How To Change WordPress Category Slug And Edit Names?
September 21st, 2014 | by Ravi Chahar || 48 Comments |
When you start your WordPress blog then you will have default WordPress category or you will get categories inbuilt in your theme. So it is necessary to edit WordPress category according to your niche. With the time you will like to increase the categories for your blog for which you should know how to know how to change WordPress default category?
Have you ever heard of WordPress category slug? Let me tell you about the slug. The URL you provide to your individual category is termed as the slug. Many bloggers maintain the category slug according to you. It’s important to show the slug or the category URL related to your category for which you should also know that you can also change WordPress category slug with the category name.
How to edit WordPress category?
Bloggers wish to show the categories at their blog according to their sequence which is also possible using WordPress. You can arrange the order of your categories. You can see the categories here including Blogging, WordPress, SEO and more. You can also add your own categories by following this tutorial. Here I am going to let you know about the changing of category slug and category names.
Step 1). Like always, first of all, you have to log in into your WordPress wp-admin and reach to your dashboard. After that take your cursor at posts where you can see categories. Click at “categories” and a new screen will appear in front of you.
Step 2). Now you can see the default categories or the categories you have already made. Have a look at one side, currently it is at the left side, there are many blank boxes to fill and asking the name of the category you want to add.
Here you can create your own slug for your category which you want to add. If you want to edit already existing categories then have a look at the other side where you can see all the existing categories with the name and slug created for them.
Step 3). As shown in the screenshots you can change WordPress category slug by clicking at any category’s name. If you want to change category slug, name or both then click on “Quick Edit” which will be shown to you when you take your cursor at the category you want to change.
Step 4). After clicking on “Quick Edit” you can see that the name and slug of the category is shown to you. You can edit the name and slug but remember that when you change the slug of any category then you may need to update the old URL with your new URL manually.
If you change the name of any category then you need to redirect it for search engine and your users otherwise, it may appear as 404 error to that particular category.
Step 5). The last step you have to follow is clicking at “update category” and your job is over. You have successfully updated your category name and slug according to you.
Did you know that you can edit WordPress category and create your own slug?
For many beginners, it’s a new thing and many if they haven’t thought that they can change WordPress category slug. Changing the name of any category or adding any new category is very easy. I hope after going through this tutorial you can easily edit WordPress category according to the niche of your blog. While doing this change if you face any problem then you can contact me.:)
Hi Ravi,
I did this thing a few months back when I learnt the thing about slug. Its better SEO to have a keyword rich slug for your categories.
Also, I changed my default category which is now “Blogging”. This is a great tutorial and will help those who haven’t done it yet.
In fact not only categories, the slugs of your posts should be chosen keeping in mind the keywords. I hope you will write for posts too someday.
Thanks for sharing this.
Regards,
Vineet Saxena
Hi Vineet,
I agree with you that bloggers should create their own category slug including the best keywords which will help them to boost the SEO of their blog.
There may be many beginners who don’t even know what is slug and how to create it?
I hope with this tutorial will will be able to help many other bloggers.
Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.
Have a great day.::)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Yes indeed, there is a lot you can do with the slug and category just as you mentioned ?
If you edit or create your slug and remove all the irrelevant words like a, an, the etc. it becomes better where SEO is concerned (so they say!), though if you are using something like Yoast, that itself removes such words from your URL to make it short, crisp, and better. I do that, though only sometimes because sometimes some words you want in the URL, even if they aren’t really all SEO, and sometimes they can make a really good long tail keyword too.
Categories are something I keep adding and changing as per the requirement of the new ones I make, and this is the way it’s done – good for newbies indeed ?
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice weekend ?
Hi Harleena,
It’s really great to hear from you related to this article.:)
Beginners should know they can create their own slug if they don’t want to use any plugins.
Changing category is the part of blogging and with the time there are many categories we all edit them.
Thanks for taking time to say your words.
Have a great weekend.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi, that is very interesting. I did not know that we could change those categories up in WordPress. When I first started blogging I had hundreds of categories, I got in down to about 20. I will have to check them out again and see if they need any changing up. Thank for your sharing this with us Ravi!
Hi Lisa,
WordPress gives you freedom to do anything with your blog and here you are.
You can change your blog category and create your own slug for them. One thing is important that if you get 404 error after changing the slug then you have to redirect the new URL for search engines and users.
Thanks for dropping your wonderful input.
Have an awesome week.:)
~Ravi
Hello Ravi Bro,
You are really great expert in wordpress. Actually I’m new on this platform because 1 year back i used blogger from long time . So, now i saw this helpful post here.
I’m going to try it on my blog.
Thanks ?
Hi Siddharth,
WordPress is an amazing platform to work at. When I was planning to set up my blog my friend suggested me to go for WordPress and it’s fun now.
I like to know more and more about WordPress. You know there is nothing hard about WordPress. You just have to practice about it.
