# Managing marketplace categories
+
Mobieus ships a generic two-level taxonomy seeded into every new
+
marketplace, but you'll almost certainly want to rename, reorganise,
+
or extend it for your community. The categories drive both the
+
seller's "what kind of listing is this?" picker and the buyer's
+
filter rail.
−
Mobieus ships a generic taxonomy seeded into every new marketplace, but you'll almost certainly want to rename, reorganise, or extend it for your community. Categories drive both the seller's "what kind of listing is this?" picker and the buyer's filter rail.
This page covers the UI at **Admin → mobieusMarket → Categories**.
+
## Two-level taxonomy
−
## How deep the taxonomy goes
+
A category is either:
−
Categories support up to three levels:
- **Top-level** (no parent) — broad bucket, e.g. "Computers", "Audio gear".
- **Child** of a top-level — narrower, e.g. "Laptops", "Microphones".
−
- **Grandchild** of a child — narrowest, e.g. "Gaming laptops".
+
Children can't have children. If your taxonomy needs three levels of
+
nesting, pick a flatter naming scheme — community marketplaces work
+
better with shallower trees anyway. SERP traffic on three-deep facet
+
pages tends to be thin.
−
Three levels is the floor. When you add a category, any existing category at the top or second level can be its parent; you can't nest under a grandchild. Most community marketplaces work better with shallow trees anyway — SERP traffic on three-deep facet pages tends to be thin, so reach for the third level only when you really need it.
## Add a category
1. Click **+ New category**.
+
2. Enter the **name**. The slug auto-generates from the name; on
+
collision Mobieus appends `-2`, `-3`, etc. until unique.
+
3. Pick a **parent** — leave blank for top-level, or select a
+
top-level category to file under.
+
4. Optionally write a **description**. This shows on the listing
+
index when buyers filter to this category, useful for both
+
tone-setting and SEO ("Listings in **Strings** — guitar, bass,
+
violin parts shipped from member sellers worldwide").
+
5. Optionally set a **listing-fee override** in cents. Leave blank
+
to inherit the marketplace-wide fee model.
−
2. Enter the **name**. The slug auto-generates from the name; on collision Mobieus appends `-2`, `-3`, etc. until unique.
−
3. Pick a **parent** — leave blank for top-level, or select a top-level or second-level category to file under.
−
4. Optionally write a **description**. This shows on the listing index when buyers filter to this category, useful for both tone-setting and SEO ("Listings in **Strings** — guitar, bass, violin parts shipped from member sellers worldwide").
−
5. Optionally set a **listing-fee override** in cents. Leave blank to inherit the marketplace-wide fee model. This only has an effect when a paid fee model is active (see [Charging sellers a listing fee](/know/marketplace-fees)).
+
New categories get appended to the end of the sort order. Drag them
+
to wherever they belong on the index page.
−
New categories are appended to the end of the sort order. Drag them to wherever they belong on the index page.
## Edit a category
+
Click the category name. You can change the name (the slug stays
+
stable so old URLs keep working), parent, description, and fee
+
override. The **Active** checkbox lets you reactivate a previously
+
deactivated category.
−
Click the category name. You can change the name (the slug stays stable so old URLs keep working), parent, description, and fee override. The **Active** checkbox lets you reactivate a previously deactivated category.
## Reorder
+
+
On the index page, drag the grip handle on a top-level category to
+
move it up or down. Children stay grouped under their parent —
+
their relative order within a parent is fixed; the drag affects
+
top-level ordering only.
+
(Future: per-parent child reordering. Today the children sort by
+
their own `sort_order` column which is set on create; you can
+
adjust it directly in the DB if you need to right now.)
−
On the index page, drag the grip handle on a top-level category to move it up or down. Children stay grouped under their parent; the drag affects top-level ordering. Child order within a parent follows the order in which the children were created.
## Deactivate (don't delete)
+
The "Deactivate" button **soft-deletes** a category — sets
+
`is_active = 0`. After deactivation:
−
The **Deactivate** button soft-deletes a category — it sets the category inactive rather than removing it. After deactivation:
- The category disappears from the seller's create form.
+
- Existing listings in that category keep rendering with their
+
original category name.
+
- The category remains visible on this admin page so you can
+
reactivate it.
−
- Existing listings in that category keep rendering with their original category name.
−
- The category stays visible on this admin page so you can reactivate it.
+
There's no hard-delete in the UI. Deleting a category that has
+
listings would either orphan those listings or force a destructive
+
foreign-key cleanup; soft-delete avoids both. If you really need
+
to clear out an unused category that never had listings, do it via
+
SQL.
−
There's no hard-delete in the UI. Deleting a category that has listings would either orphan those listings or force a destructive cleanup, so soft-delete is the only path — which keeps your historical listings intact.
## SEO benefit
+
Categories with a `description` field set get an h2 + paragraph
+
above the listing grid on `/market?category=<slug>`. Google reads
+
this as the page's intro and is more likely to rank the faceted
+
URL. Keep the description focused on what's in the category, not
+
generic marketing copy.
−
Categories with a description set get a heading and paragraph above the listing grid on the category's filtered page. Search engines read this as the page's intro and are more likely to rank the faceted URL. Keep the description focused on what's actually in the category, not generic marketing copy.
