Managing Categories

Categories help organize your workspace acronyms into logical groups. This guide covers creating, editing, and deleting categories, as well as managing category assignments.

Accessing Category Management

1. From the main navigation, click Admin → Categories
2. Or navigate directly to /admin/categories

Category Overview

The category management interface displays all categories with their:

• Name: Category label
• Color: Visual indicator (from 16-color palette)
• Definitions: Count of acronyms linked to this category
• Created By: User who created it
• Last Modified: When last updated
• Status: Active or archived

Creating Categories

Create a new category to organize related acronyms:

Create a Category

1. Click Create Category button (top-right)
2. Enter Category Name:
   • Examples: "Engineering", "Finance", "HR", "Product", "Security"
   • Max 50 characters
   • Alphanumeric, spaces, hyphens allowed
3. (Optional) Select a Color from the 16-color palette or let the system pick
4. (Optional) Add Description: Brief explanation of what this category covers
5. Click Create

16-Color Vivid Palette

Define.wtf includes a carefully curated palette of 16 vivid colors designed for accessibility and visual distinction:

🔴 Red           🟠 Orange        🟡 Yellow        🟢 Green
🟦 Blue          🟪 Indigo        🟣 Violet        🩷 Pink
⬛ Charcoal      🟤 Brown         ⚫ Black         🟨 Lime
🔵 Cyan          🟥 Crimson       🟧 Apricot      🟩 Emerald

Each color is selected for:

• Accessibility: WCAG AA contrast ratios against white and dark backgrounds
• Distinctiveness: Easy to differentiate from neighboring colors
• Print-friendly: Colors remain distinct even in grayscale

Automatic Color Assignment

When creating a category without selecting a color, the system automatically assigns the next available color:

1. Scans existing categories in the workspace
2. Identifies colors already in use
3. Selects the first unused color from the palette
4. Returns a visually balanced distribution

Example:

• Workspace has categories in Red, Blue, and Green
• New category automatically gets Orange (next in palette order)
• Ensures all colors are eventually used (no duplicates until necessary)

You can always change the color after creation.

Editing Categories

Modify category name, color, or description:

Edit a Category

1. Click the Actions menu (⋮) for the category
2. Select Edit
3. Update any of:
   • Name: Category label
   • Color: Pick from palette or auto-assign new
   • Description: Explanation of category purpose
4. Click Save Changes

Impact of Renaming:

• All acronyms linked to the category reflect the new name immediately
• Search indexes are updated
• Collections using the category update automatically
• Audit log records the change

Impact of Color Change:

• All linked acronyms show the new color in the UI
• Search results update
• Admin dashboard metrics recalculate
• No data loss or linkage breakage

Viewing Category Details

Click on a category name to see detailed metrics:

• Total Definitions: Acronyms in this category
• Total Acronyms: Unique terms (excluding duplicates)
• Created Date: When category was established
• Created By: User who created it
• Linked Collections: Which collections include this category
• Acronym List: Full list of linked acronyms with filter/sort options

Category-Specific Metrics

• Recently Added: Latest 5 acronyms added to category
• Most Viewed: Acronyms in category with highest view count
• Frequently Edited: Most-changed definitions in category
• Stale Items: Acronyms not updated in 90+ days

Deleting Categories

Remove a category from your workspace with options for reassigning content:

Delete a Category

1. Click Actions → Delete

2. Review impact:

   • Count of acronyms linked to this category
   • Collections that reference this category

3. Choose reassignment option:

   • Delete Without Reassignment: Remove acronyms from category (keep acronyms, just unlink)
   • Move to Category: Select a different category to reassign all acronyms
   • Delete Orphaned Acronyms: Only delete if no acronyms exist in category (fail if items linked)

4. Confirm deletion

Effects of Deletion:

• Category is removed from the system
• Acronyms remain but are unlinked (if reassignment not chosen)
• Collections may show broken category references (displayed as gray/inactive)
• Audit log records the deletion
• Webhook event fires (if configured)

Bulk Delete Categories

Remove multiple categories at once:

1. Select categories using checkboxes
2. Click Bulk Actions → Delete
3. Choose reassignment strategy for all
4. Confirm

Category Assignments

Link acronyms to categories for organization:

Assign an Acronym to a Category

When creating or editing an acronym:

1. Open the Categories field
2. Search for or select categories
3. Multiple categories can be assigned
4. Click Add Category to link additional ones

Bulk Assign Categories

Add a category to multiple acronyms:

1. In the acronym list, select multiple terms
2. Click Bulk Actions → Add to Category
3. Choose category from dropdown
4. Confirm

All selected acronyms are now linked to the category (in addition to any existing categories).

