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Merge a Section and a Category

What's inside this article:


Basic information

Pangea websites publish content covering a variety of topics (such as 'Politics', 'Economics', and 'Sport'). Each topic has a dedicated landing page, where visitors can browse content on the same topic. For this purpose, Pangea CMS supports the following types of landing pages:

  • Section page: Features a collection of widgets, which is custom built by a web editor in Pangea CMS.
  • Category page: Features a content list, which is automatically generated and organized by date of publication.

If your website has both a Section and a Category page for one topic, you can merge the Section and the Category to have just one page instead of two.

When a Section and a Category are merged, the Section is displayed on the Category page above the content list. You can see an example of how this might look below:

  • (A): Section
  • (B): Content list

Find more details in the sections below:

Benefits

Merging a Section and a Category offers the following main benefits:

  • Your website has just one landing page for the topic. This simplifies navigation and removes the need to maintain two sets of metadata.
  • Website visitors can enjoy a consistent experience when moving between content pages and landing pages.
  • You can promote your most important stories on the Section, while also allowing visitors to scroll and load more content almost infinitely.

URLs and metadata

After a Section is merged with a Category:

  • The Section is no longer a standalone page.
  • The Section URL will redirect to the Category page URL.
  • Only the metadata for the Category page is used.
  • Only the Custom URL for the Category page is used.

Limitations

One Section can be merged with one Category. The same Section cannot be merged with multiple Categories or displayed on multiple Category pages.

Only the List with images (previously 'List with thumbnails') Category layout can include a Section. If a different layout is selected, the Category page cannot include a Section.



Prepare the Section

Before you merge a Section with a Category, carefully prepare the content on the Section. If you plan to use an existing Section page, consider reducing the amount of content. Recommendations and examples are provided below:


Recommendations

When you prepare a Section to display on a Category page:

  • We suggest including 2-4 rows of widgets (on desktop).
  • We suggest using Content and Multimedia widgets. By limiting the number of widget types and layouts, you bring a more consistent experience for website visitors.
  • Using Auto mode, you can configure widgets to automatically show the latest content from the Category.
  • If a Category has child Categories, the Section might include one widget for each child Category. For example, the parent Category 'Russia' might have children such as 'Politics', 'Economics', and 'Features', which can each have a dedicated widget on the Section.
  • Visitors will often stop scrolling when they reach a Media slider widget. If the Section includes a Media slider widget, be aware that traffic may be lower for the content below the slider.

To stop the same content from appearing twice on the same page (on the Section and in the content list), you can exclude a set number of items from the content list (up to 15 items). For instructions, go to the following chapter in this article:


Examples

Below, find several examples of possible layouts for Sections displayed on Category pages:

Multiple widgets

A Category page that features a larger Section with multiple widgets:

Multiple widgets with an introduction

A Category page that features an introduction above a larger Section with multiple widgets:

One widget

A Category page that features a simple Section with one widget:

Widgets for child Categories

A Category page that features a larger Section with multiple widgets for child Categories (Nuclear talks and Women's rights):

Mobile view

The mobile view:

On mobile, the items will be displayed in a single column. To avoid overwhelming users on mobile devices, carefully consider the amount of content to include in the Section.



Merge a Section and a Category

Two different methods are available for merging a Section and a Category:

  • (A): On the Section edit page, select a Category.
  • (B): On the Category edit page, select a Section.

For details, go to the relevant section below:


Section edit page

On the Section edit page in Pangea CMS:

  1. Select a Category via General > Category.
  2. Hit Publish to confirm the action.

Via General > Category, you can select one Category. If you do not see the Category you need, review the rules below:

  • The list only includes Content Categories that use the List with images layout.
  • The list only includes Categories with the Visible on site status.
  • You cannot select a Category that is already merged with another Section.


Category edit page

On the Category edit page in Pangea CMS:

  1. Select a Section via Layout settings > Section.
  2. Hit Save to confirm the action.

The Section selector is only available when the List with images layout is selected. To check which layout is selected, hit Change page layout.

Via Layout settings > Section, you can select one Section. You cannot select a Section that is already merged with another Category.



Optimize the metadata

Metadata is included in the source code for a webpage and is visible for search engines (such as Google). Unique and descriptive metadata helps to boost the ranking of your pages on search engine results pages.

When a Section is merged with a Category, only the metadata for the Category page is used. To check the metadata for the Category page:

  1. In Pangea CMS, open the edit page for the Category.
  2. Check the metadata under SEO. Adjust the text if needed.
  3. Hit Save to confirm any changes.

For detailed information about the different metadata, see the following article:

On the Section edit page, you can view the Section metadata via SEO. While a Section is merged with a Category, the Section metadata is not used. For this reason, the fields are read-only and are not editable. If you want to reuse the text from a particular field (such as the meta description), highlight the text and copy it to your clipboard.



Exclude items

To stop the same content from appearing twice on the same page (on the Section and in the content list), you can exclude a set number of items from the content list (up to 15 items). For example, if the 10 most recent stories from the Category will always be promoted on the Section, you might exclude the first 10 items from the content list.

To exclude items from the content list:

  1. In Pangea CMS, open the edit page for the Category.
  2. Under Layout settings > Exclude content, select the number of items to exclude.
  3. Hit Save to confirm the action.

The Exclude content option is only available for the List with images layout while a Section is selected under Section.



Add an introduction

A Category page might include an introduction. If the Category page also includes a Section, the introduction is displayed above the Section. Otherwise, the introduction is displayed above the content list.

To add an introduction:

  1. In Pangea CMS, open the edit page for the Category.
  2. Under Layout settings > Introduction, enter the introduction.
  3. Hit Save to confirm the action.

Regarding length, review the guidelines below:

  • We suggest using a maximum of 300 characters.
  • If you use more than 300 characters, the text will be truncated. When the text is truncated, just the first line is visible (around 150-160 characters). To see the full text, visitors can hit Show more.

The character limit for truncation is configurable per site. 300 characters is the default limit. Contact Pangea Customer Care if your site needs to set a different limit.



Set a Custom URL

A Custom URL is a short text (normally 1-3 words) that replaces the numerical ID in a page URL.

When a Section is merged with a Category, only the URL for the Category page is used. The Section URL redirects to the Category URL. If the Category page does not have a Custom URL, two options are available:


Reuse the Custom URL for the Section

You can update the Custom URL for the Section, so that it points to the Category page instead of the Section. Follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings > Custom URL.
  2. Select the Custom URL for the Section.
  3. Under Link, change Link to Section to Link to Category.
  4. Under Category (Zone), select the relevant Category. Then, hit Save.

The Custom URL now points to the Category page.


Create a new Custom URL

To create a new Custom URL for the Category page:

  1. Go to Settings > Custom URL.
  2. Select + Add new.

For detailed instructions, see the following article:



Set the number of items in the content list

By default, the automatically-generated content list on the Category page includes 12 items. To load more content, visitors can hit the Load more button.

The number of items in the content list is configurable per site. 12 is the default number. Contact Pangea Customer Care if your site needs to set a different number.