Categories help listeners browse your show by topic, and each category gets its own page that search engines can index. Tagging hundreds of episodes by hand is slow, so Podpage has two tools that do it for you:
- Categorize Backlog sorts the episodes you already have, in one pass.
- Add Categories files each new episode as it's imported.
Available on the Elite plan.
Sort your existing episodes with Categorize Backlog
- In your dashboard, go to Assistant → Categorize Backlog.
- Click Auto-categorize, or Analyze with AI if you already have categories. Podpage reads your episode titles, summaries and themes. This can take a minute.
- On Review Suggested Categories, Podpage lists the categories it recommends, with the episodes it would put in each. They can be new categories, existing ones to keep, or existing ones with an improved name or description.
- Edit any category's Name (1–3 words) or Description.
- Click Remove Category to drop a suggestion, or Add category to add your own.
- Existing categories that didn't fit any episode are listed separately. Tick Delete only if you want them removed.
- Click Apply. Podpage creates the categories and files your episodes. Large archives finish in the background.
Nothing is deleted automatically. Episodes keep the categories they already have, and a category is removed only if you tick its Delete box. Not happy with the suggestions? Click Start over to try again.
File new episodes automatically with Add Categories
- Make sure you already have the categories you want under Episodes → Categories. Running Categorize Backlog first is a quick way to set them up.
- Go to Autopilot → Add Categories and turn it on.
- Click Save.
From then on, every time Podpage imports a new episode, it reads the episode and places it in your existing categories. Add Categories never creates new categories. If none of them is a good fit, it skips that episode. It also skips episodes that already have categories.
The same page shows recent activity, so you can see which categories each new episode got, or why it was skipped.
Changing a category by hand
You're always in control. Open any episode from Episodes → All Episodes and change its categories. Your choice sticks.
Tip: Have a lot of categories? Mark your most important ones as Featured on the Categories page so only those appear in your site's navigation. See Organizing episodes with Categories.