# Creating a Reference Category

https://docs.wisecp.com/es/creating-a-reference-category

A reference category groups the work you showcase and becomes a filter chip on the references page; here you give it a name, an address, an icon and a colour.

## Opening the Screen

Open Site Management, then References. Click the **Categories** button, then the **Create Category** button: `{admin}/manage-website/references/add-category`

An existing category opens in the same form: `{admin}/manage-website/references/edit-category?id={category}`

## What Is on the Screen

One form, with a language strip above it.

- **Language strip**: Switches the form between your active languages. Title, Link Structure, Content and the SEO fields belong to the language you have selected. Every tab except your default one also carries an ×, which removes that translation. Leave it alone here: the save wants a title in every active language, and a removed one blocks it.
- **Shared fields**: Status, Sort Order, Icon, Accent Color and Background Image count for every language, so you see them only under your default language tab.
- **Search Engine Optimization (SEO)**: A section at the foot of the form. Switch on **Enable SEO** to write your own **Page Title** and **Meta Description** for each language.
- **Create / Save**: The button under the form. It reads **Create** on a new category and **Save** on an existing one.

## Fields

- **Title**: The category name visitors see on the filter chip. Required, and required in every active language.
- **Link Structure**: The category's own address. Leave it alone and it comes from the title; the **Change the URL** button lets you write your own. Uniqueness is not checked on save, so avoid giving two categories the same address.
- **Status**: Tick **Active** to publish the category on the site. A new category arrives ticked. Being active is not enough on its own. The category becomes a filter chip once a published reference is assigned to it.
- **Sort Order**: The position of the category in list views. A smaller number comes first.
- **Icon**: Optional. Appears on the filter chip and on the category label of every reference card. A reference with no cover image of its own uses it as the card cover. Pick a Bootstrap icon or upload a small PNG or SVG.
- **Accent Color**: Tints the cards of the references in this category. It starts on a green tone.
- **Background Image**: A banner image stored with the category. 1920 × 400px is recommended, up to 2MB, as JPG, PNG, SVG or WebP. The themes that ship with the system take the references header from theme settings, so nothing shows this file yet.
- **Content**: An introduction text for the category, written per language. Optional, and the shipped themes do not show it yet.

## Tasks

### Create a category

1. Write the **Title** for the open language, then move along the language strip and write it for the rest.
2. Come back to your default language tab and set **Sort Order**, **Icon** and **Accent Color**.
3. Click the **Create** button. The category is saved, but the panel opens the blog category list. Go back to References, then Categories, to find it there.

### Change the address

1. Click the **Change the URL** button beside **Link Structure**.
2. Type the new address and confirm it with the **Save** button inside the field.
3. Save the form. Every language keeps its own address, so repeat this on each tab you use.

### Replace the icon or the banner

1. Open the category from the category list.
2. Drop a new file onto **Icon** or **Background Image**, or use the remove button on the file that is there.
3. Click **Save**. The category now carries the new file.

## Things to Watch

> **Removing a file happens at once**
> 
> The remove button on the icon and on the background image deletes the file straight away, with no confirmation and without waiting for **Save**. Leaving the form afterwards will not bring it back, so keep a copy before you remove one.

> **Changing the address breaks the old links**
> 
> Visitors who saved that address, and search engines that indexed it, still hold the previous one. Change it on a published category only when you have a reason, and expect those links to answer 404.

> **The help texts talk about the blog**
> 
> Reference and blog categories share one form, and the hints under **Icon** and **Accent Color** were written for the blog. On this screen the icon lands on the references filter chip and the colour tints the reference cards.

## Required Privileges

Opening the screen, saving the category and removing the icon or the background image all need `MANAGE_WEBSITE_OPERATION`. Deleting a category from the list is a separate right, `MANAGE_WEBSITE_DELETE`.

## Related Articles

- [Reference Categories](https://docs.wisecp.com/en/reference-categories)
- [Creating a Reference](https://docs.wisecp.com/en/creating-a-reference)
- [Creating a Blog Category](https://docs.wisecp.com/en/creating-a-blog-category)