Thanks for your comment.
Have a rocking day.:)
~Ravi
Yes Ravi,
Practice makes perfect. this rule is 100% true in every field either blogging or business.
Wordpress is great platform if you wants to know about blogging in deeply.
Thanks :0
Hi Siddharth,
Of course practice makes you perfect. But you know the thing you want to learn should be of your interest so that you don’t feel odd while learning it.
WordPress is quite interesting if you want to know more about it.
Thanks for your continuous support.
Have a nice day.:)
~Ravi
Great post/tutorial Ravi, especially for newbies like me ? even though from 2012 until now some would think is a long time blogging.
We can never know everything and I think it is a continuous process where we are constantly learning. Just wish that I had more time to invest in my blog where I can make all these editing as I learn them along the way. Perhaps one day I can think of getting someone to help me with the maintenance side of things online.
Nevertheless, this is valuable information. Thanks for sharing. Have an enjoyable day.
Hi Yvonne,
Things happen at there time. Time is required to learn more.
I am amazed so hear that you have been blogging since last two years. But one thing I must tell you that it doesn’t matter whether you are perfect in editing or not. The thing is that the time you spend for your blog is valuable.
Thanks for your wonderful thoughts.
Enjoy this week ahead.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi.
I am really not at all good with technical stuff and the truth is I have a hard time with such things.
But your post will definitely help me a lot.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards
Marcel
Hi Marcel,
First of all I would like to welcome you at my blog.:)
You know there are many bloggers who don’t know about techie things related to WordPress so nothing to panic about.
But if you want to learn then there is nothing hard.
Thanks for stopping by and showing your love.
Have a great week.:)
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
Excellent write. Simple but yet useful; definitely something worth reading for newbies!
Love the part where you integrate the images on the post. Well done on that!
Keep up the good work buddy
Hi Reginald,
Images are the special part of every post and I am trying for the same.
Taking screenshots will help many bloggers who want to follow the tutorial.
Thanks for stopping by.
Have a great day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Thanks for the nice tutorial about WordPress Category. But is it good for SEO to use a different slug for Category or Tag?
Hi Manik,
Creating your slug removing all the unnecessary alphabets from the category URL is best for SEO.
Many bloggers use plugins to create slug but here you can do it your own.
Great to hear from you.
Have fun.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Another informative post with simple steps explaining things more better. You always give reader chance to understand things in simple way with easy to do tricks which most of the new bloggers find hard to work on. Nice Job again mate.
Hi Aditya,
There is nothing complicated about WordPress.
I always say that if you want to learn it then you will love it. Its amazing and unique in its working.
Thanks for your great comment.
Enjoy your stay.:)
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
Nice tip off! You are doing a really great job by helping newbies out. This may sound easy but if you don’t know what exactly the thing is then you won’t be able to figure out.
Your tutorial is worthy of being categorized as Awesome! ? Haha, Thanks for this share Ravi.
Have a great week ahead!
Cheers!
– Rohit
Hi Rohit,
There is nothing hard if you determine you do that your own.
WordPress is quite difficult for beginners but if they try to learn about it then it’s nothing. Newbies can change their category using WordPress according to them.
Thanks for taking time to comment.
Have an amazing day.:)
~Ravi
Hello Ravi,
This tutorial is great actually I am new on WordPress Platform and I haven’t try it yet :).Hope this helps out other Newbies like myself.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post with us.
Have a great day !
Regards,
Minakshi Srivatsava
Hi Minakshi,
Yeah! of course you should try it. There are many categories at your blog. If you want to change them then you can do that using WordPress.
Creating your own slug is important because you need to have the URL which is search engine friendly.
Thanks for your input.
Enjoy your day.:)
~Ravi
Ravi which I have been looking for this methods but still I have an doubt.If I’m editing existing slug in my wordpress dashboard but its not editing showing an error something not able to update what will be the problem do you have any idea ?
Hi Shameem,
May be you haven’t noticed that I have written in the post that if you change your category slug and find error then you should redirect the old URl to new one so that search engine and users will reach to the edited category.
Thanks for your visit.
Have a nice day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
I thought your tutorial was excellent. I knew how to do these things but often forget about the beginners who don’t, so this is a great reminder to me to keep them in mind always.
The screenshots are really helpful because having a visual aid as to what you’re talking about in the text really helps get the point across and drives the message home.
Will be sharing your valuable article now… Thanks!
– Carol
Hi Carol,
You know when we move on to professional life then we forget about the things we were struggling in our beginning days. By writing such type of posts I want to help beginners and I am sure it will help them.
As its very important to create SEO friendly slug.
Many newbies don’t even know about category slug.
Thanks for your appreciation.
Have a happy week ahead.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Good tutorial… When I have started my WordPress blog on that time Lisa Irby saved me from this confusion… I have learned this on her website… You have just reminded me about those confusing days…
I am sure this tutorial is going to help many newbies…
Keep up the good work…
Regards…
Hi Karmakar,
In the starting days of blogging these type of confusion occur with bloggers.
