Categories and Tags
This topic contains 8 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by 
Alex Rollin 4 years ago.
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March 31, 2020 at 4:44 pm #537624
Let me preface this by saying I am a new user. I’m trying to wrap my head around using GeoDirectory, and I’m stumbling in a few areas. I’ve searched through the documentation, and I cannot find the information necessary to clear up my stumbling. I’m hoping that someone here can help.
If I want to import into GeoDirectory (CSV file), there are two fields called post_category and post_tags. This indicates that directory listings should have both categories and tags associated with them. However, in the documentation I can find no information about what “categories” and “tags” actually are, how you should create them, how they relate to each other, and how they are used in the actual display of directory listings.
Further, there is no indication if categories and tags in GeoDirectory are separate and distinct from categories and tags in actual WordPress posts. If they are not separate, then it is very unclear from the sample listings.csv file provided with GeoDirectory what the numbers in the post_category field (1, 2, 3, etc.) actually refer to.
Am I simply not seeing the forest for the trees? I really need to understand categories and tags to understand how to best set up my directory listings.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
March 31, 2020 at 6:29 pm #537647Hello,
many plugins like GeoDirectory create their own Custom Post Types.
Usually WP categories and tags only apply to WordPress Posts, and will not apply to the CPTs created by other plugins, and this is the case for GD, too.
More info about categories is available here:
https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs-v2/places/categories/
That shows how to add and edit categories.To import listings, it is highly recommend that you first add a listing, and then export that listing. This will give you a CSV file into which you can merge your data. Please check out this page for more information, including a recommended procedure.
https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs-v2/geodirectory/settings/import-export/
When viewing listings in an import export file the categories are represented by the category ID. You can get the ID from the Add/Edit categories screen that lists all the categories.
March 31, 2020 at 9:04 pm #537692That helps a bit, Alex. It still doesn’t answer what categories (what you refer to as “CPTs”) are actually for. For instance, can they be used only for “places,” as indicated in the link you provided? Or can they be used to categorize in other ways (such as restaurant, pharmacy, truck driving, etc.)?
Or is that what tags are for? You never addressed that, and it is the biggest conceptual hurdle for me — what are each (categories and tags) used for, and how do they relate to each other?
March 31, 2020 at 9:09 pm #537693Further, consider this “step” in the page you linked to, Alex:
5. If one CPT “Restaurants” has a category “general”, then a second CPT “Hotels” with a category “general” will automatically be assigned a slug pf “general-1” because all slugs must be unique all throughout the site.
This implies that CPTs are different than categories, which muddies the water. Just in this one, single “step” it is assumed that I will know (1) what a CPT is, (2) what a category is, and (3) what a slug is. Yet NOWHERE that I can find do you explain what any of these things are and, more importantly, how they relate to each other (and how tags play into the mix).
If I cannot get my head around the pieces conceptually, it is impossible for me to us GD efficiently or effectively. I’m looking for that conceptual framework that seems to be missing.
April 1, 2020 at 5:42 am #537720Hello,
Custom Post Types are like individual directories.
The Event Manager addon adds the “Events” Custom Post Type (CPT).
Events then have categories like “Opera” or “Birthday Party”
Does that make sense?
You can add 100 Event listings (all of the Event Custom Post Type) and each one can have a different category.
The categories are created ahead of time, as shown in the link I sent above.
Events Custom Post Type is created by the Event Manager addon, but, with the Custom Post Types addon you can create as many custom post types as you want. Examples are endless, and we have an example with hospitals and doctors on the Custom Post Types addon page:
https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs-v2/addons/custom-post-types/
April 1, 2020 at 1:23 pm #537789Ok, I understand what custom post types are. However, I don’t believe you are following what I was asking originally. When I installed GeoDirectory It created the Places custom post type. With this “CPT” creation, it also created “Place Tags” and “Place Categories” which, when I go to populate a CSV file for mass uploading are fields that need populated. What is the difference between “Post Categories” and “Post Tags”?
I have gone through the documentation and even done searches on “Tags vs Categories” and even just “Place Tags” with NO results the only thing that comes up is Place Categories.
Are Place Tags just a by-product of WordPress creating a Custom Post Type or is it something I need to use as the CSV template leads me to believe? If I do need to use it how does GEO Directory utilize it and what is it best used for?
April 1, 2020 at 5:19 pm #537872Tags and Categories are both ‘taxonomies’, a technical wp term. Categories are created ahead of time and can have a heirarchy. Tags cannot have heirarchy and can be created ‘on the fly’.
When you import listings, all categories must be created ahead of time, and referenced with the category ID.
With tags, you can just add in the tag as a word, word.
You can see these things clearly if you add a listing and examine the exported data.
Only the category is required, tags are optional.
April 2, 2020 at 12:05 am #537908Ok, so the main focus is categories, which is what I was thinking. Could tags be used for a secondary differentiator? For example, the directory I am working on is for a rule community comprising of 6 towns. Each town is at a minimum three miles apart. Could I use a tag for each town such as “Smith Town”, “Johns Town”, “Marys Town” and so forth. And then use those tags as filters in searches or listings etc?
April 2, 2020 at 12:37 am #537916There are several additional features for tags:
a page (Tag archive) is created for each tag, so show all listings with that tag
GD Listings can show all listings with a tag on any pageHowever, tagging listings in a city is not necessary because GD automatically create a page for every city to show all the listings in that city.
That is done with the location page template:
https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs-v2/templates/location/ -
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