---
title: "Categories"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.beelocity.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Categories

**Partner categories** are a hierarchical tagging system for organizing your suppliers and clients into logical groups. They make it easier to filter, report on, and manage large numbers of partners — especially as your partner directory grows beyond a handful of records.

The **Partner Categories** list narrows on its **filter button** by **Parent** and **Active**; a category's **Children** tab filters by **Active** the same way.

## How Categories Work

Categories form a **tree structure** — you create top-level categories and nest subcategories under them. A partner can belong to **multiple categories** at any level, so categories work like flexible tags rather than rigid folders.

This means a single supplier could be categorized as both "Raw Materials > Metals > Stainless Steel" (what they supply) and "ISO 9001 Certified" (their certification status) — two completely independent classifications applied to the same partner.

### Example Category Trees

Here are some common ways to organize categories:

**By supply chain role:**

```
Raw Materials
├── Metals
│   ├── Stainless Steel
│   ├── Aluminum
│   └── Copper
├── Plastics
└── Textiles
```

**By business relationship:**

```
By Size
├── Enterprise
├── SMB
└── Micro-enterprise

By Sector
├── Government
├── Private
└── Non-profit
```

**By certification or quality:**

```
Certifications
├── ISO 9001
├── ISO 14001
├── Halal Certified
└── Organic
```

You can create as many category trees as you need — they are completely flexible.

## Managing Categories

1. Go to **Business Partners > Categories**.
2. Create **top-level categories** for your broad groupings (e.g., "Raw Materials", "Certifications", "By Size").
3. Add **subcategories** under each parent for finer classification.
4. Assign categories to partners from the partner detail page.

Category names must be **unique within the same level** under the same parent. You can have "Services" under "Suppliers" and a separate "Services" under "Clients" — they are distinct because they have different parents.

Categories can be **activated or deactivated** from the category's own page, under **More actions** (the three dots). Deactivating a category hides it from the selection list but does not remove it from partners that already have it assigned.

When you pick a **parent**, the list you choose from never offers the category itself or anything already filed under it — a branch cannot be looped back on itself, however deep it goes.

## Tips

- **Keep hierarchies shallow** — 2 to 3 levels deep is usually enough. Deep trees become hard to navigate and maintain. "Raw Materials > Metals > Stainless Steel" is fine. "Suppliers > Active > Regional > North > Metals > Ferrous > Stainless Steel" is too deep.
- **Cross-cutting categories work best at the top level** — classifications like certifications, regions, or business sizes apply across all partner types. Keep them as their own top-level trees rather than nesting them under "Suppliers" or "Clients".
- **Partners can belong to categories at any level** — they are not restricted to leaf nodes. A partner that supplies many types of metal can be assigned to "Metals" directly, without picking a specific sub-type.
- **Plan your categories before creating partners** — setting up a good category structure first means you can classify partners as you create them, rather than going back to tag hundreds of records later.
- **Use categories for access control** — partner categories can be referenced in [row access rules](../access-control/row-access-rules.html). For example, you could restrict a user to only see partners in the "Government" category.

Source: https://docs.beelocity.com/en/business-partners/categories/index.mdx