−
Managing marketplace categories
Mobieus ships a generic two-level taxonomy seeded into every new marketplace, but you'll almost certainly want to rename, reorganise, or extend it for your community. The categories drive both the seller's "what kind of listing is this?" picker and the buyer's filter rail.
This page covers the UI at Admin → mobieusMarket → Categories.
Two-level taxonomy
A category is either:
- Top-level (no parent) — broad bucket, e.g. "Computers", "Audio gear".
- Child of a top-level — narrower, e.g. "Laptops", "Microphones".
Children can't have children. If your taxonomy needs three levels of nesting, pick a flatter naming scheme — community marketplaces work better with shallower trees anyway. SERP traffic on three-deep facet pages tends to be thin.
Add a category
- Click + New category.
- Enter the name. The slug auto-generates from the name; on
collision Mobieus appends
-2,-3, etc. until unique. - Pick a parent — leave blank for top-level, or select a top-level category to file under.
- Optionally write a description. This shows on the listing index when buyers filter to this category, useful for both tone-setting and SEO ("Listings in Strings — guitar, bass, violin parts shipped from member sellers worldwide").
- Optionally set a listing-fee override in cents. Leave blank to inherit the marketplace-wide fee model.
New categories get appended to the end of the sort order. Drag them to wherever they belong on the index page.
Edit a category
Click the category name. You can change the name (the slug stays stable so old URLs keep working), parent, description, and fee override. The Active checkbox lets you reactivate a previously deactivated category.
Reorder
On the index page, drag the grip handle on a top-level category to move it up or down. Children stay grouped under their parent — their relative order within a parent is fixed; the drag affects top-level ordering only.
(Future: per-parent child reordering. Today the children sort by
their own sort_order column which is set on create; you can
adjust it directly in the DB if you need to right now.)
Deactivate (don't delete)
The "Deactivate" button soft-deletes a category — sets
is_active = 0. After deactivation:
- The category disappears from the seller's create form.
- Existing listings in that category keep rendering with their original category name.
- The category remains visible on this admin page so you can reactivate it.
There's no hard-delete in the UI. Deleting a category that has listings would either orphan those listings or force a destructive foreign-key cleanup; soft-delete avoids both. If you really need to clear out an unused category that never had listings, do it via SQL.
SEO benefit
Categories with a description field set get an h2 + paragraph
above the listing grid on /market?category=<slug>. Google reads
this as the page's intro and is more likely to rank the faceted
URL. Keep the description focused on what's in the category, not
generic marketing copy.
# Managing marketplace categories
Mobieus ships a generic two-level taxonomy seeded into every new
marketplace, but you'll almost certainly want to rename, reorganise,
or extend it for your community. The categories drive both the
seller's "what kind of listing is this?" picker and the buyer's
filter rail.
This page covers the UI at **Admin → mobieusMarket → Categories**.
## Two-level taxonomy
A category is either:
- **Top-level** (no parent) — broad bucket, e.g. "Computers", "Audio gear".
- **Child** of a top-level — narrower, e.g. "Laptops", "Microphones".
Children can't have children. If your taxonomy needs three levels of
nesting, pick a flatter naming scheme — community marketplaces work
better with shallower trees anyway. SERP traffic on three-deep facet
pages tends to be thin.
## Add a category
1. Click **+ New category**.
2. Enter the **name**. The slug auto-generates from the name; on
collision Mobieus appends `-2`, `-3`, etc. until unique.
3. Pick a **parent** — leave blank for top-level, or select a
top-level category to file under.
4. Optionally write a **description**. This shows on the listing
index when buyers filter to this category, useful for both
tone-setting and SEO ("Listings in **Strings** — guitar, bass,
violin parts shipped from member sellers worldwide").
5. Optionally set a **listing-fee override** in cents. Leave blank
to inherit the marketplace-wide fee model.
New categories get appended to the end of the sort order. Drag them
to wherever they belong on the index page.
## Edit a category
Click the category name. You can change the name (the slug stays
stable so old URLs keep working), parent, description, and fee
override. The **Active** checkbox lets you reactivate a previously
deactivated category.
## Reorder
On the index page, drag the grip handle on a top-level category to
move it up or down. Children stay grouped under their parent —
their relative order within a parent is fixed; the drag affects
top-level ordering only.
(Future: per-parent child reordering. Today the children sort by
their own `sort_order` column which is set on create; you can
adjust it directly in the DB if you need to right now.)
## Deactivate (don't delete)
The "Deactivate" button **soft-deletes** a category — sets
`is_active = 0`. After deactivation:
- The category disappears from the seller's create form.
- Existing listings in that category keep rendering with their
original category name.
- The category remains visible on this admin page so you can
reactivate it.
There's no hard-delete in the UI. Deleting a category that has
listings would either orphan those listings or force a destructive
foreign-key cleanup; soft-delete avoids both. If you really need
to clear out an unused category that never had listings, do it via
SQL.
## SEO benefit
Categories with a `description` field set get an h2 + paragraph
above the listing grid on `/market?category=<slug>`. Google reads
this as the page's intro and is more likely to rank the faceted
URL. Keep the description focused on what's in the category, not
generic marketing copy.
