---
title: "Categories and Ordering"
description: "Group your channels, movies and series into categories, and choose the order in which apps show them."
---

Your clients find content by category: "Sports", "News", "Kids", "Action Movies". Without a category, a channel, movie or series exists in your panel but does not show in the apps. This page shows how to create categories, put them in order, and set the order of the content inside each one.

## Category types

Each category has a type: **Streams/Channels**, **Movies** or **Series**. A category holds only its type. If you want a "Sports" section with channels, movies and series, create three categories with the same name, one of each type.

## Create a category

1. Open **Resellers Network** > **Content Setup** > **Edit Categories**.
2. Click **Add Category**.
3. In **Category Name**, type the name your clients will see.
4. In **Category Type**, choose **Streams/Channels**, **Movies** or **Series**. You cannot change the type later.
5. Click **Save**.

The category is empty until you add content to it. You do that from each item: in the channel, movie or series editor, choose it in **Categories Associated**. An item can be in several categories at once.

To rename a category, click the edit button on its row. To delete it, click the trash button. Content in a deleted category is not deleted, but it is left without a category and stops showing in the apps until you give it another one.

## Order the categories

1. In **Edit Categories**, open the **STREAMS**, **MOVIES** or **SERIES** tab.
2. Drag each category up or down with the handle at its left.
3. Click **Save Changes** at the bottom.

## Order the content inside a category

You can choose the exact order of the channels, movies or series inside each category.

1. Open **Resellers Network** > **Content Setup** > **Content Order**.
2. Choose the **CHANNELS**, **MOVIES** or **SERIES** tab.
3. In **Select a category…**, pick the category. Each row shows a badge: **#N** is its position, and a dash means it has no position and is sorted by age.
4. Drag rows with the handle, or use **Sort by…**: **Oldest first**, **Newest first**, **A → Z** or **Z → A**.
5. Click **Save order**. Apps show the new order within about 5 minutes.

To go back to the order by age, click **Reset positions** and confirm.

Content Order needs engine 2.2.1 or newer on your main server.

### Good to know

- **The position belongs to the item, not to the category.** If a channel is in two categories, moving it in one also moves it in the other.
- **Items without a position come before the ordered ones.** That is why **Save order** numbers the whole list, not only what you moved.

## Newest or oldest first

For content without a manual position, choose the direction in **Settings** > **Streaming** > **Content Automation** > **Content sort direction**: **Oldest first (default)** or **Newest first**. It applies to channels, movies and series, and reaches apps in about 5 minutes.

## Tips

- Keep names short and consistent. Clients see them as menu labels.
- Do not duplicate a channel to show it in two sections. Add it to both categories.
- A category that is in no bouquet works as a hidden area for testing: the content exists but no client sees it.

## Common problems

- **A client does not see a channel in its category**: check that the channel is in a bouquet the client has.
- **"Engine update required"** in Content Order: update your main server. See [Update the Engine](/docs/update-the-engine).
- **"Showing the first 1000 items only"**: the category is too large to order by hand, and saving is disabled. Split it into smaller categories.
- **The app still shows the old order**: wait about 5 minutes, then close and open the app.
- **"Only N of M positions were written"**: the save was interrupted. Click **Save order** again.

## Related

- [Add a Live Channel](/docs/add-a-live-channel)
- [Packages and Bouquets](/docs/packages-and-bouquets)
- [Import Channels](/docs/import-channels)
- [Mass Edit](/docs/mass-edit)