{"id":485512,"date":"2026-07-21T17:38:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=485512"},"modified":"2026-07-21T21:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T04:21:11","slug":"use-categories","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/mapping\/use-categories","title":{"rendered":"Use content categories in your organization, groups, and apps"},"author":7641,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22941,37511],"tags":[42611,113612],"industry":[],"product":[36821,36551],"class_list":["post-485512","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mapping","category-sharing-collaboration","tag-configurable-apps","tag-group","product-configurable-apps","product-arcgis-online"],"acf":{"short_description":"Categories are a useful, structured way to organize content in your organization or in a group. Learn how to use them.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Categories<\/a> are a useful, structured way to organize content in your organization or in a group. Content categories make it easier to discover content such as maps, scenes, apps, and layers. Categories can be configured using standard category sets from ArcGIS, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), or INSPIRE as a starting point, or can be entirely custom.<\/p>\n

Categories can be used to filter and easily find and use content. Click Content<\/strong>, then select My Contents, My Favorites, My Organization, or Living Atlas. Categories can be found along the left side of each of these tabs.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2977926,"id":2977926,"title":"category-11","filename":"category-11.png","filesize":7684,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/mapping\/use-categories\/category-11","alt":"Content tabs","author":"7641","description":"","caption":"","name":"category-11","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":485512,"date":"2026-07-22 04:16:49","modified":"2026-07-22 04:16:57","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":892,"height":138,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11-213x138.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":138,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":72,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":119,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11.png","large-width":892,"large-height":138,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11.png","1536x1536-width":892,"1536x1536-height":138,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11.png","2048x2048-width":892,"2048x2048-height":138,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11-826x128.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":128,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/07\/category-11.png","wide_image-width":892,"wide_image-height":138}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Even when starting with a standard template like ISO or ArcGIS, you can add your own custom categories. Categories can be edited, added, or deleted at any time and items can be assigned to multiple categories or subcategories. These characteristics make categories a very flexible way to organize content and make it more discoverable.<\/p>\n

Custom categories can be useful if you want more control over your organization’s content. For example, you could create organization (or group) categories for temporary or ongoing projects, such as Redlands Boulevard Widening Project<\/em>, Brookside Park Upgrades<\/em>, San Timoteo Canyon Flood Control<\/em>, or Utility Upgrades<\/em>. These can be deleted when the project is finished and new project categories can be added.<\/p>\n

You can also use more permanent custom categories, such as Planning Department<\/em>, Permitting<\/em>, or Law Enforcement<\/em> to organize content for easy discovery and member use.<\/p>\n

Organization vs. group categories<\/strong><\/p>\n

Categories can be established for content across the organization. Groups can also be configured with categories, but group categories are unique to the group (though can use the same templates). The category configuration pane is the same for each. Once configured, group categories appear along with other filters that can be used to find specific content.<\/p>\n

From within a group, you can only filter content based on group categories. However when using the group in the Gallery Instant App (see section below), you can choose whether to use group or organization categories.<\/p>\n

Note that organization categories can not be used to filter content outside your organization, even when used in the Gallery app template. However group categories can be used as filters in public Gallery apps.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Configure organization categories<\/h2>\n

In order to manage categories, your account must be a member of the default administrator role or a custom role assigned privileges to manage categories. To configure categories navigate to My organization<\/strong> or My content<\/strong>. Look for the Categories section down along the left side and follow these steps.<\/p>\n

Step 1<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 click Set up content categories<\/strong>.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2977839,"id":2977839,"title":"category-1","filename":"category-1.png","filesize":8808,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/mapping\/use-categories\/category-1","alt":"Set up content categories","author":"7641","description":"","caption":"","name":"category-1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":485512,"date":"2026-07-21 19:45:01","modified":"2026-07-21 19:45:15","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":274,"height":253,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1.png","medium-width":274,"medium-height":253,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1.png","medium_large-width":274,"medium_large-height":253,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1.png","large-width":274,"large-height":253,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1.png","1536x1536-width":274,"1536x1536-height":253,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1.png","2048x2048-width":274,"2048x2048-height":253,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1.png","card_image-width":274,"card_image-height":253,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/category-1.png","wide_image-width":274,"wide_image-height":253}},"image_position":"left-center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Step 2<\/strong> \u2014 Choose a category templates. Available templates are:<\/p>\n