Managing Categories
We've found that the web, like life, generally resists fitting into unique and distinct categories. HLOM uses a system that allows users to both create new categories on the fly and assign multiple categories to an individual link.
New Categories
When you start a new HLOM account there are no categories defined. We could
define some for you, but what are the odds that we'd have any idea of how or
why you personally use the web..? Do you want to file pages about Marmosets
under General Mammals, or do you like to have a categories specifically for
Tropical Wildlife and another for Primates?
It's even conceivable that some users will never need to file a marmoset...
Rather than ask you to define new categories in advance, HLOM just invites
you to make them up as you go along.
There are three empty boxes in the Categories; type into any or all of these
and hit Update and categories will be created for you.
The link that you are editing will automatically have those new Categories
assigned to it; you'll be able to tell that this is the case because the categories
will have appeared on your categories list and the checkboxes next to them
will be checked.
Now, when you grab another new link that list of categories will be waiting, inviting
you to click on the checkboxes. Or make up some more new categories. Or choose one existing
category and create two new ones.
There's no actual limit to the number of categories that you can create. There is,
however, a limit to the number of pixels on your screen. The more categories you
make, the more scrolling you have to do...
Category Control
It's quite easy to get carried away with the whole Category creation process. When you
find you've got more than a screen-full of Categories and a sneaking suspicion that half
of them are entirely uneccesary, it's time to deal with them.
Click on the Settings Menu and select 'Categories'.
You'll be taken to page that allows you to do three handy things:
Merge Categories
The top of the Category page gives you two lists of your categories, and invites
you to merge one with the other. This action takes all of the links in the
first category and re-categorizes them under the second category.
Wwe've all found the HLOM categories list has a tendency
to grow over time and needs occasional pruning. Merge allows those multiple, super-specific
categories that you add during a specific project/phase/obsession to be squished
down into a single broader category when that period in you life is completed/passed/faded.
Rename Categories
You can change any category name in the Edit Categories lists at any time. Just click in the title, type, and click Update.
Delete Categories
Clicking Delete Category removes that category. Obviously. It just deletes the Category
from your list, not any of your actual links.
The list also shows you how many links live under each Category. Handy when you're
looking for a way to trim an unwieldy list.