Beginner Guide : Rename The Uncategorized Category In WordPress

April 2nd, 2017 | by Ravi Chahar || 4 Comments |

When you install WordPress and publish any post without creating selecting any category, it automatically gets published under the uncategorized category.

It’s the default category WordPress creates to save its users to orphan their blog posts. And for beginners, it can be brainstorming.

It’s because they have no idea how to rename the uncategorized category in WordPress. Whenever they publish any post, they see the uncategorized tag.

In this tutorial, you will learn to change the name of the category and redirect the uncategorized category to the new one.

Changing The Uncategorized Category Name And The Slug.

As I have mentioned earlier, there are default WordPress categories and tags which appear when you don’t create any new.

It can be solved with two methods. Either you rename the uncategorized category or you can set another default category.

To rename, go to Posts>>Catgories and you will see a list of all the categories you have created. Click edit under the uncategorized category.

It will open a few options. You can change the category name and the slug. Though after changing the category slug, you will see 404 error in the Google Search Console.

To solve this, you have to redirect your old category to the new one. We will guide you later about it.

You can also set the parent category if any. If you know how to create navigation menu then you would know about it all.

After renaming the category, save the settings.

Redirect Your Uncategorized Category To The New One.

As you have renamed it, you would need to make a redirect. It’s necessary only if your website is live. If you’re just starting out, you don’t need to follow this step.

For redirecting, install and activate Simple 301 Redirects plugin. After installation, go to Settings>>301 Redirects and you will see two fields.

Under “Request” section, you have to add the URL of your old category.

Under “Destination” section, add the URL of your new category.

For example :

http://www.yoursite.com/category/uncategorized/ is the old URL and http://www.yoursite.com/category/blogging/ is the URL of your new category.

Do you know how to create a new category? It’s simple. Go to Posts>>Categories and you will see a button to add a new category.

How To Change The Default WordPress Category

Instead of renaming the uncategorized category, you can change the default category. But this is favorable only if you’re starting out.

You can also delete the uncategorized category. To do that, go to Settings>>Writing.

It will open a new page and you can easily spot an option to choose the default post category. You will see all the categories you have created in the drop-down list.

Choose your most preferable category according to your blog’s niche.

Don’t forget to save the settings. After that, whenever you forget to choose the category for any of your posts, it will directly get published under this chosen post category.

If you’re writing about SEO, blogging, WordPress and many similar topics then you can add blogging as the default category just like me.

Can You Now Rename Uncategorized Category In WordPress?

Such types of things can be overwhelming to the beginners. WordPress is an easy platform but it can be complicated if you haven’t used any CMS before.

Settings your default category is one of the most steps to take while setting up your WordPress blog. I hope now you can easily rename the uncategorized category in WordPress.

If your website is live then don’t forget to make a 301 redirect. If still have any doubt, feel free to drop a comment.

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