Changing the name of a category

When you install WordPress, it gives you one default category called
Uncategorized (see the Categories page shown in Figure 7-3). This cat-
egory name is pretty generic, so you definitely want to change it to one
that applies to you and your blog. (On Lisa’s blog, she changed it to Life in
General. Although that name’s still a bit on the generic side, it doesn’t sound quite so . . . well, uncategorized.)
The default category also serves as kind of a fail-safe. If you publish a post
to your blog and don’t assign that post to a category, the post is assigned to
the default category automatically, no matter what you name the category.

 

So, how do you change the name of that default category? When you’re logged in to your WordPress Dashboard, just follow these steps:

1. Click Categories in the Posts drop-down list.
The Categories page opens, containing all the tools you need to set up and edit category titles for your blog.

2. Click the title of the category that you want to edit.

If you want to change the Uncategorized category, click the word
Uncategorized to open the Edit Category page (see Figure 7-4).

3. Type the new name for the category in the Name text box.

4. Type the new slug in the Slug text box.
The term slug refers to the word(s) used in the Web address for the spe-
cific category. For example, the category of Books has a Web address
of http://yourdomain.com/category/books; if you change the
Category Slug to Books I Like, then the Web address is http://your
domain.com/category/books-i-like (WordPress automatically
inserts a dash between the slug words in the Web address).
5. Select a parent category from the Parent drop-down list.
If you want this category to be a main category, not a subcategory, select None.
6. (Optional) Type a description of the category in the Description
text box.
Use this description to remind yourself what your category is about.
Some WordPress themes display the category description right on your
site, too, which your visitors may find helpful. (See Book VI for more

about themes.) You know that your theme is coded in this way if your site displays the category description on the category page(s).

7. Click the Update button.
The information you just edited is saved, and the Categories page reloads, showing your new category name.