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How To Edit WordPress Categories

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Struggling to keep your posts organized as your WordPress website grows?

It is an issue faced by most beginning bloggers, but WordPress has a nifty solution.

You can add and edit WordPress categories to organize your posts to facilitate better website navigation.

Deleting the old categories is possible, too.

I discuss the steps to edit WordPress categories to better suit your post types.

You will also learn about editing multiple categories at once.

Frequently Asked Questions: FAQs

Can You Customize a Category in WordPress?

You can customize your category page by editing the WordPress theme files or designing your own category page from your WordPress hosting cPanel.

It doesn’t require using any WordPress plugin.

You can also customize a category page with a WordPress block, including: Post Carousel, Query Loop, and Blog Posts blocks.

What Is the Best Way To Edit a Category in WordPress?

The best way to edit a category in WordPress involves accessing the Dashboard.

From there, you can navigate to your site’s Categories Panel to edit them in a few quick steps.

Adding or deleting WordPress categories is also possible from the same section, making it the most convenient way.

What You’ll Need To Edit WordPress Categories

With a WordPress website, you will need the following to edit an existing category:

  • Username and Password to log into the WordPress Dashboard. You have to visit your wp-admin page.
  • An existing WordPress category to conduct your edits.
  • A WordPress plugin to do bulk edits with multiple categories. You must be a WordPress admin.

For this guide, I assume you already know how to add a parent or child category to WordPress.

How To Edit WordPress Categories: Step-by-Step Instructions

Editing a WordPress category is one of the basics of using WordPress.

It allows you to rename the category name, change the category slug or the permalink, and add or replace the category description.

With this feature, you don’t have to create or delete a category for each new blog post.

You can continue to use an existing category by editing it.

Step 1: Editing a WordPress Category Using the Quick Edit Option

The Quick Edit option is hugely beneficial for quickly editing the category name and the category slug.

Using this feature, you can’t edit the description or assign a parent cattery.

Simply do the following:

Log in to the WordPress dashboard.

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Head to Posts > Categories to access the category page.

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Click the “Quick Edit” option below an existing category name.

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Enter the new category name and the category slug in the given fields. You can leave the slug box empty if it’s the same as your category name.

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Click on the “Update Category” button to save your changes.

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The changes will automatically apply to all child categories if you edit a parent category.

Step 2: Editing a WordPress Category Using the Edit Option

You can make wholesome changes to an existing WordPress category by utilizing the category edit options.

The steps are the same to navigate to the categories section.

Once there:

Hover over the particular category name, then click “Edit.”

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In the “Edit Category” page, replace the existing category name, slug, and descriptions.

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Assign a new parent category to the edited category if you want. You can also assign a child category as the parent by choosing one from the drop-down options.

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Tap “Update” from the bottom to save your changes.

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Step 3: Editing the Default Uncategorized Category in WordPress

Ever wondered what happens to the blog posts you publish without a category?

WordPress put it in the Uncategorized category.

It’s the default category for any WordPress website, which you can edit to resonate more with your brand.

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Simply follow the steps described above to edit the Uncategorized category.

The default post archive page will have the new name automatically.

Step 4: Editing Multiple Categories in Bulk Using a WordPress Plugin

By default, the Bulk action tab on the WordPress Categories section will only allow you to delete multiple categories simultaneously.

You can enable an edit feature here to edit multiple categories with one click.

It requires using a WordPress plugin like the Term Management Tools.

From the menu bar on your WordPress Dashboard:

Navigate to Plugins > Add New. Then search for the Term Management Tools plugin.

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Once found, hit the “Install Now” button, then tap “Activate.”

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Head over to Posts > Categories. Then select multiple categories to edit in bulk.

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Click on the “Bulk Action” tab from the top or bottom of your category list. You will notice some new options here.

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Selecting “Set Parent” will show a new drop-down box on the right with all WordPress categories. Choose a parent category before clicking “Apply.”

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Choosing “Merge” will merge all the previously selected category archive pages into one. Give it a new name on the right, then click “Apply.”

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Pro Tip: You can link your WordPress site’s category archive page directly on the WordPress menu bar by using one of the best menu plugins for WordPress.

Similar Tutorials To Check Out

Think you can learn all the basics of using WordPress in one sitting? Then check out some similar WordPress tutorials below:

Wrapping Up

Categories are excellent for enhancing the user experience of your WordPress site.

Posts with well-organized categories also perform better in search rankings.

You can edit WordPress categories directly from the Dashboard, although bulk editing would require a WordPress plugin.

Please comment for further clarification.

You can also suggest anything I’ve missed.

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