To learn about categories, you can also check out the video below.

Categories are used to group similar listings together and separate different kinds of listings from each other. In a nutshell, categories can help organize your marketplace better. Users can find relevant listings by selecting the category they are interested in.

For example, if your marketplace is for selling clothes, your categories could be Shirts, Jackets, Trousers, Skirts, and so on. In Sharetribe Go, each category can also have a set of subcategories. Following the example above, the category Jackets could have subcategories such as Winter Jackets, Sports Jackets, Leather Jackets, etc.

It is up to you to choose whether you want to create categories and how to use them.

To create a new category, follow these steps:

When creating categories, it is important to consider the ease of use for both the sellers and buyers. If a listing could fit in two categories, it is harder for the user to know which category to browse. Users may miss relevant listings that were placed in another category. It is also good to think about the number of categories you have. Too many categories can be confusing for all users.

Under the "Category name" field, choose a "Parent category" for your subcategory. Otherwise, creating a subcategory follows the same steps as creating a top category.

When you edit category settings, all new listings created in that category will use the new settings. However, listings created before the category was edited will not change automatically.

To update an older listing to the new settings, you or the seller must manually edit the listing by clicking “Edit listing” and saving it again. After this, the changes to the category will be applied.

When a seller creates a listing, they first choose the category and then the order type. They can only choose one of the order types that are available for that category.

When you create or edit a category, you can choose which order types are used with it.

When a new order type is created, it is automatically used with all categories.

You can set custom listing fields for each category to help your users filter listings further. Different listing fields and filters can be used for different categories. In the earlier example of a clothing marketplace, the sizes for the Jackets category might be XS, S, M, L, XL, and XXL. In a category for Trousers, however, there might be separate fields for width and length:  28”, 29”, 30”, 31” and 32”.

Custom fields used with ay category can be changed in “Listings / Listing fields” in your Admin panel. You can read how to edit or create these fields and how to choose the categories for them in this article.

When deleting a category, you have to choose which remaining category the listings within the category you want to delete will be moved to. If there are custom fields specific to the deleted category only, they will be moved to the new category as well. When you have chosen a new category for the listings, click "Remove," and the old category will be deleted. 

Deleting a category cannot be reversed!

A listing can only belong to one category or subcategory at a time. Dropdown or checklist listing fields can offer an additional way to categorize your listings.

You can have as many categories as you wish. However, before creating dozens of categories, consider their usability to your users.