How to manage Knowledge Base categories and tags

In Smart Way LMS, categories provide the navigation menu and tags help refine search results. Each material has one category and can have up to 10 tags.

How to design an effective Knowledge Base structure?

Start with real employee queries. Good categories answer the question 'where should I look for this material?' For example:

• Customer service;

• Products;

• Company policies;

• Onboarding;

• Document templates.

Do not create a separate category for every file. Too much detail makes navigation more difficult.

Categories are independent of File Manager folders. A folder determines where a file is stored, while a category determines its place in the Knowledge Base structure.

How to create a category?

1. Open Manage knowledge base.

2. Go to the Categories tab.

3. Select Add category.

4. Enter a name.

5. In the Parent category field, select:

   • Top level;

   • or an existing category.

6. Leave Active category enabled if materials need to be published in it.

7. Select Save.

The structure can have no more than three levels. Third-level categories are not shown in the Parent category field because fourth-level categories are not supported.

How to change a category?

1. Find the required row on the Categories tab.

2. Select the edit icon.

3. Change the name, parent category or active status.

4. Select Save.

Changing the parent category moves its entire nested structure. Before saving, make sure the new path will be clear to users.

Materials remain linked to a category after it is renamed or moved. The new path is used in navigation and search.

How to change the category display order?

You can drag categories in the table to change their display order. Categories can only be reordered among neighbouring categories at the same level:

• root categories among other root categories;

• child categories within the same parent section.

To move a category to another position in the structure, press and hold the three-line icon, then drag the category to the required position.

To move a category to another branch, open the editor and change the Parent category.

What is an inactive category?

An inactive category:

• is unavailable for new publications;

• helps you prepare the structure safely for deletion;

• does not automatically delete materials.

Before deactivating a category, check which materials use it and move them if necessary.

How to delete a category?

A category can only be deleted when:

• it is inactive;

• it contains no materials;

• it has no child categories.

Follow this safe sequence:

1. Move or archive the materials.

2. Move or delete the child categories.

3. Disable Active category.

4. Select Delete.

5. Confirm the action.

If the button is unavailable, the hint will explain which dependency remains.

How to add tags to a material?

In the material editor:

1. Open the Tags field.

2. Find an existing tag or enter a new name.

3. Select the tag from the list or create the suggested one.

4. Add up to 10 tags.

5. Save the material.

Each tag can contain up to 50 characters. Do not use empty values, line breaks, control characters or names consisting only of special characters.

Use tags consistently and do not create duplicates. For example, create one workplace safety tag rather than also creating workplace-safety, as the system will treat them as different tags.

How to manage tags across the company?

The Categories tab contains a Tag management section.

How to rename a tag

1. Select the tag.

2. Change the Tag name field.

3. Select Rename.

The name will be updated in every company material that uses the tag.

How to merge duplicate tags?

1. Select the unwanted tag.

2. In the Merge into tag field, select the correct target tag.

3. Select Merge.

4. Confirm the action.

All materials associated with the source tag will be moved to the target tag. Use merging instead of editing dozens of materials manually.

How to delete a tag?

A tag can only be deleted when it is not used by any material. If a non-zero material count is shown next to the tag, remove it from those materials or merge it into another tag first.

Recommendations

• Use a category for the main topic and tags for a role, process, product or document type.

• Do not duplicate the full category path with tags.

• Check for duplicate and rarely used tags once a month.

• Before renaming or merging tags in bulk, check search results for those tags.

• Do not change the structure purely for visual appeal: first assess how it will affect users' familiar navigation paths.