Categories help you organize video and audio content in a consistent, administrator-defined way. This article explains what categories are, how they relate to other metadata types, who can use them, and how to assign them to media items.

What are categories?

Categories are a type of metadata used to implement a taxonomy in your portal. Unlike free-form user labels (tags), categories are:

• Created and managed by portal administrators
• Consistent and curated
• Single-level (no sub-categories)

This makes categories ideal for structured organization, reporting, dynamic playlists and maintaining a clean, uniform content library.

How categories relate to other metadata

Ravnur Media Platform supports multiple ways to describe and organize content:

• Categories
  Admin-defined, structured labels for standardized classification.
• Tags
  User-applied, flexible labels that support quick, informal grouping and discovery.
• Custom metadata
  Admin-defined fields for capturing specific attributes beyond labels (for example, internal codes, program names, departments, or compliance-related fields).

In short:
Use categories for your official taxonomy, tags for user-driven discoverability, and custom metadata for structured fields that require more detail than a label.

Categories vs. tags

Categories and tags may look similar in the UI, but they serve different governance needs:

• Categories are curated and created by administrators.
• Tags can be added by anyone.
• Anyone can tag a media item.
• Only the content owner or an administrator can assign a category.

This helps prevent uncontrolled sprawl in your classification system.

Who can assign categories?

Permissions vary based on ownership and role:

• Users can assign categories to their own:
  • Videos
  • Audio
    (Not to playlists.)
• Administrators can assign categories to:
  • Any video
  • Any audio

This ensures administrators can maintain taxonomy standards across the portal.

How to create categories

Administrators create categories in the Administrator Portal. Categories are application specific, meaning that you can establish different category taxonomies for each application you have. Generally, the applications that most customers use categories with are the internal portal and the public portal.

NOTE: If you don't see Categories listed in the sidebar menu, contact Ravnur Support to enable the feature.

1. Go to the Administrator Portal and select the appropriate application from the app selector in the upper left corner of the screen.
2. Select Metadata > Categories. 
3. Click on Create new category.
4. Enter the category name and an optional description.
5. Click Save.

Your category is now ready to use.

How to assign categories - Administrators

Administrators assign categories in the details page of the video or audio media item.

1. Ensure that you have selected the desired application in the app selector
2. Click on Video or Audio to load the list view of media items of that type.
3. Select the video or audio file you want to update to open its details page.
4. Open the Metadata tab.
5. Click the Edit button under Categories.
6. In the Categories modal select one or more categories.
7. Click Confirm to close the modal.
8. Review your selections.
9. Click Save to finalize the update.

Your categories are now assigned to the media item.

How to assign categories - Content Owner

Content owners assign categories in the My Account section where they manage their content.

1. Go to My Account by clicking on the user icon in the top right corner of the screen.
2. Select the video or audio file you want to update to open its details page.
3. Open the Tags & Categories tab.
4. Click Select Categories.
5. In the Edit Categories modal select one or more categories.
6. Click Save to close the modal.
7. Review your selections.
8. Click Save Changes to finalize the update.

Your categories are now assigned to the media item.

Best practices

To keep your taxonomy clean and useful:

• Keep category names clear and user-friendly
  Prefer terms that match how your audience searches and thinks.
• Limit the number of categories
  Too many options reduce consistency and increase confusion.
• Use categories for stable, high-level structure
  Examples:
  • Department
  • Content type
  • Business unit
  • Program or series
• Use tags for temporary or descriptive detail
  Examples:
  • Event names
  • Campaigns
  • Local keywords
  • Short-lived topics
• Review categories periodically
  Retire unused categories and merge overlapping ones to maintain a healthy taxonomy.
• Avoid duplicating meaning across metadata types
  If a concept is part of your official structure, make it a category.
  If it’s detailed or attribute-like, use custom metadata.
  If it’s informal or evolving, use a tag.

Summary

Categories are administrator-created metadata that provide a consistent, controlled taxonomy for video and audio content. They differ from tags by offering structure and governance, and they complement custom metadata by providing standardized classification labels. Users can assign categories to their own media items, while administrators can assign categories across the portal.

If you’re building an organized, scalable content library, categories should be your first layer of structured classification.