Organizing with categories

Create a category

1. Open Help Center in the main navigation and go to the Categories tab.
2. Click New Category.
3. Enter a Category name your customers would recognize, for example "Returns & Refunds".
4. Add a short Description. It shows under the title on your help center.
5. The Slug (the category's part of the web address) is filled in from the name. Change it if you like, and pick an icon.
6. Leave Internal category off for a public category, or switch it on (see below).
7. Click Add.

You file an article in a category in the article editor. Use the arrows next to a category to change the order: the order in the dashboard is the order on your help center.

Internal categories

Switch on Internal category when you create or edit a category, and the category, its subcategories and all their articles become visible only to your team:

• Your team sees them in the dashboard with an Internal badge.
• They never show on the public help center or in its sitemap, and their web addresses show a "not found" page.
• The chat widget does not show them, and Fynn, the AI bot, never uses them to answer customers.
• Copilot can use them when someone on your team asks it a question. It never uses them for replies it writes for customers.
• An article stays internal even when it is published. The article editor shows a notice, and its category list marks internal categories with "(internal)".

Visibility belongs to the category. To make a single article internal, move it into an internal category. A subcategory of an internal category is always internal: its switch is locked and says Internal because a parent category is internal. Internal works in every language: the translations of an internal category are internal too, and an article that is internal in one language is internal in all of them.

Renaming or deleting never makes something public by accident. A new slug for an article changes it in all its languages together. When you delete the language version that made an article internal, its other languages move into that internal category, so they stay internal. The same goes for categories: changing a category's slug or deleting it keeps internal what was internal.

Switching a category back to public asks first: Deskwoot shows how many published articles become public with it, and you confirm with Make public. The same holds over the API: a request that switches a category to public changes nothing unless it sends "confirmPublic": true, and its answer says how many articles would become public. Moving content out of an internal category into a public one asks the same way: an article you move in the article editor, and the content of a category you delete.

Imports from Freshdesk, Zendesk, Intercom, Crisp and Chatwoot create internal categories by themselves for folders and articles that were not public there.

Delete a category

An empty category is deleted once you confirm. If it still holds articles or subcategories, pick a category under Move its content to and click Move and delete: the articles and subcategories move there, then the category is deleted. Content that moves into an internal category becomes internal. Content that moves out of an internal category into a public one asks first, with Make public. This cannot be undone.

Tips

• Start with a few broad categories and split them when they grow.
• Use names your customers use, not internal jargon.
• Avoid vague names like "General" or "Other".
• Put the most needed categories first.

Frequently asked questions

Can I hide a category from customers but keep it for my team?

Yes. Open the category, switch on Internal category and save. Its articles stay in your dashboard and Copilot can use them, but customers, the chat widget and Fynn never see them.

What happens when I make an internal category public again?

Deskwoot asks first and shows how many published articles become public with it. After you confirm with Make public, visitors, the chat widget and Fynn see the category, its subcategories and their published articles again.

What happens to the articles when I delete a category?

They move to the category you pick under Move its content to, together with its subcategories, and nothing is deleted with them. In an internal category they are internal. If they would become public, Deskwoot asks first.

Why can't I switch off Internal for a subcategory?

A category above it is internal, and everything below an internal category is internal too. Switch off Internal category on the parent instead.

Can I make one article internal?

Not on its own. Visibility is set per category, so move the article into an internal category in the article editor.

Does Fynn use internal articles?

No, never. Fynn answers customers, so it only reads public articles. The Training Hub never keeps pages of your own Deskwoot help center, so internal articles cannot reach Fynn that way either.

Can I create subcategories?

In the dashboard you create categories at one level. Imports from other help desks bring their nested folders along as subcategories.

Do categories show in the web address?

Each public category has its own page at /category/{category-slug} on your help center. Article addresses are /{article-slug} without the category, so moving an article keeps its link.

Can I rename a category later?

Yes. Change the name, description, slug, icon or the internal switch at any time. A changed slug changes the category's web address.