Defining Categories and Vocabularies for Content

Using categories, you can group similar assets and organize your content. Along with tags, categories help people find relevant information through search or navigation. For more information about categories in Liferay DXP and the different usage scenarios, see Organizing Content with Categories and Tags.

You can group categories using vocabularies and create a hierarchy using subcategories. Once you create and edit global vocabularies, you can use them in any other site, but they must be edited at the global site.

Note

Only site administrators can manage categories and vocabularies in the Categories panel.

Defining Vocabularies

1. Go to the site where you want to create the vocabulary.

2. Open the Site Menu (), expand Categorization, and go to Categories.

3. Click New Vocabulary ().

4. Enter a name for the vocabulary. Optionally, enter an external reference code and a description.

   Important

   An external reference code is your own identifier for the vocabulary, such as product-type. If you leave it blank, Liferay generates one when you save. The code cannot exceed 75 characters and must be unique within the site. You can change it later by editing the vocabulary. Setting the code yourself keeps references to the vocabulary working when you move content between environments.

5. Complete the rest of the vocabulary options:

   Allow Multiple Categories: This option is on by default, so you can use more than one category from the vocabulary to categorize an asset. Turn it off to use only one category from the vocabulary.

   Visibility: See Vocabularies Visibility for more information.

   Important

   You cannot change the visibility after saving the vocabulary.

   Associated Asset Type: Select the allowed asset types for applying a category from this vocabulary. Set Required to Yes if you want this type of asset always to have a category.

   Tip

   Click Add under the Associated Asset Type section to include more than one asset type.

   

6. Click Save.

7. To edit an existing vocabulary, click Actions () next to the vocabulary name and select Edit.

   

Defining Categories

You create and manage categories in the Site Menu () → Categorization → Categories panel. You can also create new categories from the Categorization section in the Content Editor, using the Select button for each vocabulary.

Important

The default limit is 150 categories per vocabulary. You can change this limit, but a high number of categories could affect performance, especially in item selectors.

Creating Categories

1. Open the Site Menu (), expand Categorization, and go to Categories.

2. Under the Vocabularies list, click the vocabulary to add the new category.

3. Click Add Category ().

4. Enter a name for the category. Optionally, enter an external reference code and a description. The code must be unique within the site and cannot exceed 75 characters.

5. Under the Display Page section, choose a specific display page for the category or use the default one.

   Note

   Display pages for categories are available starting with Liferay DXP 7.4. For more information, read Displaying Categories Using Display Pages.

6. Click Save or Save and Add a New One to add more categories.

7. To edit an existing category, click Actions () next to the category’s name → Edit.

Creating Subcategories

You can create a nested hierarchy of categories and subcategories:

1. Open the Site Menu (), expand Categorization, and go to Categories.

2. Under the Vocabularies list, click the vocabulary you want to modify.

3. Click the category name where you want to create the new subcategory.

4. In the Add New Subcategory screen, enter the subcategory’s name and, optionally, a description.

5. Click Save or Save and Add a New One to add more subcategories.

Moving Categories

You can move a category to a different vocabulary, or as a subcategory in the same vocabulary:

1. Open the Site Menu (), expand Categorization, and go to Categories.

2. Click Actions () next to the category you want to move and select Move.

   

3. Select the Vocabulary and Category where you want to move the category.

   Note

   You can only move a category into a vocabulary of the same visibility type.

Editing Additional Category Properties

After creating a category, you can define these options:

• Details
• Images
• Friendly URL
• Properties

To access these options, click Actions () next to the category you want to modify and select Edit.

Setting a Category’s Friendly URL

Liferay DXP 2026.Q3+

A category’s friendly URL is the address where visitors can access its display page. By default, Liferay generates it from each category’s name, but you can change it any time.

Note

You can only access a category using its friendly URL once a display page template is set for it. See Displaying Categories Using Display Pages for more information.

1. Open the Site Menu (), expand Categorization, and go to Categories.

2. Under the Vocabularies list, click the vocabulary that contains the desired category.

3. Click Actions () for the category you want to modify and select Edit.

4. Click the Friendly URL tab.

5. Enter a new path in the Friendly URL field.

   Above the field, two read-only previews show the site URL and the Commerce URL, and both update as you type. Site URLs include the vocabulary name (e.g., /v/vocabulary-1/category-1), while Commerce URLs do not (e.g., /g/category-1). Both URLs use the same path, and only the prefix differs.

   Important

   Paths must be unique among the categories that share the same parent. When the path is already taken, Liferay appends a numeric suffix (e.g., winter-sports-1).

   

6. To set the path for another language, click the language selector above the field, choose the language, and enter its path.

   Each language holds its own path, and the field opens on the site’s default language. For a language with no path, the field and the site URL preview are empty.

7. Click Save.

Changing a path doesn’t break existing links, because Liferay keeps the category’s previous paths and redirects them to the current one. Renaming a category doesn’t change its path, so you must update the path manually if you want them to match.

Note

You can configure the /v/ and /g/ prefixes for site and Commerce URLs. For sites, see Configuring Friendly URL Separators. The Commerce prefix is set separately in the Commerce catalog configuration.

Changing the Maximum Number of Categories per Vocabulary

By default, vocabularies can have up to 150 categories, but you can increase this:

Warning

A high number of categories may impact performance and load times.

1. Open the Global Menu (). Navigate to Control Panel → Instance Settings → Assets.

2. Click Categorization in the left navigation. Enter a new maximum value (e.g. 2) and click Save.

   

3. Upon reaching the maximum value, a message informs users they cannot create more categories.

Related Topics

• Organizing Content with Categories and Tags
• Tagging Content and Managing Tags
• Content Dashboard
• Displaying Categories Using Display Pages
• Configuring Friendly URL Separators