Organizing Stories with Categories

Creating Categories

You can create and manage categories from Settings → Categories in your dashboard.

To create a new category:

Click the Add New button in the top right
Enter a name for your category (up to 35 characters)
Click Create Category

The category URL is automatically generated from the name. For example, “Travel Photography” becomes yoursite.com/categories/travel-photography.

Tip: Press Cmd + Shift + N (or Ctrl + Shift + N on Windows) anywhere on the categories page to quickly open the new category dialog.

Assigning Stories to Categories

There are two ways to add stories to categories:

From the Categories Settings Page

Go to Settings → Categories
Find the story you want to categorize in the “Recently Published” column on the right
Drag the story onto a category in the left column
The story is instantly added to that category

Note: A story can belong to multiple categories. Simply drag it to each category you want it in.

From the Story Editor

When editing a story, you can also assign categories from the story options panel.

Setting a Category Cover

Each category can have a custom cover image that appears on your site. The cover is selected from one of the stories in that category.

To set a category cover:

Go to Settings → Categories
Click the thumbnail or the image icon next to the category name
Select a cover from the available story covers
Click Save Cover

Note: Categories with no stories will not show the cover picker until you add at least one story.

Renaming Categories

To rename a category:

Go to Settings → Categories
Click the Rename button (pencil icon) next to the category
Enter the new name
Optionally check “Update Category URL” if you want the URL to change
Click Save Changes

About URL updates: By default, renaming a category keeps the original URL to avoid breaking existing links. If you choose to update the URL, the old URL will automatically redirect to the new one.

Reordering Categories

The order of categories on your site matches their order in settings.

To reorder categories:

Go to Settings → Categories
Grab the drag handle (≡ icon) on the left of any category
Drag it to the desired position
The new order is saved automatically

Deleting Categories

To delete a category:

Go to Settings → Categories
Click the Delete button (× icon) next to the category
Confirm the deletion

Note: Deleting a category does not delete the stories in it—they simply become uncategorized.

How Categories Appear on Your Site

Categories appear on your member site based on your chosen theme. Each theme displays category cards with:

The category name
Story count
Cover image (if set)

Hover Preview

When visitors hover over a category card, they’ll see a preview that cycles through the covers of stories in that category—giving them a quick glimpse of what’s inside.

Theme-Specific Layouts

Category thumbnails automatically adapt to match your site theme:

Standard themes: Square aspect ratio
Mag theme: Landscape aspect ratio
Zine theme: Portrait aspect ratio
Broadcast theme: Wide aspect ratio with story dots

Tips for Organizing

Keep it simple: 5-10 well-defined categories work better than dozens of specific ones
Use descriptive names: “Wedding Photography” is clearer than “Weddings”
Set covers thoughtfully: Choose covers that represent the category’s best work
Review regularly: As you publish more, revisit your category structure

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action

Shortcut

Add new category

Shift + N

Save changes in modal

Cmd/Ctrl + Enter

Close modal

Escape

Clear search

Escape (when in search field)

Need help?

Use the Exposure contact form.