Unassign a Category

Remove a category from an acronym:

1. Open the acronym in edit view
2. Click the X next to the category name
3. Save

Or bulk unassign:

1. Select acronyms
2. Click Bulk Actions → Remove from Category
3. Select category to remove
4. Confirm

Definition Counts

Categories display definition counts to show activity and content density:

Understanding Counts

The dashboard shows:

How Counts Work

• Each definition can link to multiple categories
• A category shows all definitions assigned to it
• If an acronym has 3 definitions, each linked to the category, count = 3
• Deleted definitions are excluded from counts

Updating Counts

Counts update in real-time as definitions are added/removed. For large workspaces:

• Dashboard counts are cached and refreshed hourly
• Detailed category page counts are always current
• Manual refresh available via Refresh Counts button

Category Colors

Color Management

Each category has exactly one assigned color from the 16-color palette:

• Visual Identity: Color helps users recognize categories at a glance
• Accessibility: All colors meet WCAG AA standards
• Distinction: No two active categories share the same color

Reusing Colors

If you need more than 16 categories (unlikely), colors will repeat:

• First 16 categories: Each gets unique color
• 17th category: Gets color of first category (with differentiation in UI)
• System prevents color duplicates until all 16 are used first

Archiving Categories

Instead of deleting, archive categories to hide them without losing data:

Archive a Category

1. Click Actions → Archive
2. Category is hidden from most views
3. Can still be referenced in search results
4. Can be unarchived later

When to Archive:

• Category no longer used but has historical data
• Temporary categories (projects, temporary teams)
• Want to hide clutter without permanent deletion

Category Statistics

View detailed metrics for each category:

Performance Metrics

• Growth Trend: Chart showing definitions added over time
• Contribution: Which users added most content to category
• Activity Timeline: Month-by-month breakdown
• Search Volume: How often category is used in searches

Export Category Data

1. Click Actions → Export
2. Choose format: CSV or JSON
3. Includes: All acronyms, definitions, tags, metadata
4. Download file

Search & Filter Categories

Find categories quickly:

Search Categories

Type in the search box to filter by:

• Category name (partial match)
• Description text
• Color (visual selector)

Filter by Count

• Has Definitions: Only show categories with linked acronyms
• Empty: Show categories with no acronyms (candidates for deletion)
• Large: Categories with 50+ definitions
• Small: Categories with 1-5 definitions

Sort Options

• Name: Alphabetical A-Z
• Definitions: Most-to-least (or vice versa)
• Recent: Most-to-least recently created
• Modified: Most-to-least recently updated
• Color: By palette order

Permissions

Required permissions for category management:

Audit Trail

All category changes are logged:

• View Audit: Click Audit tab in category details
• Tracked Changes: Name, color, description updates
• Access Log: Which users viewed the category
• Export Audit: Download audit trail for compliance

API Usage

Use the API to programmatically manage categories:

List Categories

GET /api/v1/categories

Returns all categories with counts and colors.

Create Category

POST /api/v1/categories

Payload:

{
  "name": "Engineering",
  "color": "blue",
  "description": "Technical and infrastructure terms"
}

Update Category

PUT /api/v1/categories/{id}

Delete Category

DELETE /api/v1/categories/{id}?reassignTo={newCategoryId}

Best Practices

Category Design

• Limit to 8-12 categories: Too many reduces discoverability
• Clear naming: Use department or function names (not "Misc" or "Other")
• No overlaps: Minimal category duplication (some overlap OK)
• Balanced distribution: Avoid categories with 1 item and 500+ items

Organization

• Hierarchical thinking: Consider parent/child relationships
• Use templates: Start with preset category structure
• Regular audits: Quarterly review of category usage
• Merge inactive: Combine categories with few definitions

Naming Conventions

• Singular or plural: Choose one and be consistent (e.g., "Engineering" not "Engineers")
• Title case: "Finance" not "finance"
• Avoid jargon: Use terms understandable to all teams
• Specific descriptions: Help users understand category purpose

Color Assignment

• Let system assign: Use auto-assignment for consistent palette
• Manual override: Only when specific color significance exists
• Brand colors: Optionally align with company branding (within palette)
• Accessibility first: Don't change for aesthetics alone

Next Steps: Explore Managing Collections to create curated acronym sets, or learn about Bulk Import to add many acronyms and auto-create categories.