Working with Categories
Add category
Categorizing your listings is an optional step and is important for Review App sites that expect a large number of listings. To add a single category, click the ‘Add category’ button near the top of the page. Once saved, you can edit your categories at any time by clicking the name of the category in the category list below. Use the “Add Category” button to add subcategories within a category as well.
Below the category buttons you’ll see a short form asking how you’ll be categorizing your listings. Enter something descriptive as in the examples shown. Your users will see this label on the ‘Add listing’ form category input.
Once you’ve added several categories you can order those categories alphabetically within their respective subcategories by clicking the Re-order by: ‘Alphabetical’ or ‘Reverse Alphabetical’ link near the top of the page.
If you prefer to order the categories by some other scheme you can do this manually by using the up and down arrows in the ‘move’ column. Categories can move relative to other categories on the same level.
You can delete any category that does not have any sub-categories below it. Use the X icon in the delete column or check the relevant checkboxes to delete multiple categories at once. For multiple deletions you’ll find the ‘Delete Checked Categories’ button at the bottom of your category list along with a ‘Check all’ checkbox for your convenience. Deleted categories cannot be recovered so delete at your own risk! You may also delete categories one at a time by using the ‘X’ icon in the left column.
Pre-built categories
We’ve included some commonly used categories for your convenience and you can access this data by clicking the ‘Pre-built categories’ button near the top of the page. Click the link beside the pre-built category name to see a preview of the category data; click the category name to see a form for adding the categories to your section. Note that you may add a pre-built category list as a sub-category of an existing category.
Once pre-built categories have been added you can manage them just like custom categories using the methods discussed above.
Load spreadsheet
Advanced users may wish to add categories using a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. This method may also be useful for users migrating from a content management system or similar web software system.
First, download your category template. This template will include any category information you previously created.
Next, edit or add category data using a spreadsheet program. Adding new categories is simple – just leave the id column blank and the category will be added as a new category.
You can also update existing categories but remember – do not update the column marked ‘id’. It is also recommended that you do not edit the ‘parentID’ either as this may have unintended consequences. Finally, note that deleting a category on your spreadsheet will not delete the category from your review app for safety reasons.
Finally, upload your saved .csv file. Check your categories to make sure they look as expected.
A word on categories versus attributes: Categories are used to help organize listings while attributes are used to filter listings within a given category. Listings may only be categorized along a single dimension but a single listing may be part of multiple categories. For example: If your site were designed to allow users to review running shoes, you might choose to categorize your listings by gender (Mens and Womens) while adding attributes to describe shoe type (road, trail, track, etc.) and shoe fit (wide, narrow, etc.). In this case gender is the better choice for categorization since users may not know what type of shoe they’re looking for or even the fit they need but they should know if they are a man or woman 
Category Appearance
Each category must be formatted before you can view it on the your website. First, choose the view you’d like to use for your category page (1.). As you make a selection from the menu you’ll see a preview of that listing type, along with letters and numbers to help you set up where your listing fields will appear.
Below the view menu is a listing of all your section listing fields (2.). The first column shows your field name; the next column indicates the position of that field relative to the sample image shown on the right of the page. By default all position menus are set to ‘Hidden.’ Choose the fields you’d like to display on your category page along with the position for that field.
The third column indicates whether the data in this field will be shown as a clickable link leading to the data item page. Don’t overuse this – one or two fields should be fine (but choose at least one so users can get to your content!).
The next column provides a word limit if you’d like to keep your long listing fields (like descriptions) more manageable. The next column, ‘Filter,’ determines whether the category listing can be filtered by that field. Use this for fields that might share values across multiple items. Do not use this option for unique fields such as title or descriptions.
Finally, the last column allows you to set columns for sorting. Again, only use this where it makes sense. Fields of type ‘Choice’ will be sorted by ‘id’ which in many cases may not make sense to your users.
Below the field table you’ll see inputs that control various aspects of your category display (3.). Play with these fields to get the look you want – use the preview icon near the top of the page to see how your changes look. The ‘Default image’ will be displayed when the photo field is visible and no photo has been posted for that item.
Choose a primary and secondary default sort field. This controls how your category pages will be sorted when the user first clicks on a category page. If there is a “tie” in sorting listings via the primary field, the tie will be broken via the secondary field.
The ‘Custom listing page’ field allows you to link your listings within this section to a custom PHP page instead of the default ‘item.php.’ Simply make a copy of item.php, rename it, and enter the name of the file in this field. Then you can edit this copy of item.php to give listings within each of your sections a custom layout. This is an advanced feature – only use this if you’re comfortable and have a good understanding of the Review App templating system.
Conditional formatting allows you to assign custom CSS classes to rows based on various criteria. Choose a style name, the field you’re comparing, and the value that field must equal for the formatting to become active.
Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom when you’re done!