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Creating a Subcategory

Add subcategories to your Knowledge Base once you reach ~100 articles. Create and manage nested categories easily with two simple methods, keeping hierarchy simple.

Taylor Sloane
Updated by Taylor Sloane
Table of Contents

Most Knowledge Bases work well with just one level of categories. Customers can navigate the flat structure easily, and great search lets them find what they want in seconds.

But once your Knowledge Base reaches around 100 articles you might want to add a little more structure. That's when subcategories (also called nested categories) become useful.

The latest HelpDocs templates (since v3next) support infinitely nested subcategories (also called nested categories). You can also implement subcategories on custom templates.

While there's no technical limit, we recommend keeping your hierarchy simple so customers can find what they need quickly.

How to Create a Subcategory

Subcategories are exactly the same as regular categories, they just appear differently on your Knowledge Base. Creating them should feel very familiar. Adding articles to subcategories works exactly the same as adding them to regular categories. There are two ways to create a subcategory:

Method 1: From the Content List Button

  1. Head to the Content tab and hit Create category in the top right
  2. Enter your metadata (title, icon, etc. as usual)
  3. In the Parent Category dropdown, choose the category you'd like this subcategory to live in
  4. Hit Save changes

Method 2: From the Parent Category

  1. In the Content tab, click the three horizontal lines icon more button on the parent category
  2. Select Add subcategory from the dropdown menu
  3. Enter your metadata (title, icon, etc.)
  4. Hit Save changes
To convert a subcategory back to a top-level category, follow the same steps but select None from the Parent Category dropdown

Moving a Subcategory

Moving a subcategory to a different parent category is very similar to creating a subcategory. All articles within the subcategory will move with it automatically.

  1. Click the pencil icon Meta icon on the subcategory you'd like to move
  2. Under Parent category, select the category it should live under from the dropdown menu
  3. Hit Save changes
To delete a subcategory, follow the same process as deleting a regular category. Remember that categories must be empty before deletion. Move or delete any articles first.

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