As WordPress is an amazing CMS and gives you freedom to solve it your own so its great to know about these simple things to maintain your blog.
Thanks for taking time to put your input.
Have a good day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
This is an amazing tutorial!! I wish I had those kind of step-by-step tutorials when I first started. I had to go to YouTube and look for tutorials to help me do this stuff. The screen shots are fabulous as they guide you directly to where you want to go.
I guess newbies are lucky these days to find all these tutorials at their finger-tips.
Thanks Ravi for your help and I am sure lots of newbies will find the help they need at your blog. Have a great day!!
Be Blessed,
Neamat
Hi Neamat,
I was same like you in my previous days. I used to check many YouTube videos when I wanted to do something with WordPress. Though it is an easy stuff to learn but for beginners its little bit challenging.
Good to see you.:)
Have a nice week ahead.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Very well written article about WordPress. No doubt you have fully command over it. You really justified very well with your articles. I think you can explain very well through screenshots. Although I know how to create categories and edit slug but our mostly newbies haven’t any idea about the importance of slug in SEO. So, without any equivocation its true to say that its really helpful tutorial.
Thanks for sharing such an excellent post.
Regards
Hi Mairaj,
Thanks for letting me know that you liked the tutorial and found it useful for beginners.
Its quite hard for newbies to handle WordPress and I am here to help them.
Good to hear from you.
Have a nice day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Wonderful article. It look very helpful for newbies or who doesn’t aware about the same.
WordPress is very easy to handle. I have learned lot of things easily by myself only while started my blog and still learning. Learning never ends. So, keep learning and sharing with others.
Have a great week ahead!
Hi Nisha,
I agree that WordPress is very easy to learn but for people like you who try to learn it themselves it feels hard.
You know when you don’t have anyone to guide then it will take time to know more about this amazing CMS. I have learnt about it by watching YouTube videos.
Thanks for your input.
Have a great day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
This is an interesting idea. It’s good to carefully craft your categories because it helps the search engines find your relevant blog posts for a target audience.
I’m a bit hesitant to change things once they’re set, though. You’ve shown us how to do that, and it certainly is a great way to do it.
My problem is that some of my students have actually done some slug changes and even permalink changes that resulted in all their prior posts becoming broken links. If you have broken links due to slug or permalink changes, is there any way to fix them, or will they just aways be broken links floating around?
Thanks for the nice tutorial here, Ravi. I’ll certainly share this information with my students.
-Donna
Hi Donna,
If you didn’t have a look then in the middle of the post I have pointed that after changing the category slug it may result into broken links. If you want to solve this problem then you have to redirect your old category slug to new one. It will save you from getting 404 error.
There is nothing mush hard to do that.
Changing category slug is important if you want to set it good for search engines and for your users.
Thanks for your love.:)
Have a rocking day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Excellent article. Editing WordPress category is not only make it more use friendly but also its good for SEO. This tutorial definitely help newbies to slug their WordPress blog categories.
keep writing this type stuffs.
Have a nice day. Ravi Bro,
Regards,
Md. Hamim Mondal
Hi Hamim,
Changing the category slug for your blog is so easy and when you add many new categories then you will need it.
Adding your own slug for better SEO is important. Many bloggers use plugins to create slug for their blog but you can do it your own.
Thanks for adding values here.
Have a nice day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Thanks for reminding us of the slugs. Editing your slugs helps your seo and makes them look more user friendly.
When I started I used to ignore the slugs but I got to understand their usefulness.
Thanks for the great info
~Norbert
Hi Norbert,
Creating your own category slug may boot the SEO of your blog. You can edit in yourself just by some simple steps explained above.
Thanks for coming.
Have a wonderful weekend.:)
~Ravi
Ravi — thanks for the tutorial. You make a very good point about changing the URL manually. That’s something I probably wouldn’t have thought of.
Hi Jeannette,
Glad that you liked this tutorial.
Its very easy to change the URL of any category.
Thanks for stopping by.
Have a nice day.:)
~Ravi
Ravi ! I’m really sorry to ask a question here but please help me if you know ! Do you know how to add two menu in WordPress Blog ?
Hi Mansi,
Welcome to my blog.:)
Yeah! of course you can add another account at your WordPress blog by adding some codes in your theme.
You need to find function.php file and some coding is required.
Thanks for your visit.
Have a great day.:)
~Ravi
This is indeed a great tutorial for new WordPress users. Ebem someome that has just lunched WordPress site could easily follow it to success.
Hi Aceclue,
Welcome to my blog.:)
Its good to hear that you found this post useful for many bloggers.
Bloggers who install WordPress in the starting need to do this setting after creating categories.
Thanks for stopping by.
Enjoy your stay.:)
~Ravi