Categories & Sections
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I have two questions:
1. Can someone explain the difference between categories and sections?
2. I am using PixelPerfect. Let's say I have 100 articles, some about boats, some about cars, come about trucks and some about planes. I want one of the Main menu items to be "Browse articles" with a suckerfish drop-down of [boats, cars, trucks, planes]. When they select one, it shows all the articles relating to their selection. Must I create 4 categories, and assign every article to the appropriate one?
This is a sample scenario, but please provide as much info as possible.
Thanks,
Chris
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- JEM
- Preeminent Rocketeer
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Christopher Neville wrote:
I have two questions:
1. Can someone explain the difference between categories and sections?
2. Must I create 4 categories, and assign every article to the appropriate one?
Chris
It really depends how you want to publish your articles, how much information you have, how you want to break it down and have it organized.
Using Sections and Categories determines what gets published where, in Joomla you really have to 'work backwards', i.e., you have to have a good idea about the content and organization of your site before you get started, rather than adding as you go along.
A section is like a drawer in a file cabinet.
A category is like a folder in the drawer.
The articles are the content; you decide which drawer and folder to put them in.
Imagine you are setting up an office and you have tons of papers to organize.
You have to go to the office supply store to buy a file cabinet and folders.
Before you start, you need a good idea of how many drawers you need in your file cabinet, and how many folders you will need.
How many drawers (sections) will you need in your file cabinet; three, four, five, etc?
How many folders (categories) will you need for all your files (articles)?
Once you’ve got that sorted….
1. Determine your sections and categories – set them up
2. Add new articles saving them under the proper section and category
3. Create menu items and select a section or category to be published.
ONE SECTION / FOUR CATEGORIES – one drawer, four folders
Section: transportation
Category: cars (sports, economy, concept, hybrid)
Category: boats (sail boats, powerboats, fishing boats, paddle boats)
Category: trucks (2WD, 4WD, vans)
Category: planes (private, commercial, fighters, gliders)
ONE SECTION / SIXTEEN CATEGORIES – one drawer, sixteen folders
Section: Transportation
Category: sports cars
Category: economy cars
Category: concept cars
Category: hybrids
Category: sailboats
Category: powerboats
Category: fishing boats
Category: paddle boats
Category: 2WD
Category: 4WD
Category: Vans
Category: private
Category: commercial
Category: fighters
Category: gliders
FOUR SECTIONS / FOUR CATEGORIES EACH– four drawers, four folders in each
Section: cars
Category: sports cars
Category: economy cars
Category: concept cars
Category: hybrids
Section: boats
Category: sailboats
Category: powerboats
Category: fishing boats
Category: paddle boats
Section: trucks
Category: 2WD
Category: 4WD
Category: Vans
Section: planes
Category: private
Category: commercial
Category: fighters
Category: gliders
If you installed an RT template with sample data, look at the back end and see how many sections and categories there are.
Again, it really depends how you want to be able to publish your content. - Last Edit: 17 years 1 month ago by .
- Thanks,
jim
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JEM618, I really appreciate your explanations. I now understand.
However, let's say I have:
- a SECTION called "LISTINGS", in which there are four CATEGORIES: trucks, planes, cars, boats;
...and a "Main Menu" item named "Catalog", with a Suckerfish drop-down menu listing ALL the categories in the "LISTINGS" section. When I add more categories to "LISTINGS", they appear in the drop-down menu.
Then, when you click on a category, it shows all the articles in that category.
Chris
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- GollumX
- Elite Rocketeer
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Great explanation JEM618.
Chris, when you add new categories to your section, you will have to MANUALLY add them to the menu... they won't appear automatically. - Say no to Internet Explorer 6.
twitter.com/mark_up
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- JEM
- Preeminent Rocketeer
- Posts: 17917
- Thanks: 4
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I'm pretty new to Joomla myself, so I'm not sure what you're asking, but....
I think you could make a submenu item for each category that you want to show....
And, if you are creating new categories that you don't want published in the listings section, you should make a new section.
Hopefully an expert will come along.... - Thanks,
jim
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