy, see Building Your Category Tree or Category Tree – Advanced Guide.
Table of Contents
- Managing Categories
- Opening the Category Editor
- Category Details
- Display Settings
- Images
- Bamboo Tips
- Related Articles
Managing Categories
The Categories page lets you manage your entire category library.
From this page, you can:
- Create new categories.
- Search for existing categories.
- Filter categories by Privacy and View Type.
- Sort categories by different fields.
- View the number of entries and sub-categories for each category.
- Quickly edit or delete categories from the action menu.
Opening the Category Editor
There are several ways to create or edit categories in Bamboo.
From the Categories Page
- Click Add Category to create a new category.
- Click the ⋮ menu next to an existing category and select Edit.
Quick Create
Bamboo also provides shortcuts for creating categories:
- From the Category Tree – Create a new Root category or Subcategory by entering only the category name.
- From the Videos page – While assigning categories to videos, click + Add Category to quickly create a new Root category without leaving the page.
These shortcuts create the category with the minimum required information. You can configure all additional settings later from the Category Editor.
Category Details
Category Name (Required)
The internal name of the category used throughout the Bamboo Admin.
Label (Optional)
Overrides the name displayed to viewers while keeping the internal category name unchanged.
Bamboo Tip: If you only want to change what users see, use Label instead of Category Name.
Description (Optional)
Displayed to viewers only when the category uses the Series/Course View Type. This field is not shown for standard video categories.
Parent Category
Defines where the category appears in your category hierarchy.
Select Root to create a top-level category, or choose an existing category as its parent.
Learn more: See Building Your Category Tree for recommendations on organizing your content.
Privacy
Controls whether the category itself is visible to viewers.
- Public — The category is visible on your website and apps.
- Private — The category is hidden from your website and apps, but remains available in the Bamboo Admin.
Important: Privacy applies only to the category, not to its videos. Videos assigned to a private category can still appear in other public categories or in search results if they are assigned elsewhere and the user has permission to view them.
Subscriptions
Restricts the category to one or more subscription packages.
Users must have access to one of the selected packages before they can view the category.
Contributor Permission
By default, contributors can only view and edit categories they created themselves.
This setting allows an Administrator or Manager to grant a specific contributor access to a category they would not normally be able to view or edit.
Talent
Associates one or more talents (such as Speakers, Cast & Crew, or Artists) with the category.
This setting is primarily intended for Series/Course categories. The selected talents will automatically appear on the series page, and the series will also appear on each selected talent's page.
Display Settings
View Type
Controls how videos or sub-categories are displayed within the category.
The default Gallery View Type displays content as a horizontal row of standard landscape thumbnails and is suitable for most websites and apps.
For a complete explanation of every available layout, see View Types.
Sort By
Controls the order in which videos appear inside the category.
Available options include:
- Newest
- Oldest
- Start Date
- End Date
- Duration
- A–Z
- Z–A
- Custom Order (if enabled for your account)
Custom Order requires videos to have an assigned order value.
Images
Main Thumbnail (Landscape)
The primary image used when displaying the category throughout the website and apps.
Poster Thumbnail (Portrait)
Used by supported layouts and apps that display portrait artwork.
Cover Banner
A wide banner image displayed at the top of the category page.
Currently supported on the website only for compatible layouts, such as the 2 Columns View Type. This image is not used by the mobile or TV apps.
Bamboo Tips
- Use Label instead of Category Name whenever you only want to change the text displayed to viewers.
- Start with the default Gallery View Type unless you have a specific layout in mind.
- Organize your category hierarchy before customizing View Types and images.
- Preview your website or apps after making category changes to verify everything appears as expected.