The Categories section explains how JEM groups events into a hierarchy and how visitors browse either the category structure or the events assigned to one selected category.
Choose by navigation level: use Categories as a directory or landing page for several categories. Use Category Events when the menu item should open one category and its event list directly.
Categories Documentation
Category directory
Categories
Create a directory of published JEM categories. Configure the starting category, category and type filters, descriptions, images, category types, event previews, empty categories, subcategories and pagination.
Open Categories
Selected category
Category Events
Show the events assigned to one selected category. Decide whether empty child categories are displayed and whether events from subcategories are included in the result.
Open Category Events
Choose the Right Category View
| Required result | Recommended view | Why |
|---|
| Browse several categories or a complete category branch |
Categories |
Acts as a directory with optional images, descriptions, types, child links and event previews. |
| Open the events from one selected category |
Category Events |
Leads visitors directly to a category-specific event list. |
| Show one category as a monthly calendar |
Category Calendar |
Keeps the category filter but presents matching events by date. |
| Show a general event list filtered to several categories |
Events List |
Provides broader category selection together with list filters, ordering and date ranges. |
How Category Navigation Works
- Administrators create and publish a hierarchy of parent and child categories in the JEM backend.
- Each event is assigned to one or more categories according to the site's organisation and access model.
- A Categories menu item displays the permitted part of the category tree and can preview events below each category.
- Selecting a category opens its Category Events page or another configured JEM route.
- The event title then leads to the normal Event Detail page.
Access is checked at every level: displaying a category name does not make all of its events public. The category, its parent branch and each event must pass their own publication and access checks for the current visitor.
Parent Categories, Children and Events
Category navigation and event inclusion are separate decisions. Showing child-category links does not automatically include the children's events in the parent event list.
| Option or relationship | Frontend result |
|---|
| Top category |
Defines the root of the category directory. Use the complete tree or begin at a selected branch. |
| Show subcategory list |
Displays child categories as navigation links below their parent; it does not add their events to the parent list. |
| Show empty categories or subcategories |
Controls whether branches with no matching visible events remain available for navigation. |
| Include events from subcategories |
Adds matching events from descendant categories to the selected Category Events result. |
| Event previews |
Shows a limited number of matching events directly below each category in the Categories directory. |
| Category and type filters |
Allow visitors to narrow a category directory when the corresponding filter controls are enabled. |
Category Directory Options
Category presentation
- Show or hide the category description.
- Show the category image when supported by the selected layout.
- Show the assigned category type.
- Choose the number of categories displayed per page.
- Add optional page intro and footer text.
Event discovery
- Show or hide event preview lists below each category.
- Choose how many events are shown in each preview.
- Hide empty categories to focus visitors on active content.
- Display child categories as additional navigation.
- Enable category and type filters for larger directories.
Practical Examples
Use Categories with the complete tree, show category images and descriptions, display child-category links and keep event previews at zero or a low value. This gives visitors a clear starting point without producing an excessively long page.
Select one parent as the top category, show its child categories and use two or three event previews per branch. Hide empty categories when the page should contain only currently active programmes.
Create a Category Events menu item for the parent category and enable Include events from subcategories. Visitors receive one combined list, but every child category and event still respects its own access rules.
Use Category Calendar when visitors need to browse one category by month. The selected category limits the events while the calendar supplies month navigation, day links and event-detail links.
Before Publishing
- Review the complete category tree and remove accidental duplicates or incorrectly nested branches.
- Confirm the publication state and access level of every parent and child category used by the menu item.
- Check that events are assigned to the intended categories and remain visible to the target audience.
- Decide whether empty categories should remain visible as permanent navigation or disappear when they have no matching events.
- Keep event preview counts low when the directory contains many categories.
- Test inclusion of subcategory events separately from the display of subcategory navigation links.
- Check descriptions, images, type labels and category colours in both desktop and responsive layouts.
- Test the view as a guest and with representative registered-user access levels.
- Review Joomla template overrides after updating JEM if new category options do not appear.
Related Documentation
- Events — general event lists, maps, detail pages and submission.
- Events List — filter a general directory by one or more categories.
- Category Calendar — monthly events from one category.
- Event Types — an additional classification and filtering system.
