PROAPC Editorial add-on · Planning and publishing
Plugin to manage WordPress categories without leaving APC
The APC Editorial Categories add-on shows every category on your WordPress site, live, in a tab of its own. Create, rename, move or delete them without leaving your planning, and see how many of each project's articles already sit in each category.
- Live from WordPress
- Each project's articles
- Nothing created by itself
In short
The Categories add-on is an APC Editorial tab that lists every WordPress category as a tree, with its slug, the site's posts and the chosen project's articles. From there you create, rename, change the parent, delete or open a category in WordPress, and every change applies to the whole site.
It never creates a category by itself. You decide your site's structure; APC uses the categories that exist to put each generated article in the right place.
- Shows
- Every site category, as a tree
- Columns
- Category, Slug, project articles and site posts
- Actions
- New category, Edit, View in WP and Delete
- Search
- By name or by slug
- Default category
- Marked and protected from deletion
- Automatic creation
- Never
- Plan
- PRO, with 30 days free
Categories in WordPress
The structure readers and Google see.
WordPress organizes posts with 2 tools: categories and tags. They look alike, but they do different jobs.
Categories are your site's main sections, like a book's table of contents. They are hierarchical: a category can have child categories, and each child has a parent. Every post sits in at least one category; when nobody picks one, WordPress uses the default category, which ships as "Uncategorized".
Tags are the details, like the index at the back of the book. They have no hierarchy and are optional. Both categories and tags get an archive page of their own, at an address built from the slug, that gathers the posts on that subject.
For readers, categories are the path between the site's subjects. For search engines, they are a clear signal of how the content is grouped: a well-kept category becomes an entry page for the whole topic.
| Categories | Tags | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Hierarchical: parent and child categories | Flat, with no levels |
| Required? | Yes (if nobody picks one, the default applies) | No |
| What it is for | The site's main sections | The details of each subject |
| Archive page | Yes | Yes |
| In APC Editorial | The plan's default category, or the one the theme picks. Never created by itself. | Reused or created depending on the theme, with a cap per article. |
Tags live in each plan's Categories / Tags card: Create tags automatically and Tag cap per article.
Topic cluster
One category for each subject.
APC Editorial plans by subject: a pillar article and the satellites that go deeper into each part of it. The category is that group's natural place on the site. When the articles on one subject share a category, its archive page shows the whole subject, and readers find the next article without searching.
The opposite matters too: dozens of nearly empty categories tend to produce weak archive pages, and 2 categories for the same subject split what should stay together. That is why the tree deserves care, and why the plugin never creates a category without you.
- Each plan has a default category, in the Categories / Tags card. Every article of the plan goes there.
- Each theme can pick another one on its card. While it follows the plan, the selector shows (Inherited from the editorial plan).
- The project articles column shows when a subject got spread over several categories.
The links between articles on the same subject are handled by Link Building - Native, which connects the plan's pillar and satellites.
What it does
Your site's categories, in one tab.
The Site categories card reads everything straight from WordPress and refreshes the list at once, without reloading the page.
The whole tree
Every category on the site, empty ones included, in alphabetical order, with children indented under their parent. The default one is marked default.
New category
New category opens a window with Category name and Parent category. Leave — None (top level) — for a main category.
Rename and move
Edit changes the name or the parent category. Renaming leaves the slug alone, so the category's address stays the same.
Each project's articles
Articles (project) counts the articles in the index of the project picked in the switcher; Posts (site) counts every post in the category.
Search as you type
Search categories… filters the list by name or by slug. On a site with many categories, you find the right one in seconds.
The rest, in WordPress
View in WP opens the category on WordPress's own screen, in a new tab, to change the slug or write the description.
No surprises
Changing a category never deletes a post.
Categories apply to the whole site, and the tab says so at the top: Create / rename / delete affect the whole site (that is how WordPress categories work). That is why the most sensitive actions are protected:
- The default category has no Delete button, and the plugin refuses to delete it by any route.
- Delete asks first, in the plugin's own window, and says where the posts go.
- Posts never disappear with the category: those left without one go to the default category.
- No category can go inside itself or one of its children; the plugin refuses and explains.
- A plan with no category doesn't generate: if a plan's default category is deleted, it waits for you to pick another.
Step by step
Organize your categories in 4 steps.
The tab uses the project picked in the top switcher to count the articles. With no project at all, it asks you to: Create a project first.
-
Turn the add-on on
In Global Settings, on the Add-ons/Tools card, turn on Categories and click Save.
-
Pick the project
In the top switcher, open the client's or section's project. The Showing: bar confirms which one.
-
Build the tree
Create with New category, adjust with Edit and remove what is left over with Delete.
-
Use them in your plans
In the plan's Categories / Tags card, pick the Default category. Every generated article goes straight into it.
Want to see each screen? The Categories tab in the docs shows the buttons and the columns.
Free and PRO
A PRO add-on, with 30 days free.
The Categories tab belongs to APC Editorial's planning workspace, which is PRO. On Free, it doesn't show up.
Categories stay in WordPress
- You manage them on WordPress's own categories screen, as always
- The site's Free tools keep working, such as the Image Converter
Categories next to your planning
- The Categories tab, with the article count per project
- Each plan's default category and the per-theme choice
- Articles in Word and full generation, with everything in place
- 30 days free to try it. See the price
FAQ
Questions about managing categories.
Does deleting a category delete its posts?
No. The posts stay on the site. Those left without any category go to the default category, and the plugin says so in the confirmation window, before deleting.
What is the difference between a category and a tag in WordPress?
A category is a section of the site: it is hierarchical and every post has at least one. A tag is a detail of the subject: it has no hierarchy and is optional. In APC Editorial, the category comes from the plan or the theme; tags follow the rule in the Categories / Tags card.
Does APC Editorial create categories by itself?
Never. It only uses the categories that already exist. If neither the theme nor the plan has a category, the theme doesn't generate. That way your site's structure always stays in your hands.
Can I delete the default "Uncategorized" category?
Not from the tab: the default category has no Delete button. To change which one is the default, use WordPress's own writing settings; after that, the old one can be deleted.
Does renaming a category change its address?
No. Edit only changes the name and the parent; the slug stays. Changing the parent can change the category page's address, because WordPress includes the parent in it. To change the slug, use View in WP.
Does the project article count include subprojects?
No. Articles (project) counts only the article index of the project picked in the switcher. To see a subproject, pick it in the switcher. Posts (site) counts every post in the category, from any source.
What happens to a plan if its category is deleted?
The plan stops generating and shows: The default category of this plan no longer exists. Choose another. No article goes into a category that is gone. Articles already published stay where WordPress left them.
Who can use the Categories tab?
WordPress administrators and editors who have PRO. Since every change applies to the whole site, agree with your team before reorganizing the tree.
More add-ons and tools
Works together with these.
Each add-on and each tool turns on and off on its own, in Global Settings › Add-ons/Tools.
APC Editorial
Try it free for 30 days, with everything unlocked.
The Categories add-on is part of APC Editorial, the plugin to generate articles with AI with editorial planning. Free add-ons and tools stay free forever; PRO ones are unlocked during the 30 free days.