Resource categories organise the library. Every resource lives in exactly one category, and users browse the library category-by-category to find what they need.
Where to manage categories
Go to Resources → Categories.
The tree structure
Categories are hierarchical. A typical school structure:
Policies and Procedures
├── Student Policies
├── Staff Policies
└── Compliance and Regulatory
Curriculum
├── Year 7 to 12
│ ├── Year 7
│ ├── Year 8
│ └── ...
└── Subject Resources
Forms and Templates
├── Parent Forms
├── Staff Forms
└── Student Forms
External Services
├── Learning Platforms (Canvas, etc.)
├── Library
└── Communication Tools
Two or three levels deep is usually plenty.
Creating a category
- Resources → Categories → New category.
- Name — what users see.
- Parent category — pick if it’s a child of another category.
- Ordering — sort order within the parent.
- Icon — optional Font Awesome icon shown next to the category name.
- Audience — who can see this category. If audience is restricted, the whole category (and its child categories and resources) is hidden from other audiences.
- Active — untick to retire.
- Save.
Audience inheritance
Setting audience at the category level cascades to all resources inside:
- A Staff-only category hides every resource in it from non-staff audiences.
- A category with no audience restriction defers to each resource’s individual audience setting.
Use category-level audience for big-bucket restrictions (e.g. all Staff Policies are staff-only). Use resource-level audience for finer control where some resources within a category are public.
Editing categories
- Rename — applies immediately.
- Move — change parent to relocate the whole subtree.
- Reorder — change ordering number.
Deleting categories
- Soft delete (untick Active) — category hidden but resources remain. Safer.
- Hard delete — removes the category. Resources are typically moved to Uncategorised or deleted depending on configuration.
For large categories, don’t delete without first moving important resources elsewhere.
Best-practice naming
- Use sentence case. Year 7 Handbook not YEAR 7 HANDBOOK and not year 7 handbook.
- Be specific. Parent Forms is clearer than Forms.
- Avoid year-specific names at the category level. Use Term Dates not Term Dates 2026 — the category persists across years.
Sub-categories
Use sub-categories when:
- The parent category has more than 10-15 items.
- There’s a clear sub-grouping that helps users.
- The sub-category will persist for multiple years.
Don’t use sub-categories when:
- It adds depth without value.
- There are only 2-3 items in each sub.
Flat is often better than deeply nested.
The categories-view vs. list-view
Users can browse:
- Category view — the tree, drilling down level by level.
- List view — flat list of all resources, with category-name tags.
The same resources are visible in both. Provide both modes — different users prefer different navigation styles.
Tips
- Plan the tree before populating. It’s painful to reorganise once 100 resources are scattered through the wrong categories.
- Use the audience setting at category level for big buckets. Easier than setting it on every resource.
- Audit annually. Categories that no longer reflect how the school thinks about resources should be renamed or restructured.