Categories and subcategories help you categorize and structure mentions across all your topics or within your entire account. Unlike tags, which you have to manage for each topic separately, categories allow you to create a unified marking system that works everywhere at once.
In this article, you'll explore:
What are categories
Categories are a hierarchical grouping system for classifying mentions:
Category: The top-level group (e.g., "Taste").
Subcategory: Specific values within that group (e.g., "Bitter", "Sour", "Sweet").
They are useful for:
Mention markup: use rules or manual tagging to assign specific subcategories to mentions;
Topic filters: quickly find the data you need using specific classifications;
Data analysis in Dashboards: visualize the distribution of mentions by categories for deeper insights.
How to create and manage categories
You can create and manage Categories in two ways:
Option 1: Go to Account Settings → Automation → Categories tab.
Option 2: Go to Account Settings → Spaces → Select your Space → Categories tab.
How to create a category
Click the +Create Category button.
Choose an emoji icon and enter the category name.
Add at least one subcategory by selecting a color (you can create your own color palette) and entering a name.
Click Add, then click Create category.
☝️ Category names must be unique within a Space.
There are no limits on the number of categories you can create.
How to add subcategories
Find the category in your list and click the arrow to expand it.
Click Add subcategory.
Enter the subcategory name and choose a color.
Click Add.
☝️ Subcategory names must be unique within their parent category.
How to edit or delete categories
Editing
Click the Edit next to a category or click on the pencil icon for editing subcategory.
Update the name, icon, or color.
Save your changes.
Deleting
Click the Delete next to the item, or click the trash bin icon to delete the subcategory.
Confirm the deletion.
⚠️ You cannot delete a category or subcategory if it is currently used in rules, filters, alerts, or dashboards. You must remove these usages first.
How to create a rule for subcategories
To automate your workflow, you can set up rules to categorize mentions automatically.
Step 1: Open the rule creation page
Find the required subcategory in your list;
Click the magic wand icon (Configure rule) next to it;
The rule creation page will open with the subcategory already selected.
Step 2: Set your conditions
On this page, define which mentions the rule should process.
Select the scope: In the Topics section, choose whether to apply the rule to a single topic, multiple topics, or an entire Space (if you have one);
Apply filters: Select specific conditions (e.g., keywords, sentiment, or source) that mentions must match.
💡 Click the Category icon if you need to add or remove subcategories from this specific rule.
Step 3: Choose an action
Select what the rule should do with matching mentions.
☝️ Important limitations:
Integrations: Sending mentions to an integration (e.g., Slack, CRM) is only available when a single topic is selected;
Bulk actions: If you select an entire Space or multiple topics, you can only use actions like Change sentiment, Mark as processed, or Move to bin.
Step 4: Finish
Review your settings and click Create Rule.
Who can manage categories
Account administrators: Can create, edit, and delete categories.
All other users: Can view and use categories in filters or manual markup but cannot modify the category structure.
Using categories in topics
How to filter mentions
Open your Topic and go to the Mentions tab.
Click the Filter button.
Go to the Categories tab.
Select the categories or specific subcategories you want to include or exclude.
Click Apply.
How to add categories to a single mention
Find a mention in your stream.
Click the Categories icon (folder) on the mention card.
Select the relevant subcategories.
Click Apply.
To remove a subcategory, simply click the × on the tag on the mention card.
Using categories in dashboards
How to filter a dashboard
Open your Dashboard.
Click the Filter button in the top panel.
Go to the Categories tab and select your criteria.
Click Apply.
Category filtering works for multi-topics, allowing you to filter data across multiple topics simultaneously using shared categories.
How to build a widget with subcategory breakdown
Click Create Widget.
In the Data step, open the Parameter or Group by dropdown.
Find the Categories group and select your desired category.
Click Next give the widget a name and Create Widget.
If you have any questions, please contact us via the support chat or at support@youscan.io.