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What
Custom identifiers you can use to group projects and project items.
Categories can be applied to: projects, files, messages, links, and notebooks.
Why
  • Create structure by organizing items into related groups.
  • Improve discoverability of items. You can filter by categories.
  • Create custom groupings best suited to each item type.
Who
  • Site admins can create and manage categories and set default categories for project items.
  • Standard users with the profile permission:
    • Add projects (allows users to create and manage project categories. Makes sense, they can create actual projects too)
  • Project admins can create and manage categories for individual item types (files, messages, etc.) in projects they're an admin on. They can also move those projects to different categories.
  • Standard users, client users, and collaborators can view categories associated with projects they're a member of. If one of those is a subcategory, they can also see the parent category.
When
You want to create overall project structure or increase organization of key project items.
  • Ex. Projects: Projects can be assigned to one category. Create a category for each product line you work with or client service you offer and assign a project to the appropriate category.
  • Ex. Project items: You have a project to build a client's new website — you could create "Designs," "Specs," and "Prototypes" categories for files, and "Meeting Notes," "Review Guidelines," and "Test Plans" categories for notebooks.
What
Custom identifiers you can use to group projects and project items.
Categories can be applied to: projects, files, messages, links, and notebooks.
Why
  • Create structure by organizing items into related groups.
  • Improve discoverability of items. You can filter by categories.
  • Create custom groupings best suited to each item type.
Who
  • Site admins can create and manage categories and set default categories for project items.
  • Standard users with the profile permission:
    • Add projects (allows users to create and manage project categories. Makes sense, they can create actual projects too)
  • Project admins can create and manage categories for individual item types (files, messages, etc.) in projects they're an admin on. They can also move those projects to different categories.
  • Standard users, client users, and collaborators can view categories associated with projects they're a member of. If one of those is a subcategory, they can also see the parent category.
When
You want to create overall project structure or increase organization of key project items.
  • Ex. Projects: Projects can be assigned to one category. Create a category for each product line you work with or client service you offer and assign a project to the appropriate category.
  • Ex. Project items: You have a project to build a client's new website — you could create "Designs," "Specs," and "Prototypes" categories for files, and "Meeting Notes," "Review Guidelines," and "Test Plans" categories for notebooks.

Before you start

  • Category structure can be up to three levels deep.
  • Any items not assigned a category are visible in the No Category section. 
  • A project (or project item) can only exist in one category or subcategory at any one time.

Navigate the category panel

What they are: Category panels show corresponding project or project item categories. You'll see a panel in the projects List view and on any applicable project item view (within a project).

Work with the panel: Click a category to see the items in that category. They'll show up in the main view, not in the category panel. If the category has subcategories, those will appear in the category panel.




Numbers: The numbers next to each category (or subcategory) show how many items are assigned to the category (or subcategory).
📝 Filters affect these numbers, so if you're looking at active projects, the project categories will filter to show how many active projects are in each category.

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Create a category

  1. Navigate to the appropriate category panel:
    1. Project category: 
      1. Click Projects from Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
      2. Select the List tab.


         
    2. Project item category: 
      1. Click Jump to and search for and select a project.
      2. Select the relevant project tab (Messages, Files, Notebooks, or Links) from the project's navigation menu.
  2. Hover over the Categories panel on the left.
  3. Click the settings cog in the panel's top right.


     
  4. Click + Add Category.
  5. Fill out the category's details:
    1. Name: Enter the category's name. This is all that's required!
    2. Color: Click the dropdown on the name field's right to assign a category color. This is optional but helps differentiate between categories.
    3. Nest Category Under: Check this box if this category should be a subcategory. Use the dropdown field to choose the top-level category. This option is only shown if other categories already exist.
  6. Click Add Category.


     
  7. Next:
    1. Stop there: Click Finished.
    2. Keep going: Create more categories:
      1. Repeat steps 4 to 6 for each new category you want to create, then click Finished.

💡 Think about (and decide) how categories should be used before creating them. Then, only create the categories you need. Trust us, it'll keep things from getting out of hand.


View and manage categories

  1. Navigate to the appropriate categories panel:
    1. Project categories: Click Projects, then select the List tab.
    2. Project item categories: Click Jump to, then search for and select a project. While viewing the project, select the relevant tab (Messages, Files, Notebooks, or Links).
  2. Hover over the Categories panel on the left.
    💡 Each category's color is displayed on the category name's left.
  3. Click the settings cog in the panel's top right.
     

     
  4. Next:
    1. Edit: Click the edit pencil on a category's right to update the category's name and associated color or to make it a top-level or subcategory.
    2. Delete: Click the trash can on a category's right to delete it. Careful, deleting a parent category also deletes its subcategories.
      ⚠️ Categories (and their subcategories) must be empty to be deleted (i.e. nothing can be assigned to that category and subcategories). TL;DR: Empty any categories you want to delete.

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  5. Click Finished.

Your changes are immediately applied.


Add a project to a category

  1. Click Projects in Teamwork's main navigation menu.
  2. Go to the List tab.
  3. Hover over a project to reveal a set of dots on the project name's right.
  4. Click and hold the dots icon, then drag the project to the Categories panel and drop it on the relevant category.
    📝 You can use drag and drop to assign a category to projects currently in No Category, or to move a project from its current category to another.
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Another option...

Project admins (and site admins) can also manage a project's assigned category from the project's Settings:
  1. Click Jump to in Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Search for and select a project.
  3. Switch to the Settings tab. Settings might be hidden under the More... option.
  4. Select the General subsection.
  5. Scroll to the Category field under General Settings.
  6. Click the current category. If unassigned, it'll say "No Category."
  7. Select a category from the dropdown.
  8. Click Save.

Add project items to a category

  1. Click Jump to in Teamwork's main navigation menu.
  2. Search for and select a project.
  3. Go to the relevant project section (Messages, Files, Notebooks, or Links).
  4. Hover over an individual item to reveal a set of dots to the item name's left.
  5. Click and hold the dots icon, then drag the item to the Categories panel and drop it on the relevant category.
    📝 You can use drag and drop to assign a category to an item currently in No Category, or to move an item from its current category to another.
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Bulk move files to a category

Bulk move a project's files between categories.

  1. Go to a project's Files section.
  2. Click the ellipsis (...) in the view's top right.
  3. Choose Select Multiple Files from the dropdown.



  4. Select the checkbox to the left of each file you want to move.
  5. Hover over the files to reveal a set of dots to each file's left.
  6. Click and hold the set of dots beside one of the files.
  7. Drag the files to the Categories panel and drop them on the relevant category. 

 

Set default categories for project items

Create default project item categories that will be automatically created on each new project.
📝 Default categories can be set for messages, files, links, and notebooks.

  1. Click your profile icon in Teamwork's main navigation menu.
  2. Select Settings from the pop-out menu.

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  3. Click the Templates tab.
  4. Scroll to the relevant Default categories subsection.
     

     
  5. Click Set-up. If an item type has existing default categories, click Edit to manage them instead.
  6. Click + Add Category in the default categories window.

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  7. Enter the category name and select a color, then click Add Category.
  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each default category you want to create.
  9. Click Finished to save your changes.

The default categories are set up. The next time a project is created, those categories are automatically populated under the associated item section (ex. files).

Best practices

  • Keep it relevant: Consider how categories can best add structure to your workflow and only create the categories you need.
  • Auto-populate: Use default categories to automatically provide organization to projects from the outset without having to manually set them up.